Uganda National Planning Authority Career Opportunities: Request for Applications for Short Term Consultancy Services

Background

The National Planning Authority (NPA) was created by the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, Article 115, 1995, and operationalized by the Parliamentary Act 15, 2002.

The Authority is mandated to develop, monitor and evaluate national development plans, elaborated in terms of the perspective vision and the long term and medium term plans.

The Authority has received support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to undertake a study and produce a framework to guide the design and implementation of its own monitoring and evaluation system.

To this end, the Authority requires services of a team leader and four (4) local consultants to carry out the necessary studies and produce the framework.

The overall objective of the consultancy is to study the existing planning and monitoring environments, including the best practices, and produce a comprehensive costed framework necessary for designing and implementing NPA's monitoring and evaluation system.

The framework should also outline the capacity requirements of the Authority to enable it carry out its functions as Secretariat for overall oversight of the proposed National Vision Framework and the National Development Plan (NDP).

Specific Objectives

1. To produce a costed comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework to guide the design and implementation of the NPA monitoring and evaluation system..
2. To develop an Action Plan for implementation of the framework

Terms of Reference for the Team Leader

The following are the specific terms of reference for the team leader:

• Prepare an inception report, with work-plan, on the assignment for approval by the Authority;
• To have overall responsibility for delivery and presentation of outputs of the assignment i.e the Monitoring and Evaluation Report (Framework);
• To lead the team of four (4) local Consultants and assign them work in the areas of Systems Analysis, Development Economics, Public Sector Management and Statistics, respectively, for achievement of the objectives and outputs of the assignment;
• Take lead on technical tasks, including undertaking systems analysis, designing mechanisms and technical solutions, and preparing the implementation plan for the proposed framework and system;
• Coordinate and lead the team for consultation meetings with stakeholders; and
• Prepare and present bi-weekly progress reports to the Authority.

Person Specifications for the Team leader:

The team leader should have at least a Masters Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, with demonstrated national level experience of at least five years in designing monitoring and evaluation frameworks.

He/she should have best practices knowledge and experience of M&E frameworks and systems.

Additional person requirement of the team leader:

The Consultant should have excellent skills in policy review and formulation.

The Consultant should have strong skills in monitoring and evaluation programming and project implementation.

Knowledge and practical experience in development policies and processes such as National Development Plans (NDPs), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) plans and the Mellenium Development Goals (MDGs), will be of added advantage.

Remuneration:

• The Team Leader's payment shall be based on the financial proposal developed for this consultancy;
• Payment shall be made in three installments of 20%, 30% and 50%, respectively;
• The initial payment will be made upon submission of an inception report acceptable to the Authority. This will be made in five days w.e.f signing the Contract;
• The second payment will be effected upon submission of an acceptable draft report and Action Plan;
• The final payment will be made upon submission of all final outputs, incorporating suggestions and recommendations from the Authority and/or the validation workshops;
• One return ticket will be provided to the team leader;
• Office space and logistics and land transport will also be provided.

Outputs for the team leader:

The following are the specific outputs of the assignment:

1. A framework comprising, among others, a ready for implementation (programming) costed technical option/solution (10 well packaged soft and hard copy) ii) An Action Plan for establishing the monitoring and evaluation system for the National Planning Authority (10 well packaged soft and hard copy)
2. Process report containing reports and minutes on stakeholder participatory consultations and/or workshops (10 well packaged soft and hard copies)

Timing and reporting:

• The duration of this consultant is estimated to be three months (1st Dec. 2009 to 28th Feb. 2010)
• The consultancy shall be responsible to the NPA Executive Director
• The day to day reporting and quality assurance will be to the Director for Research, Innovation, Monitoring and Evaluation
• Technical backstopping and quality assurance shall be the responsibility NPA Board, who will be responsible for approving the outputs

Person specifications and Terms of Reference for the four (4) Local Consultants

The four (4) support consultants required (sector specific specialists) should possess at least a Masters Degree and three years experience in Systems Analysis, Development Economics, Public Sector Management and Statistics.

Knowledge and practical experience in development policies and processes such as National Development Plans (NDPs), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the Mellenium Development Goals (MDGs), will be of added advantage

The person specifications for each of the four (4) support Consultants are given below:

(a) Systems Analyst

• The Systems Analyst should have at least a Masters Degree in Systems Analysis, with national level experience of at least three years in systems analysis.
  
• He/she should have best practices knowledge and experience of M&E frameworks and systems.
  
• The Consultant should have excellent computer programming skills.

(b) Development Economist

• The Development Economist should have at least a Masters Degree in Development Economics or Planning and Policy Analysis or Master of Science in Economics, with national level experience of at least three years in monitoring and evaluation.
  
• The Consultant should have best practices knowledge and experience of M&E frameworks and systems.

(c) Public Sector Management Specialist

• The Consultant should have at least a Masters Degree in Public Sector management, with national level experience of at least three years in Public Sector Management or a related field.
  
• He/she should have best practices knowledge and experience of M&E frameworks and systems.
  

d) Statistician

• The Statistician should have at least a Masters Degree in Statistics, with national level experience of at least three years in designing monitoring and evaluation frameworks and systems.
  
• The Statistician should have knowledge and work experience with non-state actors.
  
• The Consultant should also have best practices knowledge and experience of M&E frameworks and systems.
  
• Demonstrated experience in Computer programming will be of added advantage

Terms of Reference for the four (4) support Consultants

Each of the above four Consultants will be responsible for specific tasks and outputs to be assigned after approval of the team leader's inception report.

The overall tasks of the team of four (4) Consultants will include;

• Undertaking systems analysis of existing management information systems of key stakeholder institutions to inform the framework
• Defining alternative technical options and recommending a practical and cost effective solution within the framework
• Defining and costing the infrastructure requirements of the framework
• Providing an appropriate implementation schedule for various elements of the technical solution
• Preparing situation analysis reports on national development planning, public sector management and statistical require¬ments of the Authority and key stakeholder institutions to inform the design of the technical solution
• Guiding the technical discussions on systems analysis, development planning, public sector management, Statistics and related areas of the framework, respectively.
• Reviewing policies, legal and regulatory frameworks and pointing out strengths and weaknesses to inform the Frame¬work
• Undertaking review of the Authority's medium term data needs and preparing a report to inform preparation of the framework
• Organizing stakeholder consultation meetings and workshops
• Preparing a weekly work-plan and progress report
• Carrying out any other duties assigned by the team leader

Outputs of the four (4) Consultants

The following are the expected outputs from the support team of the four (4) Consultants:

1. Working papers (including situation analyses) on systems analysis, planning, public sector management and statistics to inform the framework ")
2. An Implementation Schedule for the proposed technical " solution
3. Jointly responsible for production of the monitoring and evaluation framework, a corresponding Action Plan and process reports and minutes,
4. Weekly work-plans and progress reports to the team leader

Timing and reporting of the four (4) Consultants :

• The duration of the consultancy is three months (1st Dec. 2009 to 28th Feb. 2010)
• The team of four (4) consultant will report to the Team leader but be responsible to the NPA,Executive Director

Remuneration for the four (4) Consultants

• Attractive package comparable with international rates for local Consultants
• The Consultant shall be based on a monthly based on monthly progress reports subject to approval by the Team leader;

Interested Candidates should apply to:

Executive Director
National Planning Authority
Crested Towers, Short Tower
P.O Box 21434, Kampala
Tel: +256-414-250214;

Email: np @ npa.ug:

Fax: +256-414-250213

Deadline for Submission of Applications: 19th November 2009