TERMS OF REFERENCE

Socio-Economics Analyst/Expert for Federal Government of Somalia

Position title: Socio-Economics Analyst/Expert (Two positions).

Duty station: Mogadishu, Somalia (with frequent traveling to Somalia regions)

Reporting to: Office of Prime Minister, Somalia

Duration: 4 months with possibility of extension

Contract type: Full time

1. Background

Through funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the government of Sweden has been supporting the secondment of high-capacity Somali experts to a range of national institutions in Somalia for several years. This work has sought to support the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in the implementation of the Somali National Development Plan (NDP), as well as institutional capacity development more broadly.

As is well understood by those working in Somalia, government institutions have limited capacities to carry out their mandates following decades of conflict. By helping to provide highly qualified Somali experts to weakened government institutions, this programme seeks to boost their capacity to function and implement government policy. While the provision of experts under a single programme will not remedy all of the capacity constraints faced by the government, this programme will help to build the core competencies necessary to achieve longer-term and more ambitious development goals in the years ahead.

The Somali Experts Secondment for Institutional Capacity Building (SES) will facilitate the placement of 50 Somali experts within key government institutions at the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member State (FMS) levels, in line with government needs, Swedish development priorities and the results of needs assessment data generated by other relevant donors. In addition, a top-up salary will be provided for 50 local Somali civil servants already working in the selected key government institutions or recent university graduates who will be taken in as interns attached to the diaspora experts. The planned 50 diaspora and local experts and 50 civil servants and interns will be apportioned between different institutions based on extensive discussions with Sida, FGS, FMS governments and other donors providing capacity-building programmes to these institutions. The programme is complementary to the previous Sida-funded secondment programme and the retention and/or restructuring of secondments of experts inherited from the previous programme will be based on the outcomes of the technical capacity assessment of government institutions carried out by SES during this reporting period.

2. Essential Functions

The Prime Minister has established a National Coordination Committee on COVID-19 as high-level coordination structure overseeing preparedness and response activities of the COVID-19 outbreak, members of the committee include representatives from the chamber of commerce, Somali Medical Association, Religious leaders, and civil society associations, the committee also works with number of sub working groups. The committee is led by the Prime Minister of Somalia, with Federal Minister of Finance and Federal Minister of Health and Human Services participating, the National committee have now also proposed eight sub working groups to ensure that the undergoing efforts are managed to some level of standard and well-coordinated.

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Ministry of Finance (MoF), and the Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) are challenged to work against the clock to understand, analyze and assess the impact of the Covid 19 on the Socio-economics of the country. The Socio-Economic Specialist is the front-line contact for the National Coordination Committee on COVID-19 of the Federal Government of Somalia. The main purpose of the position is to strengthen the knowledge base, coordination on socio-economic policy and institutional framework that would facilitate critical analysis within the National Coordination Committee for improved macroeconomic management. Further, the person position is to enable a more effective leadership with focus on strategic economic policy formulation and efficient decision making to support the economic transformation of the country throughout the crisis.

3. Core Competencies and Skills

The Socio-Economic Specialist or Senior Economic will represent the National Coordination Committee in number of working groups, who are responsible for facilitating sector-level policy formulation; planning and programmatic co-ordination to advance the strategic objective. The Senior Economic Expert with in-depth knowledge and experience in economic policymaking with Somali government institutions and private sector development is required. S/he will have a leading coordination role in the macroeconomic policy reform, working in close collaboration with the relevant institutions on behalf of the committee.

4. Major Responsibilities:

3.1 Strategy in Social Economic Analysis

• Lead the coordination of the Socio Economic working group and underline risks associated with the economic impact of COVID-19 set for the Roadmap;
• Highlight priority areas with significant gaps by creating fiscal stimulus plan to boost the economy and contain the economic effects of the COVID-19, where programs are under-resourced, and make recommendations to ensure gaps and priorities are addressed with specific focus on economic recovery strategy;
• Organize the work of the economic development subcommittee of the cabinet, including the weekly meetings agenda, as a secretariat for the subcommittee;
• Conduct review and analysis of Somalia’s socio-economic performance and prospects in the context of its development objectives in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, both internally and externally;
• Prepare macroeconomic policy reforms proposals and briefs for the Prime Minister, including presentations to Cabinet, economic development subcommittee, and senior staff in the government;
• Create funding requirements which are provisional by updating based on the risk and need assessments being conducted Nationally aiming to provide full access to emergency health services, including for the most marginalized members of the community.
• Review trends in different sources of domestic financial resources and suggest measures that the country could adopt to address gaps with the aim to strength domestic resource mobilization and expand the fiscal space;
• Contribute to the capacity building.
• Act as lead focal point for the sub working group on economic policy agenda and public finance management;

4 Qualifications: Education, Technical Skills and Experience

· Master’s Degree in economics, finance or business administration with a minimum of fifteen (15) years of relevant working experience;

· At least 12 years of experience in economics or public financial management where at least 5 years in senior management in public-sector environment;

· Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of economic policy strategy, public administration with the focus on institutional rebuilding and state reform agenda;

· Proven experience in, planning, coordination and implementation of economic policy reforms;

· Ability to think critically and strategically under challenging conditions to promote development objectives;

· Experience in working with and providing policy and technical advice to high ranking officials, preferably Somali Government institution.

· Strong communications and negotiation skills to engage decisionmakers change opinion;

· At least 5 years of professional experience in fragile or conflict affected countries with complex political environment;

· Fluency in Somali and English (other European languages desirable);

· Ability to meet tight deadlines and work independently without supervision;

· Familiarity with relevant IT software tools and Microsoft Office package;

5 Achievement indicators

Job execution will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

· Level of results achieved, according to Terms of Reference, Plans of Action, Project Descriptions, Budgets.

· Level of adherence to deadlines, and ensuring that proposals, concept notes and reports are submitted according to established MEL standards, in line with donor and FGS requirements and with high quality.

· Level of support to Programme Staff and Government institutions involved in Somalia.

· Information management and sharing- efficient, timely and updated.

· General contribution: policy development, programmes development etc.

· Flexibility and ability to adjust to changes and new requirements.

· Level of personal contribution in supporting colleagues, teambuilding and a healthy, positive and creative work environment.

6 We offer

· A challenging and rewarding potfolio of responsibilities within a forward leaning and innovation team

· Commencement: ASAP

· Salary and benefits according to general directions CAPACITY INJECTION MECHANISM (CIM) ‘’A guideline to effect the administration of engagement and employment benefits and conditions of Capacity Injection Mechanism appointments for the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS)’’