World Bank Economist Ankara, Turkey

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.

The Europe and Central Asia, Human Development Department (ECSHD) at the World Bank is recruiting an Economist (as an Extended Term Consultant) in the Turkey office located in Ankara. The Turkey program currently includes analytical work and technical advice on labor markets, poverty & social protection, gender, education and health, as well as support to the Government’s Health Transformation Program. The consultant will use strong quantitative and analytical skills to contribute to and support the research, analysis, technical advice and operational work on labor markets, poverty & social protection and education.

The consultant will provide technical support to the ECSHD team working on Turkey under the guidance of the respective task team leader (TTL). The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

(i) preparing literature reviews;

(ii) conducting data analysis;

(iii) writing of technical notes & background papers;

(iv) preparing informal notes for the team on new events, data and policies regarding employment, poverty & social protection and education;

(v) providing technical support to the preparation and supervision of lending operations;

(vi) communicating with government counterparts and other partners (e.g. academia, civil society, other international organizations); and

(vii) supporting teams visiting from Washington DC

The consultant is expected to contribute to a number of current areas of work, including:

• Jobs and development in Turkey

• Women’s access to economic opportunities

• Poverty measurement and analysis

• Education, particularly teacher quality

The consultant will be supervised by the Sector Manager for Human Development Economics, based in Washington DC and the ECSHD coordinator for Turkey, based in Turkey, who will coordinate the work program with the different TTLs.

The consultant will be stationed in Ankara, Turkey. The duration of contract is one year, renewable for a second year.

E T Consultant