Consultant for the analysis of the implementation of the Rulebook for the Centres for social work

Consultant Programme & Policy

Overview

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Rulebook implementation for social work centres.

You have:

• Master's degree in social, legal or human-related sciences.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in monitoring, evaluation, advocacy and/or formulations of policies and regulations.
• Proven record in the preparation of at least three analyses/impact assessments related to policy and/or legislative documents.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in working with national (government and non-government) and international stakeholders (developmental partners).
• Excellent understanding of policy, institutional and legal frameworks of relevance for human/child rights in the Republic of Serbia, including on related international standards.
• Knowledge on the social welfare and child protection system and status in Serbia.
• Knowledge of the Law on the planning system and accompanying bylaws.
• Fluency in Serbian and advanced knowledge of English.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF’s office is accessible to a certain extent, and employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are needed for ensuring equitable working conditions.

The Republic of Serbia has invested significant efforts in the process of implementing comprehensive reforms of its social welfare system, increasing their efficiency and harmonizing them with international and EU standards. As part of this process, some major legislative changes have been carried out. One of the most important systemic shifts was moving to case-management concept which has been operationalized through the Rulebook on the organization, normatives and standards of Centres for Social work (2008). Together with the Social Welfare Law, it defines the core statutory function of assessment and planning of services in a way which recognizes a professional responsible to deal with the specific case (case-manager) and ensures that the beneficiary is provided an individualized approach.

Over 15 years since the adoption of the Rulebook, significant capacity building has been invested to support the implementation of case-management, including supervision, thus contributing to improved quality, efficiency and effectiveness of service planning and support. UNICEF’s support was particularly focused on capacity strengthening for moving from institutionalized forms of care for the most vulnerable children towards prioritization of family and community-based solutions. However, together with significant improvements, some obstacles have been observed in its overall practical implementation.

Given the challenges observed, as well as expected regulatory changes (Social Welfare Law and Family Law) and policy developments (adoption of the Strategy for deinstitutionalization and development of community-based services and expected adoption of the new Social Welfare Strategy), there is a need to gain systematic evidence on the implementation of the Rulebook to set an informed ground for its upgrading. The purpose of this assignment is to ensure evidence-based analysis to justify and inform the need for regulatory advancements related to the organization, normatives and standards of the Centres for Social Work. More specifically, the assignment includes conducting an ex-post analysis of the effects of the related Rulebook, including specifying and justifying measures, activities and changes that need to be introduced.

Work Assignment Overview:

The scope of the work includes working in close coordination with the Ministry of Family Care and Demography (MoFD) and UNICEF, as well as in close cooperation with the Public Policy Secretariat (PPS) as needed. The main components of the ex-post analysis/report are:

1. Defined scope and objectives of the analysis,
2. Specified the indicators and target groups,
3. Overview of implementation of the rulebook,
4. Identified challenges in implementation,
5. Analysis of effects of the Rulebook on target groups/beneficiaries and fulfilment of objectives (effectiveness),
6. Recommendations for measures, activities and/or changes to be introduced.

Duration of the assignment: May – November 2023 (part-time, remote)

Task description:

Task 1: Create the overall work plan for the analysis, with the methodology fully developed, including the list of stakeholders to be consulted; finalize the plan to reflect the inputs and suggestions from the MoFD and UNICEF.

Deliverable 1: Final work plan (approved)

Timeframe: Mid of June

Task 2: Conduct desk-review and consultative process with stakeholders as per the approved work plan and time-line (minimum 5 interviews with key informants and minimum 5 focus groups with other stakeholders); realize bi-lateral consultations with the MoFD and UNICEF and take an active part in the coordination meetings as needed.

Deliverable 2: Desk-review; Documentation on the consultative process

Timeframe: From mid of June to end of September

Task 3: Based on the desk-review and the outcomes of the consultative process (including in close collaboration with the MoFD), create a draft version of the ex-post analysis.

Deliverable 3: Draft ex-post analysis

Timeframe: End of October

Task 4: Based on the feed-back received from the MoFD and UNICEF, as well as the validation with relevant stakeholders included into the consultative process, revise and finalize the ex-post analysis.

Deliverable 4: Final ex-post analysis in Serbian (max 30 pages) with a summary in English

Timeframe: Mid of November

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Master’s degree in social, legal or human-related sciences.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in monitoring, evaluation, advocacy and/or formulations of policies and regulations.
• Proven record in the preparation of at least three analyses/impact assessments related to policy and/or legislative documents.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in working with national (government and non-government) and international stakeholders (developmental partners).
• Excellent understanding of policy, institutional and legal frameworks of relevance for human/child rights in the Republic of Serbia, including on related international standards.
• Knowledge on the social welfare and child protection system and status in Serbia.
• Knowledge of the Law on the planning system and accompanying bylaws.
• Good communication, analytical, writing and reporting skills.
• Fluency in Serbian and advanced knowledge of English.

How to apply:

The application must include a financial proposal in RSD as a separate document, providing the fee for each of the four deliverables described above:

• Deliverable 1
• Deliverable 2
• Deliverable 3
• Deliverable 4

Important notes:

• Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form. Please mark "n/a” or “00" under the fee-related questions in the online application form.
• Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving (to be uploaded online under the “Financial Proposal” tab).

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

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

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.

For every child, you must demonstrate UNICEF's core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org