RE-ADVERTISEMENT- Home-based consultancy (with travels): Monitoring and documentation expert, Italy (120 days)

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, results

According to the recent European statistics, around a quarter of all children in the European Union are at risk of poverty or of social exclusion. Despite the increasing European efforts to counter the cycle of poverty and its impact on children, the recent socio-economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 is expected to increase poverty rates, which remain too high if compared to the targets of the 2020 EU Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

In Italy, of the around 10 million children and young people under the age of 18 as of 2020 more than 1.3 million (13.6%) lived in absolute poverty. Additionally, according to 2019 data, 25.7% of youth aged 18 to 24 are currently not in education, employment, or training. Furthermore, the most recent available data show that 27.111 children were living out of parental care in 2017, 52% of which was residing in foster care while the remaining 48% was still placed in institutional care. Moreover, the disparity in the level and access to services between different areas of the country is alarming. Italian children and adolescents are also between those more at risk of poverty and social exclusion (30.6%) compared to the EU average (23.4%).

Starting in 2015, the European Union began the development of a Child Guarantee, meant to ensure that all children in Europe who are at risk of poverty, social exclusion, or are otherwise disadvantaged, have access to essential services of good quality in the areas of healthcare, education, childcare, housing and nutrition. In July 2020, the European Commission, through the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, started the third phase of the Child Guarantee entrusting UNICEF’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia with the task of implementing pilot projects to counter inequalities and child poverty in four European countries, including Italy. In March 2021, the European Commission issued a Proposal for a Council Recommendation, unanimously approved by both the EU Parliament and the Council of the European Union in May and July respectively, on the establishment of the EU-wide Child Guarantee to combat child poverty and social exclusion of the most vulnerable children, and for Member States to ensure they have access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition. The Child Guarantee sits in the framework of another milestone document issued in 2021 by the European Commission, the EU Strategy on Children’s Rights, which will guide the action of EU Institutions and Member States in the protection, inclusion and participation of children in the European Union.

In Italy, the Child Guarantee is being tested under the oversight of an interinstitutional Steering Committee, composed by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Family Policies, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (MLSP) and UNICEF. During this pilot phase, a comprehensive research on policies, programmes, services, budgets, and mechanisms addressing child poverty and social exclusion will be conducted, together with the testing of models of intervention for the support of children particularly at risk of poverty and exclusion. These include foster care and other alternative care solutions for particularly vulnerable children, support of care leavers towards autonomy, skills building for adolescents to support their school to work transition, support to vulnerable families and the contrast to educational poverty.

The Department for Family Policies, as part of its ongoing efforts in providing support to children and families, has recently launched in alignment with the goals of the Child Guarantee three calls for proposals, Educare, Educare in Comune and Educare Insieme, to select projects involving local authorities, schools and civil society organizations aimed at countering educational poverty. The total financing made available from the Department for Family Policies amounts to € 60 million (€ 35 million for Educare, € 15 million for Educare in Comune and € 10 million for Educare Insieme). Considering that one of the objectives of the testing phase of the Child Guarantee is identifying successful practices to counter child poverty and social exclusion, UNICEF, in agreement with the Department for Family Policies, plans to monitor and document the most promising practices financed through the abovementioned calls for proposals and to systematize and analyze their replicability in different contexts for their potential scale-up and inclusion in the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Child Guarantee Recommendation.

How can you make a difference?

Under the guidance of UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist and the Department for Family Policies, the Consultant will focus on monitoring, documentation and analysis of replicability and scalability of the awarded projects, part of the Educare, Educare in Comune, and Educare Insieme calls for proposals, as part of the pilot phase of the EU Child Guarantee.

The scope of work is to support the Department for Family Policies in the further strengthening and strategizing of the support provided to local authorities, schools and civil society organizations in their efforts to counter educational poverty by:

1. Identifying the nine more promising practices between those already shortlisted by the Department for Family Policy and the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee of the Educare call for proposals (Comitato di Valutazione e Monitoraggio – CdVM) and analyse them from both the programmatic and financial side, to facilitate their potential replicability and scale up. The Consultant will carry out an initial desk review of the shortlisted awarded projects to select nine deemed particularly promising, to be validated by the Department for Family Policies and UNICEF. The promising practices will be selected to ensure coverage and balance between northern, central, and southern Regions. Once selected, the projects will be monitored, documented and analysed to highlight results obtained, and in particular the capacity to reach children most at risk of poverty and social exclusion, sustainability, and in particular the connection with the local institutional services and service providers, replicability and scalability.
2. Supporting the Department for Family Policies in the development of a monitoring framework and tools to be used for future awarded projects, such as those selected as part of the Educare Insieme and Educare in Comune calls for proposals, taking into consideration international and EU monitoring standards and the recently adopted Child Guarantee Council Recommendation, in order to facilitate their strategic analysis for future potential replication and scale up.

Specifically, the following results will be achieved:

• An initial desk review of the already shortlisted projects is conducted to identify the more promising nine, in agreement with the Department for Family Policies and UNICEF;
• A research protocol, with criteria to be observed and considered for each of the projects, is developed;
• 9 projects financed through the Educare call for proposals are monitored, analysed and documented for their replicability and potential scale-up;
• Proposed framework and tools for the monitoring of future awarded projects are developed in alignment with international and EU monitoring standards and the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation.

Contractual modalities:

• Duration: The consultant will be expected to work for 120 days during a period of 8 months.
• Duty Station and travel: The consultant will be home-based but will be expected to travel within Italy, depending on COVID-19 travel restrictions. The Consultant will be responsible for organizing their travel. All travel expenses (tickets, accommodation, public transport, meals) will be reimbursed.
• Payment: The consultant will be paid upon timely and satisfactory submission of deliverables as per the table above.

• Travel:

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants/ Individual Contractors apply.

• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant is responsible for his/her for travel arrangements. The most economic and direct route is authorized.
• Travel costs will be reimbursed after the completion of mission upon submission of the invoice together with the supporting documentation.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSafe certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s) in Social Sciences, Political Science, Economics or other related subjects
• At least 5 years of professional experience working in areas related to project cycle management and/or monitoring and evaluation.
• Proven experience in the analysis of educational processes and actions to combat educational poverty.
• Proven experience in documentation of programmes and projects, including their financial analysis.
• Ability to work with vulnerable children and youth.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.
• Fluency in Italian and English is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.

TO APPLY:

Applicants are invited to:

• Complete their UNICEF profile;
• Attach P11, CV and Cover Letter;
• Indicate a daily fee, bearing in mind that the maximum monthly allowed for this consultancy is USD 220 /EUR 184.36, travels not included. Applications without fees will not be accepted.

Rem****arks:

This is a re-advertisement: Candidates who have already applied do not need to reapply.

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.