| Overview : In the Budget Statement for the 2015/16 FY budget, the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development announced Government plans to establish a National Planning Commission as an independent body for strategic thinking on matters of national development. The establishment of such a Commission has been recommended in previous assessments and political economy analysis in Malawi. The July 2015 High Level Forum on Development Effectiveness expressed strong support for the government plans to establish the Commission. Comparative analysis on the practice with National Planning Commissions was carried out in May 2015 as part of the organizational review of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development (MoFEPD) following a merger in 2014. The review recommended that some functions of the merged Ministry are transferred to the proposed National Planning Commission for the purpose of improving national planning process and priority-setting. To ensure independence and continuity, it is proposed that the National Planning Commission is established by an act of Parliament. The process to establish the Commission will involve more detailed proposals to Cabinet, a Parliamentary Bill and additional consultations with stakeholders on the governance and appointment arrangements for the Commission. The services of an individual consultant are being sought to support senior management in the MoFEPD in leading this process. The assignment will be supported through the Development Effectiveness and Accountability Programme (DEAP) which is a four year joint UN and EU programme designed to support government to entrench a culture of accountability for effective use of resources and achievement of results in public institutions. 2. SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK The main objective of the assignment is to support the establishment of the National Planning Commission. The consultant will take the lead in facilitating the establishment of the National Planning Commission, compiling all the reports of the various consultative and brainstorming sessions including the participatory consultations, and final recommendations on the National Planning Commission. Specific duties and tasks of the consultant will include the following: - Support government to analyze good practice from other countries on the basis of previous assessments, as well as lessons learnt from similar processes in Malawi;
- Support government in setting up the National Planning Commission, including agreement on functions, drafting of appropriate proposals, preparation of necessary documentation and briefing notes;
- Advise on priority actions to facilitate the expedient adoption of the required legislation and other procedural and technical steps required for the expedient setting up of the Commission;
- Facilitate participatory consultation process ensuring views and inputs of stakeholders from government, civil society, private sector and development partners are considered within the process of establishing the Commission;
- Support government in designing the most optimal governance, appointment and organizational arrangements for the new Commission taking into account the results from the consultations;
- Perform other duties as required by the nature of the assignment.
| 
