National Consultant on Development Finance Assessment for South Sudan

Contract

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Background

South Sudan has been implementing a National Development Strategy (NDS) which was formulated and launched in 2018. The formulation of the NDS was a requirement in the Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) signed in 2015. The NDS is the first national planning document providing strategic guidance since the South Sudan Development Plan (SSDP) expired in 2016, following a three-year extension. The NDS was formulated in a very challenging country context of conflict, humanitarian crisis and economic downturn.

The operationalization of the NDS has been challenged by the lack of a results framework and lack of sector alignment to the NDS. Another major challenge for the operationalization was the lack of financing strategies for the NDS. Domestic resource mobilization has been poor, with a weak economy resulting in significant budget deficits. External financing has contributed immensely to humanitarian and relief efforts. South Sudan receives significant amounts of foreign aid. According to World Bank Data, Net ODA to South Sudan as of 2015, received as a percentage of GNI was 15.28%; as a percentage of gross capital formation, it was 243 % in 2015 and in 2018, Net ODA received per capita (current US$) was 144 USD in 2018. However, information on the alignment of resources to the NDS at the activity level has not been forthcoming from stakeholders (development partners, civil society and private sector actors).

The Revitalized Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed in October 2018, mandates a range of security sector, political and economic reforms and outlines a three-year transition period culminating in national elections. It was decided that the NDS should be reviewed to align to the R-ARCSS, to ensure policy coherence during the transitional period. This ongoing revision process is based on an updated fragility assessment for South Sudan and country-wide stakeholder’s consultations, and it provides an opportunity to being a dialogue in South Sudan about aligning financing to achieve goals.

While the NDS aligns with the SDGs, there is no Integrated National Financing Framework to guide national financing towards achieving the SDGs. Worse still, there is no financing strategy to support resource mobilization for the execution of the NDS. The country relies heavily on oil revenue for her development and social agenda (>90% oil revenue). At subnational level there are currently no updated SDSs, Sector Plans or ministry-level plans aligned with the NDS and SDGs . This has resulted in low budget allocations to sustainable development-oriented sectors in 2019/20: Ministry of Health (1%), Ministry of Education (5%) and Social and Humanitarian Affairs (2%).

Most NDS 2018–2021 goals and targets were not achieved due to the civil war and economic and governance crisis in the country. Through complementary support from the UN, the upcoming review of the NDS for the remaining transitional period will allow all stakeholders to contribute to the redevelopment of South Sudan, extend existing funding mechanisms and facilitate new innovative financing mechanisms, including international, domestic, public and private financing and focused on SDG delivery by: (1) aligning the NDS to the SDGs as well as develop an INFF inclusive of donors, IFIs, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector. (2) Investing in evidence-based decision making and increasing PFM transparency and private sector invesment; and (3) Supporting subnational MDAs to develop, finance and implement NDS- and SDG-aligned plans and strategies.

INFFs essentially seek to link National Development Strategies to finance streams, and therefore provide an important framework toward operationalization of the reviewed NDS of South Sudan. There are four main building blocks in an INFF, as illustrated in the figure below:

Incorporating a Development Finance Assessment (as the inception phase for an INFF) in the NDS review process

There is very little alignment and data available in South Sudan on financing streams for national development goals. The assessment and diagnostics components of the INFF framework provide important tools to address this challenge. It is important to note that beyond the quantitative data, the DFA and INFF process are aiming at identifying qualitative data and the encouragement of dialogue on financing aspects, which can lead to better transparency and accountability, engagement of citizens, and the identification of key efficiency related bottlenecks related to capacities and business process of existing institutions on both public and private financing.

Particularly the Development Finance Assessment (DFA), which methodology was developed by UNDP to support countries initial phase to roll-out an INFFs process, follows a unique country-level, government-led process of aggregation, analysis, dialogue and collaboration that helps countries determine ways forward to strengthen sustainable development financing , aligning planning and financing processes and bringing together public and private actors behind the SDG aligned NDS priorities.

The NDS review process will therefore include a Development Finance Assessment (DFA), which is a tool to help shape the inception phase in the process of operationalizing an Integrated National Financing Framework which will support the development of an INFF oriented Financing Strategy for the the NDS . The DFA offers a comprehensive analysis of the public and private financing outlook, financing policies and institutional structures, and opportunities to build a more integrated approach to financing.

A series of financing dialogues form the backbone of the DFA process. In the context of the South Sudanese NDS review, these dialogues will be integrated in the Sector Working Group discussions. Under the guidance of a government-led national oversight team the DFA brings together government officials from a broad range of finance and non-finance sectors, private sector (including chambers of commerce, commercial banks, etc) and other stakeholders to facilitate an inclusive dialogue and discussion on how to better align national and state level planning processes with the financing strategies, bring together the whole of society around the financing dialogue to operationalize a more integrated approach to financing through an INFF. The DFA helps identify bottlenecks or potential opportunities on issues related to budgetary processes, fiscal/tax/revenue related policies and processes, debt management and instrument solutions, investment promotion, private sector development, making use of ODA as leverage with other financing opportunities, etc. The DFA facilitates discussions on the challenges and opportunities across public and private financing and aims to build consensus on ways forward. The outcome of the DFA is an INFF Roadmap which lays out the steps that will be taken subsequently to operationalize an INFF in the South Sudanese context.

To ensure inclusivity, a participatory approach will be adapted for the NDS review. Cluster consultations and Sector Working Groups (SWGs) engagements will be conducted to facilitate and enable contributions from central and decentralized institutions representing development stakeholders (public, non-public, national and international), local population, civil society and political parties. It is also an opportunity to align State level planning processes with the national level.

The review will also reflect current developments ongoing as part of the response to the COVID 19 pandemic. These include renewed momentum on Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms, assessment of capacities to implement the R-ARCSS and discussions on strengthening partnerships and development cooperation.

The importance of incorporating financing aspects into the NDS review process is reflected by the objectives of the NDS review:

• undertake a comprehensive assessment of the NDS document as to its efficiency and effectiveness in providing strategic guidance for development stakeholders (government, civil society, development partners, private sector) and alignment to key national policy frameworks.
• undertake an inclusive planning process leading to a revision of the NDS that ensures national ownership.
• Incorporate current prevailing socio-economic context in the NDS.
• Strengthen the development financing landscape of South Sudan by including a chapter on financing of the NDS and lay the foundation for an Integrated National Financing Framework through a Development Financing Assessment.

Overview of the Development Finance Assessment (DFA) process

The Development Finance Assessment (DFA) is a tool to help countries shape the inception phase in the process of operationalising an Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) which will support financing for building back better. The DFA offers a comprehensive analysis of the public and private financing outlook, financing policies and institutional structures, and opportunities to build a more integrated approach to financing. It is a tool designed to aggregate analysis and build collaboration among actors. Alongside the new analysis that it undertakes, the DFA draws together information from a wide range of sources and assessments that focus on particular finance flows or policy areas, including quantitative and qualitative data and other proxy indicators, as available.

A series of financing dialogues form the backbone of the DFA process. Under the guidance of a government-led national oversight committee, the DFA brings together government officials, private sector and other stakeholders to facilitate discussion on how to operationalise a more integrated approach to financing development priorities through an INFF. The DFA facilitates discussions on the challenges and opportunities across public and private financing and aims to build consensus on ways forward.

The outcome of the DFA is an INFF Roadmap which lays out the steps that will be taken subsequently to operationalise an INFF. The INFF Roadmap will be developed under the leadership of the oversight committee and capture the steps agreed through the DFA process about how each of the INFF building blocks will be brought together and operationalized within the context of South Sudan.

In this way the DFA can shape the inception phase of the process of operationalising an INFF in South Sudan to support sustainable socio-economic recovery and development.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

Under the supervision of the Lead INFF expert, and working with the UNDP South Sudan country office, the national expert will support the Development Finance Assessment process, analysis and dialogue leading to the articulation and agreement of an INFF Roadmap for South Sudan.

The National expert is responsible for collecting data, policy documents and analysis and for liaising with government officials and other national stakeholders. They will support the Lead expert in completing the process of analysis, consultation, and dialogue throughout the DFA in accordance with the approach outlined in the DFA Guidebook.

This INFF process shall be in two parts – one that identifies the financing needs of costs the NDS and the other driving the financing needs and strategy for the SDGs in the country. Both parts will be included as a chapter in the NDS. The second part will tackle the financing constraints identified in the DFA process.

A costing exercise that would provide the overall picture of financing needs of the NDS;

A DFA process which analyses the INFF building blocks for the country;

Undertaking financing strategy, including financing needs and policies for the NDS and for implementation of the SDGs.

In detail, this would involve the roll-out of a DFA process, which will provide an overarching direction for the INFF roadmap encompassing and providing basis for the SDG Financing Strategy. Thus, the DFA process would lead to an INFF roadmap including key areas of work such as budgeting, taxation, etc. and the development of the financing strategy to include both public and private financing policies such as debt, development cooperation, PPP, investment, etc.

In parallel to costing the NDS and to undertaking a DFA, the financing for the SDGs in South Sudan will also include supporting capacity building issues especially targeted work on budgeting, which would be the entry point where planning and financing process could be integrated into. Therefore, the overall SDG Budgeting process shall include the development of manuals, trainings connected with citizen budget, SDG coding through budget, etc., and Gender Responsive Budgeting. All these are part of the INFF Roadmap and shall take some cascading approach to the subnational level to include State level planning.

The responsibilities of the National expert will include but is not limited to the following activities through each phase of the DFA:

Costing exercise;

• Work jointly with sector experts, researchers, data analysts and statistical staff to identify and validate costing estimates of the SDG Mainstreamed NDS using the selected costing methodologies and approaches.

DFA initial analysis and consultation phase

• Engage with government officials and other national stakeholders to collect relevant data, policy documentation and analysis to inform the DFA analysis;
• Support the Lead expert to undertake analysis of the financing context and outlook, and of existing structures, ongoing reforms, and opportunities to strengthen financing policies and institutional structures in relation to the building blocks of an INFF;
• Support the Lead expert and country office to plan missions, consultations and Financing Dialogues as needed, including arranging logistics and reaching out to stakeholders;
• Support, and lead where necessary, consultations with stakeholders across the financing landscape to; collect data, information; and analysis; engage stakeholders in the DFA process and share; socialize and refine initial emerging findings and ideas for recommendations to be developed;
• Support technical discussions in the initial Financing Dialogue.

Facilitating Financing Dialogue toward the INFF Roadmap

• Support ongoing analysis as priorities are identified and potential recommendations identified;
• Support Lead expert to prepare first draft DFA report;
• Support Lead expert to conduct technical discussions through a series of Financing Dialogues;
• Support dedicated working groups as needed.

Articulating and agreeing the INFF Roadmap

• Support Lead expert to draft the INFF Roadmap;
• Support Lead expert working with relevant stakeholders to refine and develop actionable recommendations;
• Support process of finalizing the INFF Roadmap as needed.

Expected deliverables:

This INFF process shall be in two parts – one that identifies the financing needs of costs the NDS and the other driving the financing needs and strategy for the SDGs in the country. The first part will not go beyond May 2021 so that it can be incorporated into the NDS document. The other part shall not go beyond October 2021.

Deliverables:

(Indicate designation of person who will review output and confirm acceptance)

• Initial data collection and analysis, bilateral consultations and first financing dialogue
• Series of financing dialogues
• First draft INFF Roadmap and DFA report
• INFF Roadmap and DFA report approved

Competencies

Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity.
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Self-development, initiative-taking.
• Acting as a team player and facilitating teamwork.
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control.
• Managing conflict.
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.
• Informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification:

• Master’s degree in economics, public finance, or other relevant area.

Professional Experience:

• At least 5-7 years of experience in the fields of finance, public financial management, private sector development or budgeting and planning. Previous experience with a development partner or government is a very strong advantage;
• Research experience in areas of public or private financing policy for sustainable development is required;
• Good knowledge of data collection and analysis is essential;
• Good knowledge of sustainable development financing issues in South Sudan;
• Good knowledge of South Sudan government systems and processes, particularly in relation to the budget, private finance policies, planning processes and their integration;
• Ability to conduct interviews with government and key stakeholders.

Language requirement:

• Proficiency in English (written and spoken) is required.

Terms of Payment:

The consultant will be paid on a lump sum basis subject at completion of agreed tasks as follows:

• Submission of synopsis/inception report (10%)
• Draft initial DFA report (40%)
• Final Draft DFA report and INFF roadmap (50%)

Selection Criteria:

• Educational Qualifications (10 Marks)
• Professional Qualifications and Certifications (10 Marks)
• Proven and experience/satisfactorily implementation of similar assignment in the past (50 Marks)

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial Evaluation - Total 30% (30 points).

Institutional arrangement:

The National expert will work under the close guidance of the Lead expert and the UNDP Country Office in South Sudan throughout the assignment period.

Duration of the work:

The expected duration of this assignment is [60 days] with a start date of 25th February 2021 and planned to be completed by end May 2021. The timeframe and expected deliverables are shown in the table under section D above.

Duty station:

The selected consultant will be based in South Sudan.