Consultancy - Capacity building for Organizational Development, UNICEF LACRO, Panama City (6 Months)

Consultant Crisis & Emergency Response

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, knowledge

How can you make a difference?

Background

UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work in 190 countries and territories to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices. As part of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025, a comprehensive set of organizational enablers are outlined in a global framework to represent UNICEF’s contribution to child-related SDGs in all setting. These include a focus on systemic change for responsive organizational policy and systems. The relevant organizational enablers for this project are:

90. Through its organizational performance enablers, UNICEF will continuously invest in becoming a more agile, values-based, effective and efficient organization that can respond effectively to change and uncertainty

95. Dynamic and inclusive people and culture: UNICEF will work to ensure that its workforce is dynamic and empowered to perform at its best for the world’s children, and that all employees model the core values of care, respect, integrity, trust and accountability. There will be zero tolerance for any form of misconduct.

UNICEF’s Core Values are an invaluable part of the commitment to meeting strategic goals through cultural shift. The publicly available charter outlines UNICEF’s expectation of staff members, managers, and the organization itself. These core values are defined as:

• Care – we are mindful of each other’s well-being, professional growth, and development. We recognize that our staff are often working in stressful environments where insecurity and risk are a daily fact of life. • Respect – we treat each other with the same level of thoughtfulness we want for ourselves, and we promote diversity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging for all. • Integrity – we act ethically, with honestly and transparency, settling the highest standards for ourselves as we work together and with partners, donors, and the global community • Trust – we depend on and believe in each other to act in line with the core values and mission of UNICEF and in the best interests of children • Accountability - we hold ourselves and each other responsible for our behaviors; this means being answerable for our actions • Sustainability – we apply environmental sustainability in our personal life and at work, including in the design and implementation of UNICEF activities, so that our work protects the planet and its resources for the children we serve, now and in the future.

More information on UNICEF Core Values (CRITAS) can be found here.

Latin America Caribbean Regional Office – Emergency Unit is a nine-person team tasked with providing technical guidance to 24 Country Offices and coordinating cross-sectoral humanitarian preparedness and response. One of the most critical strategic shifts in strategic regional management includes moving humanitarian action to the core of programmes, requiring a comprehensive review of relevant organizational structures. Given Emergency Unit’s growing role in these strategic shifts, an internal operationalization approach to UNICEF core values emerged as a need to enhance effectiveness as a team. Internal discussions on CRITAS reveal an opportunity for growth in sustaining a work environment that equips all diverse members with necessary tools to integrate core values into the workplace.

Purpose of the Assignment

Due to the nature of its work, LAC Emergency Unit works under pressure of consistently evolving needs with peaks of increased demand and intensity at development of a new crisis or a heightening of a current crisis. The effectiveness of the team as a cohesive unit impacts the efficiency in delivery of programs.

The Emergency Unit has, since 2022, added several new team members and restructured its team based on the emerging need for redelegation of thematic areas which involved new areas of work and stronger interaction and interdependence among team members.

LAC Emergency Unit conducted its second ‘team effectiveness retreat’ in March 2023, aimed at strengthening existing human resources to enhance its effectiveness, and the effectiveness of the humanitarian work of Country Offices and other LAC Sections. These internal discussions produced a dialogue on the application of UNICEF core values to ensure a continued cohesive working environment for all in the Emergency Unit.

UNICEF Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) Regional Office in Panama is looking for a consultant with expertise in organizational capacity development and leadership related to inclusion and equity practices. Under the overall guidance of the Emergency Advisor the consultant will support the Emergency Unit in assessing inclusive practices, specifically related to gender, and facilitate training on the application of inclusive practices.

The contract will have a short-term individual consultant modality; it will include a maximum of 10 working days.

Specific Tasks

The consultancy will unfold in two phases:

PHASE 1 – ASSESS: the consultant will conduct a brief series of needs assessment interviews with members of the team. The findings of these interviews will directly inform the design and customization of the engagement and methodology.

PHASE 2 - INTERVENTION: the work session with the team will take place over # number of sessions, either virtually or in person. The sessions will focus on the following team tasks:

• Reflect on the team knowledge of enablers to realizing UNICEF’s organizational equity policies and core values (CRITAS) internally. • Clarify areas of individual and shared accountability in prioritizing measured accountability markers in humanitarian-adjacent workplace settings. • Propose internal team norms that help affirm inclusion for improved effectiveness now and in the future; • Further define and strengthen the team’s contribution to delivering results in organizational culture goals.

Expected Results

The aim of this consultancy, as a follow-up of the team effectiveness process, is to facilitate the continuation of the exercise. The three areas for further development were identified as:

1. Empower sub-teams to incorporate and operationalize values-transformative practices into process planning; 2. Facilitate shifts through tangible recommendations in workplace culture to align with UNICEF’s Core Values; 3. Provide recommendations on periodic opportunities for team collaboration and proactive dialogue in creating a safe environment for colleagues to voice concerns.

Deliverables

Deliverables will include: an assessment of training needs, facilitation of training on core values, and a finalized report on suggested actions.

All deliverables are expected to be contextualized to the LAC Emergency Unit, considering the diversity of learners.

Task/Deliverable

Expected date

Brief report on the assessment (2 w/d)

Within 1st week of stat date

(11 - 15 September)

Proposed intervention (1 w/d)

Within 1st week of start date from

(11 - 15 September)

Workshop Design, Facilitation and Report (4 w/d)

Within 3 weeks of start date

(25 - 29 September)

Report of additional sessions (virtual or in person) (3 w/d)

Within 5 weeks of start date

(9 - 13 October)

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum Requirements and Qualifications

Education

Master’s degree in organizational leadership, professional development, education, psychology, human rights, or other relevant fields.

Work Experience

• At least 8 years of experience in organizational leadership and professional development, ideally with experience in humanitarian action. • Strong facilitation skills and organizational strategic planning skills. • Experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and/or organizational ethics programs. • Familiarity with UNICEF humanitarian action and internal procedures is an asset. • Knowledge and technical expertise in one or more of UNICEF areas of global sectoral responsibility is an asset.

Languages

Fluency in English and Spanish (written and oral) is required.

Technical knowledge (if applicable)

• Professional technical knowledge and expertise in organizational development and professional development • Knowledge of UNICEF or other UN core values

Other skills and attributes (optional)

• Capacity to work autonomously and with minimum supervision. • Ability to work efficiently under tight deadlines. • Ability to work well with other. • Flexibility and adaptability to shifting conditions and work demands. • Capacity to communicate effectively and work collaboratively with RO colleagues. • Able to work effectively in a multicultural environment. • High level of Integrity and commitment to UNICEF’s mission and professional values.

Administrative details

Supervision

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Emergency Manager.

Workplace

This is a home based assignment

How to Apply

Application should be submitted online and include Resume, Cover Letter, Technical Proposal (including proposed timeline) and daily fee. Consultancy Contracts are only issued to one individual. Should an applicant work with a team of consultants, he or she is responsible for his/her team.

Is travel involved

Travel is foreseen for this consultancy.

Travel will be covered by UNICEF as per policy.

• Travel costs will be estimated and added to the contract once they are determined based on UNICEF Financial Rules and Regulations. • For agreed country visits, the contractor/consultant will be responsible in administering their own travel. UNICEF will reimburse travel related expenses based on actual costs or on the below criteria whichever is lower and upon presentation of receipts. • Any travel involved should be budgeted according to UN Travel Standards as a ceiling. • UN Secretariat Administrative Instruction on Official Travel, ST/AI/2013/3: Sect. 4, para. 4.2, numerals (d) and (e) • For information on Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), can be found on the International Civil Service Commission website (all countries and destinations can be found by navigating on the map).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

*****

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 11 months ago - Source: unicef.org