Background
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Foreign aid plays an important role in
Bangladesh’s development. Over the last ten years, Bangladesh received
foreign assistance amounting on average to US$ 1.54 billion per year.
Although aid only accounts for roughly 2% of GNI, it constitutes almost
50% of Bangladesh’s development budget. Approximately 70% of foreign aid
is provided in form of loans, which results in increasing national
debts and related debt service charges. Through effective fiscal
measures, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has been able to stabilize
the debt-GDP ratio at roughly 50% during 1990-2006. While the external
debt-GDP ratio has declined from 44% in the 1980s to 33% during
2001-2006, domestic borrowing accounts for an increasingly large share
of budget deficit financing in recent years.
Accounting for
almost 50% of the national development budget, foreign aid plays an
important role in Bangladesh. The effectiveness of foreign assistance as
a means to contribute to sustainable development in the country has, at
times, been put into question. A number of surveys and evaluations on
aid effectiveness have been conducted in Bangladesh. Overall, they have
found that some progress in improving aid effectiveness has been made.
However, significant challenges remain to deliver on the aid
effectiveness commitments made in Paris, Accra and Busan.
In
particular, different assessments have come to the conclusion that the
development assistance provided by a wide range of partners should be
better coordinated, as well as more harmonized and aligned with national
priorities and systems, in order to result in greater benefits for the
country. Similarly, it has been pointed out that strong Government
leadership, as well as effective and efficient government institutions
are crucial to ensure that foreign aid is effectively utilized. Hence,
improving aid effectiveness is a joint responsibility of the Government
of Bangladesh and its development partners.
The Government of
Bangladesh (GoB) and its development partners (DPs) have taken
considerable steps towards local implementation of the global aid
effectiveness agenda. On the Government side, related initiatives are
primarily spearheaded by a mainly donor-funded Aid Effectiveness Unit
(AEU) that was established within the Economic Relations Division of the
Ministry of Finance. Despite laudable achievements at the policy level,
progress towards integrating aid and development effectiveness
considerations into the national development planning, programming and
budgeting process has been limited. Integrating the AEU into the formal
government structure and mainstreaming aid effectiveness principles into
government agencies remains a crucial task.
Bangladesh has the
basic structure of a good formal machinery of collective dialogue in
form of the Local Consultative Group (LCG) mechanism. However, this
mechanism has not yet reached its full potential as effective
coordination tool, especially regarding development cooperation
activities at sector level.
GoB and DPs have taken various
initiatives to reform their relationships and to establish a mutual
accountability mechanism, culminating in the recent formulation of a
Joint Cooperation Strategy (JCS). The JCS consists of a core document,
which outlines a joint vision for aid effectiveness in Bangladesh and
contains corresponding partnership commitments by GoB and DPs. A JCS
Action Plan was formulated in order to translate policy level
commitments into practical changes at the operational level. The overall
goal of a JCS is to make aid in Bangladesh more effective by creating
common platforms for national and sector-level dialogue and
coordination, as well as a nationally owned change process for improving
delivery of aid. The JCS focus areas include the following:
- Improving national capacity for ownership of development cooperation activities;
- Improving managing for results by agreeing on joint development results frameworks at national and sector levels;
- Reducing
high transaction costs resulting from uncoordinated development
activities, a multitude of different programming and implementation
mechanisms, as well as fragmented aid budgets and cumbersome national
project approval and revision processes;
- Strengthening
donor alignment with national systems, which are felt by many partners
to be lacking the necessary solidity to move towards more aid-effective
modalities such as budget support.
The main objective
of this project is to increase the effectiveness, transparency and
accountability in allocation, management and use of foreign assistance
by strengthening national aid management capacities and systems, as well
as by enhancing collective dialogue and coordination mechanisms, in
order to achieve improved development results.
The Policy
Specialist (Aid Effectiveness) will work under the direct supervision of
UNDP Country Director and in close consultation with the Secretary,
Economic Relations Division (ERD). The Policy Specialist (Aid
Effectiveness) will support the National Programme Director and the
Project Manager in developing programme activities and provides
substantive technical and policy advice on project implementation
related to policy formulation, aid (information) management,
organisational development and capacity-related work. S/he will provide
professional and technical support as and when required to the Secretary
(ERD) and other senior Government officials on all issues related to
advancing the national aid effectiveness agenda, as well as external
resource management functions, including relevant aspects of related
reform initiatives, such as the public financial management reform, in
order to ensure adequate linkages and synergies with the wider reform
agenda.
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Duties and Responsibilities
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The Policy Specialist (Aid Effectiveness) will
provide technical and policy advisory services on aid effectiveness
issues to Government of Bangladesh and different development partner
agencies of UNDP. S/he will play a lead role in supporting the
implementation of the Joint Cooperation Strategy and the multi-donor
funded project on ‘Capacity Development for Aid Effectiveness’, through
which this post is financed. The Specialist will be seconded into the
Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance and report
to the ERD Secretary on all project-related issues. S/he will be
accountable to the UNDP Country Director, who will prepare the
Specialist’s annual performance review based on written inputs from the
ERD Secretary. Performance measurement will be done through UNDP’s
corporate performance management system, whereby expected results will
be agreed on annual basis, in line with the project’s results framework.
In this context the Policy Specialist (Aid Effectiveness) supports the
Project Manager in the implementation of the ‘Capacity Development for
Aid Effectiveness Project’ and is responsible for overseeing all
capacity development activities. Specific tasks include:
- Enhancing aid transparency and GoB’s aid information management capacity
- Strengthening ERD’s aid management capacities
- Strengthening LCG mechanism
- Enhancing aid coordination & management capacities of selected line ministries
Enhancing aid transparency and GoB’s aid information management capacity:
- Provide
technical and policy advisory support to GoB to establish an aid
information management system (AIMS) and ensure adequate linkages with
existing IT systems, such as the Debt Management and Financial Analysis
System maintained by ERD’s Foreign Aid Budget and Accounts Branch;
- Provide
technical and policy advisory support to link AIMS to national
planning, programming and budgeting processes, as well as the LCG
mechanism;
- Support the skills development and
training of the responsible government officials regarding analysis of
aid flows to Bangladesh and preparation of analytical reports to inform
collective dialogue and decision-making;
- Support
AIMS-related outreach to line ministries, in order to facilitate
government-led, evidence-based collective dialogue in LCG Working
Groups, as well as to Parliament and CSOs, in order to contribute to
increasing transparency and public scrutiny of foreign assistance.
Strengthening ERD’s aid management capacities:
- Advice
and assist ERD in implementing a functional review and capacity needs
assessment with regard to aid management functions and support
formulation and implementation of a corresponding capacity development
plan for ERD;
- Facilitate effective functioning of
Aid Effectiveness Unit, by providing advice on the necessary
institutional rearrangements within ERD, and supporting capacity
development of assigned Government officials;
- Assist
in the review of foreign aid portfolios, ensuring that government
officials are equipped to conduct an in-depth assessment of the
strengths and weaknesses of projects and programmes within an assistance
portfolio of individual development partners;
- Provide policy advisory support to the formulation of an aid policy and aid management guidelines;
- Provide
advice and technical support to strengthen ERD’s resource mobilization
capacities and skills, among other by providing technical and policy
advisory support to access new funding windows, e.g. climate change
financing;
- Support ERD in its outreach to other
government agencies to increase the awareness and strengthen the
capacity of civil servants regarding aid effectiveness principles and
concepts, including communication on the JCS and other aid effectiveness
initiatives;
- Provide technical and policy
advisory support to ERD to monitor and report on progress towards the
implementation of the JCS Action Plan and to prepare and disseminate an
annual aid effectiveness report, as well as other analytical and
position papers;
- Support appropriate follow-up to
the 2009 Evaluation of the Implementation of the Paris Declaration and
the 2010 Paris Declaration Monitoring Survey, in order to ensure that
the findings are used to improve and strengthen existing aid
relationships, as well as the broader aid management framework;
- Advise
the Government on how Bangladesh can actively participate in and
benefit from regional and global conferences and other events on aid
effectiveness.
Strengthening LCG mechanism:
- Provide technical and policy advisory support to the LCG Secretariat and the LCG Working Groups on aid effectiveness issues
- Facilitate
information flow between the Government and development partners,
including by working towards strengthening existing collective dialogue
mechanisms;
- Facilitate a potential adjustment of the LCG structure in line with priorities identified in the 6th Five-Year Plan;
- Support
the LCG Aid Effectiveness Working Group Chair in monitoring the
implementation of the JCS Action Plan, including other key products as
outlined in the JCS Action Plan, and in leading the related dialogue
with development partners, in order to identify and address potential
bottlenecks timely and effectively;
- Support the LCG Aid Effectiveness Working Group in formulation and implementation of its annual, results-oriented work plan;
- Advise
the LCG Aid Effectiveness Working Group on the implementation of the
local aid effectiveness agenda, inform about related challenges in and
recommend practical options to overcome them, including through joint
development partner initiatives;
- Liaise closely
with the DP Executive Committee and the ERD-led inter-ministerial group
to keep them informed about progress and challenges regarding
implementation of the JCS.
Enhancing aid coordination & management capacities of selected line ministries:
- Provide
technical and policy advice to enhance the capacity of selected line
ministries to lead collective dialogue and coordinate development
partner support in line with national priorities and procedures;
- Support
the formulation and implementation of an aid coordination capacity
development strategy in selected line ministries, following a functional
review and capacity needs assessment;
- Provide
technical and policy advice to enhance the capacity of line ministries
to use the aid information management system to improve planning and
budgeting, including efforts to increase the share of external resources
that are recorded on budget; strengthen their abilities to use the AIMS
as a tool to strengthen the monitoring of project outputs, and to use
AIMS reports and analyses to strengthen the LCG mechanism and their
dialogue with development partners
Perform any other tasks as required in relation to enhancing Aid Effectiveness in Bangladesh.
Impact of Results:
The
key results have an impact on the overall achievement in increasing aid
effectiveness in the country in light of the internationally agreed
principles and country context especially the Joint Cooperation Strategy
(JCS).
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Competencies
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Corporate Competencies:
- Promotes UN's Values and ethical standards (tolerance, integrity, respect, results orientation, impartiality)
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and sensitivity and adaptability
- Demonstrates
integrity by modelling in the UN's values and ethical standards (human
rights, peace, understanding between people and nations, tolerance,
integrity, respect, results orientation, UNDP core ethics,
impartiality.
- Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
Functional Competencies:
Knowledge Management and Learning
- Promotes
knowledge management and a learning environment in the office through
leadership and personal example, excellent knowledge of capacity
building theory and the application of methodology, good understanding
of capacity assessment methodologies, excellent ability to identify
significant capacity building opportunities, ability to get capacity
building, excellent ability to demonstrate national capacities building
(mastery of the tools and their application)
- Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
- Display understanding of the relevant contemporary ICT tools and continuously act towards personal capacity building
Development and Operational Effectiveness:
- Ability to effectively lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting
- Ability to lead formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects;
- Good ICT skills, knowledge of Aid Information Management Systems;
- Solid knowledge of aid effectiveness principles and concepts, as well as related global trends and developments;
- Knowledge of public administration and public financial management issues.
- Ability
to engage with high ranking UNDP Managers, Government Officials and
international donor community and provide policy advisory support
services
- Ability to identity opportunities, conceptualize and develop project reports
- Ability to implement new systems and affect staff behavioural/attitude change
- Ability to undertake result based management and reporting
Management and Leadership:
- Demonstrates capacity to plan, priorities and deliver task on time to meet goals in a highly pressured environment;
- Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
- Ability to work flexibly at the senior and strategic level as well as provide practical support at the operational level;
- Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
- Demonstrated
ability to work in a team and communicate in a multi-cultural
environment, and adaptability to respond flexibly to country needs and
generate innovate, practical solutions to challenging situations;
- Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills
- Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
- Demonstrates coaching and mentoring ability.
- Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
- Demonstrates strong administrative skills and result oriented approach to work
- Provides inspiration and leadership to project staff as well as all the partners.
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Required Skills and Experience
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Education:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in
Economics, Business Administration, Public Administration, Political
Science, Social Science or related fields.
Experience:
- Minimum
seven years of experience in field of development or humanitarian aid
coordination, national budgets, finance or public administration, good
governance, information management at national and/or international
level;
- Extensive experience at the national or
international level in providing policy advisory services on aid
coordination and management, including aid tracking, collective dialogue
mechanisms, and aid modalities;
- Hands-on experience in
design, monitoring and overseeing implementation of support to building
national capacity for aid coordination and establishing
inter-relationships.
- Relevant work experience in developing countries, preferably in the region, would be an asset;
- Knowledge
of ongoing aid effectiveness initiatives, as well as administration and
resource management reforms in Bangladesh would be an advantage;
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills;
- Strong analytical and organizational skills;
Language Requirements:
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Click here for important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders).
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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.
To apply for this position please click here
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