National/International Consultant: Develop UNICEF Nepal’s Government partners engagement strategy

Consultant Teaching & Training Programme & Policy

Overview

Develop a comprehensive government engagement strategy for UNICEF Nepal

You have:

• Master’s in social science (sociology, economics, anthropology, development studies, etc.), law or related fields relevant to the assignment
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in developing strategies for engaging government partners, preferably in the context of international development
• Strong understanding of partnership dynamics, particularly in the context of decentralization/federalization
• Prior experience of working with the Government and in Nepal will be an asset (working experience in Nepal and/or South Asia for international consultants)
• Familiarity with the Government partnership policy, including but not limited to accountability mechanisms and resource utilization strategies
• Familiarity with UN partnership principles and guidelines is a plus
• Excellent analytical, research, and writing skills

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, care

UNICEF Nepal's new country programme (2023-2027) began in March 2023 with the aim of supporting the Government of Nepal and

its partners to ensure that all children, including adolescents, realize their rights and have opportunities to develop their full potential,

free from poverty, in an inclusive, protective society and a safe and sustainable climate and environment. The vision of the programme

is to create a better future for Nepalese children by improving their access to essential services, such as health, nutrition , water,

sanitation and hygiene, education, and child protection, especially the most disadvantaged children. Additionally, UNICEF's focus is

to help children access social protection benefits, protect them from disasters and other shocks. Four overarching priorities that will

permeate the programme include child-friendly governance, gender-equality programming, social inclusion and disaster risk

reduction, climate resilience and environmental sustainability. UNICEF key programming priorities at Federal and Provincial level

focuses on upstream policy and system strengthening across different programmes, whereas at the local level, the country

programme supports small-scale modelling of evidence based, affordable, effective and sustainable strategies and interventions

targeting the most left-behind children and women, and advocate for application and scale-up through federal, provincial and local

level policies, programmes and resource allocations. The key change strategies include multisectoral convergent programming,

social behavior change, child rights advocacy and participation, evidence, data and analysis, innovation and public-private partnerships.

UNICEF works in close collaboration with the Government of Nepal and other organizations in the United Nations system, multi- and

bilateral donor partners, civil society organizations and Academic Institution and private sector companies and networks at federal,

provincial, and local level to achieve results that have a wide-ranging impact. Dynamic and effective partnership with the Government

entities and the CSOs are central to ensure the accountability for results and intended use of resources. UNICEF has been committed

to ensure through partnership that country programmes are assess to what extent the past and ongoing partnership and collaborative relationship with government are contributing to achieve results for children and identify areas of improvement and develop/revise strategy and procedures accordingly.

In this context, UNICEF seeks to hire a consultant to review current partnership practice with the government partners at federal,

provincial and local level and develop a comprehensive engagement Strategy that focuses on strengthening accountability for results

and optimizing the intended use of resources in UNICEF Nepal's programmes and initiatives in the ongoing federal context.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of work:

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Development of Government engagement strategy

• Conduct a thorough assessment of UNICEF's current engagement with government entities at various levels (local, provincial and federal) to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
• Engage in stakeholder consultations with key government officials at three federal levels and relevant UNICEF staff to gather insights and understand priorities, challenges, and expectations for partnerships.
• Research and present international best practices in engaging government partners.
• Analyze existing policies, frameworks, and regulations (both government and UNICEF) and provide cull out the relevant provision to strengthen UNICEF's partnerships with the government at different federal levels.
• Develop a comprehensive partnership strategy document that outlines clear approaches, activities, and tools to enhance accountability, fund transfer mod

Key deliverables include:

1. Inception Report: A comprehensive report detailing the findings of the assessment of UNICEF's current engagement with

government entities at different levels, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.

2. Stakeholder Consultation Summary: A summary report of stakeholder consultations with key government officials and

relevant UNICEF staff, providing insights, priorities, challenges, and expectations for partnerships.

3. Comprehensive Partnership Strategy Document: A detailed strategy document outlining clear approaches, activities, and

tools to enhance accountability, fund transfer modality, and resource utilization, as well as addressing the recent audit

recommendations.

4. Training Materials: training materials for UNICEF staff or government partners to ensure effective implementation of the

strategy.

Task

• Inception Report
• Documents review and stakeholder consultation report.
• Final products

Contract Duration

The consultancy is open for either a national or international (non-Nepali). Will be 30 working days for international and 40 working days for national over the period of 3 months tentatively starting from first week of December 2023

First Deliverable

• Submission of inception report highlighting detailed methodology, timeline, and outline for developing (i) UNICEF Nepal’s Government partners engagement strategy

Second Deliverable

• Submission of preliminary drafts incorporating findings and recommendation arising from the review/assessment and consultation at the federal and local level.

Final Deliverable

• Submission of UNICEF Nepal’s Government Partners Engagement Strategy document and PowerPoint PPT highlighting key components of the strategy.

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

Minimum Qualifications, Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Master’s in social science (sociology, economics, anthropology, development studies, etc.), law or related fields relevant to the assignment

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in developing strategies for engaging government partners, preferably in the context of international development.
• Strong understanding of partnership dynamics, particularly in the context of decentralization/federalization.
• Prior experience of working with the Government and in Nepal will be an asset (working experience in Nepal and/or South Asia for international consultants)
• Familiarity with the Government partnership policy, including but not limited to accountability mechanisms and resource utilization strategies
• Familiarity with UN partnership principles and guidelines is a plus.
• Excellent analytical, research, and writing skill
• NOTE: Please indicate your financial proposal, that is, your daily professional fee - in NPR for nationals and in USD for international (non-Nepali)

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:

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.

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Potential interview questions

Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org