Background

The Constitution of Nepal turned Nepal into a federal state with three levels of government with the intent of transforming the country from a centralized unitary state into a federal country and to ensure economic equality, prosperity and social justice. The Constitution marks a fundamental paradigm shift in the system, structure and functioning of sub-national governance in Nepal and requires massive reorientation of the institutions, systems, work cultures and styles of functioning.

The Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP) is the national flagship programme of the Government of Nepal (GoN) to build institutional, organizational and individual capacity at all levels of government, with special focus on the provincial and local levels. The ultimate goal of the Programme is to attain functional, sustainable, inclusive and accountable provincial and local governance. The Programme aims to contribute to delivery of quality services at provincial and local levels, promote better local infrastructure and enhance economic prosperity. The Programme will achieve 14 outputs under the following three outcomes:

• Government institutions and inter-governmental mechanisms at all levels are fully functioning in support of federal governance as per the Constitution;
• Provincial and local governments have efficient, effective, inclusive and accountable institutions; and
• Elected representatives and civil servants at provincial and local governments have the capacity and serve citizens to their satisfaction.

The PLGSP serves as an umbrella programme of the Government in providing capacity development support to the provincial and local governments. As such, the Programme will establish a common framework for coordination and coherence of all governance-related programmes at the provincial and local levels and accommodate other donor-funded programmes.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) is the executive agency of the Programme. The seven provincial governments, the 753 local governments, the restructured Local Development Training Academy (LDTA) and seven provincial-level training centres (Provincial Centres for Good Governance) are the implementing agencies of the Programme. The Programme is supported by international development partners, namely, the Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), the Government of Norway, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations.

MOFAGA is partnering with UNDP to receive Technical Assistance (TA) for the implementation of the Programme. As the first step, a key priority of the TA is recruitment of TA personnel, their capacity building and knowledge enhancement, including orientation and continuous backstopping support in coordination with the Programme Management so that they deliver on the intended outputs.

The Province governments have a major role in facilitating and implementing the Programme for the benefit of both province and local governments. All province governments signed up to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MOFAGA in order to be part of the programme implementation. The governance body of the Programme at the provincial level is the Programme Coordination Committee (PCC), which is headed by the Chief Minister. To support the province governments in the implementation of the Programme, a Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) will be established in the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers (OCMCM). The Programme also envisages that each province government will establish a provincial-level training center (Provincial Center for Good Governance PCGG) to cater to the training and capacity building needs of the province and local governments in the respective province.

Against this background, a number of TA personnel will be deployed by the Programme to support the PPIUs in discharging their roles. This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes functions, responsibilities and expected results of the Monitoring and Reporting Expert of the PPIU, as well as qualifications/experience, competencies and selection criteria required of the incumbent.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall responsibilities of the assignment are to:

1. Lead and coordinate the monitoring and reporting of PLGSP activities (Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) and Provincial Center for Good Governance (PCGG) at the provincial and local level;
2. Provide guidance and support to all PLGSP Technical Assistance personnel in the Province on monitoring and reporting;
3. Contribute to the achievement of PLGSP outputs;
4. Ensure Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) -related results are well captured and mainstreamed in monitoring and reporting efforts; and
5. Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities, including the Local Governance Expert cum Team Leader in the PPIU.

1. Lead and coordinate the monitoring and reporting of PLGSP activities (Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) and Provincial Center for Good Governance (PCGG) at the provincial and local level:

• Lead the preparation and updates of the PPIU Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework of the Programme, including indicators, baselines, Means of Verification, and targets;
• Contribute to the preparation of the Annual Strategic Implementation Plan (ASIP) and trimester workplan, all based on the ProDoc and guidelines provided by the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU);
• Lead and coordinate all regular monitoring and reporting efforts of the PPIU, in close collaboration with all PPIU Technical Assistance Personnel;
• Facilitate regular field monitoring visits to Programme areas, in close collaboration with other Technical Assistance Project (TAP) personnel at PPIU and PCGG, to conduct qualitative and quantitative assessments of the implementation status; and
• Lead the preparation and finalisation of consolidated (PPIU and PCGG) quarterly and annual progress reports to be shared with the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU);
• Prepare and update risks/issues and challenges related to monitoring and reporting of the implementation of the ASIP;
• Support the Admin and Finance Assistant to regularly monitor PPIU budget implementation; and
• Support the PCU, PPIU and external partners in PLGSP mid-term reviews and evaluations.

2. Provide guidance and support to all PLGSP Technical Assistance (TA) personnel (PPIU and PCGG) in the province on monitoring and reporting:

• Coordinate with PCGG experts to support all stakeholders implementing activities at the provincial and local level in ensuring collection and analysis of data and information from all relevant activities;
• Regularly update all technical specialists and experts of the PPIU and PCGG on progress towards programme implementation in the province and any issues with regard to monitoring and reporting; and
• Ensure that all technical specialists and experts of the PPIU and PCGG are provided with PLGSP progress reports and documents, including good practices, lessons learned and knowledge generated through monitoring and reporting efforts.

3. Contribute to the achievement of PLGSP outputs:

• Provide support to the Innovation and Partnership Expert in the achievement of output 12: Innovation and Partnership Fund is operational and transparently supporting the local governments;
• Identify capacity development needs and support development and implementation of capacity development activities for Provincial and Local Governments on monitoring, reporting and data collection; and
• Contribute to the development tools related to monitoring, reporting and data collection for the realization of the outputs four, five, six and seven of the Programme.

4. Ensure Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) – related results are well captured and mainstreamed in monitoring and reporting:

• Support the development and implementation of GESI Audits with Provincial and Local Governments;
• Ensure that GESI is well captured and mainstreamed in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Frameworks of the PPIU; and
• Coordinate with the GESI Specialist (PCU) and GESI Expert (PCGG) to ensure that the GESI-related results are well captured in all monitoring and reporting efforts.

Impact of Results:

• Robust reporting system is in place and reports are prepared timely with qualitative manner;
• Programme results and achievements are well monitored, reported, documented and disseminated.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Government of Nepal (GoN) and UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of GoN and UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Good inter-personal skills;
• Clear and upfront communication skills;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
• Organized and good with following-up on pending issues; meets deadlines;
• Promote learning and knowledge management/sharing;
• Focuses on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem-solving approach; and
• Fair and transparent decision making; regularly shares information with team members.

Functional Competencies:

• Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development on personal level as well as for supervisees;
• Good practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
• Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand the range of projects;
• Demonstrates strong numerical and analytical skills;
• Has experience working with Monitoring and Evaluation tools;
• Experience in developing business plans for financial institutions including energy enterprises;
  Experience in coordination, technical assistance and advisory support top government and private institutions;
• Experienced in delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders including financial institutions;
• Demonstrates excellent organizational and administrative skills;
• Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating GoN and UNDP’s mandate;
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
• Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to GoN and UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda;
• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work; and
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Economics, Management and Administration, Statistics or any other social disciplines.

Experience:

• At least five years of experience in development and governance and in the area of monitoring and reporting of international development initiatives;
• Experience of monitoring and reporting within the GoN, UN system and/or international development partners is a considerable advantage;
• Sound understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their implications to the local governance;
• Proven experience of institutional capacity development related to monitoring and reporting, preferably with sub-national governments or with other well recognized national institutions and/or international agencies;
• Demonstrated skills of coordinating with different stakeholders and facilitating discussions;
• Demonstrated strong written and presentation skills for preparing quality reports, briefs, and other knowledge products;
• Good knowledge of computer applications especially MS Office;
• Good understanding of other applications for data management and project monitoring.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English and Nepali, both written and oral, at professional level are essential;
• Knowledge of local languages will be an added advantage