Consultant for ASEAN Secretariat Corp. Development

CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY FOR ASEAN SECRETARIAT CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SCOPING STUDY

Closing Date: 13 February 2011

The ASEAN Secretariat and Australia, through the AADCP II, invites applications for the short-term (16 months) consultancy for the above-referenced study.

Background
The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) was formed in 1967 with five Member States but has gradually expanded and now consists of ten. The entry into force of the ASEAN Charter in December 2008 signified ASEAN’s movement from a loosely structured association to a rules-based organization complete with clearly-defined goals and objectives. In 2003 ASEAN committed itself to the achievement of an ASEAN Community in 2020 comprising the three pillars of Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural. This date has subsequently been accelerated to 2015. Comprehensive Blueprints for each of the Communities have been developed to guide efforts towards the achievement of the ASEAN Community. 

The ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program II (AADCP II) is providing support to ASEAN and builds on a previous program which was undertaken between 2002 and 2009. The overall objective of the program is to support ASEAN to implement its economic integration policies and priorities in line with the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The two components of the program will:

1. Strengthen ASEC’s institutional capacity to facilitate and support ASEAN integration and community building efforts; and
2. support movement towards the ASEAN Economic Community through provision of timely and high quality economic research and policy advice and support regional mechanisms and capacity for the implementation of selected AEC Blueprint activities at the national level. 

Needs and Objectives
The entry into force of the ASEAN Charter in 2008 has had a profound effect on the roles and operations of ASEC. As the 2015 target date for the achievement of the ASEAN Community approaches, the number and range of activities to be undertaken will increase and intensify. This in turn will place increased demands on the nature of ASEC’s support. 

A situational analysis conducted in late 2008 concluded that these developments presented major challenges for ASEC. It concluded with the recommendation that a long-term program of “change management” be designed and implemented within ASEC. The Corporate Development Scoping Study to be undertaken through these Terms of Reference will be the first step in such a program.

Analyses subsequent to the above-mentioned review and discussions with key ASEC staff have suggested a number of key areas where institutional development activities would strengthen ASEC’s ability to positively support achievement of the 2015 goal. These include:

• Development of an ASEC corporate culture oriented towards performance and the production of outputs;
• Greater clarity regarding the roles, responsibilities and operational procedures of the various units within ASEC;
• Strengthening of key internal functional systems such as corporate planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, program management and human resource management;
• Updating of important operational procedures such as financial management, staff regulations, information technology and communications, among others;
• Capacity building and training for key units and staff.

Much of the literature, particularly for public sector organizations such as ASEC, suggests institutional development programs should:

• Focus on supporting the particular needs of the institution and its staff through a process of internal needs identification;
• Strive to identify and support internal “champions” that will help in building support;
• Recognize that “change” can be threatening;
• Be comprehensive, flexible, incremental and adaptable enough to be able to accelerate or decelerate the pace of change in response to program developments;
• Development of training programs should be preceded by a comprehensive training needs assessment;
• Be subject to a constant process of internal monitoring using indicators measuring successes and failures.

Within this framework, this Corporate Development Scoping Study will strengthen the ability of ASEC to support the achievement of the ASEAN Community by 2015. 
It will do this by: 1) identifying ASEC institutional development needs; and 2) designing a multi-year strategy and program to address these.

Visit our website at http://www.asean.org/jobs/AADCP-14.pdf for further information on job specifications and application procedures.
Please note that only short-listed candidates will be notified.