Long Term Agreement (LTA) for Individual Consultancy Services to Facilitate Joint Strategic Reflection (JSR) workshops (3 years; home-based; with travel as needed) - Europe and Central Asia

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, inspiration

The purpose of the assignment is to convene a strategic discussion and support the finalization of a programme review—for country offices embarking on a process of a programme review—with the aim to reach a common understanding of the major recommendations, next steps, and strategic considerations for the remaining period of the country programme implementation.

How can you make a difference?

The UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) is responsible for providing Strategic Planning support to Country Offices for developing Country Programme Documents (CPD) and support for the steps in operationalization of the CPD, primarily the development of workplans. The support engages leadership and technical staff with in-person and remote activities, bringing multiple country offices together to foster learning and cross-country experience sharing. Within this context, in the next two, two and a half years (between June 2023 and December 2025), an important pillar of strategic planning work will require substantial engagement on behalf of the ECA Regional Office.

It refers to providing support to the implementation of a new generation programme reviews intended to replace the cumbersome Mid-term review processes. Programme reviews stem from the latest UNICEF Country Programme Planning guidance and the Monitoring Procedure—released in October 2022—and support the concept of planning being a continuous process which relies on learning from monitoring data to enable strategic reflections on programme priorities and necessary adjustments to the Theory of Change (TOC). The programme reviews, which are vital to inform management decisions, include an internal strategic reflection workshop, the purpose of which is to reach a common understanding of the UNICEF strategic priorities and partnerships and reach consensus about where UNICEF can make the biggest difference in the lives of children in a strategic and cost-effective manner.

It is therefore essential to ensure availability of technical expertise for designing and conducting these workshops, thereby allowing country offices to conduct a programme review efficiently, without major disruptions to their day-to-day work.

OBJECTIVE(S)

Having a highly skilled facilitator to design and lead Joint Strategic Reflection (JSR) workshops is an essential element for a successful completion of the programme review as a process intended to analyse the alignment between strategy and implementation, highlight progress towards achieving planned results and define the needed programmatic shifts and adjustments.

Hence, the objective of establishing an LTA for facilitation of Joint Strategic Reflections is to ensure that such support is available for the country offices that will undertake a programme review. In 2023, there are about 5-7 country offices either currently planning or expressing interest to conduct a programme review.

Below is a highly tentative timeline of the workshops for country offices that have expressed intent to conduct a programme review till the end of 2023. Noting that this is only a proposed timeline and will be subject to change, depending primarily on each country office’s plans.

Country Office (CO)****Proposed dates for a JSR workshop- North Macedonia

27th - 28th June- Kosovo (UN SC Resolution 1244)

4th – 5th July- Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan

3rd quarter 2023- Belarus - Armenia - Azerbaijan

4th quarter 2023- Turkmenistan - Georgia - Greece - Albania

2024MAJOR TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

Successful candidates must fully design and prepare a Joint Strategic Reflection (JSR) workshop for country offices conducting a programme review, customized to the needs of the country office and in line with the overall objectives of the programme review. Broadly speaking, these objectives include: (i) validation of the key findings of a programme review as well as a review of the changes to the external environment and their implications on country programme priorities; (ii) identification of the programmatic priorities and the key ‘asks’ from Government and other partners; (iii) agreement on next steps and a timeline for finalization of the programme review process, including the completion of an updated Theory of Change.

Tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Design a joint strategic reflection workshop based on the need of the country office carrying out a programme review. The workshop design should include clear, country office specific objectives, and well elaborated content and formats of delivery.
• Prepare a full joint strategic reflection workshop package comprising—at minimum—an agenda with outline of sessions, visual material (for example, PPT slides deck, Prezi visualizations, or other) for all sessions requiring them, clear and comprehensive instructions for any practical work envisioned, as well as for other session formats that contain interaction.
• Deliver/Conduct the Joint Strategic Reflection workshop as a lead facilitator, noting that the length of the workshop will be defined and agreed with the specific country office.
• Prepare a brief report for the Country Office with the key takeaways and decisions from the workshop, noting that the format and main content elements of the workshop report will be agreed with the country office.

Note: All elements do not necessarily have to be delivered as one package. Designing the workshop without delivering it remains an option should the situation warrant. Each task/deliverable is independent and a fee is assigned for each step. This will enable the request of specific tasks/deliverables as and when required as not all elements will be delivered as one package. For example, the Consultant may be engaged for the step to design a workshop without being selected to deliver it depending on the actual needs. Thus specific deliverables are assigned specific fees to enable usage per deliverable.

Responsibilities of the Consultant:

• The consultant will use her/his own equipment (personal computer, relevant software and other accessories that may be required for this task).
• The consultant will not share any of the input materials provided for the design of the workshop content with any third party.
• The consultant will proactively seek inputs/feedback from the country office for which she/he is organizing the workshop to ensure customized design addressing the needs of the country office.

Responsibilities of UNICEF:

• Ensure timely access to documents relevant to the programme review and necessary to shape the content of the workshop, such as tables of internal assessment of progress, notes from country office programmatic discussions, recommendations emerging from the programme review, any bottleneck analysis, etc.
• Provide timely response and/or clarification to potential inquiries by the consultant relevant to the content and the format of the workshop.

DELIVERABLES AND DEADLINES

No.****Deliverable****Timeline1.Joint strategic reflection workshop design, including clear, country office specific objectives, and elaborated content and formats of delivery, based on previously communicated country office needs and main objectivesJuly 2023-July 20262.Customized package of materials for a Joint Strategic Reflection workshop (including a detailed agenda with outlines of sessions, visual materials for sessions requiring them and clear instructions for any practical work planned)3.Conducting a Joint strategic reflection workshop

(NB: The length of the workshop may vary from country to country. Hence, in the financial proposal, a daily fee should be indicated.)

4.Workshop report with key summary and recommendations from the discussionsDUTY STATION

This is a home-based consultancy, however travel may be involved for certain deliverables.

TRAVEL

When travel is required, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging, etc. should be agreed upon, between the supervisor and the consultant prior to travel and will be reimbursed based on the current UNICEF travel policy.

ESTIMATED DURATION OF LTA

Three (3) years subject to satisfactory performance evaluation and continuing need for the service.

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

Financial Proposal - JSR Facilitation on LTA.docx

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

Education:

• Master’s degree, preferably at an advanced level, in a Social Science field

Experience:

• Proven knowledge of and a minimum of 10-year experience in strategic planning processes.
• A minimum of 10-year experience and strong technical competences in developing Theories of Change, SMART results and result frameworks.
• Proven experience of developing/preparing strategic documents for international organizations, including UNICEF, other UN agencies and/or Resident Coordinator Offices.
• Experience in the Europe and Central Asia region will be considered a strong asset.
• Proven experience facilitating high-level workshops in strategic planning, such as Strategic prioritization workshops for UN agencies and/or Resident Coordinator Offices.
• A minimum of three (3) facilitated workshops on strategic planning within the UN context in the last 12 months are required.
• A minimum of one (1) engagement with UNICEF on Country Programme Planning in the last 12 months will be considered a strong asset.
• Work on a minimum of three (3) UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks in the last 24 months will be considered an asset.
• Recent experience — in the last two years — in facilitation of UNSDCF visioning and prioritization workshops and/or UNICEF strategic reflection workshops will be considered a strong asset.
• Proven experience of having worked within a multicultural environment.

Language:

• Fluency in English, written and verbal, is required.

Others:

• Familiarity with the UNICEF Country Programme Planning Guidance (released in October 2022) is required.
• Familiarity with the new UNICEF Country Programme Planning course will be considered an asset.
• Both knowledge of the UN context and UNICEF country programme planning is required.
• Strong analytical and writing skills are vital to compile and consolidate various inputs and produce technical and concise documents.
• Strong interpersonal skills.

HOW TO APPLY

The application to be submitted through the online portal should contain two separate attachments:

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded online) that clearly outlines relevant experience;
2. A financial proposal indicating professional fee as per the above template. Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving. (To be uploaded under “Financial Proposal” tab)

Important Note: Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/a or 00", under the fee related questions in the online application form.

Please make sure to include both documents indicated above. Otherwise, your application will be considered incomplete and invalid and will not be considered further.

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process.
• Female candidates meeting the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds including persons living with disabilities to apply.

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.