Sierra Leone: National Consultant to Contribute to The Development of a Five Year Strategic Implementation Plan (MMMR)

Aug 30, 2016 | UNDP
View Original

The services of a national consultant is required to work alongside an international consultant to prepare a 5 Year Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) to guide the program activities of Sierra Leone's Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources. Note that this consultancy is only open for Sierra Leonean citizens; experts with any other nationality need not apply.

Recent years have seen the mining sector return to prominence in Sierra Leone, driving economic growth, accounting for the majority of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and boosting government revenues. Between 2012 and 2014, the mining sector contributed 22 per cent to GDP, 72 per cent to real GDP growth and accounted for 83 per cent of exports. The sector also contributed significantly to government revenues, amounting to 21 per cent of the total during these two years. These successes generated great expectations that mining in Sierra Leone could be harnessed to finance major government development priorities.

Arguably, these achievements can be partly attributed to a wave of legal, regulatory and institutional reforms in the mining sector since 2007 that has significantly improved on extractive sector management. A new mining law was passed in 2009 that has been acclaimed as one of the finest pieces of mining legislation on the continent. New National Minerals Agency and Environment Protection Agency were established and are fully operational – improving broad governance of the mining sector and optimizing benefits that accrue from mining operations.

Despite these reforms, series of challenges remain. The recently concluded Management and Functional Review of the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources and the draft Sierra Leone Extractive Sector Benchmarking Report make compelling case for the restructuring of the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources as it transitions into its core function of providing policy guidance to mineral sector development. Using the Natural Resource Charter as a benchmarking tool, the Benchmarking Report unravels many constraints to effective mineral sector management and makes recommendations for improved governance of the extractive sector. Also, the policy action matrix of the draft Core Minerals Policy outlines actions that could improve the management of the mining sector. Both the Policy Action Matrix and the Benchmarking Report provide reference instruments for developing a strategic action plan that will guide the program activities of the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources for the next five years.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • The consultant shall use the Secretariat of the Extractive Sector Benchmarking Project at the MMMR but is expected to use her or his own laptop, internet and printing facilities.
  • The consultant shall be required to act as a resource person/facilitator at a three-day workshop for at least 30 participants as indicated in the expected tasks. The workshop will be held in Koidu, Kono district. The consultant is expected to arrange her/his own transportation to and from the MMMR. Transport to Koidu will be provided by the Extractive Sector Benchmarking Project. The fare will always be “most direct, most economical” at no additional cost.
  • The 15-day consultancy will be in August and September, 2016 and the consultant is expected to work full time throughout the duration of this assignment. The consultant is expected to deliver the following:
  • Detailed work plan, including timelines and activities that the consultant plans to undertake in order to complete this assignment, to be submitted for review and approval to the Lead Consultant and the Permanent Secretary (MMMR) with copies to the TL EERNM (UNDP) and the Coordinator, Extractive Sector Benchmarking Project, (MMMR) within 2 working days after signing of contract
  • First draft consultancy report detailing outputs achieved based on these TORs and in agreement with the Lead Consultant, to be submitted for review and approval by the Lead Consultant and the Permanent Secretary (MMMR) with copies to the TL EERNM (UNDP) and the Coordinator, Extractive Sector Benchmarking Project, (MMMR) on or before the 9th September 2016;s
  • Second draft integrating and/or responding to comments and/or recommendations, on or before the 14th September 2016;
  • Final consultancy report to be submitted to the the Lead Consultant and the Permanent Secretary (MMMR) with copies to the TL EERNM (UNDP) and the Coordinator, Extractive Sector Benchmarking Project, (MMMR) on or before the 16th September 2016.

Competencies

Compliance of Core Values:

Corporate Competencies

  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
  • Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
  • Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

  • Demonstrated knowledge of relevant environmental and sustainable development issues.
  • Strong analytical skills, particularly applied to environment profiling.

Functional Competencies:

  • Ability to identify needs and interventions for capacity enhancement of counterparts, clients and potential partners.Ability to take responsibility for achieving agreed outputs within set deadlines.
  • Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
  • Ability to identify needs and interventions for capacity enhancement of counterparts, clients and potential partners.

Required Skills and Experience

This assignment requires the services of an expert who can demonstrate adequate analytical capacity and who can provide expertise relevant to the terms of reference as described above and below.


Education:

  • Advanced University Degree in the Social Science related discipline.
  • Experience
  • Minimum of 10 years of professional experience relevant to these TORs.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of strategic action planning principles, challenges and solutions.
  • Demonstrated experience with design of SIPs or similar plans.
  • Experienced taking participatory approaches to collecting data and information, working across stakeholder groups from Government MDAs to academia, local communities, private sector, etc.
  • Demonstrated strong analytical and strategic skills, particularly applied to the extractive sector.

Language Requirements:

  • Fluency in oral and written English required.