Update of the UN Suriname Common Country Analysis

Result of Service Objectives and specific tasks of the consultancy:

While the UN agencies will internally compile data to review and update the CCA, the external consultant will undertake the following specific tasks:

1. The consultant will collaborate with the United Nations Country Team/Programme Management Team (UNCT/PMT) to establish the format for the CCA update.

2. In conjunction with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Group, the consultant will update the country's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Snapshot, providing an overview of the country's progress and challenges.

3. The consultant will update the CCA 2020 Multi-Dimensional Risk Framework to offer the latest overview of the cross-cutting risks that the country faces leading up to 2030.

4. The consultant will deliver updates on the country's progress, challenges, opportunities, and gaps in the following thematic areas: economic context, monetary and fiscal policy, governance and institutional structure (including the rule of law), social policies, human capital development, environment, climate change, resilience, and natural resources.

5. Provide an update on the country's progress towards the inclusion of vulnerable groups, with a focus on leaving no one behind and promoting social inclusion.

6. With support from the RCO, the consultant will engage with relevant stakeholders to gather the necessary information for the update.

Work Location Working remotely

Expected duration 45 working days

Duties and Responsibilities The new generation Common Country Analysis (CCA) refers not only to a document/report, but rather to the ongoing analytical function of the United Nations system in programme countries. In 2020, the United Nations country team (UNCT) in Suriname conducted a Common Country Analysis as part of the MSDCF 2022-2026 development process; this informed the MSDCF theory of change, visioning exercises (interventions) and the development of the results framework.

The Common Country Analysis (CCA) is the UN system’s mandate-based independent, impartial, and collective integrated analysis that provides a holistic picture of the country context. It sets a baseline and direction for a strategic, human rights-based and risk-informed framework. Hence, it becomes a critical reference document for benchmarking and assessing the relevance of the cooperation framework at the country level during implementation and evaluation. To accurately report on progress against goals and targets, as well as to capture the UNCT contributions, the first priority of the CCA is to establish baselines across the SDG framework, to the extent possible.

The UN cooperation framework (MSDCF 2022 – 2026) requires the CCA to be kept light and regularly updated to track and reflect situational developments. There is therefore a need to embark on the process of reviewing and updating the CCA data informed by rigorous analysis to inform evidence-based programming.

Updating the CCA: The CCA will be updated to identify actual or anticipated shifts in national development landscape. It will serve to provide an updated, public analysis by the UN to stakeholders and partners, and also help the UN to identify course corrections that might be needed in the cooperation framework and its Theory of Change. The regularly updated analysis will also equip the UNCT to engage with government and other relevant stakeholders in debates, advocacy and decision-making about pathways towards achieving 2030 Agenda.

The UNCT updates the CCA to capture the key contextual changes – both actual and anticipated - which may have implications for programming in the next year(s). The UNCT will decide on when in the year such an update should take place to: (a) sufficiently capture the key actual and anticipated changes, (b) engage relevant stakeholders, (c) inform joint work plans, and (d) keep transaction costs low. However, when major changes happen in a country, for example when the COVID19 pandemic unfolded, the UNCT should proceed to update their CCA as soon as possible regardless of when the last update happened. The UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Suriname is recruiting a consultant to facilitate the CCA update for Suriname.

Scope of CCA update: Updating the CCA is premised on the fact that throughout each year of the programme cycle, changes that impact the development landscape happen or can be anticipated, including through additional data, analysis etc. becoming available. Updates spot and examine the key dynamic and emerging challenges, opportunities and risks vis-à-vis the country’s achievement of the SDGs, in order to anticipate and undertake meaningful changes to programming

The following areas for the review and update will include:

1. Significant changes in the country, cross-border, sub-regional or regional context: What are the significant changes in context (e.g. COVID-19 and its impacts, expected or unforeseen disasters, political shifts or crises, shifts in the financial landscape, population migrations, entrance of major development such actors / oil / mining countries) that may have implications on the country’s development pathway and regional collaborations across the development-humanitarian-peace nexus. This analysis should draw on that of other operational frameworks (i.e. the Universal Periodic Review)

2. New data or information that has become available which significantly changes the understanding of the country’s development context and the cooperation framework’s Theory of Change. Has Government or other major stakeholders (country, regional, global) released information on the country that makes the current CCA data and analysis outdated? If so, in which sectors / dimensions? Examples can include population census, national sector reports, global development reports, etc.

3. New legal, policy and regulatory changes: How do any new policy changes affect the country context through time, whether immediately, in the medium term (towards achieving Agenda 2030) or in the longer term? How does this impact those left behind or at risk of being left behind?

4. SDG Progress Analysis: Analyses whether additional gaps and challenges appeared and to what extent the risks to achieving the SDGs have changed during the update, what is their likelihood and impact.

5. Changes of multidimensional risks, opportunities and/or their interlinkages that a country is predisposed to: Analyze changes in previously identified risks, as well as newly emerging risks, and their interplay, likelihood and potential impact. Have risks materialized? What new risks and opportunities have emerged? What is their likelihood and potential impact on the country and particularly those left behind or at risk of being left behind? Are there human-made or natural events that has altered the country’s development context?

6. Leave No One Behind: What are the changes in types, number and conditions of vulnerable and marginalized groups left behind or at risk of being left behind since the last update?

Qualifications/special skills Advanced university degree (Master’s and equivalent) in development studies, economics, social sciences, international relations or any other related field;

At least 10 years’ experience is desired in conducting country / national level situational analysis, UN common country programming processes, some of which must be related to 2030 Agenda for sustainable development/SDGs; and SDG nationalization and reporting processes.

Previous experience of conducting UN Common Country Analysis is desirable;

Substantial proficiency is desired in the application of human rights, gender equality, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, results-based management, resilience, and capacity development in research; with excellent understanding of inclusive economic growth, decent work, development risks, hazards, vulnerabilities and challenges of upper-middle income countries, including those linked to climate change;

Experience in the discourse around UN development system reforms and related trainings/workshops of the UN System Staff College and other UN entities is desirable;

Ability to design and implement participatory, inclusive, and innovative methods and tools is desirable;

Ability to deliver a high-analytical report in a very short time and ability and work effectively and constructively.

Languages Excellent analytical writing and oral presentational English. Proficiency in Dutch (writing and oral) will be considered an asset.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.