SRO-EA South Sudan AfCFTA Strategy development: Lead Consultant at United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA): (Deadline 18 October 2021)

RESULT OF SERVICEUltimate Result
The ultimate result of the intervention is to better position the South Sudanese Government and private sector actors to effectively implement and take advantage of the AfCFTA. Specifically, the senior consultant will have to ensure satisfactory completion of identified tasks to obtain the following products and results:a) A South Sudan national AfCFTA strategy developed including an action plan for its operationalization;

b) The final document of the South Sudan national AfCFTA strategy and action plan.

WORK LOCATIONHome Based and Juba

 

EXPECTED DURATIONThe consultant will be recruited for a period of 3 months, spread between October 2021 and January 2022. The consultant will be paid $25 000 in total, allocated according to the following product submission timetable:
– 30% after submission of a plan for the consultative process; a report of the results of the initial phases of implementation of the consultative process (at least one consultative workshop held to launch officially the elaboration of the strategy; some meetings held with high officials from public and private sector and CSOs) and a detailed outline for the AfCFTA document;

– 40% after the presentation of the draft AfCFTA Strategy document;

– 30% after the receipt of the revised and final South Sudan AfCFTA Strategy document and organization of the capacity building activity

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESBackground

The agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in Kigali, Rwanda, on 21 March 2018 is a key milestone in Africa’s integration agenda. The Agreement includes the Protocol on Trade in Goods, the protocol on Trade in Services and the Protocol on Rules and Procedures for Settlement of Disputes.

The AfCFTA is expected to be a key engine of economic growth, industrialization, and sustainable development in Africa in line with the 2030 Agenda adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 for “The Africa We Want”.

For the AfCFTA to deliver the expected outcomes, priority actions are to be undertaken in the short to medium run. Firstly, the ratification of the AfCFTA is critical. Efforts to support Member States in consensus-building to secure the ratification of the Agreement should be accompanied by strengthening the AfCFTA marketplace through continental policies on competition, investment, and intellectual property rights. Secondly, there is a need to build on the political momentum behind the AfCFTA to support policy reforms that are aimed at implementing the Agreement. In this regard, it is critical for member States to undertake deliberate actions and deploy necessary efforts through effective and integrated AfCFTA national strategies with a view to maximize the benefits of the Agreement while minimizing potential induced adverse effects. The strategies will be complemented by an effective monitoring and evaluation framework that will track progress on the implementation of the Agreement. Similarly, they will be informed by regional commitments to economic integration and industrialization; as well as national policies and overarching strategies such as the National Strategy for Transformation and Vision 2035 and 2050, among others. South Sudan has signed the AfCFTA but is yet to ratify it. Ratification would mean access to larger markets for South Sudanese goods. It is likely to result in increased exports

As part of its role in providing technical assistance to member States, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is leading the implementation of a technical assistance project aiming to deepen Africa’s trade integration through effective implementation of the AfCFTA. A main component of the project is to support pilot African countries to develop AfCFTA National Strategies. These strategies are expected to identify where comparative advantages lie for diversification and priority value chains development to support economic diversification and maximize trade potential in the context of the Agreement. Cross cutting issues to be considered in the strategies include gender mainstreaming, environmental and climate change as well as technologies.

Trade liberalization policies will not achieve intended development goals if they are not designed and implemented in a gender sensitive manner. Trade liberalization have varied impacts on men and women due to the different economic and social positions occupied by men and women in the society. Developing a gender responsive approach is necessary to mitigate the negative impact of trade policies and to enhance the positive outcomes for women which in the end will enhance overall effectiveness of these policies.

To this end, the ECA will recruit a senior consultant to lead country-level activities and support implementation of the AfCFTA project in South Sudan. The consultant will specifically develop a national strategy and action plan for trade in Services under AfCFTA. He or she will also work in close collaboration with a national services trade consultant. The senior consultant will develop the goods trade strategy and coordinate the design of the and the development of the overall South Sudan AfCFTA strategy.

Objective
The objective of this intervention is to support South Sudan to develop an inclusive strategy and action plan for AfCFTA, focusing on the key sectors/ thematic areas, gender, MSMEs and youth among others.

Duties & Responsibilities
The senior consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Director of the ECA Sub regional Office for Eastern Africa and the direct supervision of the project officer or any assigned ECA staff. He or she is expected to work in close collaboration with various stakeholders at national, regional, and global levels involved in the project. The tasks to be performed by the Lead Consultant will be to coordinate the overall delivery of the National AfCFTA Strategy and have direct responsibility for developing the strategy components with regards to trade in goods.

The main task of the senior national consultant is to coordinate the development of the South Sudan AfCFTA Strategy and support the consultant working on the services trade strategy.
Specifically, he/she will be responsible for:

– Leading and developing a plan for the consultative process with the general public, private sector, government, and other relevant interest groups;
– Leading the drafting, revision and finalization of the AfCFTA strategy document and its related actionplan; this include incorporating all the revisions from ECA and other stakeholders;
– Coordinating the work of the team i.e. own work on trade in goods and work of the national consultant on services trade;
– Collaborating with the Consultant for Trade-in-Services and the appropriate Government institution on the national consultation fora for the development and validation of South Sudan’s AfCFTA National goods trade Strategy, working closely with all the stakeholders involved in the project including government officials, the private sector, women entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and the academia.
– Assisting South Sudan in establishing National Non-Tariff Barrier (NTB) Focal Points and National Non-Tariff Barriers (NTB) Monitoring Committees to report, monitor and resolve NTB as stipulated in AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Goods, Annex 5 on NTBs.
– Collecting all laws and regulations that contain Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) (in electronic copy) and categorize the documents by name, data of issuing, issuing institution and a few additional information on the law and regulation according to the agreed methodology.
– Collecting and integrating gender disaggregated data and key relevant gender indicators in the context of the current assignment;
– Ensuring coordination of the project activities at country levels and contribute to organizing national consultations for the AfCFTA National Strategies, working closely with all the stakeholders involved in the project including government officials, the private sector in particular, women entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and the academia;
– Ensuring quality and timely delivery of the project outputs at national levels;
– In close collaboration with ECA, Organizing and facilitating all workshops and meetings that will be retained as part of the consultative process that will underpin the formulation of the strategy; This includes preparing workshops agendas, proposing lists of participants; securing panelists, preparing or securing power point presentations, and contribute to presentations and Q&A during these events;
– Organizing a launch event for the validation workshop for South Sudan AfCFTA strategy, as well as some targeted conversations with specific stakeholders. Liaison with high level officials;
– Submitting all products and results to the ECA’s assessment and for transmission to the government;
– Build capacity of relevant public and other stakeholders to understand the reforms to be implemented under the AfCFTA while supporting national policy makers start implementing the Agreement; and
– Perform any other tasks entrusted to him/her as part of the study and related consultations, by the ECA.

QUALIFICATIONS/SPECIAL SKILLS

Academic Qualifications: The consultant should possess an advanced degree in economics, international development or any other relevant subject.
Experience: He/she should have a minimum of experience of at least 10 years working on trade and international development-related issues.
The consultant should have experience with leading teams.
Extensive knowledge of policymaking in the South Sudan economy is an advantage.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required.

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.

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