National consultant to adapt and pilot Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance initiative in the selected regions of Uzbekistan

Contract

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Background

Uzbekistan is at an important demographic juncture. Today's children and young people, constituting 55% 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”.

The Government of Uzbekistan continuously prioritizes youth policy development and support of youth in realization of their potential fully. Significant resources are allocated to provide young people with housing, education, employment and social support. The President of Uzbekistan emphasizes the need for constant dialogue with young people. In this context, platforms such as “Khokim va yoshlar”, Youth Parliament have been established. The Ministers, Director of the Youth Affairs Agency and the President himself regularly meet with young people. However, many initiatives, especially at the local and regional levels, lack systematic approach and are tokenistic.

The global initiative Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance (YCFLG) is a governance system that provides local governments with the guidance on institutionalization of youth and child rights matters such as survival and development, protection and meaningful participation in decision-making. The concept can be applied to any level of government, including small communities, taking into account the differences in the nature and size of the respective administrative units. The initiative offers tools to help local governments to plan, allocate resources, implement and monitor their activities in the way tailored to the interests of young people and children. More specifically, a child-friendly city and community is defined as a local good governance system that promotes children's rights. It is a city or community where the voices, needs, priorities and rights of children and youth are an integral part of government policies, programs and decisions.

The Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance initiative has been endorsed by the national Government at the highest level. It will be contextualized and piloted by the Youth Affairs Agency, nationwide movement Yuksalish and UNICEF in cooperation with the Senate, Ministry of Public Education, Ministry of Preschool Education, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance.

Purpose

The purpose of the current consultancy is on behalf of UNICEF to lead the adaptation and piloting of the YCFLG initiative in close cooperation with the national partners in accordance with the best international practice and lessons learned in other countries.

Scope of work

The Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance initiative is planned to be piloted from October, 2021-September, 2022 in 6 cities of Uzbekistan, including 2 cities of the regional level, 2 cities of the district level and 2 settlements of city type.

The national consultant, as a member of the inter-agency project team, is expected to support the national partners and the local government in:

• Contexualization of the indicators,
• Capacity building of the local government officials and partners engaged,
• Development and monitoring implementation of the local action plans,
• Assessment of the results of the initiative piloting and certification
• Development of the plan/roadmap for further implementation and scale up.

Timeline and Deliverables

The deliverables are expected to be prepared within 11.5 months during the period from 1 October 2021 to 15 September 2022.

Tasks:

1. Finalization of the indicators of the friendliness of the cities–participants to youth and children 2. Support and monitor initial assessment of the friendliness of the selected cities to children and young people against the developed indicators 3. Support development of the local action plans to improve key indicators based on the results of the initial assessment 4. Conduct capacity-building training for local government officials and partners on participatory planning, budgeting and policy implementation. 5 Facilitate assessment of the implementation results 6 Arrange certification of cities most friendly to children and youth 7 Jointly with the national partners and the participants, conduct assessment of the pilot 8 Based on the pilot results, develop roadmap for further implementation and scale-up of the initiative

Deliverables:

1. A list of approved indicators, baseline and target values, as well as the methodology of assessment updated accordingly - by 15 October 2021 2. Report on initial assessment of the selected cities - by 26 November 2021 3. Action plans are developed and approved by the local government - by the end of January 2022 4. Trainings are conducted and training reports are developed - by 1 March 2022 5. Reports on the results of the implementation of the action plan in each city with indication of the 3 cities with top results - by 15 June 2022 6. Certification ceremony and press conference - by 30 June 2022 7. Report with the key takeaways and lessons learned from the pilot of YCFLG initiative in Uzbekistan - by 1 August 2022 8. Roadmap on further implementation of the YCFLG initiative in Uzbekistan - by 15 September 2022

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

a. Advanced university degree in public policy, economics, legal science or other related fields b. At least 5 years of professional experience in the field of public policy in Uzbekistan (verified by records of work experience). c. Previous experience in policy and data analysis and/or report writing d. Excellent teamwork and cooperation skills with a wide range of national partners (verified by experience, interview and references). e. Previous experience in project monitoring, including development of log-frames and indicators is an asset; f. Previous experiences in facilitating trainings/workshops is an asset; g. Previous experience working for UNICEF or UN agencies is an asset; h. Fluency in Uzbek and Russian. Fluency in English is an asset (verified by examination of previous written work and interview).

Management

Within UNICEF, the consultant will work under direct supervision the Youth and Adolescence Development Officer and in close collaboration with the Child Rights Monitoring Officer. The consultant will monitor and work in close cooperation with the implementing partner, will be a member of the inter-agency project team, co-chaired by UNICEF, Yuksalish and the Youth Affairs Agency.

Resource requirements and payments

According to UNICEF policy, the final fees will be set up based on the “best value for money” principle. The consultant will be paid by instalments upon completion of the deliverables certified by the Youth and Adolescents Development Officer.

The candidates are requested to submit their financial offer consisting of fee for the services to be provided. The Consultant will receive direct payment to his/her indicated bank account in Uzbek Sums based on the UN currency exchange rate.

Procedures and Working Conditions

Until the change of the epidemiological situation, the consultant will work from home. However, offline meetings with the partners may be required. The consultancy will also require frequent travels to the regions and cities selected for the implementation of the initiative. All required travel expenses within consultancy will be covered by UNICEF according to its procedures (transport fares, terminal, DSA).

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.

UNICEF undertakes no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract.

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.