National consultant to provide technical support on conducting “Shock Responsive Social Protection” conference

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.

For every child, protection

There is growing interest globally in how existing national social protection systems can be leveraged to respond to these kinds of slow-onset shocks to deliver the same level of aid in a shorter time frame and with much lower administrative costs (for example by using their targeting systems or payment systems rather than establishing new ones through parallel humanitarian responses of short duration). There is also growing interest in how enabling households prone to disaster to engage in greater preparedness; a key emerging aspect of this is how early warning systems can help alert households, communities, and local authorities to these risks, so that assistance can be provided in advance of the actual onset of a shock or disaster.

When hazardous events occur, effective social protection support is often a crucial factor in determining whether children and young people can quickly return to normality, otherwise their life paths could be permanently altered. All too often, however, national systems are either too weak to respond, or are not designed to have the agility to adjust, for example, through rapid expansion to reach those that need support or temporarily increasing transfer size while families and communities recover.

The Government of Azerbaijan (GoA) has committed in the 5-year National Social-Economic Strategy Implementation Plan to establish shock-responsive social protection measures (SRSP) into the national social protection (SP) system by 2026 (activity 2.2.1). UNICEF Azerbaijan office gives technical support to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan (MoLSPP) in the development these of mechanisms.

Given the novelty of the topic of shock-responsive social protection, it is crucial to design and implement a comprehensive awareness-raising activity for key government stakeholders. In this regard, the UNICEF Azerbaijan office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MLSP), is taking the lead in organizing an international conference on SRSP. The conference aims to inform and engage senior government officials, decision-makers, policymakers and representatives of regional and international organizations to explore issues, obtain high level commitment, strengthen strategic partnerships. It will introduce innovative perspectives and approaches in the realms of public policy, social protection early warning systems (EWS) and climate risk financing, to inform future line of actions for a more integrated developmental and humanitarian ecosystem in Azerbaijan. The conference will be also the platform for the present initial findings of SRSP activity per government strategy, which is being implemented by MLSP in partnership with UNICEF.

UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office is currently seeking a qualified national consultant to play a crucial role in providing organizational and technical support for the upcoming conference on Shock Responsive Social Protection.

How can you make a difference?

The primary responsibility of a national consultant is to provide comprehensive support in planning, coordinating, and execution of all conference related activities to ensure the event’s success and effectiveness.

Scope of Work:

In close collaboration with the Social Policy Specialist and other key staff in UNICEF, as well as with MSLP, the consultant will coordinate and execute the high-level conference on shock-responsive social protection to be held in Nov 2023 leading on:

- Refining the conceptualization of the event, including sessions and possible speakers

- Coordination with Admin/Operations unit on all administrative and logistical arrangements, such as preparing administrative notes, managing travel logistics, venue hire and associated logistics, documentation etc.

- Develop talking points and relevant questions for each speaker to ensure their presentations align with the event’s objectives

- Coordination of media engagement and communications, including briefing materials, advocacy content, and drafting accompanying products like op-eds, social media content.

- Preparation and facilitation of side meetings before, during, and after the event as required

- Produce a comprehensive event report that documents the discussions, outcomes, key recommendations, and action points identified during the conference

Expected Deliverables:

The national consultant will be responsible for delivering the following:

• Comprehensive event concept note outlining the overarching theme, objectives, and key discussion areas of the conference
• All administrative and logistical matters including documentation and venue arrangements will be coordinated and managed as needed.
• Talking points for each speaker, ensuring their presentations align with the event's objectives and session themes.
• Media briefing materials, including key messages, factsheets, and press releases related to the conference.
• Comprehensive event report documenting the discussions, and outcomes of the conference and summary of key recommendations and action points identified during the event.

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

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as social sciences, public policy, international development, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in the humanitarian and development field preferably proven experience in event management and conference organization with a focus on social protection
• Familiarity with international best practices and frameworks related to social protection and humanitarian response
• Demonstrated expertise in organizing conferences, workshops, or high-level events, with a track record of successful event coordination.
• Ability to conceptualize and refine event themes, agendas, and session topics to ensure relevance and coherence.
• Experience in engaging with stakeholders, including government officials, policymakers, NGOs, and international organizations
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to liaise with speakers, participants, and event partners.
• Proficiency in drafting event-related documents, such as agendas, invitations, briefing packs, and reports.
• Competence in media engagement and communication to support event promotion and dissemination of key messages.
• Fluency in verbal and written Azerbaijani and English

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

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:

Consultant is expected to use his/her own laptop.

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.