National Consultancy on “Evidence Based Improvement for Child Related Program Budgets in Iran’s Public Finance Framework”

Consultant Programme & Policy

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National Consultancy on “Evidence-Based Improvement for Child Related Program Budgets in Iran’s Public Finance Framework”

Expected Duration of Assignment: Three months, estimated from mid-July 2022 to mid-October

BACKGROUND

As part of its mandate to protect and enhance the rights and well-being of all children, UNICEF seeks to support the mobilization, allocation, and utilization of domestic public financial resources to enhance social outcomes and reduce poverty and inequality.

UNICEF recognizes the crucial role of domestic resources in financing programs for children. Domestic revenues far exceed overseas development assistance (ODA) even in most lower-income and fragile states. Supporting governments to improve the amount and quality of their spending on investments and services for children is a critical mechanism to improve outcomes for children.

UNICEF focuses not only on the adequacy of spending, but also on efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and transparency, and works to identify and address the public financial management (PFM) challenges and opportunities that directly affect child outcomes across all its areas of programming.

Partnering with governments on public financing for children is a core part of UNICEF’s mandate. It forms the mechanism through which UNICEF supports governments’ commitment to invest in child rights ‘to the maximum extent of available resources, as set out in Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 19 on Public Budgeting for the Realization of Children’s Rights.

UNICEF Iran intends to further understand the budgeting cycle, budget decision-making process, and macro-fiscal context, as well as the specific public finance challenges that impact results for children. The policy cannot be developed in isolation from the local context, and therefore it is important to consider how policies and goals are translated into programs and results through the public finance system. This understanding can then guide engagement in public financial analysis, evidence generation, capacity building and technical support. Which in turn will have a practical contribution to improving budget decisions, budget implementation, and results of budgets for child-focused plans and programs.

UNICEF’s focus on results for children highlights the importance of considering the entire public finance chain. From national policies and plans as well as the budget cycle to implementation and service delivery at the facility or local level. This requires understanding the public finance roles and responsibilities of sector ministries and subnational governments, as well as central finance ministries, which is important to better identify public finance challenges or opportunities for impact on the delivery of services or investments in children.

UNICEF Iran is a partner with nine line Ministries, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Interior, of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Government. The results of this study will serve as a cornerstone for UNICEF strategy making on public finance for children in its next country program document.

OBJECTIVE / SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant will report to the UNICEF Iran’s Social Policy section and under the supervision of the head of the section will work in the following areas:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of child-related resource allocations in the Iranian government’s budget, as well as the existing framework for their monitoring and evaluation.
• Recommend strategies for improving efficacy as well as the impact of these resources.
• Provide a review and recommendations towards implementation of national identification number indexed social protection financial transactions for children
• Prepare reports on the project’s progress

Detailed Responsibilities:

The consultant shall coordinate all the aspects of his/her actions with the UNICEF Social Policy Section.

The key activities of the consultant are:

Activity 1: Review dynamics of budget drafting in Planning and Budgeting Organization (PBO), as well as historical log and analysis of organization’s perspective on child related policies

Activity 2: Analyze comprehensively child related budgets, their stakeholders and implementors in national budget

Task 1: Detail organization capacities and priorities of provided stakeholders

Task 2: Detail the values and growth rates and relevant trends for provided budgets in different child specific policy areas

Activity 3: Review existing monitoring and evaluation infrastructure at place in different layers of budgeting and implementing organizations

Task 1: Analyze in detail the organization’s capacity in monitoring and evaluating of its resource utilization, process compliance and achievement of the desired impact.

Activity 4: Offer phased improvement and infrastructure building initiatives to enhance monitoring and evaluation capacity particularly on child-related budgets

Activity 5: Assess the efficacy of implementing national identification number indexed budget transactions on enhancing the capacity of child-related program monitoring and evaluation

Activity 6: Recommend solutions to overcome potential implementation challenges of national identification number indexed financial transactions in PBO and line organizations implementing the programs

Expected Outputs/reports:

The consultant is the primary source of national technical support for smooth implementation of the “UNICEF Child Focused Public Finance Framework” with below key outputs. All deliverables must be in English and Persian.

#1. Report on Iranian budgeting processes, PBO’s child-related perspectives, and articulation of resources allocated for children in different sections of the Iranian government’s budget, as well as mapping of relevant stakeholders and implementors for outlined resources

Estimated duration: 4 weeks

Review and Approval: UNICEF Social Policy Section

#2. Report on existing monitoring and evaluation, as well as process compliance infrastructure.

Provide strategies to enhance the capacity of the system given existing constraints and resources

Estimated duration: 4 weeks

Review and Approval: UNICEF Social Policy Section

#3. Assess the efficacy of implementing national identification number indexed financial transactions for enhancing the efficiency of the Iranian public finance structure regarding child-related programs. Recommend solutions to address potential challenges in implementation

Estimated duration: 4 weeks

Review and Approval: UNICEF Social Policy Section

Duration and Timeline:

Expected Duration of Assignment: Three months, estimated from mid-July 2022 to mid-October 2022

Verification:

Compliance of the contract implementation processes and their results with these Terms of Reference will be verified by UNICEF’s Social Policy section.

Duty Station:

UNICEF office in Tehran, employing a hybrid working modality of home and office-based work.

Terms of Payment/Remuneration :

As full consideration for the services performed by the consultant under the terms of the contract, UNICEF shall pay the total amount of the contract as per the below installments, upon certification that services have been satisfactorily performed and against submission of Invoice and signed Certificate of Payment (CoP).

1st Installment 30%

2nd Installment 40%

3rd Installment 30%

• The contract’s total payment is expected to cover all auxiliary costs for conducting the consultancy, including the costs of transportation, typing and preparing the soft and hard copies of documents, and any other relevant costs regarding this activity.

• Each payment will be made in Iranian Rials upon satisfactory completion of the tasks and respective deliverables as per submission of deliverables/claims by the consultant and the project/UNICEF approvals.

• Each payment will be transferred by UNICEF through Electronic Fund Transfer to the IRR account number of the contractor introduced through an official letter indicating full banking information. Payments will be made according to UNICEF regulations as explained in the contract documents. Each payment will be made in Iranian Rial within 30 days from receipt of UNICEF’s verification and payment request.

• The National Consultant shall not do any work, provide any equipment, materials, and supplies, or perform any other services which may result in any cost in excess of the abovementioned amount.

• The contract’s total payment is expected to cover travel costs to join the duty station, living allowances for site visits, communication costs, costs of typing and preparing the soft and hard copies of documents and any other relevant costs regarding this activity.

• The travel costs to join duty station and repatriation, if applicable, shall be included in the financial proposal.

Ethical Note:

All the products, including data and analyses, developed in the course of this consultancy are the intellectual properties of UNICEF. The Consultants may not share these products without the expressed permission and acknowledgment of UNICEF Iran. All the products developed during the course of this consultancy must comply with the standards of research integrity.

Travel Requirements:

If travel is required under the contract, the individual contractor shall:

Obtain the required Security Clearance from the UNICEF office (the details of travel including date of departure and arrival, accommodation, and purpose of travel shall be submitted to the UNICEF office 2 working days before the date of travel)

Undertake the training courses on BSAFE and provide UNICEF with the certificate. The link to access the course is https://training.dss.un.org/course/category/6

Undertake a full medical examination including x-rays and obtain medical clearance from an UN-approved physician. This is only applicable to the Consultant the aged 65 years or more

The Contractor shall consult with the delegated authorities on the bases of Travel requirements before the date of departure and arrival, and inform UNICEF accordingly.

NOTE FOR CONSULTANTS AND INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTORS:

The Consultant should submit a technical proposal including a plan and a timeline for conducting the consultancy and an overview of the subject to demonstrate his/her knowledge.

Please submit a financial offer along with your proposal, which contains the following information:

• Fee for services to be provided – based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference
• Wherever possible, indicate the itemized cost of the travel (air tickets etc.) if an international consultation, and daily living costs for your stay in the country.

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

• Minimum of master’s degree in Public Policy, Economics, Development studies
• Minimum 4 years of experience in socio-economic areas
• Familiarity with the Iranian government’s budgeting processes
• Strong communication, coordination, and collaboration skills
• Perfect command of oral and written English and Persian
• Previous experience in public sector policy making

Desirable Qualifications:

• Previous experience on the implantation of social protection and security programs
• Previous experience with UNICEF projects and procedures is an asset
• Intensive experience with the Iranian government’s budgeting processes.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

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 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org