National Consultant to provide technical support on Public Finance for Early Childhood, remote, Brazil

Contract

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Background & Rationale

Brazil has one of the most favourable institutional frameworks to guarantee children and adolescents rights in the world, starting from the Federal Constitution (1988) and the Statute of Children and Adolescents - ECA (Law No. 8.069 / 1990) that place children and adolescents as an absolute priority in public policies.

The Legal Framework for Early Childhood (Law 13.257/16) establishes guidelines for public policies and specific guarantees for children from zero to six. It establishes that the National Government must inform the sum of the resources applied annually in this portion of the population and its percentage. The national Government is also responsible for collecting information from sub-national governments on this population. Nevertheless, none of the institutions have a similar understanding or methodology to identify/report budget allocation for early childhood despite the clear legal demand.

In this sense, it is necessary to have a uniform understanding as well as to develop tools that allow compliance with the legal framework.

The Pluriannual Development Plan 2020 - 2023 (Law No. 13.971 / 19) establishes early childhood as one of its priorities. However, implementing a public policy aimed at the development of early childhood has particular challenges, mainly due to the institutional framework. Currently, the budget fails to reflect early childhood as a priority due to inherently weak policy-budget linkage.

Early childhood needs to be more visible in the planning and execution phases of the public budget. Therefore, tools are required to develop policies/plans that provide key parameters for public budgeting by clarifying the scope of early childhood services, specifying principles, target population, and coordination mechanisms across sectors.

This will be possible if: 1) the programmatic structuring of spending is a budgetary mirror of public policy; 2) the use of scientific evidence; 3) the prioritization of lines of action that must be financed, based on the explanatory power of causal factors and effective interventions, and; 4) a set of tools that allow formulations to land on the ground of the provision of the required services and their constant monitoring.

Multisectoral results-based budgeting may be required for sectoral products to be incorporated into budget structures. For this to happen, intersectoral planning coordination is necessary and facilitates coordination tools in the execution for multisectoral objectives,

Another vital step to define a compelling set of interventions is to fund basic universal benefit packages for early childhood development. It is necessary to estimate financing needs by investing in comprehensive early childhood care packages, that encompasses a multisectoral services and programmes aimed at creating a nurturing environment for young children to survive, thrive and develop. At the same time, this determination can help establish reference guidelines for national strategies that respond to the specific conditions of optimal development in early childhood and identify the minimum levels of public investment necessary to guarantee integral child development.

Given the national context, these strategies and these minimum investments are now more than ever central in the context of COVID-19, having early childhood as one of its main priorities. The current and potential impacts of the pandemic on human capital investments worldwide and in Brazil may have terrible implications mainly on government revenues, social sector spending, budget transparency, and fiscal accountability from a children’s perspective. In this context, it is even more critical to ensure that public resources are allocated to policies that guarantee children’s rights for whom the consequences of the pandemic crises are already devastating.

Similarly, worldwide, there is a growing trend of government-led financing strategies. Public resources play a central and catalytic role in mobilizing domestic resources for implementing ECD - Early Childhood Development policies, programmes, and services. In most cases, public financing is the most important and sustainable mechanism to meet their objectives. ECD - Early Childhood Development programmes and services may be seen as public goods, given their positive externalities on the economy and society.

UNICEF and IPEA (Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada) developed a methodology to identify social spending on children and adolescents, applied primarily in the federal budgets from 2016 to 2019. The methodology allows identifying the portfolio of public policies that impact the lives and rights of children and adolescents through budgetary information. It also allows qualifying such impact by the degree of specificity or adherence, separating specific policies for this population from others that, although also been crucial for children, do not benefit them exclusively. In summary, and in line with other experiences in Latin America and Brazil, the methodology more precisely identifies the volume of resources allocated for policies for children and adolescents and, proposes a set of indicators that assists in balancing the non-exclusive resources.

In 2021, The Parliamentary Front for Early Childhood invited UNICEF to coordinate a Working Group on public budget with the main objective to design mechanisms and tools to ensure the adequate financing of early childhood-related policies/programmes and services. The Working Group composed by 18 different institutions and organizations (Legislative, Executive, Academia and Civil Society Organizations) undertook a series of activities, being the main one the adaptation of the methodology to identify social public spending on children from o to 6 years, at national level.

To have a full understanding of the public budget allocated for early childhood, a necessary and important next step is to work with sub national levels: States and Municipalities.

UNICEF requires a national consultant that can provide specialized technical assistance, to support on the adaptation and implementation of the methodology to identify public spending for early childhood in state and municipal budgets.

Purpose

Under the direct supervision of the UNICEF Chief of Social Policy and the technical guidance of the ECD – Early Childhood Development Officer, the consultant will provide technical support for UNICEF Brazil on public budget. The specific objective of this consultancy is to provide specialized technical support to adapt the methodology to identify public spending for children from 0 to 6 years, in selected States and Municipalities. S/he will coordinate with the UNICEF team in Brasilia and in its Sub National Offices as well as with designed focal points of State and Municipal Governments.

Expected results:

The consultant will be responsible to deliver the following results:

1. Methodology to identify public social spending on children from 0 to 6 years, including:
   1. In-deep analysis and understanding of the IPEA (Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada)-UNICEF methodology adapted by the Working Group on Public Budget for Early Childhood.
   2. Identify main elements, characteristics to be consider for adaptation of the methodology in State and Municipal levels.
2. Adaptation of the Methodology in selected States and Municipalities, including:
   1. Identifying main sources of information on public budget at State and Municipal levels (e.g. SIOP - Sistema Integrado de Planejamento e Orçamento, Tribunal de Contas)
   2. Developing tools (e.g. check lists) to support State and Municipal selected governments to apply the methodology within its context and realities.
3. Produce guidelines and supportive knowledge as to propose early childhood prioritization at municipal development plans, and within municipal budgetary system, including:
   1. Pluriannual Development Plans.
   2. Annual Budgetary Laws.
   3. Municipal Plans for Early Childhood
4. Design a proposal for financing a minimum package of Early Childhood Development interventions for Municipal Governments.
5. Provide technical advice and support to the team on specific topics related with the consultancy.

Deliverables:

1.1. Document with main/general elements to apply the methodology to identify public social spending on children from 0 to 6 years, at State and Municipal levels.

1.2. Duration: 30 days

1.3. Deadline: end of 1st month

1.4. Payment: 10%

2.1. Deliverable

2.2. Duration: 60 days

2.3. Deadline: end of 2nd month

2.4. Payment: 15%

3.1. Deliverable

2.2. Duration: 90 days

2.3. Deadline: end of 3rd month

2.4. Payment: 15%

4.1. Deliverable

2.2. Duration: 120 days

2.3. Deadline: end of 4th month

2.4. Payment: 20%

5.1. Deliverable

2.2. Duration: 180 days

2.3. Deadline: end of 6th month

2.4. Payment: 20%

6.1. Deliverable

2.2. Duration: 225 days

2.3. Deadline: end of 7.5th month

2.4. Payment: 20%

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Punctuality in meeting deadlines.
• Quality of the content produced.
• Timely provision of the deliverables.
• Products shall be subject to review and approval by UNICEF after delivery by the Consultant. If needed, revisions and alterations may be requested by UNICEF related to quality and technical depth parameters. Only after final clearance from the UNICEF Brazil, will the payment be processed.
• If the product’s delivery date is at the weekend or on a public holiday, it must be delivered on the next following business day.
• UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the partners are not followed, the performance is unsatisfactory, or work/deliverables are incomplete, not delivered or fail to meet the deadlines.

Technical background, and experience required

• University degree and master’s degree and/or PhD in Public Finance, Economy, Public Administration or another related field.
• Minimum 7 years’ work experience on public administration, public budget, fiscal policies.
• Background and familiarity with Brazilian public budget at national, state or municipal levels.
• Background and familiarity with international human rights, children’s rights, social protection and poverty.
• Fluency in Portuguese and English (verbal and written).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• Consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed.
• For Consultant’s, travel costs should be included in the consultant’s fee.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or Individual Contractor
• No Consultant may travel without a signed travel authorization prior to the commencement of the journey to the duty station for international consultant (for international consultancy)
• Consultants/ICs will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.
• The consultant will work remote under a full-time basis and prior authorization and/or clearance from UNICEF to engage in external activities is required.

Financial Proposal

• Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.
• A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants and individual contractors are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.
• The payment will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Insurance and health coverage

• The contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expenses, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of the contract as he or she considers appropriate.

• The contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

  Restrictions

• Consultants and individual contractors may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF. Notwithstanding, consultants and individual contracts must complete the applicable mandatory trainings.

• In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government​, or unless on leave without pay.

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.

UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.