National Social Protection Consultant to analyze social protection-related legislation/policies/programmes and develop recommendations for strengthening shock-responsiveness and child- sens

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.

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For every child, protection

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Analyze social protection related legislation/policies/programmes from the perspective of children and families with children and develop recommendations to strengthen shock-responsiveness and child-sensitivities in the social protection system

Scope of Work:

Background

During the past decade, children in Georgia have consistently been identified as the poorest group within society. Despite decreasing levels of poverty, child poverty rates remain higher than those of the general population and other social groups. Two significant emergencies, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, further affected the socio-economic situation of families, especially those with children.

To support vulnerable families affected by these emergencies, the Government has implemented various measures through the existing social protection system. Since 2020, there have been a series of increases in the value of cash transfers, which has helped alleviate the crisis for households, particularly those with children. In 2021, the Government doubled child cash benefits, followed by a 50% increase in 2022. Moreover, an additional 30% increase was introduced, effective July 2023. The Government has also expanded the eligibility criteria for child benefits, allowing more families with children to benefit from this support.

The support provided by the Government has yielded positive results. While many countries in the region experienced an increase in poverty, Georgia witnessed a steady decrease in poverty in 2021 and 2022, following an initial increase in 2020. However, children remain the poorest group in society, according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia with child absolute poverty was reported at 20.4%, compared to 15.6% for the general population and 10.4% for the elderly in 2022.[1]

In 2022, UNICEF Georgia conducted a household survey "Child Wellbeing in Georgia"[2] to analyze child poverty and deprivation in-depth. The study introduced a new measure, the child material and social deprivation index, which assesses access to goods and services crucial for a child's holistic development. The survey found that 37.8% of children in Georgia lack three or more of these necessities, putting their development at high risk.

The social protection system in Georgia comprises a combination of lifecycle and non-lifecycle benefits, primarily funded through taxation. It encompasses the universal provision of essential lifecycle benefits, reliance on employers for specific benefits, and the implementation of poverty targeting programmes like the Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) Programme and the Child Benefit Programme[3]. During the decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the system was purely managed by the central government and the system was regulated by the Law on Social Assistance (2006), Law on Protection of Persons with Disabilities (1995), and a few other legislative acts.

Recent changes in legislation have transferred certain social responsibilities from the central government to local authorities. However, in practice, the legal framework did not provide a well-defined division of roles and responsibilities between the central and local governments within the social protection system. This resulted in overlapping functions being carried out by municipalities and the central agencies as well as emerging gaps related to service provision and monitoring and social workforce capacity development, supervision and management. Such situation poses a risk to the quality, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of the social protection system.

Assignment Objective

Given the vulnerability of children, the increasing frequency and risks of various emergencies and crises, as well as the lack of clear functions of the central and local bodies vis-à-vis children and families with children, , it is crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current social protection support available to children. This analysis aims to examine existing social protection system, identify gaps and overlaps within the system, focusing on legislation, policies, and programmes related to social protection. The ultimate goal is to provide recommendations for strengthening shock-responsiveness and child-sensitivities in the social protection system. The role of the local and central government should be analyzed for this analysis.

The analysis will incorporate UNICEF's Global Social Protection Programme Framework[4], which advocates for a life-cycle approach to social protection, encompassing the period from pregnancy to early adulthood. The framework emphasizes three primary objectives of a child-sensitive social protection system:

• Ensuring that children live in households with sufficient income to foster their development and enable them to reach their full potential - Sufficient household income improve children’s access to services and can increase children’s sense of dignity and inclusion. The analysis will encompass various aspects, including but not limited to family and child transfers such as Targeted Social Assistance, Child Benefits, maternity benefits, and other relevant programmes. Additionally, it will explore employment services available to beneficiaries of Targeted Social Assistance, ensuring a comprehensive review of the social protection system's effectiveness in supporting families and children.
• Facilitating access to high-quality basic social services, irrespective of income or personal characteristics - Social protection programmes can include those that address financial accessibility such as fee abolition or waivers as well as programmes that support access to services of marginalized and excluded children. The analysis should include access to services (lifecycle approach), such as perinatal care, social services for different vulnerable groups, healthcare, preschool, and education.
• Providing families with direct access to outreach workers who can offer support, empowering them to access essential services and information when needed - Direct outreach can be essential to understanding the vulnerabilities facing children as well as providing referral to enable access to appropriate services. In the specific context of Georgia, this analysis should consider the social services workforce, including social workers, social agents, and other professionals involved in determining and providing support to families and children. Their role in defining the necessary assistance and making appropriate referrals will be examined to understand their contribution and impact within the social protection system.

In addition to the three primary objectives mentioned earlier, the analysis will also encompass an examination of the existing legislation, policies, and programmes from the perspective of two cross-cutting objectives. These objectives include:

1. Shock-responsiveness of the social protection system: The analysis will evaluate the system's capacity to effectively respond to various emergencies and unexpected conditions (including instruments used to respond to shocks) for supporting existing and new vulnerable groups. It will assess the system's ability to adapt and mitigate the impacts of crises on children and families.
2. Additional protection for vulnerable groups of children: The analysis will specifically focus on the needs and vulnerabilities of children with disabilities, ethnic minority children, internally displaced children, refugee children, children in state care, adolescents transitioning out of state care, and other relevant groups (to be determined during the inception phase of the analysis). The aim is to identify any gaps or shortcomings in the social protection system concerning these specific groups and recommend measures to enhance their protection and support.

The analysis of social protection related legislation/policies/programmes should include a critical review of the roles of the central and local government in social protection; The analysis should be accompanied by the detailed recommendations (content and process-related) how to develop a shock responsive, inclusive (child-sensitive) social protection system in Georgia.

Interested candidates should submit:

• Conceptual Framework for analysis of the Georgian Social Protection legislation/policies/programmes based on the requirements listed above.
• Sample document written by the candidate on the topic related to shock responsive, inclusive social protection system

Work Methodology

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of the Social Policy and Economic Specialist. The consultant will complete the agreed tasks and provide professional expertise in social protection through the deliverables listed in this TOR.

The work can be done remotely. The consultancy might require participation in the online or face-to-face meetings with different stakeholders.

Duration: August – November 2023

Location: Home-based

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline:

Prepare a Conceptual Framework for analyzing information based on the proposed concept

Conceptual framework and outline of the analysis

2 working days

August 2023

Conduct a desk review of related legislative acts and their explanatory notes

Different strategic and policy documents related to social protection, and State and municipal social programmes related to children or families with children

Analysis of the social protection legislation/policies/programmes in relation to children based on agreed with UNICEF framework

15 working days, September - October 2023

Develop a report and present findings

• Report including recommendations (around 30 pages) in Georgian
• Power point presentation of the findings and recommendations (in English and Georgian)

8 consultancy days October – November 2023

[1] https://www.geostat.ge/en/modules/categories/192/living-conditions

[2] National Statistics Office of Georgia. 2023. Child Wellbeing in Georgia. https://www.unicef.org/georgia/reports/child-wellbeing-georgia-2023

[3] “Assessment of the Social Protection System in Georgia”, ILO, UNWOMEN 2020 (https://georgia.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20Georgia/Attachments/Publications/2020/SPS%20in%20Georgia.pdf )

[4] https://www.unicef.org/reports/global-social-protection-programme-framework-2019

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

Advanced university degree in the field of social protection, social policy, public administration, public policy, social science, law or equivalent

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Proven knowledge and understanding of inclusive, shock-responsive social protection systems and interventions
• Sound knowledge and understanding of the social protection system of Georgia, especially for children and families with children
• 10 years of experience conducting research, analysis, and/or evaluation of social protection system in Georgia;
• Previous work with UNICEF will be an asset;
• Demonstrated analytical, negotiation, advocacy, reporting and writing skills;
• Fluency in oral and written communication in 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:

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.