Governance cum Legal Expert (Team Leader)

Governance cum Legal Expert (Team Leader), Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU), (7 Positions), Level : SB 4/Peg IV

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. The move from a unitary to a federal structure of governance 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. Thus, the PLGSP will provide a coherent approach to capacity development under the federal system.

 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 support the implementation of the Programme through Technical Assistance (TA). A key priority of the TA is recruitment of TA staff, their capacity building and knowledge enhancement including orientation and continuous backstopping support in coordination with the Programme Management.

The Provincial governments have a major role in facilitating and implementing the Programme for the benefit of both provincial and local governments. All provincial 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 provincial 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 provincial 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. 

While the PCGGs have a critical role to deliver the programmatic results, they are yet to be established by the provincial governments and even after establishment, they are likely to take some time to be fully functional and cater to the capacity development needs of the provincial and local governments. In this background, a number of technical assistance personnel will be deployed by the Programme to support the PCGGs in discharging their roles.

Under the day to day supervision of the National Programme Manager and overall guidance of the National Programme Director, the Governance cum Legal Expert will directly contribute to the achievement of overall outcomes and outputs of the Programme and ensure that that there is a horizontal and vertical accountability to all citizens and mainstream GESI.

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results Expected

As the Team Leader of the PPIU, the Governance cum Legal Expert will lead the PPIU in support of achieving PLGSP goals, outcomes and outputs. In addition, the Governance cum Legal Expert will directly contribute to the realization of the relevant outputs of the Programme. The Governance cum Legal Expert will work under the overall supervision of the Provincial Programme Manager and will provide day-to-day guidance to the staff of the PPIU. S/he will be expected to collaborate closely with the provincial and local governments as well as all concerned specialists and experts in the PCU, the PPIUs and the PCGGs.

The overall objectives of the assignment are to:

• Lead the establishment and effective functioning of the PPIU in the assigned province, in close collaboration with the provincial government, in particular the Provincial Coordination Committee (PCC) and the Office of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, and PCU;
• Coordinate the work on governance and legal matters of the PPIU in the assigned Province for effective planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of all activities, including day-to-day supervision of all PPIU staff;
• Ensure close coordination and collaboration with and between the provincial and local governments and other stakeholders; working on sub-national governance in the province, including coordination and guidance to the PCGG;
• Serve as the team leader of the Technical Assistant Project (TAP) personnel and support the Provincial Programme Manager ;(PPM) and the Provincial Programme Director (PPD) in delivering their roles;
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities.

1) Lead the establishment and effective functioning of the PPIU in the assigned province, in close collaboration with the provincial government, in particular the Provincial Coordination Committee (PCC) and the Office of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, and PCU 

• Lead the preparation of the PPIU Annual Work Plans (AWP) and budgets, in line with PLGSP Annual Strategic Implementation Plan (ASIP) and the Annual Monitoring & Evaluation Plan (AMEP);
• Oversee and coordinate periodical reviews of PPIU progress, in close coordination with the Monitoring and Reporting Expert and other technical experts;
• Oversee and coordinate preparation of inputs to PLGSP’s/PPIUs regular narrative progress reports, in close coordination with the Monitoring and Reporting Expert and other technical experts;
• Lead the organization of bi-monthly output group meetings and regular PPIU meetings to discuss progress, challenges and needs;
• Identify and report risks and issues to the PPIU and lead discussion on mitigation actions in the bi-monthly output group meetings;
• Follow up on the implementation of all activities in the AWP in coordination with the PCU and PCGG;

2) Coordinate the work on governance and legal matters of the PPIU in the assigned Province for effective planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of all activities, including day-to-day supervision of all PPIU staff

• Provide overall strategic advice and guidance to provincial and local governments on governance and legal matters;
• Identify capacity development needs of provincial and local governments related to governance and law, in close collaboration with other technical experts of the PCU, PPIU and PCGG;
• Provide technical assistance and inputs to PCU for development of guidelines for provincial and local government planning, budgeting and accounting;
• Provide technical support to provincial and local governments on the implementation of guidelines for planning, budgeting and accounting developed by the federal government;
• Support in coordinating the establishment and effective functioning of the Inter-Provincial council;
• Province technical assistance and guidance to the provincial government in drafting of acts, legislations and regulation in a consultative process involving technical committees and local governments;
• Coordinate with the provincial government for the development of a provincial economic plan based on consultations with both federal and local governments;
• Provide technical assistance and support to provincial and local governments to establish vertical and horizontal accountability mechanisms, fostering citizen engagement and inclusive participation;
• Support the establishment and operationalization of the Innovative Partnership Fund, in close collaboration with the provincial government and the Innovative Partnership Fund Expert of the PPIU;
• Identify capacity development needs of PPIU and PCGG staff in the areas of governance and law and support the development and implementation of capacity development efforts;
• Ensure regular sharing of knowledge products and progress updates to PCU, PPIUs and PCGGs in the areas of governance and law, including good practices from provinces.

3) Ensure close coordination and collaboration with and between the provincial and local governments and other stakeholders working on sub-national governance in the province, including coordination and guidance to the PCGG

• Lead the PPIUs efforts to maintain effective coordination and regular dialogues with the provincial and local governments, and other key stakeholders engaged in sub-national governance in the assigned province, including development partners, NGOs, civil society, private sector, service providers, and academia;
• Lead the PPIUs efforts to support the establishment and effective functioning of the PCGG in the assigned province;
• Ensure regular dialogue with the provincial government and relevant PCGG staff to support the daily operation of the PCGG.

4) Serve as the team leader of the Technical Assistant Project (TAP)  personnel and support the Provincial Programme Manager (PPM) and the Provincial Programme Director (PPD) in delivering their management roles,

• Under the guidance of the PPM and PPD, mobilize, coordinate and facilitate the functioning of the TA personnel;
• Meet regularly with technical specialists and experts of the PPIU and PCGG to brief them on progress and any issues with regard to capacity development;
• Identify capacity development needs of the TA staff and communicate this to the to the concerned authorities to provide capacity development support to the TA personnel;
• Liaise and facilitate project communication with concerned governments and other relevant institutional stakeholders at central and local levels.

5) Ensure strengthening gender and social inclusion work through project interventions

• Provide advice and direction on strategic and policy issues to strengthen gender & social inclusion initiatives in the programme plan and implementation strategy;
• Facilitate in creating an environment to address GESI issues;  
• Ensure gender and inclusion issues are substantially incorporated in policy notes and briefs where ever possible;
• Liaise with CO Gender Specialist as per the need for effective implementation of the GESI strategy and other guiding tools.

Impact of Results:

• Delivering the responsibilities of the position will be critical for PLGSP improving local government’s accountability, transparency and effectiveness;
• All necessary supports on policies, guidelines, laws and regulations are provided with high quality;
• Project output are achieved within the given resources and time with high quality standards;
• Project results and achievements are well documented and disseminated;
• Effective coordination and collaborations are established for effective implementation of the project.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Government of Nepal and UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the Government of Nepal 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 favouritism;
• Display cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
• Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
• Promote learning and knowledge management/sharing;
• Focused on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem-solving approach;
• 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;
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration;
• Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at Project level.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Social Science, Political Science, Law, Human Rights, or any other related fields.

Experience:

• At least six years of practical experience in working in development sector;
• Experience of working in the area of governance or law;
• Good understanding of current governance- and law-related policies of the Government of Nepal and familiar with various federalism-related initiatives at all levels of government through various stakeholders (ministries and local bodies);
• Practical experience in local governance, legal drafting, legal or social/political research;
• Experience in working with non-governmental or governmental institution in legal reform, policy analysis or similar;
• Experience of project management, staff supervision and implementation;
• Demonstrated social skills of coordinating with different stakeholders and facilitating discussions;
• Demonstrated skills on preparing quality reports and other knowledge products;
• Experience of working in GoN, UN and international agencies will be added value;

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English and Nepali at professional level are essential;
• Knowledge of local languages will be considered as an added advantage.

Other

• Well versed in computer applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
• Good report writing skill is highly preferable.