Consultancy for Mapping of Childcare supply in KSA, 45 days, remotely

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, [insert tagline]

As part of KSA’s ambitious Vision 2030 and recent legal reform of its social security system, there is an opportunity to improve access to childcare, particularly among low-income families. As part of the National Transformation Plan, one of eleven Vision Realization Programs (VRPs) with five-year milestones designed to translate the Vision 2030 into action, Strategic Objective 8 aims to increase the proportion of women in the workforce.

The ongoing social protection reform process, having already revised eligibility criteria and benefit amounts for damani beneficiary families, can now contemplate increased access to quality childcare as a part of a broader strategy to further advance female labour force participation in KSA. Furthermore, establishing sufficient quantity and quality of care centers to meet demand will indirectly support higher enrolment in kindergarten, a Ministry of Education objective as part of the same VRP, by acclimating families and small children to formal education settings from a young age. At the same time, the roll-out of the Ministry of Economy and Planning’s Early Childhood Development strategy dovetails with the social protection reform, presenting a particularly opportune moment to engage in this mapping. Clear evidence on the current childcare system is the first step in expanding and improving childcare throughout the Kingdom.

For this reason, UNICEF in collaboration with the Family Affairs Council in KSA is looking to engage a consultant to prepare a mapping and analysis of childcare supply from birth to 6 years old in KSA that will:

• Quantify the number and types of service providers who are active in KSA.
• Outline the existing governance for childcare in KSA.
• Provide an overview and analysis of the different models applied in KSA and range of costs per child for different models.
• Detail the existing initiatives that support or facilitate childcare provided by government, non-government and private sector
• Summarize the best practices for childcare expansion and regulation in high-income countries and compare the current approach to childcare in KSA to this state of the art, identifying gaps. Provide recommendations on best practices that could be applied in KSA.
• Describe financing models that have been used to underpin national childcare expansion in other countries and provide options/recommendations for KSA

The consultancy will be based mainly on desk review of information available on-line and that received from counterparts, as well as 4-5 key informant interviews. The study will require the consultant to conduct both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

How can you make a difference?

1. A) Discuss objectives of expert interviews and possible persons/profiles to include with UNICEF and FAC. Suggest focus and script for interviews based.

B) Conduct (and record) 5-6 interviews with persons agreed upon with UNICEF.

2. A) Create a table of all available information about childcare supply (birth to age 6) in KSA

B) Describe existing childcare initiatives

C) Research and describe governance and regulation mechanisms for childcare in KSA

D) Summarize existing information (if any) on costs of different childcare models in KSA.

(All information for A) and C) will be provided by the Government).

3. Research and describe approaches to scale-up of and financing for childcare in other relevant high-income contexts

4. Research and describe approaches to scale-up of and financing for childcare in other relevant high-income contexts

5. Compile all existing components of the mapping into one draft report, including gap analysis and recommendations for expanding child care in KSA.

6. Prepare final report, addressing comments and suggestions from UNICEF and partners.

7. Prepare a summary powerpoint that provides an overview of report findings

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

• Masters degree in relevant social sciences with at least 5 years of relevant work experience, demonstrating familiarity with quantitative analysis and social policy.

• Bilingual in Arabic (able to conduct interviews and research in Arabic) and English (all consultancy products should be in English)

• Demonstrated research experience in the area of early childhood development.

• Excellent writing skills.

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.