International Consultancy for preparation of the Social Service Standards and Curriculum for teaching social work professionals

Turkmenistan’s policy reforms in the area of social protection aimed at better meeting the financial, educational and medical needs of the most vulnerable group of the society are underway. The necessity for integrated social support services for families and children in Turkmenistan stems from the country's commitment to achieve global goals for sustainable development (SDGs 2015-2030), which include the objective of providing accessibility and quality of social services for all children and eliminating the inequalities in access to services among vulnerable groups of population. In addition, the National action plan in implementing the children's rights in Turkmenistan for the period 2017-2021, which is under the consideration in the Cabinet of Ministers, sets goals in all sections and includes necessary measures for the development of the child welfare system, including social support services for the family and the child. Other areas of work of UNICEF in Turkmenistan are also conceptually related to the idea of the development of social services for children and their families (the concept of early development and early intervention, documents on Inclusive education etc.). However, the positive results of these reforms are not palpable yet, and people with disabilities are not fully included and their participation in society is limited.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

International Consultancy for preparation of the Social Service Standards and Curriculum for teaching social work professionals
15 July – 31 December 2017

1. Program information:

Outcome 1: By end 2020, the social protection system is ready to provide inclusive quality community-based support services.
Outcome 2: By end of 2020, an operational framework for the delivery of integrated social support services for vulnerable children and families is tried out, approved and ready for use throughout the country.

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.  Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF strives to establish children’s rights as international standards of behavior towards children.

2. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

More than three quarters of the world’s population continue to leave without adequate social protection and services.  Expanding people’s access to social protection services is both a way to advance human rights and a sound economic policy.  Social protection is both a fundamental right of children as well as a means of preventing, reducing and eliminating social and economic vulnerabilities to poverty and deprivation.  It also plays a critical role in helping to realise other rights, including the right to education and to survival and development.

Turkmenistan has ratified the major international human rights instruments including the Convention on the Rights of the Children and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in September (2008). Two years later, in November 2010 Turkmenistan has ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention. Doing so, it has committed itself to implementation of the provisions of the Conventions and to bringing the child rights – related national legislation and practice into a compliance with the best international standards.  In a close cooperation with Turkmenistan UNICEF Office, the Turkmen Parliamentarians have been working on improving the situation of children through legislative and advocacy tools.

Turkmenistan’s policy reforms in the area of social protection aimed at better meeting the financial, educational and medical needs of the most vulnerable group of the society are underway. The necessity  for integrated social support services for families and children in Turkmenistan stems from the country's commitment to achieve  global goals for sustainable development (SDGs 2015-2030), 2which include the objective of  providing  accessibility and quality of social services for all children and eliminating the inequalities in access to services among vulnerable groups of population. In addition, the National action plan in implementing the children's rights in Turkmenistan for the period 2017-2021, which is under the consideration in the Cabinet of ministers, sets goals in all sections and includes necessary measures for the development of the child welfare system, including social support services for the family and the child. Other areas of work of UNICEF in Turkmenistan are also conceptually related to the idea of the development of social services for children and their families (the concept of early development and early intervention, documents on Inclusive education etc.).  However, the positive results of these reforms are not palpable yet, and people with disabilities are not fully included and their participation in society is limited.

Particularly in recent years, UNICEF has become an influential development partner in social protection of children worldwide. It supports governments as they develop and strengthen their social sector programmes and policies, and advocates for child and gender-sensitive budgeting.

Traditionally, the social protection system of Turkmenistan for families has consisted of only small cash transfers to the families and has been opaque.  In recent years, however, the government has expressed its intent to focus on efficiency and effectiveness of policies in this particular area.  Certain mechanisms for horizontal coordination of governance processes and implementation have been established; there are intentions to optimise the budget process for providing greater range of services to families and there is growing understanding of the need for better evidence-based planning, implementation and monitoring.

UNICEF together with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Turkmenistan (MLSPP) have prepared a conceptual framework for the reform of the Social Services in 2016 and the Roadmap for implementation of integrated social support services for family and children in Turkmenistan (2017-2026).  The overview of the situation, preceding the development of the conceptual framework, identified positive trends, such as a decline in the number of children in institutions, while particularly highlighting two problems:

• Lack of detailed information about children (demographic characteristics, health, developments, etc.) and especially about children / families from vulnerable groups,
• Lack of social services for children and families (social support services) outside the system of state institutions, which lead to the influx of children into these institutions, and is one of the factors of exclusion of children with disabilities from public life.

One of the important focus of the conceptual framework is establishment of social work profession and development of corresponding standards and curriculum. This is very much in line with the Plan of Action of Turkmenistan for expansion of employment opportunities for people with disabilities, which also stipulates establishment of social work in the country.  The MLSPP together with the Mejlis have initiated work on a new Law on Social Services. UNICEF will be supporting the MLSPP and the Ministry of Education in coordinated work towards establishment of social work curriculum and standards in the country.

3. OBJECTIVES

In light of the ongoing social protection system and legislative reforms and based on the concept of the reform of the social services developed with UNICEF’ support  in 2016, UNICEF together with the national stakeholders, intents to commission a consultancy to support the development of social service standards as well as the curriculum for teaching future social work professionals. The long-term aim is to improve the quality and range of services provided to the most vulnerable families with children.

4. SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES TO BE COMPLETED TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVES

To primary responsibilities of the consultant will include:
1. Conduct a desk review of the legislation related to social and child protection system as well as experience of countries in region in introducing social work curriculum and social work profession
2. Develop  a capacity enhancement plan for the country in the area of social work
3. Draft integrated social support services standards, including minimum requirements and a package of services to be provided;
4. Support development of the draft regulations and methodological instructions for operationalization of integrated social support services.
5. Support the development of and review the draft social services legislation and make recommendations for improvement, including the laws on social services and foster care 
6. Facilitate a technical workshop to train multi-disciplinary specialists on the new standards of the social services.
7. Propose an initial draft of the  curriculum in line with the international standards
8. Facilitate consensus building workshop(s) and drafting of the road map for the next steps in finalization and introduction of the social work curriculum.

5. DELIVERY DATES AND DETAILS

The tentative timeline and estimated completion dates for the consultancy are as following:

Deliverables Dates

Desk review and a detailed inception report
Up to 50 pages, this document should build on the analysis made in earlier years, provide a summary and analysis of the current legislative and policy environment and make references to the best practices in introduction of social work and in particular social work curriculum.  This exercise should also lay ground for all other activities. 31 July 2017
Draft integrated social support services standards
The standards should be organized by section, including a section on monitoring and evaluation. Each standard should include indicators that will measure the quality of services, ranging from minimum to high quality. The minimum quality indictors demonstrate the basic application of the standard.
Please see Annex A for suggested context. 31 August 2017
A curriculum on social work
In close cooperation with representatives of the ministries of health, education and social protection to assist in the development, provide feedback and comments to a detailed curriculum for training college level students, to enhance and expand their skills in providing services to families and children. Ensure that the final product contain sections on prevention, social support to families and children at risk, contemporary tools and psycho social work. 31 August 2017
Draft regulations and methodological instructions for operationalization of integrated social support services.
Please see Annex B for suggested context.
30 September 2017
Suggestions for the improvement of social services legislation with a particular focus on Law on Social Services.
31 October 2017
Final draft social support services standards with inputs and comments integrated.
15 November  2017
Technical workshops to train specialists from health, education and social protection divisions on the new standards of the social services.
Should include powerpoint presentations, training modules etc. 
30 November 2017
Roadmap including a detailed capacity enhancement plan for rolling out the services and final consultancy report 15 December 2017.

6. DUTY STATION

The consultant(s) will do most work from his/her home country. It is expected that the consultant will travel to Turkmenistan twice during the consultancy for a period of 5 working days each (10 days out of total 45 planned).

7. SUPERVISOR
• The consultant will be supervised and report to M&E/CRM Specialist of UNICEF Turkmenistan Country Office with debriefing and consultation with UNICEF Turkmenistan Deputy Representative and Representative.
• The consultant will work in close co-operation with the MLSPP and other stakeholders.

8. QUALIFICATIONS OR SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
• Substantial experience in developing regulations and social policy/social protection documentation
• Previous experience with social work curriculum development
• International exposure to broad range of child rights issues, including survival, development, protection and participation;
• Strong analytical and communication skills
• Prior experience in Turkmenistan or in Central Asia and knowledge of social services/protection systems of CEE/CIS countries;
• Working experience with the knowledge of UNICEF mandate is an advantage;
• Fluency in Russian language is an advantage.

9. BASIS FOR FEE AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE:

An average daily fee should be proposed (max. P5 level) by candidates for 45 days in total from July until December 2017. UNICEF will only make milestone payment based on achievement of specific deliverables as listed on the table above. Also, note that UNICEF does not make advance payment and UNICEF is exempt from paying VAT and any other forms of taxes.

All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and that UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future. This ToR is an integral part of the contract (SSA) signed with the institution/consultant.

Deliverables Percent

After delivery of Desk Review and inception report 30 %
After final draft, social support services standards with inputs and comments integrated and inputs for the draft legislation and curriculum on social work in line with the international standards. 30 %
Roadmap and final consultancy report 40%.

10. UNICEF General Terms and Conditions

UNICEF’s general terms and conditions will apply to the contract awarded to the vendor.  Please note that, in the evaluation of the technical merits of each proposal, UNICEF will take into consideration any proposed amendments to the UNICEF General Terms and Conditions.  Proposed amendments to the UNICEF general terms and conditions may negatively affect the evaluation of the technical merits of the proposal. 

All submissions should be electronic.

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete and not provided timely as indicated in the individual work plan of Contractor. This ToR is an integral part of the contract (PO) signed with the consultant.

UNICEF retains the right to patent and intellectual rights, as well as copyright and other similar intellectual property rights for any discoveries, inventions, products or works arising specifically from the implementation of the project in cooperation with UNICEF. The right to reproduce or use materials shall be transferred with a written approval of UNICEF based on the consideration of each separate case. Consultants should always refer to UNICEF Turkmenistan support in developing the materials when publishing the results of the research conducted while in Turkmenistan in academic journals, books and websites.

11. PROCEDURES AND LOGISTICS:

Whenever the consultant will be required to travel to Turkmenistan, UNICEF will cover all travel expenses. UNICEF does not provide or arrange health insurance coverage for contractors.

Annex A:  Integrated social support services standards (indicative content)

Objectives
Executive Summary
Generic Norms and Standards for Social Welfare Services Model including Minimum and High quality service provision indicators
Contextual Norms and Standards
Organisational Norms And Standards
Process Norms And Standards
Outcome Norms And Standards
Generic Norms and Standards for Social Welfare Services
Contextual Norms and Standards
Organisational Norms and Standards
Process Norms and Standards
Beneficiaries – Children
Beneficiaries –Youth
Beneficiaries – Adults
Outcome − End Results Norms and Standards
Annexes

 
Annex B: Regulations and methodological instructions for operationalization of integrated social support services (indicative content).

Objectives
Context
The role of the health, education, and social protection services in:
Prevention of child abandonment
Rehabilitation/abilitation and reintegration of children with disabilities
Rehabilitation and reintegration of children in conflict with the law
Identification, evaluation and support to families at risk
Contemporary tools for working with families and children
Psycho-social aspects of work with families and children.

Annexes

 
Annex C:  Expression of Interest

UNICEF accepts applications from individual consultants and companies. For the purpose of selection, a consultant/institution is requested to submit a Technical Proposal, which will include the following documents and information
• A completed Expression of Interest form (see Appendix A) and responses to the questions, including the professional fee/rate, per person day;
• Institutions inception/registration;
• A work-plan, showing the inputs;
• A proposed timeframe;
• Proposed consultant’s curriculum vitae, P11;
• A summary of experience in similar assignments;
• A financial proposal with a description of unit costs (in US Dollars).
The proposal will be a key basis for the selection.
The application package should be transmitted via email to Ms. Ayna Sopyyeva at the UNICEF Country Office in Turkmenistan. 
Email:    asopyyeva@unicef.org
Email Subject:  Expression of Interest – Social Services
Closing date for all applications is   7 July 2017.

 
International Consultancy on Social Services
Please fill-in page 1 of the form in its entirety and submit it to us electronically or via fax.
     
 
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Please respond to the questions below in a narrative not exceeding 2 pages.

1. Provide information, which will enable us to determine whether you have relevant experience. Information should include:
• a description of your technical competencies, and the number of years of experience in social protection;
• reports commissioned by UN agencies or comparable organizations that you conducted, or participated in as a member of a team.

2. Provide any additional experience that may be critical to the success of the proposed technical assistance, including but limited to:
• affiliation to universities or professional bodies in one or more sample countries;
• any other information that you deem relevant that would give you an advantage over other competing for the same consultancy.

3. Please provide your professional fee rate, per person day.

4. Confirm the following; that
• you have no on-going litigation with the UN;
• are not currently removed/invalidated or suspended by the United Nations or UN system organizations.

 To view our competency framework, please click here.

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.