The National Personnel Service Agreement (“NPSA”) is a legal instrument, in the form of a contract modality, established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in order to engage the services of individuals to provide a time-limited service to UNDP under a service-based contract. The effective date of entry into force of this policy is 1 June 2021, from which date it will replace the Service Contract modality. This new modality has two key objectives: On the one hand it aims to provide UNDP with a comprehensive, flexible and cost-effective contractual framework which responds to project, programme, operational and administrative, requirements. On the other, the NPSA will provide for attractive, stable and fair conditions of employment which ensure that UNDP is able to attract, select and retain the services of skilled, high-performing individuals. Individuals engaged under this instrument have the status of National Personnel Service Agreement Holders and are engaged in recognition of their skills and expertise in order to deliver on identified functional requirements. These individuals are not UNDP staff members, but are instead considered part of UNDP’s personnel and, as such, are not governed by or subject to the United Nations’ Staff Regulations and Rules. Nor is this contract modality governed by national legislation in countries where UNDP operates. Given that the services covered by the NPSA may only be provided by natural and not legal persons (e.g. duly formed/registered companies), as well as by non-incorporated partnerships, the NPSA falls within the overall scope of UNDP’s Human Resource management framework.