Consultant for the Equity Assessment of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Systems in China

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, #Care#

In order to successfully advocate policy changes in favor of children in China, the CCO needs to have a thorough understanding of the country’s highly complex Public Financial Management (PFM) systems. Understanding how PFM frameworks could determine what resources are invested in the particular groups of children, and identifying the key catalytic changes to the PFM practices that could result in a more equitable allocation of resources for children (“equity triggers”) is the first step to achieving results at scale and improved outcomes across the board for children in China. Therefore, a high-quality PFM equity assessment is expected to serve as a critical public finance for children (PF4C) tool for UNICEF CCO in advocating for effective changes on PFM systems, processes, and practices that increase the weight given to equity in general, and with respect to children in particular, in public expenditure decisions.

How can you make a difference?

To help the UNICEF CCO more effectively engage with the Government of China (GoC) at the upstream policy level to move towards increased, more sustainable, and more equitably distributed public expenditure for children, ensuring that the allocation and use of resources could contribute as much as possible to child development and the realization of children’s rights in the country.

The assignment will assess equity of China's Public Financial Management System, with a focus on the systematical analysis based on protection of children's rights and interests. The assignment will provide a clear understanding of the public expenditure policy cycle in China and the PFM systems, processes, and practices within which it takes place, which will provide a thorough understanding of how budgets are allocated, executed, oversighted and evaluated, especially in the social sectors. In addition, this assignment will identify the key formal mechanisms (or lack thereof) through which China’s PFM systems aiming at integrating equity considerations, as well as the implicit decisions, practices, rules, procedures, or lack thereof, within each stage of the public expenditure policy cycle that have a known or potential impact on the expenditure equity. Based on the evidence generated, the assignment will develop recommendations on ways to integrate equity in the different stages of the expenditure policy cycle and in the PFM systems.

The expected deliverables of the assignment include:

• Deliverable 1: Drafting a Research Plan indicating scope of analysis and report outline; based on existing materials, conducting the PFM equity assessment through reviewing budget documents and available budget data, distilling, and developing a report on Equity Assessment of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Systems in China with more succinct analysis both in Chinese and English, by February 28, 2023.

• Deliverable 2: Conducting workshops for UNICEF as well as for dissemination, based on the final report by March 31, 2023.

This assignment is expected to adopt a quantitative and qualitative mixed approach, with desk-review, interviews and consultations with UNICEF staff, researchers, government partners, and other key individuals used as needed. Disaggregated data will be collected and analyzed. Qualitative data collection method could be used to elicit information about budget allocation and expenditure from senior government officials and other stakeholders. The assignment is expected to result in a single deliverable, a report on Equity in PFM systems in China and Pathways to Improvement.

To have more details, you may wish to refer to the TOR TOR for LVC Individual Consultant-PFM Equity.docx

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

• Minimum Academic Qualifications required (Bachelors, masters, PhD, other) & disciplines:
• Master’s degree in economics, public finance, public policy, social sciences, or a related field of study.
• Knowledge/Experience/Expertise/Skills required:
• At least 10 years' experience in the areas of PFM. Experience in Public Finance for Children or such type of PFM assessments in China, would be considered an asset;
• Previous work experience in analytical report writing in public finance, preferably in China;
• Proven familiarity with the Chinese socioeconomic context, China’s governance structures, and the current and emerging socioeconomic policy and governance issues and debates in China;

• Be fluent in both English and Chinese.

• Have demonstrated ability/track record of effectively facilitating and communicating.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.