National Consultant/Legal Expert (Draft Social Protection Bill)

UNICEF Ghana seeks the services of a committed and very experienced legal expert to be engaged as a National Consultant. The individual will be expected to provide ttechnical support to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) to conduct a legal review, facilitate consultations and consolidate comments on the Social Protection Draft Bill. The consultant will be based in Accra with some field travels to other regions. This assignment is planned for 40 working days within a six months period and is expected to start in July 2018. Only Ghanaian nationals are eligible to apply.

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Terms of Reference

Background

The National Social Protection Policy was formulated and launched in June 2016 to coordinate and provide holistic, coherent social protection in Ghana. However, it was recognized that to sustain the process and assure social protection interventions of reliable and adequate funding, a social protection law would be required. The law would also clarify processes and make actionable, rights of Ghanaians and sanctions to be applied as shall be required. Based on these arguments and in line with international best practice, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) embarked on a process of developing inputs for a Social Protection Bill, for consideration, professional drafting and submission to the Attorney-Generals Department.

The Ministry submitted the Social Protection Drafting Instructions to the AGs Department in 2016 which was subsequently translated into the first draft social protection Bill. The Ministry together with the Social Protection Bill Sub-committee reviewed the Draft Bill and submitted feedback to the AGs Department for further review. A second draft Bill has been received by the Ministry this year for further review and consultations. It is in this respect that the Ministry seeks to organize systematic consultations with all key stakeholders to garner inputs on the second draft bill to enable final review and revision by the Attorneys General's Department.

In 2016, the MoGCSP hired two legal experts (with support from UNICEF) to draft the social protection drafting instructions while the second expert supported the Ministry to review the first draft social protection Bill and to respond to the Attorney General's feedback/comments. To build on the work done in the last couple of years and to ensure a comprehensive legal review and consultation on the draft Bill, UNICEF has accepted a request from the Ministry (dated 13^th April 2018 with reference number MOGCSP/HB.4/12/01/N.6) to recruit a legal expert to facilitate consultations and to consolidate comments on the second draft Bill for submission to the AG's Department.

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical support to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to:

1. conduct a legal review on the draft SP Bill;
2. systematically organize consultations with strategic stakeholders and partners on the Bill; &
3. consolidate comments for submission to the Attorney General's Department.  

Tasks To be Completed 

1. Review the draft SP bill from AG's department to ensure that all comments provided by the SP Bill sub-committee on the first draft have been incorporated into the latest draft Bill (to ensure completeness) and submit notes on the gaps identified;
2. Facilitate consultations on the draft Bill with Parliamentary Select Committees, CSOs/NGOs and other relevant stakeholders using strategic presentations that translates the Bill into easy to understand concepts for all stakeholders;
3. With the support of the Social Protection Directorate (SPD), organize bilateral meetings with selected high level stakeholders (to be determined) and identify strategic Champions who will advocate for and help ensure that the Bill gets passed;
4. Consolidate comments on the draft Bill (based on consultations and earlier reviews) and prepare all the necessary supporting documents to be submitted to AG's Department;
5. Provide support to the SPD and AG's legal team (assigned to review the draft Bill) as may be required during the contract period;
6. Develop briefs on the SP Bill to be used for the various consultations/engagements.

Deliverables and Time Frame for Submission

1. Notes on gaps in the revised second draft bill a month after commencement of the contract, (10 working days);
2. 2 briefs on the SP bill to be used during the consultations, 6 weeks into the contract period, (5 working days);
3. Facilitate group consultations and bilateral meetings (up to 8) on the draft SP Bill with stakeholders and submit consultation report three months within the contract period, (20 working days);
4. Response matrix (with consolidated comments organised by clauses and sections using agreed format for submission to AG's department); four months into the contract period, (5 working days).

 Supervision and Reporting Arrangement

The consultant will be formally supervised by the Social Protection Specialist -UNICEF and technically supervised by the Director of Social Protection at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. The consultant will work closely with the Sub Committee on the SP Bill and representatives of MoGCSP and UNICEF.

 Payment and Payment Schedule

The consultant will be paid professional fees based on expected deliverables and in two instalments;

Deliverables 1&2: (15 working days)

Deliverable  3&4: (25 working days)

Timeframe

It is expected that the assignment will be completed within 6 months.

Expected Qualifications, Experience, Specialised Knowledge/Skills and Competencies

1. Advanced degree in law;
2. The consultant must have at least 10 years professional and proven experience in working and writing on laws, legal documents and drafting instructions in Ghana;
3. Excellent command of written and spoken English, and outstanding facilitation and consultation skills and experience is required;
4. Good knowledge of Ghana's social protection landscape is required; 
5. Experience in successful lobbing for legislation is required;
6. Strong analytical, networking and coordination skills is required.

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• The consultant will be expected to use his/her own computer/software and office;
• The assignment will be based in Accra but the consultant will be required to travel to other regions to facilitate consultations on the draft Bill;
• The consultant will be paid DSA for all official overnight travels outside Accra;
• Total calculated professional fees will be paid in 2 installments based on deliverables as indicated above;
• All travels outside Accra for this assignment will be arranged by UNICEF 

 Application

Interested candidates should apply on-line to the link provided and indicate their professional fees in Ghana Cedis per day. In addition to the CV/Resume, candidates should attach a two-page note on how he/she intends to effectively accomplish this assignment within 40 days in a six months period.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.