Operations Officer in the World Bank Tashkent office

The World Bank's Human Development Unit for Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is recruiting a locally hired staff as Operations Officer in the World Bank Tashkent office. We are interested in candidates with operational skills, technical knowledge in the social sectors (health and/or education), and the ability to engage in policy dialogue with Government officials in the social sectors (health and/or education). The candidate will support the Human Development program in Uzbekistan, which includes projects in the health and education, and related activities in those two sectors.

Regional Context

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region comprises of 30 extremely diverse clients, with a population of nearly 500 million people. Four of our clients are IDA only and another 5 are IDA blend countries. The remaining 21 are IBRD credit-worthy though not all have active lending programs. Although 10 of our clients have joined the EU and 7 of these have graduated, most continue to remain active recipients of knowledge and/or lending services. CASs/CPSs reflect this strong diversity with substantial variation in lending prospects, but strong demand for Bank technical services is present across the board.

Over the last 20 years of transition, ECA countries have integrated into the global economy across many dimensions such as trade, finance, and labor flows. GDP in the Region grew by two-thirds from 2000 to 2008 – an enviable growth of an average of 6.5 percent a year. Yet despite this progress, ECA was hit the hardest by the global economic crisis compared to the other regions in the Bank. Growth in the Region, which had peaked at about 7 percent in 2007, fell to a negative 6 percent in 2009.

The financial and economic crisis led to a substantial increase in Bank lending and knowledge activities in all ECA countries, including in several EU members states (e.g., Latvia and Hungary). The crisis helped serve as a powerful reminder of the relevance of the Bank both as an attractive source of funding and a reliable provider of timely and quality advice.

It is projected that ECA is going to be the slowest region to recover from the crisis. Growth in 2010 reached about 4 percent, and prospects for 2011–13 are only slightly better. Based on this changing context, the new ECA strategy is focused on developing a new growth model for the region through:

1. Increasing competitiveness to achieve faster growth.

2. Pursuing social sector reforms and fiscal adjustment to achieve more inclusive growth.

3. Supporting climate action to achieve more sustainable growth.

Even while declining from the heights of the crisis, we expect demand for our lending and advisory services post-crisis to remain strong. But we are constrained in our capacity to respond given budget constraints and a limited IDA and IBRD resource environment. This requires an increased results focus to help direct our resources to where they will have the greatest impact, along with continued emphasis on leveraging partnerships and expanding our fee for services activities in MICs, building on the successful experience in Russia.

SMU Context:

The Human Development Department in the Europe and Central Asia Region covers education, health nutrition population, and social protection employment in the 30 countries of the Former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, Southern and South-Eastern Europe, and Turkey. These countries are in various stages of economic and social development, from very poor IDA post-conflict countries to middle income countries and those that have acceded to the European Union. The Bank supports them with a wide range of instruments and services, including investment and adjustment operations, economic and sector work and other non-lending services, DPL PRSCs, SWAps, and policy advice. The majority of social sector projects and sector work are complex and require a high level of attention, guidance and technical assistance from the Bank.

Staff in the Education team typically engage with clients in in-depth technical assistance and policy discussions, design, supervise and evaluate education sector projects, and lead and participate in AAA tasks such as Education Sector Policy Studies, Public Expenditure Reviews, Impact evaluations, Country Economic Memoranda, Social Assessments, Institutional Assessments, and flagship Regional Studies. They also lead and participate in other multisectoral lending operations, including PRSCs and DPLs, as well as performance-based operations. Policy dialogue is concentrated in impact evaluation, the economics of education, skills for competitiveness, education sector service delivery – including quality, relevance, efficiency, access, and financing of education.

Country Context:

Uzbekistan is rich in natural resources, and thanks to an educated labor force it has significant economic potential. However, with a growing and predominantly rural population Uzbekistan faces significant challenges in economic development and the improvement in living standards of the population. With per capita income of US $1,380, Uzbekistan is one of the lowest income countries in ECA. Uzbekistan has adopted a gradualist state-led development approach, in which features of an open-market economy are gradually introduced to the existing centralized system. The guiding principle of reform for the authorities is to reduce impact on the political and economic spheres. The gradualist approach resulted in a less painful economic and social transition than experienced in most countries of the CIS and, in recent years, and a strong macroeconomic performance, which has helped Uzbekistan weather rather successfully the impact of the global financial crisis. Looking ahead, the economic policy agenda may require more emphasis on the rebalancing of reform agenda and less focus on targeting short term GDP growth. The crisis creates a good opportunity to diversify exports beyond the commodity and industrial sectors, if appropriate policies are implemented. Export diversification could be sustained by encouraging long-term private investment and bank lending into new strategic sectors. Critical reforms are therefore needed to stimulate this process. In agriculture, greater price flexibility and opportunity to make choices at the farm level are key. Advancing business environment agenda, including reforms in cash limitations and convertibility constraints will also be fundamental.

The number of projects in the Bank’s portfolio started to increase under the previous CAS 2008-2011 after many years of non-lending when the Bank’s portfolio reduced dramatically. The Bank’s lending program under CAS 2008–11 supported implementation of Uzbekistan’s first Welfare Improvement Strategy (WIS) 2007–10. Eight operations totaling $US 533 million were approved during the period. The Bank’s current active commitments as of August 2011 total about $US 635 million for 10 projects. The Bank Group’s Country Partnership Strategy for FY2012–15 is designed to support implementation of the infrastructure efficiency, economic competitiveness, diversification, and social inclusion elements of the Government’s medium-term development strategy. Four cross-cutting thematic or policy priorities emerge: (a) to improve the efficiency of infrastructure, especially energy, transport, and irrigation; (b) to enhance the competitiveness of targeted, strategic industries such as agro-processing, petrochemicals, and textiles; (c) to diversify the economy, in particular reduce its reliance on commodity exports; and (d) to improve access to and the outcomes of education, health and other social services, so that the benefits of overall growth are shared equitably by the entire population.

The Human Development Operations Officer will work with the Country Team to supervise and support Bank-financed projects under implementation, as well as participate in the preparation of new lending operations and in analytical work. He/she will pay particular attention to supporting the Project team in connecting with the respective Government counterparts and ensuring smooth project implementation on the ground.

The Human Development Operations Officer will participate as a member in World Bank missions (preparation, appraisal, negotiations, supervision), and will take the lead in selected discussions with client representatives on issues and components identified by task managers. He/she will provide guidance to government counterparts in following the project operational manuals. He/she will collect, review, and interpret project-related information/data, and will recommend actions/solutions, should any implementation issues arise.

- He/she will provide input to Task teams on substantive sector issues, including inputs into formulation and implementation of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS); and will help to prepare sections of the CAS document and country strategy submission as input into business plans. He/she will contribute to briefing material on HD sector and project issues.

- The Human Development Operations Officer work implies frequent interaction with counterparts in government and in a variety of international and other partner organizations. He/she will serve as liaison between the Country Team and the Government and between the Country Team and international partners.

- He/she will handle day to day interaction with Government officials in the context of projects preparation or supervision; will be responsible for identifying any problems that may arise during project implementation, and bringing it to the task manager’s attention in a timely manner.

- The Human Development Operations Officer will report to the Sector Manager in Washington and the Country Manager in Tashkent. He/she will be part of the Country Team assisting in the implementation of reforms in the human development sector (health, education).

- Master’s degree or a higher degree in Economics, Health, Education, or Public Policy, and a minimum of 5 years of professional experience in operational work and/or public policy analysis, including analytical, advisory and project work in developing countries;

- Proven ability in project management skills.

- Proven ability to integrate cross-sectoral/cross-disciplinary perspectives in project work.

- Excellent interpersonal skills.

- Ability to grasp quickly World Bank operational policies, practices and procedures.

- Ability to represent the Bank's position on various technical areas in front of an international audience;

- Proven ability to work in teams, including in multi-sectoral teams, both as a team leader and team member;

- Fluency in Russian; Working knowledge of Uzbek (written and spoken); Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

- Ability to work effectively and sensitively in multi-cultural environments and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues.

- The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

E T Consultant