National Public Financing Specialist (Short-term Consultant)
To Prepare Comprehensive Refugee Response Financing Mechanism and Guidelines
Contracting: World Bank Group
Partner Country and Organization: Ethiopia, National Coordination Office (NCO) and Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA)
Duration: 60 working days between December 1, 2018 - February 28, 2019
Location: Addis Ababa, with travel to Ethiopia’s refugee hosting regions
Deadline: November 20, 2018
Background
Context
Ethiopia has experienced a large influx of refugees over the last two decades and is currently one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world. Between 2012 and 2017, an average of 640,121 refugees were hosted in the country per annum, reaching about a million refugees in 2018. The majority of refugees are from South Sudan (421,400), Somalia (253,800), Eritrea (164,600), and Sudan (43,900). The refugees and their host communities are compounded by multiple factors including poverty, environmental degradation, and lack of access to quality education, health and water services since the refugee hosting areas are remote, drought-prone and underserved in terms of socio-economic investments.
Operationalizing the National Comprehensive Refugee Response Strategy (NCRRS)
Refugee responses have to date primarily been humanitarian focused. In line with the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants, the Government of Ethiopia has started planning for a more sustainable longer-term development response for refugees and host communities by designing a National Comprehensive Refugee Response (NCRR) Strategy.
The goal of the Strategy is to ensure self-reliance and resilience of refugees and host communities and to prepare the refugees for durable solutions by supporting their socio-economic integration and gradually phasing out the camp-based model of assistance within ten years.
To operationalize the NCRRS, detailed implementation guidelines and national and regional Action Plans will be designed. This will require a multi-disciplinary team comprised of Development Advisors, Program Design, Protection, Communications, Environmental and Social, and Public Financing Specialists. The guidelines and Action Plans will be structured and tailored to the strategic response pillars of the Strategy, namely: 1. Capacity and System Development; 2. Targeted Humanitarian Responses; 3. Productive Safety Net; 4. Livelihoods and Job Creation; 5. Human Development (Education, Health and Nutrition; and, 6. Durable Solutions: voluntary repatriation and resettlement.
Objective and Deliverables
Objective
To support the Government of Ethiopia in the operationalization of the NCRRS, the World Bank is seeking a national Public Finance Specialist short-term consultant. The objective of the consultancy is to prepare the financing mechanisms of the national and regional Action Plans, and the financing sections of the implementation guidelines.
The Action Plans or guidelines will:
clarify the main financing mechanisms, instruments and other related concepts and issues;
present a set of directions and actions to tailor the refugee response mechanisms and putting them into practice;
guide and prepare the refugee response financing mechanisms;
outline how the NCRR Strategy is supported through multi-year, predictable and adequate financing.
The financing mechanism/implementation guidelines will further consider experiences of complementary programs, interest and financing arrangement of funding agencies, government implementation capacity at different levels, as well as capacity of stakeholders at gross-root level.
Scope of work and deliverables
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and under the leadership of an international Public Finance Specialist, the consultant will:
Prepare a work plan and methodology with clearly identifiable outputs to be agreed with the World Bank group, the National Coordination Office (NCO) and the Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA);
Review national refugee financing models (at federal, regional and woreda levels) as relevant for the operationalization of the NCRRS in Ethiopia. This includes desk-review, extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders, analysis of relevant refugee response interventions and complementary interventions in Ethiopia, as well as presentation of best practices and lessons learned to various stakeholders;
Develop appropriate public financing models for the national and regional Action Plans that are fully supported by the relevant national stakeholders and development partners. This includes:
Consultations and coordination with the national CRRF coordination mechanisms (i.e., Steering Committee, NCO, ARRA; line ministries (e.g., Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Education and Health); Development Partners (e.g., WBG, EU, UN agencies, DFID, other bilaterals) and other relevant stakeholders such as NGOs and the private sector.
Designing all tools and instruments to guide the preparation of public financing related aspects of the Action Plans and guidelines.
Designing the outline and determining the content of the public financing related aspects of the Action Plans and guidelines.
Ensuring coherence of the financing mechanisms with government and funding agencies.
Prepare the draft and final versions of the national and regional Action Plans and the public finance sections of the implementation guidelines in coordination with the other sectoral specialists. The financing models will reflect all relevant feedback and will be presented in English, by the six pillars of the Strategy and by region as well as national levels.
Reporting
The Public Finance Specialist will report the World Bank Task Team Leader, Rebecca Lacroix, as well as Fisseha Meseret, Manager, National Coordination Office. He or she will work under the guidance of ARRA Development Advisor on a day-to-day basis.
Job Requirement
Qualification:
The public financing specialist must have an advanced university degree (at least master’s degree) in Accounting or Finance or Financial Management, from a recognized university.
Fluency in English and Amharic, both verbal and written.
Professional experience (minimum requirements):
A minimum of 7 years’ experience in public financial management, especially in multi-stakeholder, multi-year complex programs in developing countries.
Proven experience designing of financial mechanism and implementation guidelines for complex programs.
Proven experience of humanitarian and development financing (public and private system), public and private sector development, including public / private partnerships.
In-depth working knowledge of Ethiopian public financial management system, including its’ decentralization models.
Excellent analytical and communications skills.
Substantive exposure to the financing mechanisms of the government, development partners, humanitarian actors, etc.
Proven experience working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, in a fast-changing environment and with at times incomplete information.