International consultant to provide technical support on Shock Responsive Social Protection

Consultant Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

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, social protection

There is growing interest globally in how existing national social protection systems can be leveraged to respond to these kinds of slow-onset shocks to deliver the same level of aid in a shorter time frame and with much lower administrative costs (for example by using their targeting systems or payment systems rather than establishing new ones through parallel humanitarian responses of short duration). There is also growing interest in how enabling households prone to disaster to engage in greater preparedness; a key emerging aspect of this is how early warning systems can help alert households, communities, and local authorities to these risks, so that assistance can be provided in advance of the actual onset of a shock or disaster.

When hazardous events occur, effective social protection support is often a crucial factor in determining whether children and young people can quickly return to normality, otherwise their life paths could be permanently altered. All too often, however, national systems are either too weak to respond, or are not designed to have the agility to adjust, for example, through rapid expansion to reach those that need support or temporarily increasing transfer size while families and communities recover.

UNICEF recognizes that great attention is required for working together around the world with partners and governments to build, strengthen, and improve the agility of shock responsive social protection systems in the face of increasing disaster events. In 2016 UNICEF, along with other actors, endorsed global commitments to invest in the scale-up of emergency Cash Transfer Programmin (CTP). The commitments included efforts to make national social protection systems more ‘shock-responsive’ so they can flexibly respond to emergencies. UNICEF also has a long experience working on cash transfer programmes, mainly supporting national social protection systems, but there has been less focus on systematically integrating cash transfer programming into emergency preparedness planning and response.

A few UNICEF Country Offices in Europe and Central Asia Region (ECAR) have implemented cash-based interventions in response to emergencies. However, these have been outside of national disaster management plans or social protection frameworks. Countries in the region are well-positioned to include cash responses in their emergency preparedness plans; the region has functioning markets and relatively well-developed social protection systems. Many Country Offices across the region are engaged in supporting reforms to national social protection systems and as such, there is an opportunity to make these systems more agile, dynamic, and innovative to quickly respond to the needs of children in the case of a shock or crisis.

Much of UNICEF's work and expertise in this area focuses on social transfers, especially cash transfers, as proven programmatic responses and an integral part of social protection systems in both development settings and humanitarian response. Other important areas of social protection programming, such as social insurance, public works, and school feeding, are areas for further exploration for UNICEF in coordination with key partners.

This year UNICEF Azerbaijan office will give technical support to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan (MoLSPP) on shock-responsive social protection for the development of mechanisms to improve the social protection of the poor and vulnerable in the event of shocks (economic, pandemics, conflict, climate, etc.) The support will be focusing on shock responsive social protection to identify the key interventions to help reach and respond to households in the event of shocks and to avoid negative coping strategies (like withdrawing children from school or reducing meals) used by households to cope with the loss of assets and reduced income.

How can you make a difference?

The main purpose of this assignment is to carry out Cash Preparedness Assessment to understand the abilities of the existing system to respond to the shocks, and in the long run to support the MoLSP to be prepared to efficiently respond to emergencies with quality, rapid and scalable cash-based programming. This will be through building on existing national systems, where appropriate, and through engaging the private sector, innovative approaches, and partnerships. It should also include the impact on human capital development and follow a gender-responsive approach.

Undertaking hands-on technical support to UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office and MoLSP to assess the feasibility of using national social protection systems to respond to crises, while supporting Country Offices, governments, and other partners in taking forward preparedness measures by developing different assumptions and scenarios with responses.

Scope of Work:

Following the overall conceptual framework of Shock Responsive Social Protection and resources including 1) the UNICEF Programme Guidance: Strengthening Shock Responsive, 2) Social Protection Systems Guidance on Social Protection System Readiness Assessment, and 3)Cash Preparedness Tools, the scope of work focuses on carrying out the rapid assessment of the social protection system while providing wider policy level recommendations on the design, selection criteria, piloting, implementation and evaluation of responses to shocks to reach the most vulnerable. The study should be in line with Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Risk Management plans. In addition, Delivery systems that consider gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities of children and that make special provision to reach children who are particularly vulnerable and excluded.

The questions below must be addressed by this study:

• To what extent the existing programs are relevant for the design of these responses?

• Do existing mechanisms in the country allow to define and reach the most vulnerable in the event of shocks?

• How to finance it and what are the alternative ways to finance it?

• How to make such responses more agile to rapidly evolving context?

The major steps are as follows:

Inception phase:

• Initial desk review to assess the availability of data/ information

• Stakeholder identification and defining the assessment and response parameters.

• Presentation of the conceptual framework and the tools to UNICEF and to the Ministry to facilitate an in-depth common understanding of the framework

• Presentation of an inception report, including a finalized conceptual framework and methodology.

Data collection and analysis:

• Data collection on social protection system, legislation, policy and strategy documents, action plans, programme documents, evaluations

• A series of key informant interviews

• Round table with key stakeholders

• Analysis of readiness, identification of programme options and recommendation actions, strategies and planning documents, policies, and budgets.

• Ensure data collection, tools, analysis, stakeholder consultations, recommendations are gender and climate-sensitive

Expected Deliverables:

• Inception report with elaborated methodology, work plan, and schedule.

• Draft report with the key finding, along with the record of key informant interviews and round table with stakeholders

• A final comprehensive report, including a summary and presentation, on child-focused shock responsive social protection

• A policy brief with key findings and recommendations (max 4 pages) for advocacy purposes.

Work Assignment Overview:

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline:

Inception phase -development of elaborated methodology and work plan

Inception report with elaborated methodology and work plan (and schedule)

5 working days

Data collection and analysis

Record of key informant interviews

13 working days

Facilitated round table with stakeholders

Draft report with key findings

Finalization of the report and documents based on feedback and comments

Final comprehensive report on child-focused shock responsive social protection

7 working days

A policy brief with key findings and recommendations (max 4 pages) for advocacy purposes.

Estimated Consultancy period

25 working days

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

• An advanced university degree in the International Development, Social Policy, or related discipline required;
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience on strengthening social protection systems and/or emergency cash transfer programming, pervious work experience in Europe, Central Asia, and CIS countries is an asset.
• Demonstrated experience in undertaking preparedness activities, conducting assessments, design and implementation of emergency cash based programming, preferably from a multi-sectoral perspective;
• Demonstrated experience on facilitating trainings with Governments and other partners;
• Excellent research, analytical, writing, and communication skills;
• Demonstrated expertise on gender- and child-sensitive social protection concepts, theories and practices;
• Familiarity with international norms and standards for humanitarian action;
• Familiarity with the work of the United Nations an asset
• Fluency in verbal and written English; Knowledge of Russian or other local language is an asset.
• Fluency in English. Knowledge of Russian, Turkish and/or local language is an asset;

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

The consultancy is open to individual international applicants.

• A short cover letter, highlighting relevant experience with similar type of assignments (max 300 words).
• CV of the individual applicants
• A technical proposal with tentative workplan and timeframe
• Financial proposal
• Samples or links to related work previously conducted by the consultant
• The shortlisted applicants will be contacted by UNICEF with a technical discussion and interview.

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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).

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Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org