International consultant for the Design of the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Operational Manual (Open to Non-Zimbabwean Nationals Only)

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UNICEF Zimbabwe is seeking to hire an innovative and self-motivated individual consultant to Support the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW) Department of Social Development in redesigning the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Operational Manual.

BACKGROUND

The Harmonised Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) Programme is Government of Zimbabwe’s primary social assistance programme that provides cash payments to its beneficiaries. The programme, implemented under the Ministry of Public, Service, Labour and Social Welfare, was introduced in 2011 focused on food poor and labour constrained households. The primary objective of the unconditional HSCT programme is to increase the purchasing power and thus the food consumption of the most food poor and labour-constrained members of the population in order to reduce their reliance on risky coping behaviour and improve their socioeconomic status.

Households are eligible for the programme if they are food poor and labour constrained. A household is labour constrained when:

• It has no able-bodied household member in the age group 18 to 59, who are fit for productive work, or
• When one household member in the age group 18 to 59 years, who is fit for work, has to care for more than 3 dependents (household members that are under 18 years of age or over 59 or are unfit for work because they are chronically ill, or disabled or handicapped or are still schooling) or
• When a household has a dependency ratio between 2 and 3 but has a severely disabled or chronically sick household member who requires intensive care.

The level of benefits to households varies by size of household and are capped at 4 members as follows:

• One person household = USD20
• Two person household = USD35
• Three person household = USD45
• Four person household or more = USD65

These benefits are paid in the local currency (ZWL) indexed to the USD official exchange rate.

The programme has expanded to cover 33 districts by 2023. The expansion has, however been slow mainly due to several factors including limited financial resources, weak and costly targeting system which inhibited rapid expansion. Beneficiaries to the programme have not changed since 2011 due to high costs involved in retargeting and reviewing of the existing beneficiaries. According to the programme design, households were to remain in the programme for at least two years when retargeting would be done.

The reform of this programme has become a key priority of government as the current operational guidelines are no longer in sync with changes that have been introduced in the design of the programme as well as operations on the ground. In 2023 through technical support from UNICEF the HSCT operation modalities have been reformed to enable the programme to sustainably expand into a truly national programme. To this end a more cost-effective targeting system to promote a stronger focus on inclusion of beneficiaries across life course, with a new registration approach has been developed. Eligibility criteria are still in line with the initial HSCT criteria especially for economic vulnerability but will also include other vulnerable categories to include pregnant woman, children under two years of age, elderly (over 65), households with persons with disability and child-headed households. These groups are highly correlated with being labour-constrained and will be used as proxies for labour-constrained households.

A new registration approach – pooled registration - is also under pilot in the rural districts where HSCT beneficiaries are being retargeted.

Additionally, the Ministry of public service is interested in ensuring that its social protection system, including its various programmes are more responsive to shocks. To this effect, an assessment was carried out, looking at the shock responsiveness of the existing system and recommendations on how it can better prepare and respond to shocks. A road map emanated from this work with a set of recommendations at the system and programme levels.

It is against this background that MPSLSW with technical and financial support from UNICEF is aiming at reviewing the operational guidelines of the HSCT programme for effective implementation of the programme.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: Support the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW) Department of Social Development in redesigning the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Operational Manual.

ASSIGNMENTS: The overall purpose of this consultancy is to review the HSCT Operational Guidelines in line with the changes effected to the programme design and operational modalities.

The objectives of the consultancy will be to review:

• The HSCT programme implementation arrangements, including the mandates, roles and responsibilities of the different tiers of the ministry from national level to subnational levels in delivering the programme;
• Existing delivery systems including the business processes and systems. This will involve reviewing the following components of the programme:
• Programme targeting approach and eligibility criteria in line with the new design features and operations of the programme:
• The targeting, verification, approval, registration and delivery process, while outlining the step-by-step process and roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder involved in line with the operations on the ground;
• The payment modality and benefits paid to households in line with the current operations of the programme;
• Add component on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Protection from of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)
• Outline the exit and graduation processes for beneficiaries
• The change management and grievance mechanism process of the programme
• The guidelines should support the programme’s swift response to shocks

Linkages with the Social protection Management Information system, to include:

• Review and realign the HSCT guideline parameters and variables within the Integrated Social protection Management Information system (targeting, registration, payment, case management, complaints)

In updating the HSCT guidelines, the consultancy is expected to work integrate the changes that have happened within the programme structure and its systems and align the document to the current programmatic context including laws and relevant policies.

The HSCT operational guidelines must consider the programmatic environment in which it operates, including other programmes and frameworks to which it must relate.

The main audience of this study is the MPSLSW, other development partners and NGOs involved in implementing the HSCT programme.

Major tasks and deliverables:

Tasks/Milestone:****Deliverables/Outputs:

Level of effort (indicative), timeline & payment schedule Facilitate and participate in initial meetings with main stakeholders, setting out final methodological approach, timelines and logistical arrangementsInception report7 days (20%)Facilitate and participate in national consultations to identify areas that need to be streamlined with the current developments impacting on the HSCT programmePopulated data collection tools3

days (10%)

Facilitate a HSCT stakeholder consultative workshop for mapping and reviewing HSCT processesDraft Workshop Report with recommendations3 days (10%)Lead on the drafting of HSCT operational guidelines documentDraft HSCT operations manual 8 days (20%)Facilitate the organization of the stakeholder validation workshop and present the final draft HSCT operational guidelinesLead in the development of Stakeholder validation workshop report 2 days (10%)Final guidelines with comments from validation workshopFinal HSCT operational manual10 days (30%)To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education: Minimum Masters Degree in Social Sciences, Social Policy or Public Policy, Economics.

Experience: Minimum 10 years experience in Social Protection,

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in designing, implementing, managing and reviewing of social protection / cash-based interventions or programming, preferably in Africa;
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in designing SCT systems and operational manuals;
• Demonstrated expertise and capability in upstream and downstream communication, with experience in liaising at the highest level of government and the UNCT;
• Understanding of Zimbabwe’s development context in in the post-COVID-19 pandemic and decades of economic challenges will be an advantage;
• Excellent report writing skills; and
• Demonstrated ability and proven track record to deliver quality outputs within strict deadlines.

Desirable: Working experience of working on similar assignments, in the region / globally.

Languages : English

The detailed consultancy terms of reference is downloadable via this link Terms of Reference.pdf

If interested and available to undertake the individual consultancy, please submit your application online and attach the required documents including the technical proposal and an all-inclusive financial proposal incorporating an approximate number of travel days for field (local) travel.

Technical proposal: The Technical Proposal should articulate an understanding of the TOR and include the proposed Tasks/Milestones, Deliverables/Outputs, Timeline and level of effort by deliverable. The similar table provided in the TOR is indicative. Applicants may use the indicative table as a guide or deviate as per the proposed approach. The proposal should also cost-effectively propose the local travel proposed by the applicant to undertake the assignment.

Financial proposal: The Financial Proposal should include the costs (providing a daily rate as justification) for each task, including consultant fee, proposed travel costs and perdiem, communications costs and any other proposed cost.

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.