National Individual Consultancy on legal support to RESTART reform

Consultant Programme & Policy

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.

For every child, dedication

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MLSP) launched the Reform of Social Assistance System to enhance governance and quality and improve access to social assistance. Within this, MLSP intends to define the essential social services that satisfy the needs of vulnerable people, which are currently underfunded and fragmented over the country. The reform also aims to reorganize the local social assistance authorities into nine territorial social assistance agencies (TSAA) to ensure better coordination between the central and local levels.

How can you make a difference?

1. Purpose of the consultancy

The national consultant will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection on producing legal changes and ensuring that adjustments are in line with policy decisions of the RESTART reform.

2. Objectives of the Consultancy

The primary objectives of the consultancy are as follows:

• Analyze legal framework on social assistance
• Prepare draft laws/government decrees, regulations, and other legal documents based on decisions made by working group of the RESTART reform and the management of MLSP
• Ensure drafts of legal documents are consulted with MLSP, key stakeholders and experts:
• Consult with the Minister, State Secretaries, chief of departments and align legal framework as proposed by decision makers
• Consult with the team of experts of working group RESTART (social services, human resources, territorial reorganization, etc.) and other relevant stakeholders
• Contribute/prepare legislative initiatives: brief notes, and legal analysis
• Prepare overview tables of comments and suggestions provided by stakeholders, analyze and integrate them. Also, prepare other relevant tables upon requests from the MLSP management and RESTART Team Leader
• Participate in work sessions and public consultations with stakeholders

3. Details of how the work should be delivered

The technical assistance will be provided based on need to carry out legal adjustments that are planned under the RESTART reform.

The support provided by the legal consultant, in cooperation with the team of other experts, will consist of:

• Development, jointly with the team of experts and MLSP, legal analysis, and recommendations. The adjustments will be made based on a desk review of the available data, discussion, and consultation on the implementation of the RESTART Reform
• Facilitation of inclusive public consultation sessions, including if needed regional consultations with meaningful participation of key stakeholders
• Adjust legal framework on social assistance and other related documents

4. Deliverables and delivery dates

Changing the legal framework is one of the essential elements of the reform process. After the completion of the preparation and approval of the draft law 260 which sets the primary legal framework, the secondary legal framework is to be improved and developed.

Tasks

Deliverables

Workdays *

Tentative timeframe

Phase I

• Desk study review

List of legal documents to be reviewed

2 working days

By 5 October 2023

Phase II

• Revise 4 legal documents: amendment of Government Decree (GD) no. 1263/2016 regarding the National Social Assistance Agency, amendment of GD no. 149/2021 regarding the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, elaboration of the draft GD regarding the creation and operation of Territorial Social Assistance Agencies, elaboration of the draft Internal Regulation on the operation of Social Assistance Structures (September - October 2023)

4 legal documents are revised and ready for approval

20 working days

By 30 October 2023

Phase III

• Revise other documents as per comments from MLSP, UNICEF and other relevant stakeholders: the amendment of around 20 GDs on social assistance, including social services (September - November 2023).

Revised Government decrees as per recommendations

23 working days

By 30 November 2023

Phase IV

• Provide technical support in revising the secondary legislative framework that will ensure the proper functioning of the social assistance system in accordance with the new regulations

Secondary legislative framework is revised as per RESTART reform

15 working days

By 15 February 2024

Phase V

• Providing technical assistance and work closely with other experts in revising legal framework on human resources: work, professional programs development and social assistance personnel attestation.

Legal framework on human resources

10 working days

By 10 March 2024

* Exact deadlines will be mutually agreed upon contract signature.

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the individual consultant, under the guidance of UNICEF and MLSP, will:

• Review and adjust as necessary the legal documents and work plan for the assignment, including the data collection, as per UNICEF and MLSP recommendations.
• Conduct briefing and de-briefing meetings with UNICEF and the MLSP, as well as other partners as required;
• Review and adjust if necessary, the desk review of relevant legal documents and briefing notes.

5. Definition of supervisory arrangements

The consultant will work under the oversight of RESTART Team Leader UNICEF Moldova. Payments will be rendered upon successful completion of each task, as per the schedule outlined above.

6. Work location and official travel involved

The work may require local travels to conduct in-person visits and interviews with the different government officials. The consultant is expected to cover costs, arrange and schedule such visits, including transportation. The UNICEF office will facilitate introductions to key informants.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

• Advanced university degree (Masters, or PhD) in law, social sciences, public policy or international development policy;
• Five years of professional experience in legal research, policy or technical assistance related to public policy or/social protection policy;
• Experience in qualitative analysis;
• Strong knowledge of social protection policy debates on RESTART reform;
• Demonstrated ability to produce clear, succinct legal materials;
• Previous experience on social assistance is an asset;
• Demonstrated working experience with government officials and local authorities, and UN agencies;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in Romanian and working knowledge of English is required. Knowledge of Russian would be advantage.

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.

For more details on deliverables and minimum requirements, please refer to attached Terms of reference (ToR)

2023_TOR_Legal Expert to support RESTART_VA.docx

HOW TO APPLY: Your online application should contain the Technical Offer and Financial Offer (templates below). Please secure the Financial Proposal *.pdf document with a password on document view; the password will be requested only from technically qualified candidates.

Technical Offer.docx

Financial Offer.xlsx

Applications for this assignment must be received no later than: 10 September 2023

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:

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 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.

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Added 7 months ago - Updated 7 months ago - Source: unicef.org