Individual National consultant to provide technical guidance in the areas of social and child protection with UNICEF in Uzbekistan

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, protect.

Scope of Work:

In 2022, UNICEF supported the State Committee on Families and Women to pilot case management based social work practices in makhallas of Surkhandarya region. From November 2022 the social work practice has been taken up in other regions, too, although at varying rates. UNICEF’s contribution consisted of the technical and financial support in enhancing capacity of women activists, provision of expert supervision in implementing the social work practices, building and operationalising a designated digital module “Makhallada ijtimoiy xizmat”. UNICEF also designed and tested a module on emergency cash transfers and supported the Ministry of Finance in developing and launching a module on maternity benefits for women working in a private sector. All the above-mentioned modules are the one of Single Registry of Social Protection. UNICEF also supported development of relevant legal acts to operationalize the case management based social work practices.

Additionally, UNICEF has supported the Government of Uzbekistan in developing a Strategy on the Deinstitutionalization of the Childcare System for 2023-2030. The strategy is expected to be adopted in March/April 2023. One of the Strategy’s key priorities is to enhance compliance of the national legal regulatory framework with international standards related to child protection and care. Within the proposed assignment, the consultant is expected to facilitate enhancement of the module “Makhallada ijtimoiy xizmat” in its daily use by women activists in provision of social services. The consultant’s work should contribute to establishment of appropriate institutional, administrative and legal frameworks on the community-level social service provision through women activists with the use of the module “Makhallada ijtimoiy xizmat”. It is expected that the assignment will be piloted in Surkhandarya region with the national roll-out at a later stage. The trained state partners in pilot region will benefit from supervision and case discussions.

Within this assignment, the consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

a)

- With the contribution from the digital solutions consultant, develop the action plan on effective application of case management based social work practices in makhallas. - With the contribution from the digital solutions consultant, develop the drafts of the legislative documents on integration of the case management module with the existing platforms in provision of social services. - Facilitate arranging participation of women activists in providing information to “feed”-in the probabilistic model of assigning social services based on the outcomes of the needs-assessment (the so-called algorithm of the module “Makhallada ijtimojy xizmat”) - Develop the proposals on the organizational structure and functions of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction in social protection. - Develop the drafts of the instructions on the use of the electronic module on the emergency cash transfers in line with the routine response activation measures. - Develop drafts of the legislative and regulatory documents on activation of the emergency cash transfers.

b)

- Conduct an inventory of existing legal acts on child protection, prevention of child neglect, provision of social services to socially vulnerable families and children, placement of children in alternative types of care and functional responsibilities of the relevant state bodies - Support UNICEF colleagues in the drafting of amendments to legislative acts in accordance with international standards in the field of protection and care of children, and the 2022 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (related to the implementation of the 2023-2030 Strategy of the Deinstitutionalization of the Childcare System)

c)

- Provide online and offline supervision support to 39 women’s activists in Termez City (social work case management & child protection case management), in close collaboration with Surkhandarya regional supervisors - Support content development for an online training course on child protection, in collaboration with the National University and an international consultant (review of modules for contextualization, translation into Uzbek, recording of lectures in Uzbek) - Facilitate integration of the UNICEF-developed 5-day training programme on case management for women activists and other related specialists of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction with social work functions into the ministry’s routine in-service training.

Work Assignment Overview / Deliverables / Timeline (days)

1. Social Policy: With the contribution from the digital solutions consultant, development of the action plan on effective application of case management based social work practices in makhallas / Action plan / 10 days (March-April 2023)

2. Social Policy: Development of the drafts of the legislative documents on integration of the case management module with the existing platforms in provision of social services / Drafts of the legal documents are developed and validated with the relevant national partners (Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction) / 20 days (May-June 2023)

3. Social Policy: Facilitating arranging participation of women activists in providing information to “feed”-in the probabilistic model of assigning social services based on the outcomes of the needs-assessment / The selected women activists participate in the module “learning” sessions as per schedule of the module development team / 10 days (July 2023)

4. Social Policy: Developing proposals on the organizational structure and functions of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction in social protection / The requested proposals are submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction / 10 days (March-April 2023)

5. Social Policy: Developing drafts of the instructions on the use of the electronic module on the emergency cash transfers in line with the routine response activation measures - Drafts of the instructions are developed and validated with relevant national stakeholders - 20 days (Aug-Sep 2023)

6. Child Protection: Facilitate integration of the UNICEF-developed 5-day training programme on case management for women activists and other related specialists of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction with social work functions into the ministry’s routine in-service training / The module is submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction, and the integration plan is agreed / 5 days (March-April 2023)

7. Social Policy (50%) and Child Protection (50%): Support the drafting of proposed amendments of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On social services for the elderly, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable categories of the population” in order to introduce an international classification of services and improved mechanisms for the development and provision of social services / Participation in Working Group meetings; Timely review and inputs in Russian & Uzbek as relevant to the mandate of UNICEF (social services in the area of child protection and social protection of children and families) / 15 days (between 1 March and 30 June 2023)

8. Social Policy: Development of the drafts of the legislative and regulatory documents on activation of the emergency cash transfers / Drafts of the legislative and regulatory documents / 20 days (Oct-Nov 2023)

9. Child Protection: Conduct an inventory of existing legal acts on child protection, prevention of child neglect, provision of social services to socially vulnerable families and children, placement of children in alternative types of care and functional responsibilities of the relevant state bodies - Comprehensive inventory (in Russian & Uzbek) submitted to UNICEF / 7 days (in April 2023)

10. Child Protection: Support UNICEF colleagues in the drafting of amendments to legislative acts in accordance with international standards in the field of protection and care of children, and the 2022 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (related to the implementation of the 2023-2030 Strategy of the Deinstitutionalization of the Childcare System) / Participation in relevant Working Group meetings; Timely review and inputs in Russian & Uzbek / 15 days (between 1 July and 31 December 2023)

11. Child Protection: Provide online and offline supervision support to 39 women’s activists in Termez City (social work case management & child protection case management), in close collaboration with Surkhandarya regional supervisors / Monthly reports on supervision shared with UNICEF / 48 days (3 days/month between March and June and 6 days/month between July and December 2023)

12. Child Protection: Support content development for an online training course on child protection, in collaboration with the National University and international consultant / Designed materials for the online module: lectures, presentations, assignments, reading materials and tests / 12 days (between March and June 2023)

Payment:

Final rate shall follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Consultants will be asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Travel: 4/5-day trips to Termez City in April, June, August, October and December

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Law and/or Social Work preferred
• At least 5 years of practical experience of working
• Programmes related to social and child protection
• Experience in providing trainings on social work and child protection
• Excellent knowledge of the legal regulatory frameworks relevant to social protection and child protection and care
• Excellent communication skills in Russian and Uzbek
• Previous working experience with the UN/UNICEF considered a strong asset

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.