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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

UNICEF is seeking a technical writer to be responsible for the writing of a new flagship report that will describe and document the success of UNICEF’s unique value proposition in SCM operations, development assistance and cooperation toward reaching higher level of equitable access to three groups of essential products (heath, WASH and education) and increased service coverage rates.

How can you make a difference?

The consultant will be required to provide a descriptive analysis of UNICEF’s mandate and comparative advantages in SCM and other programmatic areas, produce results-oriented stories, and shape the narrative around a set of (statistical and anecdotal) facts and figures, graphs, results-driven evidence and other internal and external data that will be provided by relevant SD/PG divisions.

Background

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.

Where there are no supplies, there are rarely results for children. Strong supply chains save lives. They are fundamental building blocks of national welfare systems, core drivers of UNICEF’s results, and necessary for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNICEF has a wealth of experience in Supply Chain Management (SCM) and a proven track record of success in forecasting, procuring, transporting and delivering equitable, safe and sustainable access of life-saving and other key supplies to children. With an aim to reach every child whether in emergency, recovery and development settings, including in the hardest to reach and most remote locations, UNICEF drives product innovations and works to strengthen the capacity of governments to run and manage their own supply chains.

Our global network includes supply hubs across the world and UNICEF Country Offices that support host governments and programmes. This network strengthens our emergency preparedness, which is a critical part of humanitarian assistance and sustainable transitions from emergency response to development. As a leader in the procurement of products and services for children, with an estimated procurement value of US$4.5 billion, UNICEF works with suppliers and the private sector at large to secure affordable prices and the best value for money.

Recognizing fragility as one of the greatest challenges to children’s rights, UNICEF has made systems strengthening a priority, to build well-functioning, responsive, accountable and resilient systems that better support communities, caregivers and children, by ensuring access to timely, quality essential services and supplies, without discrimination. It entails strengthening the components, functioning, responsiveness and accountability of systems, prioritizing strengthening primary health care systems, especially in fragile settings; strengthening education systems to address the global learning crisis; and building the capacities of the social service workforce as a key integrator between health, education, child protection and social protection systems protection, WASH systems, as well as to strengthening the national statistical and data systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the structural and functional limitations of existing health systems and undermined national response efforts, has underscored the commitment and shared vision of UNICEF and partners to support countries’ response to their immediate COVID-19 needs and to build stronger Primary Health Care (PHC) systems, including supply chains that are resilient to shocks.

Beyond bridging the access gaps, UNICEF’s operational and technical supply chain investments set the foundation and are key success factors for the efficient rolling-out of its programmatic interventions toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Education for All and higher water, hygiene and sanitation service levels.

About the Report...

The objective: the report will showcase how UNICEF and partners manage and build capacity of end-to-end supply chains in service of governments and beneficiaries to achieve results across three programmatic areas: 1) health/nutrition; 2) education, and; 3) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The report will highlight UNICEF’s value proposition across Supply Division (SD)/ Programme Group (PG) workstreams, connecting supply chain investments with programmatic interventions and outcome; It will bring evidence of existing gaps in access to key commodities and related-services, describe UNICEF’s operational excellence in SCM and leadership role in providing technical capacity building assistance and strategic coordination support to development agencies in public system strengthening. It will provide examples of how UNICEF engages private sector, academia and development sectors to deploy its interventions and drive results.

Main theme: the report will be centred on the three dimensions of ACCESS (the 3 A’s): geographical Availability, Affordability and Acceptability/appropriateness of supplies in the context of delivery through PHC platforms. This reflects the strengthened access-lens of UNICEF Supply Division’s new strategy for the period 2022-25; UNICEF’s Health System Strengthening Approach (HSS) and emphasis on PHC; all contributing to the advancement of UNICEF’s new 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.

The report will comprise of six sections, including i) Foreword and Executive Summary ii) a context and needs analysis, iii) a description of UNICEF’s mandate and comparative advantages in responding to identified access gaps, iv) a results-oriented section highlighting UNICEF’s contribution to the three dimensions of Access, v) a case study and a vi) a set of concluding recommendations. A detailed draft outline will be provided to support the writing process at the start of the assignment.

The writer will liaise and conduct consultations with key staff across SD/PG – HQ divisions/centres/units; Country Offices; Regional Offices- to gather relevant information and complete the write-ups. She/he work in tandem with two consultants responsible for data collection and graphic design.

Primary audiences: Governments, Donors and Development Community PHC/System Strengthening Partners.

Secondary Audiences: Broader Health, Nutrition, WASH and Education Development Community; Private Sector.

The report will serve as a tool for advocacy to promote the leadership role/unique value proposition of UNICEF in ensuring higher levels of equitable access to a wide range of key commodities and in boosting countries’ education, health and education service coverage; the report will describe the scope and depth of UNICEF’s downstream and upstream SCM services, and provide evidence of the impact of these interventions on programme outcome. It will raise awareness and the profile of UNICEF supply chain and programme expertise in meeting the organization’s mandate/strategic objectives and the SDGs. The report is expected to encourage new donors (public, private and individual) to support UNICEF and build on its achievements. It will also serve to make public UNICEF’s results to promote transparency and accountability on the spending of public funds in compliance with the UNICEF Information Disclosure Policy.

TASKS TIMEFRAME (DD-MM-YY) Draft report outline 17-01-22 Final report outline 31-01-22 1st draft 01-03-22 2nd draft 31-03-22 3rd draft 25-04-22 Layout and graphic design 23-05-22 Final draft 17-06-22 Launch (not a deliverable) End of June/ Beginning of July

The Payments will be released as per certification of deliverables

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

Education:

• • University degree in Communication, Journalism, English or another liberal arts discipline.

Work Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years professional work experience in communication / journalism / editing / writing in the development field. Experience of working with UNICEF is a plus.

Skills:

• Previous results-based writing experience on topics related to SCM, health and/or other (UNICEF) programmes;
• Knowledgeable in results-based management and results-oriented approach to project implementation;
• Previous experience in copy-editing and fact-checking;
• High level proficiency in standard computer software, in particular, Microsoft word and Excel;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, of publication standard;
• Persistence in follow up, tact and diplomacy;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness
• Works Collaboratively with others
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Innovates and Embraces Change
• Thinks and Acts Strategically
• Drives to achieve impactful results

• Manages ambiguity and complexity

  To view our competency framework, please visit here.

  Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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 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.

For every Child, Support …

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application.
2. Financial quote at a daily rate in US Dollars. Financial quote should be inclusive of service fees and living expenses (if consultancy is not home-based).- Max 95 days in 9 months
3. Minimum of 5 samples of writing, including with/for UNICEF and/or in the field of supply chain/health and other programmes.
4. Proposed methodology/approach to managing the project.
5. At least 3 Reference contacts – Previous direct supervisors
6. P11 form (which can be downloaded from our website

Applications are to be submitted by 1 December 2021. Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

UNICEF considers best value for money as a criteria for evaluating potential candidates. As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant or individual contractor follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Please note that consultants and individual contractors are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.

Successful applicants will be evaluated by the following criteria:

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION (max. 80 points) Overall Response (10 points) Understanding of tasks, objectives and completeness and coherence of response Overall match between the TOR requirements and proposal Proposed Methodology and Approach (20 points) Quality of proposed approach/methodology Quality of proposed work plan Technical Capacity (50 points) Relevance of consultant’s experience with similar projects and as per required qualifications Quality of previous work

References TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION - Total Points

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL (max. 20 points) daily rate, lump sum, per deliverable Economy Air Ticket – if relevant Total estimated cost of contract (proposed contract fee only) FINANCIAL PROPOSAL - Weight Combined Score

TOTAL SCORE (max. 100 points)

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.