UNDP works with the Government and people of Zambia to achieve the Vision 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implementation of the National Development Plans. UNDP focuses on areas that have a multiplier effect through a targeted build-up of capacities, policies, the creation of dialogue space, and scalable downstream interventions. Proposed downstream interventions seek to provide platforms for citizen engagement in democratic processes and facilitate access to skills, knowledge and new technologies for increased income generation. Through this support project, UNDP aims at strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MoFNP) systems for planning, monitoring and reporting. The project pays special emphasis on the 8NDP and the SDGs. This year’s key deliverables include conducting the SDGs Rapid Integrated Assessment (RIA) of the 8NDP, formulating background papers for the 2023 Zambia Human Development Report, undertaking the Development Finance Assessment for Zambia, conducting SDG Investor Maps, supporting ZAMSTATS to undertake the Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS), and the General Population and Housing Census. This assignment is part of UNDP’s project/flagship programming initiative for effective support to the Government.

Context

UNDP Zambia is strategically repositioning its country programme implementation based on emerging opportunities and UNDP’s comparative advantages that maximizes partnerships, resource mobilization and impact in keeping with UNDP’s mandate and its current Country Programme Document (CPD) and embarking on the support the Government of Zambia through its 8th National Development Plan (8NDP). In addition, the review of the programme portfolio also showed a pressing need to recalibrate the programme implementation in Zambia through a more integrated vision aligned with the current CPD, the signature solutions of the Strategic Plan and the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa’s (RBA’s) strategic offer and where UNDP will fully play its integrator role for accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Zambia. As the development world and UNDP Zambia deliver during the Decade of Action, it is more pressing that UNDP Zambia revisits its approach to programming to ensure both it continues to explore new ways of optimally supporting the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) to achieve the objectives set out in both Agenda 2030 and the 8NDP using a strategic approach to planning resulting in an efficient and effective delivery of the Country Programme to promote sustainable human development. Against this backdrop and building upon the lessons learnt over the past months, UNDP Zambia is strengthening its integrator role enshrined in the United Nations Development System (UNDS) reform through an improved structure with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning – MoFNP. The improved structure centers around the inclusion of a UN Volunteer SDG Specialist that will play a critical role in the Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU), optimizing the CO support to GRZ.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Economic Advisor, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Support work on the 8NDP and contribute to tracking progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); • Identify achievements, challenges, gaps and critical factors and make appropriate recommendations with respect to implementation of SDGs; • Assist in the stakeholder engagement processes for the Zambia Human Development background papers; • Follow up with information and data providers to secure missing information materials and or provide additional analysis; • Assist in the production of socio-economic reviews (ad-hoc reports, annual reports, analysis on the budget, etc.); • Perform other unit related tasks as assigned.