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, a future

HIV and AIDS | UNICEF

How can you make a difference?

Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) carries the largest share of the global burden of HIV and is the epicentre of the HIV epidemic. Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are at high risk of infection, accounting for 26% of all new infections in ESA (UNAIDS, July 2023). In 2020, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) allocated catalytic investments to support programmes, activities and strategic initiatives for greater impact. The AGYW Strategic Initiative (AGYW-SI) focuses on long-term sustainability of defined packages of services for AGYW within national strategies and budgets to reduce incident reductions.

In 2021, the Global Fund, under the National Monitoring Framework (NMF) 3, 2021 – 2023 funding cycle operationalised Component 3 of the AGYW-SI to ensure the provision of comprehensive and targeted technical assistance to principal and sub recipients (PRs/SRs) of the Global Fund grant for AGYW. As a trusted leader on adolescents and HIV policy, data and programming, UNICEF was the chosen partner to provide technical assistance to support Global Fund grant implementation in 13 AGYW priority countries.

UNICEF’s support has focused on the orientation of the partnership with the 13 countries, comprehensive management of the technical assistance; facilitating an inclusive process of stakeholder engagement; recruitment, supporting planning and use of TA outputs and developing south to south learning activities.

This SI partnership will conclude in December 2023. As the end-term date of the programme approaches, the Global Fund and UNICEF would like to determine the achievements and strengths of the partnership and identify key lessons learned from this technical assistance support. It is against this background that UNICEF is recruiting a technical consultant to undertake an end-term review to document the achievements, strengths and lessons from this partnership and to inform future iterations of technical assistance within the Global Fund partnership and more broadly within the region.

Scope of Work

The purpose of this assignment is to determine the achievements, strengths and lessons of the Adolescent Girls and Young Women Strategic Initiative technical assistance Partnership between the Global Fund and UNICEF ESA Region. More specifically, the consultant will:

1. Review, and determine strengths and challenges in the following -
   • approaches and processes for identification, operationalization, implementation, and finalisation of the technical assistance, including implementation support plans (ISPs)
   • operationalisation of the quality assurance mechanisms and project agreement
   • the south-2-south activities
2. Articulate the strengths and the challenges of the partnership arrangements
3. Define the opportunities, recommendations and lessons learned from the technical assistance support partnership, including to strengthen the ownership and absorption of outcomes.

Working relationship

The consultant will report to the UNICEF Regional Adolescent and HIV/AIDS Specialist in close collaboration with the HIV/AIDS Specialist and the Regional HIV Adviser. The consultant will also interact with the AGYW SI secretariat and Global Fund AGYW Advisor, PRs/SRs, line ministries, national aids councils and coordination mechanism colleagues, and in-country stakeholders as relevant to the UNICEF and Global Fund AGYW SI Partnership

Activities and Expected Deliverables

Under the overall guidance of UNICEF’s Adolescent and HIV Specialist, the consultant will deliver the following:

1. Provide summary minutes of the inception meeting with key partners engaged in the UNICEF and Global Fund technical assistance partnership
   • Attend a kick-off call with UNICEF to discuss the partnership and to plan for an inception meeting with key partners engaged in the technical assistance partnership, including UNICEF country and regional offices, Global Fund secretariat and AGYW advisors
   • Present and discuss the intended approach at the inception meeting and take notes on significant points of discussion and actions agreed.
2. Prepare and inception report detailing the proposed scope, methodology and key questions for meeting the deliverables of this consultancy, including workplan and relevant data gathering and reporting tools e.g., interview/ consultation guide and list of key stakeholders to be interviewed, report outline etc.
3. Conduct a desk review of documentation relevant to the partnership, including technical assistance reports, implementation support plans, south 2 south plans and products, quality assurance plan, project annexes etc. Desk review materials to be provided by UNICEF ESARO and the Global Fund.
4. Review the current partnership arrangements and mechanisms to determine their contribution in the development and delivery of TA
5. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, undertake consultations with key stakeholders, including UNICEF, Global Fund, Principal and sub recipients (PRs/SRs), other SI component and national partners and TA consultants on the operationalization, implementation, achievements, learnings and partnership arrangements for this technical assistance
6. Provide a findings report on the key findings from the interviews and consultations
7. Develop a draft review report and PPT for UNICEF and partner inputs, including
   • Key findings from the desk review, partnership arrangements, data collection and analysis  Synthesis of lessons learned and achievements from the partnership
   • Recommendations and opportunities with regards to:

o the absorption and use of TA outcomes to improve GF investments o strengthening future strategic initiatives and provision of technical assistance 8. Finalize report and PPT including key findings and recommendations, with partner inputs incorporated.

9. Present review findings at a webinar with key stakeholders and partners.

Payment Schedule

The performance will be evaluated on timeliness, alignment with TORs, and quality of work. Payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of all deliverables as per schedule below.

• Inception report outlining the proposed methodology and data gathering tools to meet deliverables o 25% on 09 October 2023
• Draft report incorporating feedback from stakeholders o 50% on 17 November 2023

• Final report

  o 25% on 08 December 2023

[Insert purpose of post and bullet points on main activities]

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

• Education: Advanced university degree in public health, paediatric/adolescent health, social sciences, epidemiology or related field
• Experience: A minimum of 8 years knowledge and expertise on HIV and adolescent and young people’s health and development context across ESA; Knowledge and experience of programme reviews and/or evaluations in the field of development for UN agencies and Global Fund, with Adolescent HIV programming. Experience of technical assistance reviews would be an added advantage.
• Strong analytical skills with sufficient understand of qualitative/quantitative methods
• Understanding of / working experience with the Global Fund and /or UNICEF is an added advantage
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Administrative issues

The consultant is expected to be home based/virtual working. UNICEF will regularly communicate with the consultant and provide feedback and guidance and necessary support so to achieve objectives of the work, as well as remain aware of any upcoming issues related to the quality and completion of work.

The consultant will use their own equipment including computer and internet to produce deliverables. All communications shall be done through available, and UNICEF recommended virtual platforms

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.

How to apply…

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV, P11 form and technical proposal to the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System).

Interested candidates to indicate ability, availability, and daily rate expressed in USD for consultancy or individual contractor contracted to undertake the terms of reference. Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.

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:

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.