National Consultant on Strengthening Social Service Workforce to provide well-coordinated and quality Social Services

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.

Background:

In line with the Government’s national development plans, sectoral priorities and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2021-2025, the new UNICEF Country Programme will include a stronger focus on exclusion and inequalities with a vision to realise the rights of every child. The 2021-2025 Child Protection and Social Inclusion Programmes have been conceptualized with consideration of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021, strategic priorities on effective governance and justice for all, and Inclusive human capital development leading to health, well-being and resilient prosperity. These align with Outcomes 1, 2 and 4 of the UNSDCF of Uzbekistan, which are fully aligned with national priorities to support the Government to achieve the national SDGs.

In Uzbekistan, there are many statutory bodies in which paraprofessionals are engaged in dealing with vulnerable families and children at district and community levels; these are unqualified social workers who are filling funded social service workforce vacancies. The 2019 assessment of the social service workforce serving vulnerable groups showed that Uzbekistan does not yet have a vocational pathway for uncertified social workers or other personnel to work towards achieving a qualification. Also, standardized case-management tools that should guide workers in the process of service-provision are missing or incomplete.

It is also crucial to link these issues to the broader social protection sector that is fragmented with no functioning formal social protection coordination mechanisms at central and local levels, and where support to the Government is needed in developing an institutional design for an integrated social protection system, including standard operating procedures, functions, protocols, capacity building and operationalization action plans, and integrating cash benefits with social services along the life cycle.

Purpose:

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide support to the Child Protection and Social Policy programs of the UNICEF Country Office to address violence, family separation, exclusion, discrimination and other vulnerabilities of families with children through strengthening social service workforce and testing case-management-based social services.

Objectives:

Specifically, the following are actual expected objectives from the consultant:

1. Build capacity of the social service workforce to apply a case management system and practice social work functions;

2. Support the Social and Child Protection programs to promote delivery of needs-based social services at local level through case management;

3. Support the Child Protection Program to promote the reform of the child care system in line with the comprehensive UNICEF Deinstitutionalization Concept.

Tasks and Deliverables:

I. Build capacity of the social service workforce to apply a case management system and practice social work functions

1. Support state partners in developing a policy document providing clear definitions for the social service workforce including statutory child protection bodies within the government strategy on social protection (strategy or law on Social Work and Social Services) within the institutional reform of social protection system) - Draft policy document - February 2022

2. Support the National University in strengthening social work education in the regional universities in line with the revised and endorsed Social Work Curriculum through regular monitoring and professional exchange - Monitoring report with findings and recommendations - August 2021

3. Jointly with the C4D officer (and in close collaboration with and support of the RO) build capacities of national trainers on communication for development and behavioral change with focus on community social work - Final joint report (with C4D officer) with recommendations on further cascading of social work training on communication for behavior change; Online training agenda, recordings, list of participants, participants feedback, pre- and post-test results - October 2021

4. Assist the National University in finalizing, publishing and printing 12 re-training course manuals - Designed and published modules on social work - August 2021

5. Support the Institute for Research of Youth Issues to revise functions of school-based youth counselors - Draft document with introduction of social work functions in the job description of the school-based youth counselors -August 2021

6. Facilitate capacity building of school-based youth counselors to fulfill social work functions and provide preventive psychosocial support services to adolescents - Draft training module on foundation of social work practice including interpersonal communication skills for youth counselors - June - October 2021

II. Support the Social and Child Protection programs to promote delivery of social services at local level through needs-based case management

1. Support social policy and child protection programs and RCSAC to build capacity of mahalla counsellors and district level specialists of MMFS trough a 11-day competency-based training on social work skills and case management - Package of the project documents for DCT to RCSAC; training agenda, list of participants, training feedback, pre- and post-test results; documenting of the training process. Report with recommendations for follow-up training - June – October 2021

2. Support Social Policy Section, RCSAC and MMFS in providing oversight in the assessment of the needs of 100 families in two target regions - 100 initial assessments and 30 core-assessment conducted by community and district level specialists - September 2021

3. Support Social Policy Section and RCSAC to train social workers on implementing Referral protocol in case management practice in target regions - Family/client service plans with referrals to services - September 2021

4. Facilitate capacity building training for mahalla supervisors – chairmen and khokimiyat specialists (two times 2-day training: at the beginning, and closer to the end of modelling) - Training agenda, list of participants, documenting of the training process - September 2021

5. Monitor the implementation of the case-management tools and process (through Single registry e-case management module, mahalla counsellors, mahalla supervisors and district level - Monitoring reports with recommendations - July 2021, September 2021, November 2021

6. Contribute to design and testing e-tool on case-management integrated into Single registry (three times: at the beginning, middle and closer to the end of modelling) - Inputs to the e-tool design; adopted case-management tools - August 2021

7. Contribute to introduction of social work functions in the job descriptions of the district and community specialists and adaptation of the case management tools - Inputs to the revision of functions and final draft report on the UNJP - June-November 2021

8. Conduct a 3-day training on case management in working with children living with HIV for the frontline workers of the Day-care Centers - Training agenda, recordings, list of participants, participants feedback, pre- and post-test results - May-June 2021

III. Support the child protection program to promote the child care system reform in line with UNICEF’s Deinstitutionalization Concept

1. Support the child protection program activities related to advocacy of deinstitutionalization through organizing meetings with the deinstitutionalization working group (under the Social Protection Coordination Committee) at national level - Agenda and minutes of the meetings with the deinstitutionalization working group - June 2021 – April 2022

2. Assist the child protection and communication sections in launching a Campaign on raising awareness about the impact of institutional care on child wellbeing and human capital - Posts with advocacy messages on the UNICEF website, telegram channel and Facebook - June 2021-April 2022

3. Support International consultant and state partners to develop a strategy and workplan with the SC for package of integrated social services - Inputs to the draft package of integrated social services - December 2021

4. Facilitate a dialogue with key ministries on design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of professional foster care services - Agenda of the advocacy meeting aimed at discussing Concept Note on Professional foster care system - April 2022

5. Contribute to review, development and amendment existing legal and normative framework to establish professional foster care services - Document for desk review - March 2022

Timeframe: From 25 May 2021 to 25 April 2022 (11 months)

Management: National consultant will work under the direct supervision of Child Protection Specialist and closely liaise with both Child Protection Officers and the Chief of Social Policy and Social Policy Officer.

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

• University degree in social sciences, a degree in social work will be an asset;
• At least 5 years of professional experience in social work (verified by records of work experience);
• Knowledge of national legislation related to child rights, child care, functional responsibilities of state bodies and self-governing bodies dealing with child protection in Uzbekistan;
• Experience in conducting training on social work for child protection front-line workers (verified by records of work experience on conducting at least two training on social work) and case management;
• Excellent presentation and communication skills (verified by records of work experience on participation in at least three events related to the issues of social work);
• Good written and spoken command of English and Russian; knowledge of Uzbek language will be an asset (verified by the interview);
• Previous work experience with UN Agencies (verified by records of previous work experience);

Procedures and working conditions: The travel expenses will be paid in accordance with UNICEF ‘Duty Travel’ rules and regulations as follows:

If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform his or her assignment, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract. In cases where travel costs have not been set out in the contract, provisions of UNICEF Procedures on Travel apply (see DFAM Policy 5).

Travel paid for by UNICEF shall be based on economy class travel, regardless of the length of travel, subject to exceptional approval of business class travel by the Approving Authority (such approval may be granted normally for certified medical reasons).

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.

The United Nations and UNICEF undertake no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract. No statement of earnings will be issued by the United Nations or UNICEF to the consultant. National consultant is personally responsible for payment of all taxes related to consultancy.

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.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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.