National Consultancy to undertake local government budgeting and expenditure analysis (LGBEA) For Sierra Leone Nationals only

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, Protection.

Please access UNICEF Sierra Leone information here and here

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the Assignment

Children in Sierra Leone continue to be exposed to high levels of vulnerability as they suffer violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. According to MICS 2017 violent discipline has increased from 64.8% in 2010 to 86.5% in 2017. Sierra Leone is ranked 12th highest incidence of violent discipline in the world. 25.5% of children experienced severe physical punishment at home, whilst 73.1% of children reported experiencing any physical punishment. Sexual violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation are prevalent, prompting the president of Sierra Leone to declare a state of emergency against all forms of rape and sexual violence in February 2019. Sexual violence cases remained among the most reported crimes against girls also in 2021, according to data from the Family Support Unit of the National Police, with 2,818 out of 3,453 cases of violence against children (VAC) the majority (1,983) of which constituting cases of sexual violence. Child marriage is a major problem in the country with Sierra Leone ranking 19th globally in terms of the proportion of girls who are married as children. According to the 2019 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), there has been a slight reduction in child marriage since 2013, from 12.5% to 8.6% for women married before age 15 and from 38.9% to 29.6% for women married before age 18. Teenage pregnancy also dropped from 28% to 21% during the same period. However, girls who marry before the age of 15 are twice as likely to face physical or sexual violence from a partner compared to their peers who marry after 18. The high prevalence of FGM puts Sierra Leone (86.1% of women aged 15-49 years) at 7th worst country for the practice of FGM.

The LGBEA will provide an in-depth knowledge of the level and type of expenditure that are being undertaken by local councils. The focus of this review will be the Ministries of Social Welfare and Gender & Children’s Affairs that perform child protection and disability inclusion related activities and services at the district level. The LGA2004 identified broad programme areas under which such services are devolved; Family case work, Probation, Disability issues, Child welfare, Gender issues, and working with Community based organisations.

The review will assess the adequacy, effectiveness, equity and efficiency of the processes and spending of local councils, especially as they relate to these two MDAs.

UNICEF will coordinate the study and serve as Secretariat for a Technical Working Group (TWG) that will include representatives of the Government of Sierra Leone. The consultant shall report to the TWG through UNICEF.

Scope of Work:

The review will cover Bo District, Bo City, Kono District, Tonkolili District, Kambia District and WARDC.

The sectors to be covered are Social Welfare, and Gender & Children’s Affairs focusing on the services they are supposed to perform as per the LGA2004. The period of the review is 2018-2021.

The consultant to be recruited will perform the following tasks:

1. Collect data on devolved activities implemented by local councils and district offices; and classify them by economic and functional classifications
2. Identify all the funding sources for the activities implemented over the period
3. Collect data on in-kind transfers received by local councils from the central government and their corresponding values
4. Analyse the data collected to determine priority spending, trends, per capita analysis, actual vs budgeted, efficiency and equity analysis, etc. for each sector.
5. Prepare a comprehensive report that covers all the sectors
6. Present the findings in the report to stakeholders for validation

Please see attached ToR for detailed information.ToR_ LGBEA.pdf

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

• Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Public Policy, Accounting/ACCA, Public administration or other relevant areas.
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in public finance management, local government, or related fields.
• Knowledge of public finance concepts including value for money in social sectors, budget cycle and processes, and costing methods
• Good understanding and familiarity with the child protection/social welfare sectors would be an asset
• Good analytical skills, especially applied to economics and public finance
• Advanced quantitative analysis and capacity to synthesize large data sets and information in a clear and user-friendly manner.
• Knowledge of the Sierra Leonean budget cycle, key budget documents and key actors is required
• Demonstrated understanding of local governance structure, government policies, guidelines, legislation, and strategies in Sierra Leone
• Strong experience in providing technical assistance to national and local government, including through participatory approaches
• Excellent computer skills and knowledge of Microsoft Office Package, particularly Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

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 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:

UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/.Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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.