Terms of Reference (ToR)

1. Background 

Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia, faces numerous challenges in financing its development needs. With aspirations to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2026, Nepal requires substantial investment in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and sustainable development. Traditional sources of financing, such as government revenue and international aid, are often insufficient to meet these needs. There is a growing interest and need to explore alternative financing mechanisms, including mobilizing bonds, innovative finance, and blending finance. 

Development cooperation involves collaborative efforts among countries and stockholders to achieve sustainable development goals. Its dimensions include bilateral cooperation,  multilateral cooperation, technical assistance, financial assistance, south-south and triangular cooperation, capacity building, policy dialogue and advocacy, humanitarian aid and emergency response, research, and innovation. These dimensions work together to create a comprehensive framework for promoting global development and addressing complex challenges across different regions and sectors.  

The Effective Development Financing and Coordination II (EDFC II) project, led by the  Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division  (IECCD) is supporting the Government of Nepal (GoN) through capacity development initiatives to strengthen approaches to mobilizing, coordinating, and effectively managing international development cooperation. Global principles and commitments on aid effectiveness include action at the country level to align aid with national priorities, ensure aid produces intended results, and strengthen mutual accountability. Specific training programs are tailored to the needs of concerned GoN officials and other target groups, to improve the overall national capacity to manage external resources in a more efficient way, in support of the SDGs and Nepal’s national development priorities. In the federal context, all the official involved across three tiers of government are required to understand the basic themes of development cooperation to execute the project and program more efficiently.  

There are persistent gaps in the understanding and practices of workflow of development  cooperation causing delays in implementation, and underutilization of available development  finance. In this context, the EDFC II would like to commission a firm / consultant to undertake  training on Mobilization of Development Cooperation including innovative finance in  Nepal. The training program is designed and targeted for prospective Government officials to  be involved in project execution phase at the federal, provincial, and local levels which aims  to provide officials with practical knowledge of the management method, skills and tools for mobilizing Official Development Assistance (ODA) and alternate finance for development  projects. Finally, it will help to execute the project and programme supported by development  partners for achieving results and improving overall development effectiveness.  

Objective of the Assignment  

The general objective of the proposed training program is to make the officials of province and  local levels to familiarize and equip with the necessary knowledge and skills related to  development cooperation and financing. 

The specific objectives of the program are: 

• To orient and improve the understanding of participants on mobilizing official  development assistance (ODA) in the projects. 
• To orient and improve the understanding of participants on legal, policy and procedural  provisions and practices of foreign aid. 
• To orient and improve the understanding of participants on role of three-tire GoN  entities in project implementation with reference to the practice of federalism. 
• To orient participants on the evolving landscape of development cooperation,  especially new approaches, actors, and instruments. 

It also provides an interactive forum for participants to practice (and receive feedback on) their  Project Management skills using concrete scenarios of project planning to implementation and  improves participants’ understanding/perspective to improve the effectiveness of development  cooperation and their alignment with national priorities. 

Duties and Responsibilities  

The consulting firm, upon signing contract with UNDP Nepal, will work under the direct  supervision of the National Project Manager, EDFC II close coordination with the UNDP. The  firm is expected to work closely with the project team of EDFC II in the Ministry of Finance  (MoF) for overall management, day-to-day support, other logistic and technical support. The  section below elaborates detailed scope of the work, activities to be implemented and  responsibilities of the consulting firm. 

For each training program, there will be approximately 30-35 participants in total, targeting:  

• Officials from the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division,  Ministry of Finance.  
• Officials (Planners/Statisticians/Administrators and Engineers) from Key ministries of  Federal, Provincial and Local government and relevant agencies. All nominated  participants will have relevant working experience and thus be familiar with the applied  basic concepts of development Cooperation.  

MoF will provide the list of participants and EDFC II will facilitate for the communication and  logistic support. 

Required Skills and Experience of firm. 

The required qualifications of the consulting firm should be as follows: 

At least 5 years of training experiences and at least 3 prior relevant experiences/similar types of  training 

• Demonstrated technical know-how on the subject matter areas of project management  and/or project accounting/public financial management. 
• Prior relevant experience working with GoN particularly on development cooperation 
• Previous experiences working in the similar programmes will be an added advantage. 
• Experience of working with development organizations will be an asset. 
• Knowledge on issues and concept of gender mainstreaming, disable-friendly intervention, social  inclusion, and diversity in the context of Nepal is mandatory. 
• Knowledge on occupational Health and Safety and Social Environmental Standards is mandatory.  

Duration of the assignment 

The duration of the contract is for the period of 75-person days spread over September 2024 to December  2024 upon signing of the contract. 

For Detailed TOR, please CLICK HERE.

To access additional information and documents at UNDP | Procurement Notices for further application procedures.