Lead Consultant Northern Corridor Strategic Plan at United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA): (Deadline 19 Jul 2021)

RESULT OF SERVICE

Draft Strategic Plan 2022-2026

WORK LOCATIONRwanda

EXPECTED DURATION6 months

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESBACKGROUND

The Northern Corridor is the transport system linking the Member States of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda, to the maritime port of Mombasa. The Corridor also serves Northern Tanzania, Somalia, and Ethiopia.To facilitate the movement of transit cargo from the Port of Mombasa toward the hinterland, the Member States of Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda signed a revised multilateral treaty in 2007; otherwise known as the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement (NCTTA). The objective of NCTTA is to promote the use of the Northern Corridor as the most efficient way for land transport between respective countries and the sea; and to offer the right of transit to the signatory countries to facilitate the movement of goods through respective territories and to provide all the necessary transit traffic facilities between them, in line with the provisions of the Agreement.

The last three generations of strategic plans have enabled the Secretariat to pick key lessons that have been applied in enhancing its operational efficiency and to provide better support to the Member States in bringing to life the spirit of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement. The focus of the Strategic Plan 2017-2021, for instance, is to see more involvement of the private sector in the implementation of infrastructure projects and the transformation of the Northern Corridor into a Green Corridor and increased operational efficiencies.

The Northern Corridor Strategic Plan 2017-2021 is in its fourth year of execution. With the assistance of the Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa (SRO-EA) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the overall purpose of this consultancy, therefore, is to assess the level of efficiency and implementation of the current five-year Plan, which will provide the necessary information on key achievements, challenges, opportunities, lessons learnt and make practical recommendations for the development of the successor Strategic Plan 2022-2026.

RESPONSIBILITIES

This consultancy is located in the SRO-EA. Under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager, and working closely with the Northern Corridor Secretariat, the Lead Consultant will:

– Review the Strategic Plan 2017-2021 and to define its appropriate evaluation criteria;
– Analyze the level of realization of activities for every program level, and at the Secretariat level, with the help of selected indicators and the logical framework of the Strategic Plan;
– Make a multi-criteria analysis of the realization of the plan, and present the evaluation report for the Strategic Plan 2017-2021;
– Develop and present the successor Strategic Plan 2022-2026;
– Present the final report at a workshop which will be organized by the Northern Corridor Secretariat.

QUALIFICATIONS/SPECIAL SKILLS

Competency: Professionalism: Sound knowledge on Africa regional development and strategy formulation as they relate to policy formulation, design of development strategies, capacity building, knowledge generation and sharing, awareness raising, and consensus building; strong analytical and policy development skills; ability to guide the development of normative work and the production of reports and papers on sustainable policy and planning both at national and regional levels; capacity to design adequate responses and advise different constituencies on development policy and planning.

Planning and organizing: Proven ability to plan and organize work, coordinate inputs from a wide variety of sources and synthesize them in well articulated outputs; identify priority activities and plan accordingly; monitor and adjust plans as required.

Communication: Sound communication skills, both oral and written; speaks and writes clearly and effectively; shows interest in a two ways communication scheme; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Teamwork: Excellent interpersonal skills; proven ability to work in collaboration with other colleagues to achieve common goals; proven ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment, with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Client awareness: Demonstrated ability to understand clients’ needs and articulate adequate and innovative responses to their needs. Capacity to anticipate and propose relevant responses to address challenges.
Academic Qualifications: The lead consultant must have an advanced relevant degree in Economics, Strategy, Business, Transport, Engineering or related field.
Experience: Relevant work experience of at least ten (10) years in the field of development, planing, management, evaluation and formulation of Strategic Plans. Sufficient knowledge of the Northern Corridor region is necessary for this post. In addition, experience in working in Africa will be an added advantage.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, the preferred language is English.