Consultancy to support the development and piloting of a Toolkit to reinforce Accountability to Affected Populations(AAP) and Community Engagement in existing programming mechanisms, both in humanitarian and development context

Consultancy to support the development and piloting of a Toolkit to reinforce Accountability to Affected Populations(AAP) and Community Engagement in existing programming mechanisms, both in humanitarian and development context

Community Engagement and Accountability to Affected populations(AAP) are core cross cutting components of the current UNICEF strategic plan.  It is one of the key pillars of many global initiatives such as the UNICEF’s global strategies for Health (2016-2030), Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Ending Violence against Children, community approaches to total sanitation (CATS), and community based management of severe acute malnutrition (CMAM). These approaches emphasize the key role of community engagement towards improving program outcomes particularly through increased demand for and use of quality services, greater social accountability, and addressing social norms and behavioral determinants.

As part of strengthening this aspect of programming, UNICEF has received some funding from DFID and BMGF to strengthen Community engagement through the development of guidelines, tools, standards and indicators. This investment is aimed at building the organization’s capacity for Communication and Community Engagement by addressing identified institutional gaps and address it by strengthening capacities of government and CSO partners to effectively place community engagement at the center of development and humanitarian work

This effort is in line with most of UNICEF’s current initiatives including the global Business case and framework on scaling up Accountability to Affected populations, the Eastern and Southern Africa Region’s guidance note on AAP, and the Communication and Community Engagement Initiative[1].

Justification/Purpose of the Consultancy

Community Engagement is an essential element of development and emergency programming. Trusted, clear and effective communication and engagement approaches are critical in maintaining good community feedback mechanisms, addressing expectations, and ensuring that misunderstanding and/or rumors do not undermine programming and or response efforts, in case of humanitarian context.

Good Community Engagement helps implementers gain insights into the perceptions and behaviors of different groups which is essential for developing effective and targeted messaging. Key to the achievement of this is the capacity of UNICEF staff and implementing partners which is yet to reach its full potential.

This consultancy is intended to support the mapping of existing Accountability to Affected Communities landscape in ESAR. It will also support the development and piloting of a Toolkit to be used by UNICEF country offices in the development and strengthening of capacities of Government counter parts and Implementing Partners to plan, design and implement effective community engagement interventions. The Toolkit will be piloted in two ESAR AAP pilot countries to be identified among the following countries; Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan. As this is a specific area of work, a dedicated consultant is required.

Scope of Work

1. Goal and Objective: 

The goal of this assignment is to contribute to improved capacity of Government and CSO partners to design and implement effective Community engagement and APP interventions

Objective: To strengthen UNICEF Country offices capacity to support government and CSO partners through development and piloting of a Toolkit to reinforce community engagement and APP within existing programming mechanisms

2. Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered:

This activity is part of the C4D AWP Activity #10: Recruit consultant to conduct a desk review of and develop contextual Community Engagement module with a focus on AAP.

3. Activities and Tasks: 

• Review existing documents and programme guidance on Community Engagement (CE) and AAP
• Undertake an analytical mapping of the AAP landscape in the region to assess existing strengths, opportunities and gaps in this field
• Develop a CE and AAP Toolkit based on existing guidance and available resources from the region and beyond, which will cater to the ESAR regional context. The Toolkit will provide contextualised with practical guidance to ensure inclusion of community participation/consultation in all programming and related processes.
• Pre-test the developed the Toolkit in two select countries
• Incorporate the findings from the pre-test and feedback from Country Offices, Regional Office and HQ and finalize the Toolkit
• Compile final report, and hand over all materials related to the consultancy

4. Work relationships: 

The consultant will work under direct supervision and guidance of the ESARO C4D/Emergency Specialist, the C4D team and other relevant sectors. Strong collaboration mechanisms will be established with HQ and participating Country Offices.

Key expected Deliverables

Duration of the contract:

The contract comprises 81 working days to be completed between 3^rd September and 30th November 2018. The estimated start date of the contract is 3^nd September 2018.

Payment Schedule

Payments are linked to deliverables as per the below table.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• Advanced university degree in behavioural and/or social sciences (anthropology, sociology, psychology, social development, development studies etc.)/ communication for development. Degree in Education and/or training would be an asset
• At least 8 years of solid professional experience in C4D including at least 4 years in developing countries with a strong focus on capacity building, training module design and implementation of blended learning systems.
• Understanding of - or training in - current developments in the field of communication for development theory and research, participatory processes, media; as also strategic communication planning, behaviour analysis, formative research and evaluation. Expertise in community engagement and/or APP is required.
• Proven experience in application of C4D strategies, tools and resources to address behavior and social change dimensions of emergencies.
• Experience of working on ESA Region would be an asset
• Fluency in English. Fluency in French and Portuguese is an asset.
• Strong analytical, presentation skills and communication skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Ability to work in insecure environments and stay in simple living conditions.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

Core Values:

• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity
• Commitment

Core Competencies

• Communication
• Working with People
• Drive for Results

Functional Competencies

• Analysing
• Deciding and Initiating Action
• Applying Technical Expertise
• Planning and Organizing
• Adapting and responding to change

Administrative issues

• This assignment is part home-based and part on site. The consultant will be expected to adhere to the agreed timelines
• The consultant should be able and willing to travel to any of the selected countries for the purposes of this assignment

Conditions

As per UNICEF policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment will be allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.

The selected candidate will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts and the consultancy will be conducted in accordance with the UN Evaluation Group Code of Conduct and ethical standards[2].

Risks/Limitations

In the event of a delay in reviewing the content and/or organising the country pilots, this may in turn delay the submission of final deliverables. Effort will be undertaken to mitigate this by closely following up with the relevant Country offices as well as Toolkit reviewers to submit comments in time.