Result of Service

This consultancy is expected to result in a paper presenting a strategic plan for building analysis and assessment capacities for development-oriented public policies in the Arab region. The deliverable will serve as a foundation for the formulation of an ESCWA policy initiative on the subject. The paper will be in English and should be 30-40 pages in length to be submitted electronically as an MS Word file.

Work Location

Remote

Expected duration

4 months

Duties and Responsibilities

Background: ESCWA’s Arab Sustainable Development Report 2024 (ASDR 2024) maps policy directions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 22 Arab countries. The Report highlighted the prevalence of a weak or broken policymaking cycle in most Arab countries as one of the main structural impediments to SDG progress in the region. The report makes the following observations across policy areas: – Policies remain largely ineffective despite growing attention and in some cases funding, leading to serious questions regarding policy design and implementation. – Policies continue to be blind to vulnerable groups, inadvertently pushing people behind – Policies are often incoherent and fragmented, with weak coordination among different government entities, leading to high inefficiency and poor investment performance. – Policies are rarely science-informed or based on disaggregated data. – A lack of strategic foresight and greater policy focus on the short term are weakening inter-generational justice, especially in the economic and social spheres Achieving the SDGs requires inclusive, integrated and transformative policymaking. Yet, many government institutions in Arab countries struggle with capacity and skill gaps in designing, implementing, and evaluating policies that would advance the SDGs. And despite sometimes significant investments in policy areas and/or the launch of ambitious legislative frameworks and strategies, the impact on the ground continues to be less than desired. In view of the above, ESCWA is planning to launch a policy initiative to address critical capacity and skill gaps in policy analysis and assessment among public officials for improved policymaking in Arab countries and to accelerate SDG achievement. To build and implement a relevant, efficient, impactful and sustainable policy initiative, the following questions need to be answered: – What is an enabling ecology for development policies given existing challenges in the region and the identified gaps as outlined in ASDR 2024? – What are the desired stakeholder relations, hierarchies, and checks and balances for effective public policy assessment in the region? What effective models of governance and accountability can help achieve them? – What SDGs policy areas are ripe for testing public policy assessment tools and techniques? – What low-cost frameworks could be used in public policy analysis and assessment in the region that best integrate SDG principles such as “leaving no one behind” and “inter-generational equity”? – What resources and organizations exist that ESCWA could capitalize upon through partnerships in building regional policy analysis and assessment capacities? – How to create and sustain regional demand for policy assessment? How to establish a culture of policy evaluation in public institutions in the region? – What are the key factors that could contribute to the success and sustainability of a regional policy assessment training programme? ESCWA will set up an advisory board to guide this work long-term, addressing broader elements relating to the SDG progress and the post-2030 outlook. This advisory board will also frame the work to be undertaken in the course of this consultancy. Objective: The objective of this consultancy is to support ESCWA in answering the above questions and designing a policy initiative for the Arab region to address enabling elements as well as needed capacities. The consultant will work closely with the ESCWA team and in reference to the discussions of the advisory board. Duties and responsibilities: The consultant will work closely with the Cluster Leader of the 2030 Agenda and SDG Coordination Cluster and/or delegated staff. Coordination and follow-up with the consultant will be done through e-mails, phone calls and virtual meetings. The consultant will be required to provide updates on progress and submit phased deliverables, as per the agreed timeline. The consultant will be responsible for developing a strategic plan for the policy initiative as outlined above. On the basis of consultations and research, the consultant will identify opportunities for enhancing public policies including through analysis and assessment. S/he will outline clear objectives and concrete strategies to bridge the gap between the current and desired capacities among public officials. The consultant will also include examples of good practices from the Arab region or globally to support their recommendations. Specifically, the Consultant will: 1. Participate actively and facilitate discussions with the advisory board on SDG policies to inform the draft plans for the policy initiative described above. 2. Prepare background notes, and design questions and agenda items for the discussions of the advisory board, which could tackle issues including: a. A flexible taxonomy of policies that would assist in orienting ESCWA’s work going forward b. Elements to be considered including stakeholder relations, hierarchies, and checks and balances c. Model frameworks for policy analysis and evaluation 3. Synthesize advisory board discussions, and accordingly propose a data collection methodology, to be agreed with ESCWA, which may include surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions with government and non-government representatives, to be undertaken remotely (online). 4. Undertake data collection as per the agreed methodology. 5. Discuss the evidence and proposals collected through the above steps with the advisory board, and consolidate into a strategic plan that ESCWA and its partners could apply for building analysis and assessment capacities for development-oriented public policies in the Arab region.

Qualifications/special skills

Master”s degree in public policy, economics, social development, or a related field is required. All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience and research in public policy formulation, implementation and analysis in the Arab region is required.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA. For this consultancy, fluency in English and Arabic are required. Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

Additional Information

Not available.

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.