UNICEF Tanzania Decentralization and Local Governance support strategy, Tanzania

A consultant is required to conceptualize and develop a Decentralisation and Local Governance support strategy for UNICEF Tanzania for the period 2017 to 2021, with a focus on a detailed work plan for 2018.

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.

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of the assignment is to conceptualize and develop a Decentralisation and Local Governance support strategy for UNICEF Tanzania for the period 2017- 2021, with focus on a detailed work plan for 2018. Both the strategy and work plan will cover both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. The specific objectives are the following:

1. Take stock of the current status of decentralization and local governance in Tanzania, including in terms of political, administrative, central –local relation and fiscal decentralization, and identifying challenges and opportunities[1]
2. Take stock of prior and on-going UNICEF Tanzania engagement in decentralisation and local governance, identifying capacity, systems, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned
3. Take stock of prior and on-going development partners’ or stakeholders’ support to decentralisation and local governance in Tanzania and identify lessons learned
4. Based on the stock-taking exercise, design a theory of change that links UNICEF Tanzania support to decentralisation and local governance to results for children
5. In light of the stock-taking and theory of change, identify potential entry points for UNICEF Tanzania to engage with and support Tanzania’s decentralisation by devolution policy to enable the achievement of results for children
6. Identify strategies and main areas of work for UNICEF Tanzania to support the decentralisation by devolution process and Department responsible for Sector Coordination and other related departments.
7. Further develop a link between an existing UNICEF Tanzania sub-national engagement strategy, and the proposed Decentralisation and Local Governance agenda and 1] other components of UNICEF Tanzania’s Social Policy portfolio, 2] the work of the Planning, Monitoring, and Field Coordination section, and 3] sector programme components under the UNICEF Country Programme 
8. Identify type and nature of (potential) partnerships, with both government stakeholders on national and sub-national level as well as other development partners
9. Identify financial and other resources required for UNICEF Tanzania to implement the Decentralisation and Local Governance agenda.

Assignment Tasks

The assignment aims to identify how the Decentralisation by Devolution (D by D) function as managed by the PO-RALG can be optimised to deliver results for children, including the identification of entry points for UNICEF to engage in this process. As such, the deliverable is a Decentralisation and Local Governance (DeLoG) agenda for the PO-RALG – UNICEF Tanzania partnership for the 2017-2021 Country Programme. The agenda will focus on support to LGA and responsible ministries on planning, budgeting, monitoring, and coordination systems and capacity. This should connect to and complement on-going UNICEF sector-specific support to LGAs and ministries (e.g. UNICEF engagement with LGA departments of Education or Health, for instance). Primary entry points for the DeLoG agenda are PO-RALG, Regional Administrations, the Ministry of Finance and Planning – Budget Division (LGAs), LGAs in rural and urban areas, sub-national administrations, district and regional commissioners, district and regional consultative committees, among others. The assignment covers DeLoG support in Tanzania Mainland and in Zanzibar, outlining any specificities in light of the respective policy frameworks such as the Zanzibar 2014 Local Government Policy.

The assignment is to reflect on potential entry points for UNICEF support (e.g. local planning and budgeting processes, engagement in fiscal decentralization, supporting local (child) participation and accountability processes, administrative decentralisation of decisions and functions etc.) based on context priorities and comparative advantage. The assignment is also to outline key support strategies (e.g. advocacy, capacity development and training, evidence generation, among other). For both entry points and support strategies, potential implications of urban vs rural context should explicitly be taken into account as well as other contextual factors such as fragility (e.g. conflict or disaster prone regions) and newly formed regions and districts.

METHODOLOGY

The assignment will be carried out in two phases 1) Collection of evidence/data to inform development of UNICEF DeLOG strategic Plan 2) Development of UNICEF DeLoG strategic plan. Phase 1 of the assignment will comprise a desk review of relevant literature and reports. The review will also include the report by PO-RALG /DFID on going assessment on the implementation of D by D policy status in Tanzania Mainland. The Government of Tanzania, UNICEF Tanzania, and several Development Partners have in past years conducted several analytical and programme reviews of local government support and reform programmes, which can be used for the stock-taking component. In addition, the assignment will comprise individual/key informant interview and Focus Group Discussion with relevant actors. The assignment will further require extensive in-country consultations with UNICEF and partners in Dar es Salaam as well as in selected regions and districts, including the current UNICEF geographical focus regions and districts. Throughout the assignment, points of interaction with PO-RALG and UNICEF will be built in to agree on strategic direction and for consultations. In addition, UNICEF and PO-RALG are open for suggestions as to the methodological approach suggested by the consultant. The consultant will work with three (3) PO-RALG staff in the collection of data to be used in this study. The consultant will also conduct a validation workshop with main stakeholders to present a draft report on findings from the stock-taking exercise and the proposed entry points before proceeding to the next phase.  In Phase 2, the development of UNICEF DeLoG support strategic plan and 2017/2018 detailed work plan will take place. In this phase, stakeholders including PO-RALG need to be engaged to identify key areas for UNICEF support. Validation workshop will also be carried out to provide input to the strategic plan and work plan before it is made final.

It is expected that the consultant will have field presence during the inception phase, the main consultation phase, and during the presentation of the final report. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Social Policy Specialist- Local Governance in the UNICEF Tanzania Country Office.

Expected Deliverables

Overall, the assignment will be implemented between November 2017 and end of February 2018. The exact number of days invested will be agreed upon with the consultant following submission of a proposal.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE 

Payments will be made upon submission and acceptance of the specified deliverables and submission of an invoice. The main deliverables will be linked to payments of 30 %( deliverable 1), 30% (deliverables 2 and 3), and 40% (deliverable 4) of the contract amount respectively. Travel and DSA costs will be covered separately per UNICEF policy.

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/output is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

UNICEF aims to hire an international consultant who will bring relevant experiences from similar countries and who has the following profile:

•  Master Degree or higher in social sciences of any other discipline
• At least 10 years of professional experience in the field of governance, public administration, decentralisation and local government, or public sector reforms, preferably with a strong focus on Africa
• Strong track record of successfully completed similar assignments
• Working experience in Tanzania will be an asset
• Fluency in English and demonstrated excellent writing skills
• Strong consultation and facilitation skills

Competencies of Successful Candidate

 To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please submit an expression of interest and CV indicating your 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. The deadline for receiving applications is   27^th October 2017.

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.