National Consultancy: U-Report Unlimited coordinator (Only for Uzbekistan nationals)

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.

Background

Uzbekistan is at an important demographic juncture. Today's children and young people, constituting 60% of the population, in 15-20 years will become the largest labour force Uzbekistan has ever had. With the right investments now, today’s bulging youth population can be the generation that takes Uzbekistan to the next level of socio-economic development. Alternatively, a failure to adequately invest in the well-being of today’s children and young people may lead to greater disenfranchisement, hopelessness and higher level of youth unemployment. This in turn could create a breeding ground for discontent, political and social tension and intensify labour emigration, thereby leading to a loss of the precious “demographic dividend”.

Engagement of youth into development and realization of strategies and decisions related to youth wellbeing and their future is critical for building active citizenship and social cohesion. International experience shows that such engagement improves young people's skills, strengthens sense of belonging and enhances civic participation of the future leaders. It also improves governance and social accountability making policies and programmes more effectively tailored to the needs and aspirations of young people.

At present, when the world is faced with a new threat in the form of a pandemic, which forced much of the population into self-isolation, it is important to support young people, understand and respond to their concerns and expectations from the Government and society. Given that young people make up more than half of the population – to find out the opinion of young people, their expectations and socio-psychological mood – is an important task in this difficult situation.

Moreover, during the U-Report regional outreach meetings, youth often asked about the possibility of youth initiating topics for discussion and dialogue with the Government. This is wider than the activities of U-Report, carried out to date (when questions are initiated, mainly from government agencies).

Project objectives are to engage youth in expanding the U-Report platform, to enable a dialogue initiated by young people, thereby expanding the opportunities for them to express their opinions, concerns, helping to strengthen their civic identity, building partnerships with the Government in a joint search for solutions to existing issues and supporting youth initiatives.

This would help resolve several issues:

• to involve young people in proactively identifying and solving social issues and to give the opportunity to express their opinion on issues related to them;
• strengthen the active civic position of young people and contribute to the formation of civic self-awareness of youth;
• strengthen the confidence of youth in the Government;
• to promote the policy pursued in Uzbekistan on the active building of the Youth-Government dialogue;
• to contribute to the solution of issues / problems in society on a partnership basis;
• provide youth with the opportunity to express themselves, to assist in the selection of future life priorities, etc.

For this purpose, it is proposed to design and implement the U-REPORT UNLIMITED on the basis of the RapidPro technical platform, which could bring the dialogue of Youth and the Government and support to youth people to a new level.

Objectives

The objective of this individual consultancy is to develop several options / formats for the implementation of the project U-Report Unlimited employing human centered design methodology (on the basis of consultations and co-design with youth), where dialogue with appropriate governmental bodies and public organizations on youth related topics (Youth-Government dialogue) will be initiate by young people through RapidPro system (among users of U-Report platform). Develop pilot implementation in partnership with youth and government agencies and conduct 2 Youth-Government dialogue. Produce 3 human interest stories based on the engagement with young people in process of developing U-report Unlimited.

Timeline & Deliverables

The deliverables are expected to be prepared within 25 working days.

Expected Deliverables 1. Conceptualize and develop several options / formats for U-Report Unlimited platform, based on consultations with youth 2. Present options to the U-Report team for consideration and agree on the test format of the first Youth-Government dialogue 3. Attract partners from non-state and state bodies for the implementation of the dialogues. 4. If necessary, gather a group of volunteers to help launch the project 5. Organize 2 test launch of the project on the RapidPro technical base with the involvement of the necessary experts, youth, media, representatives of the public sector and NGOs 6. In cooperation with Communication Section, organize a media / promotional campaign to disseminate information about the project to broaden outreach to young people 7. Produce 3 human interest stories based on the engagement with young people in process of developing U-Report Unlimited. 8. Provide the main conclusions, results, lessons learned of the pilot 9. Prepare a plan for further development of the platform

Management

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of U-Report manager and Chief of Social Policy, in cooperation with UNICEF Communication and Programme Sections.

Resource requirements and payments

The basis for calculation of consultancy fee based on the complexity of work, level of expertise and the Administrative Instruction (ST/AI/2013/4) on Consultants and individual contractors. The final decision on selection of the consultant will be set up based on the 'best value for money' principle. Payment will be made based on deliverables. While contract would be in USD, however, all invoices and payments would be in local currency via bank transfer.

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

• Bachelor’s Degree in social policy, journalism, youth work or other related disciplines
• At least 1 year of professional experience in the areas of social issues, SMM or youth policy
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in Uzbek, Russian and English languages (Examination of a previous authentic written work in Uzbek, Russian and English)
• Computer literacy, experience working with web-based applications (such as RapidPro)

Procedures and Working Conditions

The assignment is performed remotely. UNICEF undertakes no liability for taxes, duty or other contributions payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract.

Reservations

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if deliverable(s) incomplete, not finalized or for failure to meet deadlines. UNICEF will reserve copyright of all developed materials and own primary data collected through this assignment. The materials cannot be published or disseminated without prior written permission of UNICEF. UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future. The contractor must respect the confidentiality of the information handled during the assignment. Documents and information provided must be used only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

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.