Child Protection Budget Analysis Consultant (open to Nationals of Malawi only)

The objective of this consultancy is to strengthen UNICEF’s capacity in programming and advocacy on Public Finance for Children (PF4C). The evidence that will be generated through this consultancy will assist Social Policy and Child Protection Sections to engage with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies with the aim of increasing and improving the quality of public spending on child protection in Malawi.

Background and Justification 

Every day, many girls, boys and adolescents in Malawi are subjected to various forms of violence, abuse and exploitation which include, but not limited to: hitting; bullying; sexual violence; abandonment and neglect; separation from their families due to conflict, unsafe migration and emergences; psychological abuse and neglect; harmful cultural practices; and limited access to essential services for their protection and development. Child maltreatment occurs in homes, schools, institutions, and communities. Food insecurity, cultural beliefs, poverty and inequality further expose children in Malawi to many other protection risks. These include child labor and child marriage. UNICEF defines ‘child protection’ as measures and structures to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence affecting children. In 2012, the Government of Malawi, with support from UNICEF, adopted a five year National Child Protection Strategy as a key national policy document  for reducing violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect and the impact of HIV on children in Malawi.  Since then, the Goverment of Malawi (GoM) through its partners has worked diligently to create an enabling environment for children through the implementation of the Strategy at national and district levels. 

The budget of a country is the single most important policy instrument which reflects priorities of government. It outlines expected government revenue and expenditures in a given year. The GoM, as a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is obliged under Article 4 to undertake measures to fulfil children’s rights “to the maximum extent of their available resources.” It is only through increased and improved quality of public spending that the Government can sustainably deliver child protection and other services to children in all Districts of Malawi. Ensuring that children are protected from all forms of violence, is a key objective of the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which replaced Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

This analysis is part of policy analysis work by Child Protection and Social Policy, under the rubric of Public Finance for Children (PF4C). Work on PF4C is based on the conviction that sufficient, equitable and effective public spending on child focused sectors and programs – including child protection - is a fundamental enabler for implementation of children’s rights, in both humanitarian and development contexts. This analysis directly contribute to UNICEF’s Intermediate Result 4.1 which seeks to ensure that “Social exclusion is addressed through evidence based, equitable and child focused policies and budgets that reflect the views of children and youth” as well as UNDAF Outcome 4.2: “Public institutions are better able to manage, allocate and utilize resources for effective development and service delivery by 2018”.

Objective and Scope of Work 

The objective of this consultancy is to strengthen UNICEF’s capacity in programming and advocacy on Public Finance for Children (PF4C). The evidence that will be generated through this consultancy will assist Social Policy and Child Protection Sections to engaged with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies with the aim of increasing and improving the quality of public spending on child protection in Malawi. The specific objective of the assignment is to undertake a child protection budget analysis study in Malawi in order to:

1. Establish the overall macro-economic climate for public spending on child protection through the review of policy, legislative and strategic frameworks that guide resource mobilization, budgeting and child protection interventions. 

2. Ascertain how much exactly the GoM is spending on child protection and accordingly undertake a trend analysis of national budget allocations to child protection interventions from 2012 to date.
3. Establish adequacy, equity and allocative efficiency of budgetary allocations to child protection.
4. Establish how child protection interventions are financed and estimate fiscal space available to improve public spending on child protection in future.

5. Find out factors influencing level of budget allocations to child protection in order to identify progress and bottlenecks to equitable and effective public spending on child protection.

   Research design and methodology

   The study is largely a qualitative analytical study, which will utilize quantitative secondary and primary data. The analysis is expected to look at how various elements of a child protection system are reflected in government budgets over time. These elements include child rights coordination institutions;  preventive and responsive child protection services; training, recruitment and capacity building of relevant professionals;  child protection statistics, research  and evidence building; public awareness-raising and civic education; birth registration; child-friendly reporting systems and case management; justice for children and relevant campaigns. In this study public spending on child protection or ‘child protection budget’ is conceptualized as the the sum total of all budget line items that contribute to the prevention and/or response to abuse, exploitation, neglect and violence affecting children. The study is expected to consider direct and indirect budgets. Indirect budget allocations will be weighted based on agreed formula with UNICEF in order to have a fairly accurate view on how much the GoM is spending on child protection. Although the term budget is usually used alongside ‘expenditures’, in this study budget refers to ‘allocations’ whilst ‘expenditures’ refers to ‘payments’ or actual ‘utilization’ of allocated resources. The main data collection methods are:

1. Comprehensive review of secondary data on the child protection situation in Malawi; review of policy, legal and strategic frameworks; analysis of secondary literature on financing of child protection; as well as review of secondary data on the macro-economic environment in Malawi.
2. Review of national and district budget documents (especially documents 4 & 5) with special emphasis on 1) revenue/ financing trends, 2) budget allocations and 3) expenditures; 4) donor flows; 

Conduct interviews with key informants in civil society and government and also with relevant inter-governmental organizations such as UN Agencies, ILO, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Expected Deliverables

Payment Schedule

Payment will be made upon the submission of satisfactory quality deliverables as described in the previous section. 

Desired competencies, technical background and experience

Education Qualification

• An advanced University Degree in Economics, Public Policy, Governance, Development Studies or other relevant areas.

Work Experience and Knowledge

• At least five years of experience in public finance and budget analysis
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience with child protection policy and budget analysis.
• Strong analytical and writing skills, and the ability to present the results in a simple language, making use of interesting visual aids (pie charts, graphs and other visual tools);
• Consolidated knowledge and foundation on crosscutting themes such as equity and governance systems in Malawi.
• Full computer literacy, including an advanced knowledge of excel. 

Languages

• Proficiency in English. 

Other Competencies

• Leadership, versatility, judgment, maturity, strong ability to work as a team player, cope under stressful and difficult conditions, and political and cultural sensitivity.
• Ability to work efficiently under minimum supervision.
• UNICEF Foundational Competencies such as Commitment, Drive for Results, Embracing Diversity, Integrity, Self-Awareness & Self-regulation and Team Work.

Please indicate your fees / financial proposals (in Malawi Kwacha) to undertake this consultancy. Applications submitted without fees 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 organization.