Background
The UN system in Lesotho is represented by eight Resident agencies FAO, IOM, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and WFP and 13 Non-Resident Agencies (NRAs) that are also contributors to the UN strategic support to the Government of Lesotho. The Resident Coordinator is the representative of all NRAs. The Kingdom of Lesotho is a self-starter Delivering as One (DaO) country.
In June 2017, the Government of Lesotho initiated the development of the National Strategic Development Plan II 2019-2023 (NSDP II) that will mainstream the SDGs. The UN system in Lesotho is working closely with the Government of Lesotho to roll-out the new development agenda through advocacy, sensitization, prioritization and mainstreaming efforts.
The Lesotho UN Development Assistance Plan 2013-2017 (LUNDAP) mid-term review and external evaluation conducted in 2016 presented critical medium-term and long-term recommendations as follows: (1) Reflecting and Visioning for future support in light of 2030 agenda; (2) Focusing on fewer strategic areas of support; (3) Commitment and programming for Delivering as One; (4) Enhancing the ownership and leadership of the government and other key stakeholders; (5) Re-defining the role of NRAs to be more effective in supporting GoL; (6) Mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment and youth empowerment into UNDAF implementation. The UN System in Lesotho has comparative advantages and strives to make significant contributions to addressing the country’s development issues, as part of the next UNDAF and the sustainable development agenda.
The LUNDAP evaluation process was followed by the Common Country Analysis (CCA), a concise analysis of the country’s development challenges and the areas in which the UN agencies are best prepared to offer support. The CCA as an essential part of the new UNDAF has been prepared since early 2017. The CCA will engage further national consultations and contribute to the NSDP II roll-out, which will rely both on discussions with the Government and other stakeholders and on the UN Visioning 2030 exercise. The CCA-recommended potential priorities for the new UNDAF shall be based on the context, the policy and governance environment, stakeholder and capacity gaps and finally UN’s comparative advantages.
The new UNDAF that will be aligned to the NSDP II will be a five-year plan and outline the UN’s interventions that will be designed to address key development challenges the country faces. The UN Visioning 2030 exercise will support the UNCT’s visioning on the SDGs and help build productive multi-stakeholder partnerships to implement national strategies and plans. It will further strengthen an enabling environment for an inclusive, resilient and prosperous society in Lesotho.
Based on the lessons learned from the current LUNDAP and the gap analysis undertaken, the UNCT agreed to develop a strategic UNDAF at outcome level for the period of 2019-2023. The new UNDAF will be implemented through UNDAF Joint Work Plans, Joint Programmes and agency specific annual workplans. Led by the UN Programme Management Team and M&E Group and coordinated by the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), the UNDAF document will be drafted through a consultative process and finalized by end of December 2017 with signing envisaged for January 2018.
UNCT and NRAs will hold a retreat on 6-8 September 2017 to discuss UN’s strategic contribution to the formulation of the NSDP II and roll-out of the SDG agenda.
The UNDAF will be drafted after the Strategic Prioritization Retreat planned for end of September 2017. It is expected to be a strategic document of 20-30 pages (est. 20,000-25,000 words) designed to serve as an orientation framework for all UN interventions in the country over the next planning cycle. The UNDAF will include a results matrix and a set of indicators to help measure progress towards the set outcomes. It must adhere to the four key UN programming principles:1) Leave no one behind; 2) Human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment; 3) Sustainability and resilience; and 4) Accountability and six key approaches to integrated programming: 1) Results-focused programming; 2) Capacity development; 3) Risk-informed programming; 4) Development, humanitarian and peacebuilding linkages; 5) Coherent policy support; and 6) Partnerships. In addition, it will need to reflect the principles and approaches of ‘Delivering as One (DAO)’.
Templates and new guidelines for UNDAF are available at: https://undg.org/document/2017-undaf-guidance/. LUNDAP and sample UNDAFs will be shared with the selected consultant.
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the guidance and supervision of the UN RC/UNCT and in close collaboration with the Programme Management Team (PMT), Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Team, UNDAF Result Groups and Resident Coordinator’s Office, the consultant will assist in the development of the next UNDAF (2019-2023), which would entail supporting the following tasks: Output 1: Draft UNDAF 2019-2023 for Lesotho
Task 1: Planning and Preparation
- Build on the Root Cause Analysis and the Comparative Advantage Analysis, conduct a thorough desk review of development in Lesotho, as well as the UN’s support to the Government. Review background documents on national and UN programmes and plans as well as existing evaluations, CCA final draft, reviews and reports, from both the UN and other stakeholders
- Identify and finalize suitable methodology, templates and interview guides
- Prepare opening presentation for UNCT, PMT, SDG Sub-Group and OMT.
- Develop an inception report which clearly outlines the proposed methodology as well as templates and interview guides.
Task 2: Development phase
- Participate in the UNCT Retreat (6-8 September 2017) and the CCA stakeholder validation workshop;
- Conduct kick-off meetings with UNCT, PMT, SDG Sub-Group to obtain feedback and refine the draft approach/ tools, as well as discuss plans for key informants to interview;
- Support the Strategic Prioritization Retreat (SPR) and consultations with stakeholders in setting the key UNDAF priorities, outcomes and results. The SPR will also reflect the contents of the Training on Programing Principles;
- Utilizing the Comparative Advantage and Stakeholder Analysis, ensure the UNDAF 2019-2023 builds on UNs strengths and tackles weaknesses.
- Building on the Visioning 2030 and Strategic Prioritization Retreat, review strategy notes, current sectoral and inter-sectoral policy frameworks; proposed government flagship programmes; and agency specific guidance of the UN agencies. Develop Theories of Change for the priorities and the corresponding results framework (outcomes, outputs and indicators to address these priorities inter-sectorally and synergistically).
- Validate the Risks and Assumptions for the UN based on a broad consultation and ensure that these are well articulated in the narratives of the TOC.
- Support UNDAF Results Groups in developing UNDAF Results Matrix and Monitoring & Evaluation Framework;
- Integrate Business Operations Strategy in the UNDAF document to ensure programme-operations integration.
Task 3: Report and Presentation
- Draft the UNDAF document that clearly outlines how the UN intends to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in Lesotho based on its comparative advantages
- Ensure that the design and focus of the UNDAF meets the new UNDAF guidelines ( https://undg.org/document/2017-undaf-guidance/) and the following criteria: UNDAF is results-oriented, coherent and based on the UN comparative advantages; the expected results and UNDAF outcomes are feasible and realistic, technical expertise, human and financial resources are available; the UNDAF is aligned to the NSDP II and the nationally prioritized SDGs; UNDAF responds to the issues of national capacity development and promotes ownership of programmes by the national partners; UNDAF incorporates the programming principlUNDAF addresses peace and security, development, human rights, and humanitarian responses in a coherent and cohesive manner; UNDAF outcomes are underpinned by the normative principles; UNDAF addresses the leave no one behind agenda and integrates key programming principles, and other cross-cutting issues as are reflected in the common programming; UNDAF acts as a partnership and coordination framework, ensuring NGOs and civil society are engaged in monitoring and evaluation activities; UNDAF acts as a mechanism to minimize transaction costs of UN support for the government and UN agencies; UNDAF acts as a framework for the development and implementation of common services, linking financial and operational aspects, and joint communication; and UNDAF M&E Framework is developed and elaborated, deriving from UNDAF results matrix (indicators, baselines, targets, means of verification, risks and assumptions);
- Facilitate the UNDAF Validation Workshop, prepare the UNDAF presentation;
- Based on the feedback from the validation workshop, finalize the UNDAF document in consultation with the Government, partners and other stakeholders, under the guidance of the UN RC/UNCT and in close collaboration with UNDAF Result Groups.
Competencies
- Profound knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes (CCA/UNDAF);
- Excellent communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to write reports, conduct studies and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Doctoral/advanced University Degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Economics, Development Studies/Economics, Monitoring and Evaluation or Social Science.
Experience:
- A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in the international development field;
- 10 years of relevant professional experience in planning and budgeting;
- Previous experience with CCA/UNDAF formulations, evaluations and/or reviews;
- Specialized experience and/or methodological/technical knowledge, including data collection and analytical skills, mainstreaming HRBA and gender considerations into programming, and RBM principles, logic modeling/logical framework analysis, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, and participatory approaches;
- Practical experience in Africa and knowledge of the development issues in Lower Middle-Income Countries is an asset.
- Experience with SDG agenda is a strong asset.
Language:
- Fluent in English.
Application procedure: Submit P11, Confirmation of interest and Availability Form and a Methodology
P11 and Confirmation of interest Templetes abd detailed TORs can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=40016
Submission email: [email protected]
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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