Date of last update: 01/02/2023 2023-02-01
UNDP is the UN Development Programme and works in some 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. UNDP supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they help shape global sustainable development for the next 10 years.
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BACKGROUND
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Afghanistan is implementing an Area-based Approach for Development Emergency Initiatives Strategy, referred to ABADEI Strategy, to support basic human needs that will enable people and communities to withstand multiple shocks related to the August 15 power shift in the country. Afghanistan entered 2021 with great difficulties stemming from Covid, drought and security issues, and with a significant need for international development and humanitarian support, despite the considerable progress made in the development investments made in the last 20 years. Since the Taliban takeover in mid-august 2021, foreign aid has been reduced to minimum. With 40 percent of Afghanistan's GDP coming from foreign aid, the economy is now on brink of collapse. The government budget also relied heavily on international aid with its share in government revenues exceeding 50 percent in 2020. Despite strong international aid flows, the per capita income of Afghanistan was around 600 USD, and the poverty rate increased to more than 70 percent in 2020.
Afghanistan's economic, financial and institutional infrastructures, and its management and production capacities are on the verge of complete collapse. In addition to the decline in economic activity, problems in the banking system will further reduce MSMEs' probability of survival, which is critical for the Afghan economy.
UNDP, together with IICPSD and UNCDF, based on consultations with key stakeholders and partners has elaborated a comprehensive, sequential, and coordinated plan to assist the banking industry in Afghanistan to urgently preserve at least some part of the financial system. UNDP, IICPSD and UNCDF, in coordination with key partners aim to develop a comprehensive programme (i) to reduce the humanitarian cost of the crisis, (ii) to support the delivery of essential livelihoods and development activities, including under ABADEI and the UN Transitional Engagement Framework by keeping and improving the production capacity of the private sector, and (iii) to keep the financial infrastructure of the country afloat, which is vital for humanitarian and development efforts of the international community in the short-medium and long term. The programme will capitalize on the UNDP-UNCDF partnership framework.
Furthermore, under this assignment and together with IICPSD, the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) for Private Sector Development and Banking will support UNDP Country Office in supporting the development of the private sector and banking to lead the country's economic activities, development, and economic recovery. This activity includes managing different funding including revolving funds that extend support to the Women-led SMEs, Startups and Innovative SMEs, Export SMEs.
The CTA Holder will also be managing projects aiming to Support of Banking System, Central Bank and Microfinance Institutions and also conducting assessments on the complex financing structure in the country to identify new and innovative sources of financing for development to leverage the amounts coming from grants and other development sources. The CTA Holder will provide policy support to relevant financial entities on reforming and restructuring the financing ecosystem in Afghanistan to support financing national development plans. Furthermore, the CTA will work to establish an innovative partnership platform to bring together Financial Institutions, private sector, and a network of national and international investors to promote and finance SDGs in Afghanistan.
Position Purpose:
As CTA, the incumbent will provide overall technical support and advisory hand to UNDP initiatives with regard to the private sector development and support of financial institutions (FIs), including micro finance institutions (MFI). The incumbent will collaborate with IICPSD, UNCDF, IFIs (International Finance Institutions) and donors. He/she shall be responsible for various assessments on the functioning of market ecosystems in the country to identify the reform and policy gaps to build the resilient financing architecture in Afghanistan and ensure the compliance with the international sanctions imposed on Afghanistan's DFAs. The CTA will provide regular support to the UN Country Team in collaboration with IICPSD and UNCDF on informing, influencing, and building consensus on core issues related to the Banking System and Private Sector Support Portfolio;
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Advice the UNDP country office management and programme team to strengthen programme development and implementation:
Promote financial inclusion, private sector development and banking sector in Afghanistan:
Provision of technical advice to national counterparts and other partners, especially in support of the 2030 Agenda and the introduction of sustainable and inclusive economic policies:
Representation, advocacy, and partner engagement to support UNDP's institutional positioning and advance its mandate in Afghanistan:
Contribution to UNDP's work across the Asia-Pacific region, including analysis of priority regional thematic areas:
Core Competencies
People Management
UNDP People Management Competencies can be found on the dedicated site.
Cross-Functional & Technical competencies:
Business Direction & Strategy - Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP's objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions
Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
Business Management - Project Management : Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.
Programme & Policy - SDG Integration: Economy-wide analysis, Engagement with South-South Global Thinkers, Fostering bilateral and regional South-South partnerships for SDG implementation, Institutional and Context analysis, Micro simulations for poverty
Business Management – Communication: Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience
Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.
Inclusive growth -2030 Agenda: Prosperity: Economic Diversification, Economic Planning, Economic Transformation, Policy and Planning
Digital & Innovation - Innovation management: Being able to create the strategies, conditions, structures and systems to enable innovation at an organizational level. Ability to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity, is able manage projects-based principles of adaptation and emergence. Ability to shape demand for innovation services, navigate political constraints and make the case for allocation of resources to innovation, connect the appropriate innovation approaches based on business needs and make the case for innovation to be integrated at the planning level within their context. Having in-depth theoretical and experiential knowledge of innovation processes, methods, capabilities.
RECRUITMENT QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Experience
Language Requirements
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Type of contract: Staff (Temporary)
Duration: 1 year
Macro-area: Middle East and Northern Africa
Level of experience: Senior Professional, more than 5 years
Area of work Definition: Democracy, Governance, Human Rights, Law, Public Administration
Type of organisation: Multilateral Organisations