Consultancy - M&E (Child Protection) - Home-based for 18 Months), ECARO

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, results

How can you make a difference?

Background

In 2022, UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) has entered an agreement with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission (EC) to provide technical support, as part of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) to the governments of Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovakia in their efforts to implement reforms in the area of child rights, child poverty and social exclusion.

As part of this agreement, UNICEF will provide technical support to the Government of Luxembourg to effectively monitor progress made in implementing the country’s National Strategy and Action Plan on the Rights of the Child 2022-2026 and the European Child Guarantee (ECG) National Action Plan (NAP) and to evaluate the results for children, through strengthening the existing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks and indicators and developing a road map for implementation including actions to strengthen the existing information systems and improve data availability, quality, comparability and disaggregation as needed. The consultancy is expected to provide support to the UNICEF ECARO Child Protection team in the effective implementation of the M&E components of the above-mentioned TSI project.

Furthermore, the Phase III of the Preparatory Action for the European Child Guarantee (ECG) programme, which is being implemented in seven European Union (EU) Member States has been extended until end of April 2023, and the consultancy is expected to support the Child Protection team with the M&E related component, especially in view of the finalisation of the operational research, documentation of lessons learned and good practices in the four countries piloting models of services and interventions for children in need, and M&E-related inputs to final reports and publications.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

• To support UNICEF ECARO and its partners in assessing and strengthening the national M&E indicator frameworks and information systems in Luxembourg (and other countries as needed), which can collect, analyse, visualise, report and disseminate high-quality disaggregated and internationally comparable (where relevant) data and harmonized national statistics on children in need and child rights.
• To provide M&E specialist support to ECARO in the planning and implementation of the M&E components of the TSI project, which ECARO is going to implement under an umbrella contract with the European Commission in Luxembourg and help to establish a sound TSI project M&E system.
• To provide technical specialist support to the implementation and finalisation of the M&E and research components of the Phase III of the preparatory action of the ECG and provide any other relevant support to the Child Protection team in the finalisation of Phase III as needed.

UNICEF ECARO’s Child Protection team is working closely with ECARO’s Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation team on M&E-related work including in the area of child rights monitoring, which is particularly relevant for the TSI project.

ECARO will also work closely with UNICEF Headquarters on mobilizing the corporate expertise and tools to benefit the country monitoring and data improvement processes and sustainability.

Scope of Work:

Main tasks and deliverables related to the TSI project in Luxembourg:

Inception phase

Support the preparation, implementation and documentation of the project kick-off meeting in Luxembourg including the mapping of key M&E stakeholders. Based on the documented results of meetings with key stakeholders in 2022 and the kick-off meeting, the consultant will help to finalize all required project documents including the project inception report with a detailed work plan, stakeholder maps and the results of the initial stakeholder engagement. The inception phase will also require the consultant to provide inputs to basic communication materials on the child rights monitoring component of the project, and to help establish and support the work of the project’s technical working group (TWiG) on indicators (including development of draft terms of reference, calendar of work, etc. and participation in and documentation of the meetings).

Assessment phase

Support the team and national partners in the development of the approach, terms of reference, methodology and tools for the assessment of the state-of-play of M&E of children’s rights and of the country’s Child Guarantee NAP (including the data landscape); the implementation of the assessment including the development of proposals for recommendations to address constraints and opportunities uncovered and of a long list of relevant M&E indicators; the validation of facts with key stakeholders; and the write-up of the assessment report and presentation. The assessment will include a comprehensive desk review (including an analysis of other EU and third countries’ experiences, good practices and M&E frameworks and indicator sets) as well as a secondary data analysis and field-work to gather primary data (e.g., from key informants) as needed. The consultant will further support the preparation, implementation and documentation of online bilateral exchanges on M&E frameworks and indicators with at least two selected countries.

Implementation phase

This phase will require the consultant to provide technical support to Luxembourg and partners in the following areas:

• Drafting and finalizing a report that will set out the prioritized indicator areas, the actual indicators and the data collection methods. The report will be based on the results of the assessment and the work of the TWiG on indicators and of all other experts engaged in a consultative and consensus building process to arrive at priority indicator areas and actual indicators to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan on the Rights of the Child 2022-2026 and the Child Guarantee NAP. The report will include any actions that may be required to strengthen the data systems to produce quality data for the prioritized indicators. The process of identifying and prioritizing the indicators will include testing the feasibility of the prioritized indicators and elaborating on the metadata (including indicator definition and calculation, data collection methods and data sources, data disaggregation, etc.). The actions needed to strengthen the data systems will be included into a roadmap for implementation that will be developed as part of the project.
• Developing a roadmap to monitor and evaluate children's rights and child poverty and social exclusion in Luxembourg, which is setting out the key steps and milestones including roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders to implement the strengthened M&E framework and continuously improve M&E, collect quality disaggregated data for the agreed set of indicators, and close the data gaps by investing in data system improvements.
• Developing a proposal for the design of an indicator dashboard to help the national partner track, analyse and visualise the data collected.
• Supporting the preparation of workshops on child and stakeholder participation and the development of a participation policy and guide for the national partner in the area of participatory M&E.
• Supporting the project team with other relevant tasks related to the project as agreed with the supervisor.

These processes include consultations, consensus building and validation of project outputs with key stakeholders, which the consultant will support. The consultant will also work closely with the project team and partners in country on ensuring participatory M&E approaches and processes, which are sustainable, and a gender focus in all M&E activities, as well as compliance with national and international principles and standards on ethics, data protection and confidentiality, and data collection with children. This may include, e.g., supporting the project team and country partners in the preparation of all required documents for external quality and ethical reviews.

Project monitoring and reporting

The consultant will support the project team in project monitoring, reporting and information management including the development of monitoring and reporting methods, tools and mechanisms. The consultant will also provide support to data visualisation and presentation, and input data and analysis into project reports and presentations, as needed, including the final synthesis report. The consultant will further participate in key project-related meetings and events including regular internal meetings of the project team (in person and/or online) and help to prepare meeting agendas and document key action points during meetings, if required. Other tasks and deliverables:

Related to Phase III of the preparatory action of the ECG:

• Conducting a rapid review of the national monitoring frameworks for Child Guarantee NAPs submitted to the European Commission and developing recommendations for strengthening the frameworks.
• Reviewing the operational research outputs of Phase III and providing technical feedback to the UNICEF ECG team.
• Collecting, aggregating and visualising the data on selected Phase III indicators from the four countries that are implementing models of services and interventions for the final reporting period, and analysing the data together with the data available from year one and two of Phase III.
• Drafting the M&E-related inputs to the final reports of Phase III.
• Providing any other relevant support to the child protection team in the finalisation of Phase III as needed.

Deliverables (Please refer to the attached document for more information)

Deliverables - M&E (Child Protection) Consultant.pdf

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

• Master’s Degree in social sciences, statistics or a related field and/or a background in child rights, international development or a related field with proven experience and skills in monitoring and evaluation.
• At least five years of relevant professional M&E experience including experience in working in EU countries and in developing/strengthening national/subnational M&E frameworks and systems in line with national policies and international standards
• Familiar with EU policies on data protection and with principles and standards on data collection on children
• Familiar with different data sources on children in the EU context including administrative data systems
• Experience in participatory M&E processes and corresponding mechanisms and in national M&E governance and management would be an asset
• Familiar with EU policy frameworks on children would be an asset
• Proven data analysis and basic data visualization skills
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Fluency in English and in French required
• Excellent writing skills including proven experience in project monitoring and reporting, the development of analytical reports and data briefs.

Administrative details:

Supervision

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist.

Workplace

This is a consultancy home-based. Candidates are required to have internet connection, IT and communication equipment.

Travel

This consultancy involves duty travels with regular travels to Luxembourg.

Duration

The estimate duration of this consultancy is from February 2023 until July 2024 (average of 8 - 10 days per month).

How to Apply

Application should be submitted online and should include: Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

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.

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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.