Open to Local and Int'l Consultants: Disability Inclusive Social Protection - 48 Days over 7 Months

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, a fair chance

UNICEF has been an active partner of the Government of the Philippines and civil society in realizing the rights of every Filipino child, in line with priorities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. UNICEF efforts have been focused on the most vulnerable regions identified by the Government of the Philippines Development Plan, particularly in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. To ensure that interventions are sustainable and scaled up, UNICEF will support primarily local government units (LGUs) as the main instruments of delivering services and building systems. The level of engagement with government institutions will take into account capacities, economies of scale and sector issues.

It has a field office in Cotabato City, the second largest city in Mindanao, southern Philippines, with some 300,000 population. The city is the regional administrative centre of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and over 80 percent of the population is Muslim. Mindanao is both conflict-affected and prone to frequent earthquakes and typhoon storms.

Visit this link for more information on Philippine Country Office: https://www.unicef.org/philippines/

How can you make a difference

Background:

The Philippines Government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is currently designing a model of intervention that is disability-inclusive social protection program for children with disability. This is in response to the findings of the 2022 UNICEF-DSWD Costs of Raising a Child with Disability in the Philippines which showed that families with children with disabilities incur 40% – 80% extra costs to reach comparable living standards. The study also showed that poverty is 50% higher among families with children with disabilities.

DSWD envisions a program design that seeks to provide a comprehensive intervention to children with disabilities and their families to develop their full potential and realize their rights to participation. Policy options are currently being discussed to see the feasibility of integrating the disability allowance into the flagship 4Ps social protection program. There are various options and mix of interventions being considered. One option is the provision of a disability allowance that directly address financial barriers to accessing basic services and protection from economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities. While the Philippines government is designing this intervention, it is keen to learn from other countries in the region that have implemented a disability allowance, the process, issues and challenges and how these were resolved particularly in the context of the ASEAN region. A request from DSWD has been made to learn from the Thailand experience where the Thailand Disability Allowance program is in its preparatory phase to be rolled out. It is a viable option for DSWD where it represents one possible scheme that department is keen to study through a learning visit to help inform the DSWD program design, financing and in harmonious integrations to the national social protection system.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will:

1. Provide technical advice and expert guidance to DSWD during design process by reviewing and providing inputs to the design process and document of DSWD for the proposed model of intervention.

2. Generate evidence by mapping ASEAN disability allowance schemes/inclusive social protection and presentation to DSWD to demonstrate the trends and practices in the region.

3. Develop advocacy pack on various options for consideration for incorporating disability into the DSWD national 4Ps social protection programs and other services.

- Ensure the advocacy pack is informed by evidence based on interactions and learning exchanges with relevant governments in ASEAN such as Thailand.

4. Organize practical hands-on engagement for DSWD staff and other government partners to study various options to feed into the design process and development of the advocacy pack.

Tasks/Milestones:

1. Mapping report (summary and description) of relevant disability allowance programme and how they are implemented against social protection for children with disabilities in the ASEAN countries.

2. Design and conduct of learning exchange / hands on engagement on designing disability allowance interventions leading to the advocacy pack development including a report on the learning exchange.

3. Advocacy pack/or policy brief outlining policy and operational options for integrating disability into national social protection programs or new design.

4. Technical inputs/guidance into the document design of DSWD (documented based on notes and other exchanges).

Qualifications and Competencies of Successful Consultant

• Master's Degree in Public Policy, Social Protection, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Economics and other relevant fields.
• Extensive program experience on disability inclusion and social protection including management information systems disability registries; cash transfers, disability inclusive design.

HOW TO APPLY

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in Vacancies | UNICEF Careers by 09 August 2023. Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal under Job Number: 564425 will be considered.

All candidates are requested to submit a COVER LETTER, and the duly filled P 11 form which can be downloaded from our website at https://www.unicef.org/careers/documents/p11-form indicating three (3) previous supervisors. Please indicate your area of assignment, ability, availability and daily/monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

Only shortlisted consultants will be contacted.

By applying through our Talent Management System (TMS) you agree to our privacy statement which is in line with the Philippines Data Privacy Act. You are strongly advised to read carefully through the privacy statement before submitting your application.

"UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles."