Consultancy – Mapping and Analysis on Child Urbanization in the EAP Region, Bangkok, Thailand

For Every Child, use your talents to save lives and help lives of children.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

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For every child, Childhood

Thailand is firmly established as a middle-income country.  Economic growth over the last two decades has been impressive: poverty has fallen by around two-thirds since 1990, despite the 1997 economic crisis from which Thailand has fully recovered.  This prosperity, combined with a growing awareness of and commitment to child rights, has resulted in successive governments investing in the wellbeing and future of children.  These investments have brought hugh, often life-changing benefits to millions of children. 

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to provide analytical support on programmatic activates on urbanization and the urban child by offering a Regional Urban Programme Review and creating an Urban Dashboard with information on child friendly initiatives, input, output indicators as well as accountabilities, resources and contact information. The consultant will also act as technical adviser assisting in adjusting its programme approaches and strategies in order to better reflect on and respond to issues related to the urban girls, boys and youths and the impact of urbanization on children and women in the East Asia and Pacific.

Background:

By 2030, more than two-thirds of the total population in East Asia will live in cities which will be home to over 800 million children. East Asia’s particularly fast rate of urbanization has been inseparable from its historical progress in enhancing productivity, poverty reduction and life expectancy at birth. While the process of urbanization and related migration creates enormous developmental opportunities across the region, it can also lead to risks, compounded by the inevitable strain the sheer pace and complexity of change can place on social cohesion, infrastructure, public services as well as on the environment. Exposure to air pollution, flooding and other disasters; separation from parents and/or lacking a family upbringing; living in slums and amid conditions of urban decay; exposure to injuries and/or abuse, social exclusion and/or financial barriers to social services is often associated with rapid urbanization. Without community networks and protective factors such as traditional care systems, children living in cities may be unable to access support when they face discrimination, violence, abuse or neglect.

Indeed, UNICEF analysis has shown that the urban ‘advantage’ alone is no guarantee for better access to services and supports. Economic, social and spatial barriers need to be addressed effectively by child friendly urban planning, social protection and sector programmes so that all urban families could reap the benefits stemming from the higher population density and more developed infrastructure of cities. Importantly, the causality link is expected to work increasingly both ways as only a healthy and highly educated workforce could guarantee continued strong economic and urban progress in the 21st Century. Urban and central governments have, therefore, a stake in optimal child development. This stake should be explored and owned with clarity by governments.

Recognizing that cities are not just a passive context of economic growth and social development but also important power centers with considerable autonomy and nationally influential leaders and local governments, UNICEF is placing increasing emphasis on partnership and dialogue with urban leaders and city administrations. Jointly with the Mayor of Surabaya, the second largest city of Indonesia, UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific organized the successful ‘Growing Up Urban’ meeting with 14 East Asian urban administrations in 6-8 May 2018. The meeting and subsequent consultations have highlighted need to explore further.

(a) how ‘child-friendly’ cities and local governance works in East Asia in terms of performance (including input and outcomes dynamics as opposed to process/governance indicators only, e.g. on participation) as well as in terms of accountability.

(b) what institutional setup and/or collaborative mechanism and/or tools and programming methods could boost child-sensitive urbanization.

(c) how UNICEF could share better its experience in child-oriented planning, urban programme implementation and monitoring with her local government partners in order to accelerate progress in the region.

The tasks highlighted in this ToR centre on analyzing and sharing urban programme experience of UNICEF EAPR. However, these tasks should be carried out in ways that are helpful for answering better questions under (a) as well as (b) above. It is clear that UNICEF needs to find ways to deliver results at scale in a region characterized by a large number of megacities and even greater number of small and medium size cities and urban centres; knowledge sharing, tools and policy ‘models’ on urban policy and fiscal space will have an important role to play.

Work Assignment:

1. Map the urban dimensions of UNICEF’s ongoing sectoral and area-based work by

• Focusing on primarily on 9 EAP countries - Cambodia China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – but ready to extend geographical focus if work is highly relevant.
• Giving an assessment of the 2017-18 Country Programme highlighting (i) urban-specific programme/advocacy work (which has a clear and limited geographic/jurisdictional focus and/or focus on the process and implications of urbanization), and (ii) urban-relevant programme/advocacy work, which, although not explicitly focusing on the urban child/urbanization, is relevant for urban governance, as well as urban-neutral work which e.g. covers only issues or areas with rural or national relevance.
• Exploring lessons learnt from best and/or most enlightening programme experience in terms of partners, institutional setup, collaborative mechanism, tools or programming methods;
• Exploring and documenting accountability of central and local government stakeholders as well as policy and fiscal space for urban governments inasmuch as these could highlighted from existing sector programme experience.
• Taking note on corporate sector stakeholders in sustainable urbanization civil society stakeholders as well as think-tanks and researchers and their networks on urban issues most closely related to UNICEF’s focus and issues (e.g. ECD, adolescent health and participation, child poverty and social protection, nutrition and WASH).
• Liaising with UNICEF country offices, in particular the Deputy Representatives and Urban Focal Points and/or Social Policy Chiefs as well as sector colleagues.

2. Create an Urban Dashboard for EAPRO’s new website

• The Dashboard should have a proper design and encompass platforms where UNICEF EAP’s urban work, analyses, indicators, data, and network focal points could accessed and updated regularly.

3. Provide further support EAPRO’s management with technical advice on sustainable and child friendly urbanization, including with the following tasks:

• Assist as required with the “UNDG AP/RCM Task Team on Sustainable Urbanization” group meetings and related events and partnership opportunities.
• Liaise with HQ/Geneva and Natcoms as well as UNICEF China (and other urban priority COs) on strengthening the CFCI in terms of indicators, monitoring and accountability.  
• Prepare documents and support initiatives and project proposals as requested.

Work Schedule:  

The three main tasks highlighted above should be carried out parallel, utilizing, in as much as possible mid-term progress to cross-fertilize products.

• Liaising with partners and offering analytical support to UNICEF management on urban child deprivation will be a continuous activity, which should be planned, agreed with supervisors and delivered within the given timeframe. This task should take no more than 5 working days.
• First draft of the mapping should be available for feedback by mid-October, final draft 10 December 2018. This task will require 25 working days.
• Draft of the Dashboard should be made available internally by mid-November 2018 and externally by mid-January 2019. This task will require 30 working days.

End Product:

1. A 5,000 word summary of the results of the UNICEF programme mapping exercise on urban issues with a clear set of conclusions on how UNICEF East Asia and Pacific should sharpen its programme focus on urbanization and the urban child.
2. EAPR Urban Dashboard which is functional (a beta version should be available from mid-November 2018 and a final version by 30 January 2019).

Estimated Duration of Contract:  60 working days within 4.5 months, from 17 September 2018 to 31 January 2019.

Official Travel:   The Consultant may be requested to travel to maximum two technical meetings in EAPR or headquarters locations.

To qualify as a/an [champion or advocate] for every child you will have…

• Advanced University degree in a relevant discipline with proven knowledge of urban issues and international norms and conventions for child rights.
• At least 8 years of experience in international development with management responsibilities. Strong communication, team-building, networking and influencing capacities.
• Excellent analytical skills covering quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Proven networking skills.
• Previous work experience and/or familiarity with UNICEF vision, mission and programming a great asset.
• Experience in Asia and Pacific region desired.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV or P-11, full contact information of minimum 2 references, availability, and proposed daily professional fee, all-inclusive travel costs to/from Bangkok and other incidentals in USD by 29 August 2018.

 FORM P11.doc

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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

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