International Consultant - Social Policy (Public Finance) with UNICEF Indonesia

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, an equitable chance in life.

UNICEF Indonesia is looking to hire a consultant to work together with the Ministry of Finance to analyse the national and sub-national budget allocation for children in Indonesia.

Title: International Consultant: Social Policy (Public Finance) Duty Station: Home Based Type of Contract: Special Service Agreement Duration: August – December 2020 (max 75 working days)

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF Indonesia is looking to hire a consultant to work together with the Ministry of Finance to analyse the national and sub-national budget allocation for children in Indonesia.

Children feature prominently in the national priorities of the Government of Indonesia. Public spending aims to meet different types of needs faced by children. Some spending responds to acute physical, mental or social needs, such as health or social services. Education is an investment in children’s and the country’s ability to reach full productive potential. Social protection spending intends to top up families’ income.

In spite of the importance of the said needs, currently no information is available on how much is spend on children. By providing an insight in what share of the overall national and subnational public expenditure, as well as specific sectors, institutions and programmes, goes to children, the proposed analysis aims to inform policymakers about budgetary allocation and trade-offs.

A good understanding of children’s share of the national budget is a prerequisite for any analysis of allocative sufficiency, efficiency or equity. A similar understanding is also the basis for a discussion about opportunities to widen the fiscal space for increased spending on children. Further, the development of a methodology to measure children’s share of the national budget could be the groundwork for retrospective and forecasting research to inform policymakers.

The consultant will work remotely, and will provide technical assistance and advice for the development of the budget analysis. The consultant will play a key role in transferring know-how based on her/his international experience in conducting a budget analysis for children to national partners. Regular virtual workshops and discussions will be held for this purpose. The consultant will work under the guidance of the Knowledge Management Specialist in UNICEF, and in close collaboration with the Central Budget Office (BKF) in the Ministry of Finance and the University of Indonesia (LPEM and PUSKAPA).

Specifically, the consultant is expected to provide technical assistance for the development of (i) action plan for the analysis; (ii) development of the policy framework; and (iii) development of the methodology for the analysis of budget allocations to children (taxonomy, syntax development). Finally, the consultant is expected to take a lead role in the write-up of the findings of the analysis. BKF is the primary partner for the analysis, PUSKAPA will play a key support role in the design the policy framework, and LPEM is expected to be closely involved for both learning and to provide additional manpower for the analysis as needed.

The main leads for the different components of the analysis are:

• Organization of international knowledge-sharing seminars: UNICEF
• Development of Plan of Action: UNICEF
• Development of Policy Framework for the Analysis: PUSKAPA
• Development and testing of the methodology: BKF
• Producing the analysis: BKF
• Visualization of the findings: UNICEF
• Write-up of the analysis: international consultant

Work Assignments & Outputs:

1. Technical assistance for seminars with international experts, MoF and other stakeholders (presentation guidelines and discussion questions). Output: Agreed workplan; Support the synthesis of child budget analysis experiences from other countries from a series of international seminar discussions organized by UNICEF
2. Providing technical assistance for the design of a comprehensive and consultative process to develop Indonesia’s budget analysis for children. Output: Technical assistance for the concept note for the policy framework for the analysis and the methodology, through virtual workshops and online discussions with BKF and UI (PUSKAPA and LPEM).
3. Technical assistance to BKF and UI in the development and testing of analysis software, including production of first calculations; Supporting BKF and UI in the calculation of budget allocations for children. Output: Technical assistance to BKF and UI for the development and testing of the syntaxes for the calculation of the budget through virtual workshops and online discussion.
4. Drafting of final budget brief with Budget Analysis for Children in consultation with UNICEF, BKF and UI. Output: Write the summary budget brief (8 pages) with calculations of allocations to children across sectors at national and sub-national level.

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

• An advanced University Degree in Economics, Public Finance or other relevant areas;
• At least 5 years of work experience in public finance, or related field
• Demonstrated experience in delivering expert advice, technical support and capacity development to governments on public finance for children;
• Demonstrated experience in the development of methodologies for calculating Government spending on children;
• Strong analytical, reporting, presentation and writing skills;
• Strong skills working with large datasets in Excel, STATA
• Experience in data visualization in Tableau desirable;
• Ability to work in a team, develop synergies and establish effective working relations with government counterparts, donors, CSOs and other development partners;
• Ability to manage heavy workloads and solve complex problems with minimum supervision.
• Prior work experience with a UN organization is an asset.
• Flexibility and experience in working remotely.
• Fluency (verbal and written) in English required; and fluency in Bahasa Indonesia is considered an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others

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.

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.