Junior Non-key Expert State-level Development Planning – Jubbaland State Pillars 2 & 4: “Sustainable Economic Development” / “Environment and Climate

DAI is seeking a Junior Non-key Expert for State-level Development Planning in Jubbaland, Somalia, focusing on Sustainable Economic Development and Environment. The role, starting in May 2025, involves a maximum of 35 working days over three months, based in Kismayo. The position requires travel within the state and is supervised by the Jubbaland Ministry of Planning. The project aims to enhance the Somali government's capacity in planning and development.
TERMS OF REFERENCE

Junior Non-key Expert

State-level Development Planning – Jubbaland State

Pillars 2 & 4: “Sustainable Economic Development” / “Environment and Climate Resilience”

ProjectEU – Somalia Technical Assistance and Partnership Facility [NDICI Africa/2023/451-029]

Start date and durationThe role is expected to commence in May 2025 (extendable, subject to project need / requirements and resource availability), and to be implemented as a single, continuous assignment, counting from the date of first deployment of the expert.

InputsA maximum of 35 working days, delivered over a period not exceeding three (3) calendar months.

Location and travel The main place of assignment shall be Jubbaland State, Somalia, based in the state capital Kismayo.

Travel within the State may be required and will be subject to relevant project and EU rules and regulations, including security protocols and the outcome of contemporary security assessments.

SupervisionThe role will be answerable to the Director General (DG) of the Jubbaland State Ministry of Planning, Investment and International Cooperation (MoPIIC) and will be supervised by the TAPF Team Leader, in close collaboration with the TAPF KE2 / Partnership Advisor.

Time sheets will be approved by the TAPF Team Leader and the EU Delegation (EUD).
• BACKGROUND

The European Union – Somalia Technical Assistance and Partnership Facility (TAPF) is a three-year initiative designed to support the European Union Delegation (EUD) to Somalia’s engagement in and cooperation with the Federal Republic of Somalia, and to expedite progress towards achievement of the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The project is being implemented through a service contract, signed between the EUD and DAI Global Belgium, and operates from DAIs offices in Mogadishu and Nairobi.

The project duration runs for an initial total term of 36 months, from 1st January 2024, through to 31st December 2026.

It is resourced and implemented by a Key Expert 1 / Team Leader (with an allocation of 660 working days) and a Key Expert 2: Partnership Advisor (660 working days), complemented by seven State-level Coordinators (each with 660 days: 4,620 days in total), and three Senior Technical Advisors (1,500 working days in total).

In addition, the project has an allocation of (respectively) 850 Senior and 1,000 Junior Non-key Expert days, to fulfil demand-driven tasks in accordance with the project’s overall Terms of Reference and in line with its “facility” modus.

Key experts are supported by in-country administrative staff in Mogadishu (and in Nairobi, if required), responsible for local administration, operational logistics and financial management, while overall project delivery is underpinned and supervised by DAI’s backstopping team and support service, based in Europe.
• OBJECTIVES

2.1 Project Objectives

The TAPF has three main result areas:

I.Strengthening the capacity of the Government of Somalia, at both Federal and State levels, and in particular the Federal Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED), to deliver on its mandate, with respect to the National Transformation Plan (NTP).

II.Strengthening identification, formulation, implementation and monitoring of European Union funded programmes in Somalia, covering renewable energy, the environment, climate change adaptation and natural resources management, amongst other topics.

III.Enhancing partnerships and facilitation of policy dialogue on key topics for EU-Somalia cooperation.

The project is expected to deliver a range of technical support activities structured around these result areas, in relation to both Federal (FGS) and Member State (FMS) institutions, selected non-state actors, and the EUD itself. Deliverables may include multi-stakeholder engagement activities, including community consultations, planning, project and programme design, technical studies and analyses, policy formulation and advisory support, cross-cutting thematic analyses, and monitoring and evaluation activities.

2.2 General Assignment Objectives

Jubbaland State, located in southern Somalia, is one of the Federal Member States (FMS) established under Somalia’s federal system of governance. It comprises the regions of Gedo, Lower Jubba and Middle Jubba, with Kismayo as its administrative capital.

The state is strategically located, sharing international borders with Kenya to the west and Ethiopia to the north, and having access to the Indian Ocean through its port city of Kismayo. This unique geographical location provides economic opportunities with respect to trade, agriculture, livestock production, fisheries, and other forms of cross-border commerce.

Unfortunately, despite these several advantages, Jubbaland exists in a complex development context, characterised by post-conflict recovery challenges, fragile governance institutions and underdeveloped infrastructure, resulting in limited access to basic services for its population, further exacerbated by climate-related shocks. In addition, the region continues to experience insecurity due to the presence of the alShabaab (aS) terror group, though recent progress in security stabilisation and state-building has created a more “enabling environment” for constructive development planning.

In this context, the Jubbaland State Development Plan (SDP) 2025–2029 (which will be the third SDP in the sequence) will provide a foundational framework to guide the state’s development trajectory over the next five years. In doing so, it will articulate Jubbaland’s strategic vision and priorities, in alignment with the Somali National Development Plan-9 (NDP-9), National Transformation Plan (NTP) 2025-2029 and the broader federal agenda. The SDP will, thus, provide a comprehensive roadmap for sustainable development, state-building and promotion and enhancement of resilience, ensuring inclusive economic growth, improved service delivery, environmental sustainability, and the consolidation of peace, wherever feasible.

As with the Somali National Transformation Plan (NTP), the Jubbaland State Development Plan 3 will focus on four (4) priority sectors or pillars:
• Governance (including security and the rule of law, decentralisation and democratisation);
• Sustainable economic development (including private sector-led inclusive economic growth and productive sector development);
• Social and human development (including education, health, social protection and water);
• Environment and climate resilience (including environmental protection, climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience).

The plan will provide a roadmap for economic growth, service delivery, peacebuilding and climate resilience, and will be informed by sectoral assessments, robust stakeholder consultations and detailed data analysis, and will aim to enhance government leadership, a clear sense of direction, donor alignment, and accountability in development programming. Ultimately, the SDP will serve as both a strategic guide for public investment and as a tool for mobilising national and international support for the realisation of Jubbaland’s development priorities.

To support this process, two Non-Key Experts (NKEs) will be recruited to develop the content and strategy of the four (4) SDP pillars. Each NKE will be responsible for two pillars, in which subject areas they should possess detailed knowledge and extensive past experience.

Specialisms will be combined as follows:
• Governance (including security and the rule of law, decentralisation and democratisation) and social and human capacity development (including education, health, social protection and water).
• Sustainable economic development (including private sector-led inclusive economic growth and productive sector development) and environment and climate resilience (including environmental protection, climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience).

2.3 Specific Assignment Objectives

The specific objective of the assignment is to develop a Sustainable Economic Development Pillar and a separate Environment and Climate Resilience Pillar “sector development plan” that will be integrated into a third Jubbaland State Development Plan, covering the period from 2025 until 2029.

As noted above, the Sustainable Economic Development Pillar “sector development plan” will focus on private sector-led economic development, while the Environment and Climate Resilience Pillar “sector plan” will focus on climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience, etc. Both components should outline individual, time-specific development goals (to be achieved through a consultative and participatory process that actively involves all the relevant stakeholders).

The combined Sustainable Economic Development / Environment and Climate Resilience State Development Planning Non-key Expert (NKE) will work closely with the TAPF State Level Coordinator (SLC) and the Jubbaland MoPIIC senior management (DG, departmental Directors, etc.) to collect and review baseline data, using it to formulate Sustainable Economic Development and Environment and Climate Resilience Sector Development Plans.

Additionally, the NKE will collaborate with relevant Ministerial Working Groups (where they exist) to ensure that the two sector plans align with other sector development plans (for Governance and for Social and Human Development), ultimately contributing to finalisation of the overall Jubbaland State Development Plan 2025–2030.

Formulation of the Sustainable Economic Development and Environment and Climate Resilience Pillar Sector Development Plans will pass through a number of data collection and review, and drafting phases, including organisation of seven (7) regional and sectoral consultation / data collection workshops, all of which will be convened and conducted in Kismayo due to prevailing travel constraints and security concerns, and a final validation workshop (also to be conducted in Kismayo), where all relevant stakeholders will contribute their ideas to the development of the state plan, to enhance inclusivity and to promote ownership. The sectoral Non-key Expert will incorporate feedback gathered during these consultation and validation workshops into the evolving draft plan.

Amongst other issues, the Sustainable Economic Development and Environment and Climate Resilience sector plans should:
• Identify / pinpoint important or over-riding factors hindering improvement of economic conditions and environmental resilience in Jubbaland State;
• Articulate desired goals / future economic status and the condition of environmental and climate resilience, highlighting where the sectors should be after five (5) years’ and how to get there (defining principal means and actions by which stated objectives may be realised);
• Define and quantify the short- and medium-term objectives of each sector and elaborate institutional, implementational and M&E arrangements applicable to those sectors;
• Highlight cross-cutting issues and strategies within the “sustainable economy” and “environment and climate resilience” sectors; establishing investment needs for programme implementation and specifying what is to be done, why, how, when and by whom within the sector;
• Contain a monitoring framework that is results-based, management compliant, and fully aligned with the NTP, SDGs and Somalia’s other international obligations.

The finished Sustainable Economic Development, and Environment and Climate Resilience Sector Development Plans should also contain comprehensive resource mobilisation strategies with domestic and foreign resources components, in line with sector investment needs and cognisant of the macro-economic and fiscal constraints in effect in Jubbaland State, with emphasis on public / private partnerships for future development of the sector.
• SCOPE

3.1 General

Working closely with appropriate authorities at state level (MoPIIC senior management and ministerial working groups, where they exist), and with TAPF Key Experts (KE1 and KE2) and Non-key Experts (the Jubbaland State Level Coordinator – SLC), and coordinating between the State Ministry of Planning, Investment and International Cooperation (MoPIIC) and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), the NKE will assist in the design, preparation (through data analysis), draft formulation and subsequent validation of the Sustainable Economic Development Pillar and Environment and Climate Resilience Pillar components of the Jubbaland State Development Plan / State Transformation Plan, thus helping to generate a comprehensive, inclusive and fully formed state development / transformation blueprint.

3.2 Target Groups

The work of the TAPF benefits Somali citizens through increasing the effectiveness of EU cooperation with Somalia, including (in this case) support for the development planning process.

The State Planning NKE will work with and be based in the Ministry of Planning, Investment and International Cooperation in Kismayo, but will liaise and coordinate with other relevant FMS institutions. The NKE will also interact with non-state actors, such as civil society organisations and interest groups (women, youth, private sector and the business community), facilitating their participation in policy dialogue activities, e.g. State Development / Transformation Plan consultations, sector-based analysis and validation events.

3.3 Specific Activities

The Expert is expected to undertake and complete the following tasks:
• Under the direct supervision of the office of the MoPIIC DG, with support from the TAPF Jubbaland SLC, and in conjunction with the TAPF Team Leader and Key Expert 2, pro-actively assist, contribute to, and where required “drive”, the preparation and formulation of the Sustainable Economic Development and Environment and Climate Resilience Pillar components of the Jubbaland State Development / State Transformation Plan, 2025-2029, through direct engagement and in coordination with state government counterpart MDAs. Specifically:
• To review the proposed process methodology used to conduct development planning sectoral activities, and verify and approve the engagement plan, in close coordination with representatives of relevant MDAs involved in economic and productive development and environmental management and climate mitigation and resilience promotion activities.
• Facilitate a thorough document review, by conducting a comprehensive mapping of existing policies, legal frameworks, sector-specific performance data, studies, research, etc., related to the economic development and environment pillars.
• Coordinate inter-governmental and inter-ministerial dialogue, and design and implement inclusive pillar-based consultation processes with a diverse range of actors.
• In collaboration with government counterparts and development partners, convene and facilitate sectoral working group discussions, ensuring productive dialogue between technical experts and policymakers, on the one side, and business enterprises, civil society organisations, non-state actors, academic institutions, women’s groups, youth organisations, and community representatives, on the other.
• Collect, compile and review quantitative and qualitative baseline data, and work with public institutions and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that data is credible, disaggregated (e.g., by gender, age and location) and actionable, to promote results / evidence-based planning and management decisions under the State Development Plan drafting process.
• Ensure that marginalised voices are heard, and their priorities recognised and incorporated in the State Development Plan formulation process.
• Identify gaps, challenges, opportunities and lessons learned, in order to inform strategic direction, and to support prioritisation of SDP strategies, under the guidance of the State MoPIIC Planning Department.
• Monitor progress and resolve coordination issues within the sectoral planning process.
• Develop the initial draft of the respective sector development plans, outlining strategic objectives, policy priorities, implementation frameworks, and monitoring indicators.
• Revise the sector drafts based on stakeholder feedback, working group discussions, and technical reviews.
• Liaise with relevant research institutions and the National Economic Council to harmonise the objectives of the Jubbaland SDP with sector goals defined in the national Centennial Vision 2060 (CV2060) document.
• Produce final, comprehensive sector development plans that align with the national vision, SDGs, and financing frameworks.
• Organise and conduct / facilitate a final State Plan validation consultation workshop, involving key stakeholders from state and district levels, civil society and the private sector.
• Work closely with fiscal planning experts to develop a realistic costing of the SDP.
• Build staff capacity in the use of methodologies and tools utilised during the data collection phase of the SDP consultation and provide mentoring and training to sectoral staff and junior professionals during the entirety of the sector development plan formulation process.
• Prepare and submit an end-of-mission narrative report summarising activities undertaken, progress made, and lessons learned during commission of the assignment.
• DELIVERABLES AND REPORTING

The following deliverables will contribute to and result in successful implementation of the state-level development planning technical assistance assignment:
• Preparation of an assignment methodology road map, in the form of an “inception report” summarising the planning process and sector plan development strategy.
• Conducting detailed desk reviews of existing policies, legal frameworks, programme evaluations, research papers and sector performance data and, working with public institutions and / or other relevant stakeholders, ensuring data is credible, disaggregated (e.g., by gender, age and location) and actionable.
• Convening and facilitating seven (7) distinct stakeholder consultations, each engaging with government and community leaders, business enterprises, civil society organisations, non-state actors, academic institutions, women’s groups, youth organisations, and community representatives, thus ensuring a productive dialogue between technical experts, policymakers and key stakeholders.
• Provision of workshop facilitation or co-facilitation services, in relation to targeted stakeholder consultations and development plan validation events.
• Developing and compiling initial drafts of sectoral development plans, outlining strategic objectives, policy priorities, implementation frameworks and monitoring indicators.
• Organising and conducting / facilitating a final “plan validation workshop”, involving key stakeholders from state and district levels, civil society and the private sector.
• Revising initial document drafts based on stakeholder feedback, working group discussions, and technical reviews.
• Producing final, comprehensive sector development plans that align with the national vision, SDGs, and financing frameworks.
• Preparing and submitting an end-of-mission narrative report and timely handover of Development / Transformation Plans (and other relevant materials) to DAI administrative support staff for uploading to the TAPF internal SharePoint platform.
• SUPERVISION

The Sustainable Economic Development and Environment and Climate Resilience State Development Planning NKE will be answerable to the Director General (DG) of the Jubbaland State Ministry of Planning, Investment and International Cooperation (MoPIIC), working in collaboration with the TAPF State Level Coordinator (SLC), and will be supervised by the TAPF Team Leader, in close collaboration with the TAPF KE2 / Partnership Advisor.

Time sheets will be approved by the TAPF Team Leader and the EU Delegation (EUD).
• LOGISTICS

The assignment will be implemented from the MoPIIC office in Kismayo, Jubbaland State.

Travel to selected districts within Jubbaland may be required, to conduct consultations and other fact-finding activities, subject to relevant project and EU rules and regulations, including security protocols and the outcome of contemporary security assessments.

The TAPF Office Manager, based in Mogadishu, and the DAI Project Manager, based in Brussels, will support the State-level Development Planning NKE with operational and administrative issues, as required.

The working language of the assignment and contract will be English, and all communication and reports will be submitted in English.
• EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS / SELECTION CRITERIA

The Sustainable Economic Development and Environment and Climate Resilience State Development Planning Non-key Expert (NKE) should possess:
• A university degree, preferably a Master’s, in one of the following fields: Public Administration, Business Administration, Economics, Statistics, Public Policy Development, International Development, Environmental Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Science, or a related field.
• Ten (10) or more years of practical work experience in a senior advisory capacity with an international development organisation, private sector company, non-governmental organisation or government institution, including at least three (3) previous assignments as a development planner, preparing regional, organisational or company-level strategic plans.
• Previous work experience as a TA or CTA (technical assistant / chief technical advisor), embedded within a host government department, inclusive mentoring and capacity development experience, guiding development programmes and / or the implementation of policies, strategies and operational plans.
• Previous experience (in at least three (3) work assignments) of workshop organisation and facilitation, inclusive in-depth knowledge of and familiarity with participatory rural appraisal (PRA), focus group discussion and other interactive data collection methodologies, preparation of PowerPoint presentations and handouts, and moderating workshop plenaries.
• Clear and demonstrable understanding and in-depth knowledge of Results Based Management (RBM), Participatory Planning and Monitoring (PPM) or other management and monitoring techniques.
• Strong communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent written and spoken / verbal communication skills in both English and Somali.
• Strong organisational and analytical skills.
• Extensive knowledge of the local (Somali) development context.
• Specialist technical knowledge of one or more sectors comprising the foundation pillars in the current development planning framework. These are:

Compulsory (in this case):
• Sustainable economic transformation: macro-economic stability, private- sector-led, inclusive economic growth, and productive sector development;
• Environment and climate resilience: environmental protection, renewable energy, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and mitigation, and resilience.

Optional:
• Governance transformation: rule of law and security, public sector reforms, and inclusive governance.
• Social and human capital transformation: education, health and nutrition, social protection, water and inter-sectoral themes.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities effectively.

Appendix 1: Overarching Project Terms of Reference

EU – Somalia Technical Assistance and Partnership Facility [NDICI Africa/2023/451-029]