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TERMS OF REFERENCE
1) Position Information
Post Title:
Siem Reap Initiative Consultant
Practice Area:
Poverty Reduction
Post Level:
National or International Consultant
Duration of the Assignment: 50 working days (starting from September - December 2012
Duty Station:
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Expected Places of Travel:
Siem Reap Province
Cluster/Project:
Poverty Reduction Unit/Linking Policy and Practices (LPP) Project
Supervisor:
Policy and Research Coordinator
2) General Context
Poverty reduction and growth are the highest priorities of government and it has been recognized by the
Royal Government of Cambodia’s National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2011 -2013 as one the most
formidable development challenge it faces. UNDP Country Programme Action Plan (2011-2015) adopts an
integrated poverty reduction approach in order to accelerate progress towards Cambodian Millennium
Development Goal One (CMDG1). Addressing gro wth, poverty and equity require acting simultaneously at
the policy and macroeconomic levels and through direct interventions focused on the poorest populations.
This involves developing policy options for growth that benefits all; supporting human capital development
and institutional capacity in selected sectors of importance for the diversification of the economy; and
scaling up schemes to improve the incomes of those in the poorest provinces. Thus, contributing to
strengthening national and sub-national capacities to develop a more diversified, sustainable and equitable
economy.
Building on the successes of the Insights for Action Initiative (2005-2010), UNDP Linking Policy with Practices
for Accelerating MDG1 (LPP) project was established in January 2011 and aims at (i) providing evidence–
based policy options for inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth, (ii) supporting human capital
development and institutional capacity development in selected sectors of importance and (iii) scaling up
effective anti-poverty practices for inclusive and equitable growth. LPP programme is responsible for the
preparation of key UNDP flagship reports such as Cambodia’s National Human Development Reports and
national forums such as Cambodia Economic Forums.
Cambodia’s economic performance in the recent past has been notable. Along with garment exports,
construction and agriculture, tourism has been a key driver for growth in Cambodia in the past decade. It is
estimated to contribute around 15% of GDP and to generate direct employment for about 250,000
employees (and indirect employment of 350,000). Howe ver, its impact on development is far from being
maximized. The speed of poverty reduction is constrained by the poor linkages between the economy’s
main drivers to other sectors in terms of employment and inputs. Skills shortage has been highlighted as
strong constraint for Cambodia’s economy in ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2012 and as a limit to
growth by an increasing share of firms in the World Bank’s Investment Climate Surveys (from 6.5% in 2003 to
15.5% in 2007). Furthermore, employers complained about difficulties in finding employees with not only
specific vocational skills but also basic skills such as literacy and numeracy. 1
Siem Reap Province is an illustration of this challenge of creating the linkages between an engine of growth,
such as tourism, and the local economy, in particular the agricultural sector on which more than 80 percent
of the Siem Reap population relies on. While Angkor tourism revenues represent the lion share of the total
tourism revenues of Cambodia, Siem Reap is the 9th poorest province in Cambodia out of 24. In 2010, 31.1
%2 of Siem Reap Province population (920,120 people) was living below the national poverty line, a figure
that is significantly higher than the latest estimated national average of 26.1%.
Despite the six universities operating in Siem Reap Province alone, there is a mismatch between the
education curriculum and the development needs of private sector. Skill mismatch and shortage can also be
found by analyzing data on job seekers and job vacancies from the National Employment Agency Job Center
in Siem Reap, which shows in particular a shortage of labour for manager, professional or service and sales
1 World Bank 2012
2 The poverty rate is estimated at earlier 2010 based on Commune Data Base.

worker positions. On the supply side, Siem Reap province has a very low educated base which is a major
impediment. Existing studies recognize that although tourism has been significant for economic growth, its
impacts on the local communities and poverty reduction have been very limited. 3. Those studies show that
benefits from tourism accrue to the communities living in the vicinity of Siem Reap temple sites while the
best benefit for the poor is nothing more than low-paid employment as they do not usually have capital,
social networks, required skills or education for better paid employment.
Against this background, UNDP has agreed with the Governor of Siem Reap to explore ways for transforming
the tourism sector into a more inclusive one and to improve employment opportunities and access to jobs
for the local population, especially youth and women, by improving the match of skill-sets with market
demands through targeted training and higher engagement with private sector.
3) Scope of Work
To tackle these issues including labour/skill shortage and skill mismatch, the continuing migration dynamic
of the Siem Reap workforce to neighbouring countries and the inadequate employability of youth and
women, UNDP started the Siem Reap Initiative (Inclusive Tourism and Employability of Youth and Women for
poverty reduction) in 2012 which primarily focuses on three objectives:
(a)
(b)
(c)
Supporting local authorities to establish a Human Capital and Skill Development Strategic Plan
(HCSDSP) to support the implementation of the 2011-2015 Provincial Development Plan and the 3
year public investment rolling plan.
Improving access to quality training to help youth and women form poor communities to get the
right skills and knowledge and maximize their potential for employability.
Improving access to information in order to assist youth and women (including from poor
communities) in decision making regarding employment selection and on training/education
choices.
In the effort to achieve those target objectives, the scope of work of the consultant is to provide technical
assistance to produce three years HCSDSP for Siem Reap in order to support the implementation of the
2011-2015 Provincial Development Plan and the 3 year public investment rolling plan.
The scope of the assignment will cover:
Review and analyze relevant and existing literature and conduct consultation to generate
necessary information;
Indicate available evidence and data gaps;
Based on the literature and consultations with relevant stakeholder, analyse the overall
development pattern and the dynamic of the labour market for the province. This includes
identifying who are the main employees in Tourism industry; local residents or migrants from
other provinces, and analyse the characteristics and skills level of the current labour force;
Engage with stakeholder to further develop HCSDSP for the province in a participatory manner
with emphasis on strong ownership from government counterpart, Siem Reap authority. The
methodology should include:
o The rational for HCSDSP;
o The process to develop HCSDSP;
o The proposed management structure/arrangement to facilitate the development of
HCSDSP (ex. A working group), the proposed composition and the role and
responsibility of the related parties;
Develop a clearly articulated draft of HCSDSP for the province to promote equitable access to
education and skill development opportunity and that includes:
o The target sectors that will generate employment for the province in the future;
o Alignment with national framework related to human capital and skills development. For
example, Qualification Framework of Ministry of Tourism for TVET in tourism sector.
o What are the skills needed;
o How to address those skill gaps through formal education, training, informal education,
etc.;
o Funding mechanism/modality and related financing sources for public expenditure on
HCSDSP, whether it should be built from existing one or from outside;
3 Ballard 2005; World Bank 2006; Hing and Tout 2007

o Institutional mechanism for coordinating and implementing HCSDSP;
o The current challenges while providing medium and longer term intervention to address
the skill problem for the province;
o A plan to build capacity of the relevant government officials to ensure the successful
implementation of the proposed HCSDSP;
Conduct consultations or validation workshop as required, with support from the Siem Reap
Initiative Local Coordinator, with relevant stakeholder to generate further input and to
delivered the agreed outputs;
Provides technical inputs and feedback to the Siem Reap Labour Market Study to be conducted
by National Employment Agency (NEA);
Prepare a concept note for a Human Capital and Skill Development Provincial Fund;
Prepare and provide a presentation related to Siem Reap labour market from Human Capital
Development lens. The presentation should include the experience on the relevant best
practices from other countries in the similar context;
Prepare presentation on HCSDSP for Siem Reap and the presentation of the concept note for a
Human Capital and Skill Development Provincial Fund for the stakeholder
workshop/meeting(s) to disseminate those two outputs.
4) Final Products or Deliverables/Outputs
Key deliverables of the assignment are:
Human Capital and Skill Development Strategic Plan (HCSDSP): Clearly articulated and agreed 3-year
HCSDSP that is aligned with national and international private sector investments pipeline and
current specific sector needs in the province in order to support the local authorities in the
implementation of the 2011-2015 provincial development plan and the 3-year public investment
rolling plan. – End of December 2012
Concept note for a Human Capital and Skill Development Provincial Fund: To define requirements for a
Human Capital and Skill Development Provincial Fund. This concept note takes part in supporting
the implementation of HCSDSP by end of December 2012.
Presentation related to Siem Reap labor market from Human Capital Development lens : Clear
presentation on the mentioned topic with outlining international best practice during the
provincial Job Fair in Siem Reap. – Third Week of October 2012.
In order to produce the above mention deliverables, the consultant will be given a period of 50 days over a
4-month period. A tentative work plan is outlined in the table below and a detailed schedule will be further
elaborated at the beginning of the consultancy in coordination with UNDP.
Task
Days required
Desk review and consultations with relevant stakeholder 10
Produce first draft of Human Capital and Skill Development Strategic Plan 20
Produce first draft of concept note for a Human Capital and Skill
10
Development Provincial fund
Provide presentation and facilitate the consultation/stakeholder workshop
10
to finalize the Human Capital and Skill Development Strategic Plan and
concept note for a Human Capital and Skill Development Provincial Fund
TOTAL 50
The consultant must be based in Cambodia. A more detailed timeframe will be further elaborated with
UNDP once the consultant is selected.
As part of the evaluation criteria, to apply for this job, the consultant must provide the proposed
methodology to deliver the expected outputs along with his/her CV.

5) Institutional Arrangement
To deliver the outputs of the assignment, the consultant will work in close collaboration with the Poverty
Reduction Unit team, in particular with the Siem Reap Local Coordinator, the Human Development Officer,
and the Poverty Reduction Unit team leader, but also with the provincial authority and other stakeholders.
6) Monitoring and Progress Controls
The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the LPP Policy and Research Coordinator. The
Human Development Officer will be responsible for keeping track of the progress made by the consultant
base on the agreed work plan and deliverables. On daily basis, to deliver the expected outputs, the
consultant will work closely with Siem Reap Local Coordinator.
7) Payment Milestones
Consultant will be paid on a lump sum basis under the following installments:
1) (15%) 1st payment, upon submission of work plan/refined methodology to conduct the
assignment;
2) (25%) 2nd payment, upon completion of the presentation related to Siem Reap labor market
during the job fair in Siem Reap;
3) (30%) 3rd payment, upon submission and acceptance of Human Capital and Skill Development
Strategic Plan (HCSDSP) for Siem Reap;
4) (30%) 4 th (final) payment, upon submission and acceptance of concept note for a Human Capital
and Skill Development Provincial fund.
8) Minimum Qualifications Requirement
Education:
Experience:
Competencies:
Master or PhD in economics, education, public policy, international development
studies, and/or related subjects.
At least seven years of work experience at national and international level in social
science – sociology, development studies, and/or labor market and skill
development at theoretical level and practical level in the field;
Proven relevant experience in Cambodia or a development country in Southeast
Asia on related project context and in multi stakeholder environment including
development organization, national counterpart, civil society, private sector;
Broad knowledge of sub-national administration, tourism and employment;
Substantial experience in providing policy advise in the area related to human
capital;
Substantial experience working and engaging with senior government officials,
donor representatives and civil society on policy and strategic issues;
Substantial experience in working on complex policy-based research related to
economics, human development, rural development, etc.;
Experience in providing substantive inputs into technical documents and
mentoring researchers in developing countries;
Ability to write effectively, particularly technical and policy papers and studies.
Excellent presentation and communication skills;
Previous experience or familiarity with the UN/UNDP is an asset.
Strong analytical skills and critical thinking skills
Good facilitation and presentation skill;
Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively with various partners including the
government, civil society, private sector, UN and other development donors and
high quality liaison and representation at local and national levels;
Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to foster relationships with
key stakeholders from donors, government counterpart, and other local partners;
Understanding of gender mainstreaming, youth employment and challenges;

Ability to work under pressure, effectively coordinate research team and meet tight
deadlines without compromising quality of work.
Computer literacy and knowledge of standard PC software packages (MS. Excel,
PowerPoint, Word, etc.) is essential. Experience in the use of web based
management systems is an asset.
Language
Requirements::
Strong command of written and spoken English.