International Consultancy for the Formulation of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2026-2030 in the Republic of Kazakhstan

Result of ServiceThe Consultant will be submitting the reports based on the results achieved in agreed format stating all actions taken during the assignment. Reports to be submitted after deliverable result achieved according to schedule. The Consultant will be certified against each deliverable by the RCO Head of the Office, which will serve as a justification for payments. Work LocationHome-based Expected duration5 month (30 working days) Duties and ResponsibilitiesBACKGROUND AND CONTEXT The General Assembly resolution 72/279 on the UN Development System reform elevates the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (CF) as the most important planning and implementation instrument of the UN system in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) in the country with a commitment to leave no one behind and in line with human rights and other international standards and obligations. It outlines the UN’s collective response to national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is prepared and implemented in full consultation with the Government and other stakeholders, including development partners, international financial institutions, civil society, trade unions, private sector and beneficiaries. The CF is anticipated to serve as a key driver in promoting inclusivity and enhancing the quality of public services, fostering economic transformation and sustainability in Kazakhstan, and leveraging funding to support the achievement of the SDGs. The UN Country Team in Kazakhstan has finalized the CF Evaluation, Common Country Analysis (CCA) and conducted the Strategic Prioritization Workshop, identifying key development challenges and priority areas, UN’s value added, risks, SDG accelerators and other elements. The UNCT has already defined the future CF’s Outcomes, preliminary outputs, as well as risks, assumptions and other elements which will contribute to the formulation of the CF Theory of Change. The consultant is expected to consider the global guidelines for CF formulation, along with the findings from the previously mentioned CF Evaluation, the CCA, and the Strategic Prioritization Workshop in his/her work. The final draft 2026-2030 Cooperation Framework is expected to be submitted to the Government of Kazakhstan for the formal review and endorsement process by March 2025, with the official signing planned for May 2025. To support the development of a quality inclusive UNSDCF, on behalf of the UN Country Team (UNCT), the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office is recruiting an International consultant to accompany the process of formulating UNSDCF 2026-2030 in line with the new UNSDCF guidance and its consolidated annexes and companion pieces to ensure coherence, common language and analysis, editing and etc. To support the development of a high-quality, inclusive UNSDCF, the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, on behalf of the UN Country Team (UNCT), is hiring an international consultant to help with the formulation process for the 2026-2030 UNSDCF. This will be in alignment with the new UNSDCF guidelines, including its consolidated annexes and companion documents, ensuring coherence, consistent language, thorough analysis, and editing. OBJECTIVE The overall objective of the assignment is to define the next partnership scope between the UN and the Republic of Kazakhstan while aligning it with the national priorities and the Agenda 2030. In line with the new UN Sustainable Development Group’s (UNSDG) guidelines for preparation of Cooperation Frameworks, the next generation of the Cooperation Frameworks are to be fully aligned with the national efforts to implement the SDGs and to identify the UN’s comparative advantage in advancing and accelerating their implementation. To that end, the consultant is expected to: • Study results of the three key building blocks of the CF preparation (Evaluation, CCA, Strategic Prioritization Workshop), as well as selected other documents, including the National Voluntary Review (2022), National Development Plan until 2029, Rapid Integrated Assessment and SDG push reports. • Under the overarching principle of Leave No One Behind and in consideration of the concrete programming principles and requirements as stipulated in the new Cooperation Framework’s guidelines, the consultant is expected to facilitate the overall consultation and prioritization process and, under the UNCT guidance and leadership, develop the final draft of the UNSDCF 2026-2030 for the Republic of Kazakhstan, including all required elements, like the narrative, and the results’ framework. The consultant will report directly to the Head of the Resident Coordinator’s Office. SCOPE OF WORK Grounded on the UN development system’s policy expertise, its comparative advantages, normative agenda, and ability to leverage, influence and unlock a broad range of resources for development, the UNSDCF is expected to reflect: 1. A transformational shift in vision, strategy and implementation for the UN; 2. The expectations national stakeholders have of the UN Development System’s contribution to national development; 3. A shared vision and strategic priorities of the UN System, framed within the broader development landscape; 4. Identification of the UN System’s and its partners’ contribution to accelerating progress towards the 2030 Agenda, including opportunities for partnership with development partners and; 5. the financial and non-financial commitments of the UN System and partners in the wider context of the financing required to realize the SDGs in the country. As indicated in the UN Cooperation Framework Guidance, the formulation of the UNSDCF will entail, but is not limited to the following: 1. Performing the desk review and developing a brief Inception Report outlining the consultant’s approach to work, including the action plan and timeline; 2. Developing and implementing methodology for eliciting inputs of the UNCT to the text and recommendations on the strategic priorities that should guide the Cooperation Framework; distilling, aggregating and analyzing the inputs; 3. Supporting the UNCT working team in preparing the UNSDCF narrative in accordance with an outline as reflected in the UNSDCF Outline of the Consolidated Annexes to the UNSDCF Guidance, first and final drafts; 4. Ongoing communication and coordination with the UN RC, RCO, UNCT, and Results Groups, including organizing and facilitating Zoom/Teams discussions as needed; 5. Drafting the text of the Cooperation Framework in accordance with the revised Guidance. The CF should include at least the following sections: Executive Summary, Country Progress towards 2030 Agenda, UN Development Support to the 2030 Agenda, Cooperation Framework Outcomes and Partnerships, Cooperation Framework Implementation Plan, 6. Performing quality assurance of the process and inputs provided by the RC/UNCT, Results Groups, including identification of gaps and areas for improvement against the corporate guidelines. 7. Developing a results matrix, including indicator definitions, baselines, targets and sources; 8. With support of the Head of RCO, facilitating discussions on establishing the optimal and country tailored UNSDCF governance structure. 9. Integrating all the comments received from the RC/UNCT, Peer Support Group, Results Groups; Government of Kazakhstan, and other stakeholders. 10. Final editing and formatting of the Cooperation Framework. 11. Submitting the final UNSDCF document that is accepted and approved by the RC and UNCT. 12. Developing a presentation of the Cooperation Framework and/or other visualization products. METHODOLOGY The approach of the assignment shall be participatory and inclusive, ensuring full participation and ownership of the UNCT and national stakeholders (where needed). The assignment will be initiated through a desk-review of the existing and relevant UN guidelines, timelines and outlines for the Cooperation Framework process and required products. The engagement of the consultant will include the initial consolidation of priorities and outcomes, to continue with design and validation of the entire Cooperation Framework document based on the inputs of the UNCT, comments and feedback stemming from the validation sessions as well as the Peer Support Group (PSG) review process. In terms of the structure, the 2026-2030 Cooperation Framework document will follow the standardized outline as provided in the most up to date approved guidelines for preparation of the Cooperation Frameworks and companion pieces. PRODUCTS AND DEADLINE I. Desk Review and brief Inception Report -15 December 2024: - Desk review conducted and brief Inception Report outlining the consultant’s approach to work is developed, including the action plan and timeline. - Inception report and timelines are agreed with RC/UNCT. II. Designing the Cooperation Framework-Phase 2: - First draft Cooperation Framework document is prepared and shared for feedback - 31 January 2025. - Comments of stakeholders (RC/ UNCT/ RCO/ /PSG/GoK/other stakeholders) collected and integrated to the draft Cooperation Framework document - 20 February 2025. - Draft Results Matrix of the final draft Cooperation Framework document is prepared. - UNCT Configuration exercise is facilitated. III. Validation Process: - UNSDCF validation workshop is facilitated - beginning of March 2025. - Comments from the UNSDCF validation consultation/workshop are integrated into the update of the UNSDCF Results Matrix and full draft UNSDCF narrative and annexes. - Final Cooperation Framework document is prepared and submitted to the Government - 31 March 2025. Qualifications/special skills• Master’s degree in development studies, economics, social sciences, international relations or any other related field is required. • A strong understanding of the Central Asian context, particularly Kazakhstan, is highly desirable • Excellent drafting skills. • A minimum of 10 years of the relevant professional experience specifically in the area of international development initiatives and development organizations is required. • Profound knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes and its operationalization; Profound knowledge of 2030 Agenda for sustainable development/SDGs; and SDG localization and reporting and monitoring processes; Strong experience and a track record of formulating UN system assistance framework documents (preferably CF), or other flagship UN analytical products. • Extensive knowledge of and experience in systems thinking and applying, qualitative and quantitative analytical methods, as well as results-based management is required. • Knowledge, expertise and hands-on experience in international relations, sustainable development and SDGs, green economy and climate change, governance, human rights and conflict prevention. Extensive experience in strategic planning, policy advice, institutional and partnership building and implementation of large development programmes. LanguagesFluency in written and spoken English is required, knowledge of Russian is an asset. Additional InformationFUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: • Outstanding communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to write reports, conduct consultations and interviews and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style; • Good knowledge of the UN system, UN Development System Reform and the new Cooperation Framework Internal Guidelines; • Outstanding communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to write reports, conduct consultations and interviews and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style; • Ability to review and synthesize large amounts of information rapidly, and to distinguish major trends from minor details; • Ability to conceptualize and analyze problems to identify key issues, underlying problems, and how they relate; • Technical competence in undertaking complex analysis which involve use of mixed methods; • Familiarity with statistical data and knowledge of human rights and gender equality approaches; • Ability to respond positively to critical feedback and differing points of view; • Ability to handle a large volume of work under time constraints; • Ability to share knowledge and experience and provide helpful feedback and advice. CORPORATE COMPETENCIES: • Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards; Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences. Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment; ability to exercise sound political judgment; SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS: Contracts based on lump-sum The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days). Preferred Currency of Offer: United States Dollars. No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.