International consultancy on Development of a comprehensive National Plan of Action for Children and the SDGs 2019-2030

The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical support to the Government and UNICEF to develop a NPACS harmonized with SDG targets and national priorities. The anticipated output is an NPACS aligned with the State Programmes, child-sensitive sustainable development targets and socio-economic development plans, with clear targets, key priority actions and a monitoring and evaluation framework for the NPACS.

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.

And we never give up.

For every child, monitoring

The Government of Azerbaijan considers the SDGs as a comprehensive framework providing an integrated approach for development, complementing and reinforcing 12 national Strategic Road Maps for growth. Both the Strategic Road Maps and nationalized SDGs processes would require a sophisticated system of indicators and an improved data collection system for policy formulation as well as for monitoring and evaluation. To support nationalization and achieving of the SDG targets, the National Coordination Council for Sustainable Development (NCCSD) with its Secretariat in the Ministry of Economy was established according to a Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan[1].

The Government has submitted its first report to the Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2017 and committed to revise relevant development plans and programmes (both ongoing and those yet to be formulated) to harmonize, align and support achievement of nationalized SDGs. Currently the Government is preparing for the next VNR in 2019 and simultaneously working on identification of national priorities.

The State Committee for Family, Women and Children’s Affairs (SCFWCA) together with the UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office (CO) and with participation of relevant government and non-governmental organization (NGOs) experts has drafted a National Child Strategy and submitted this to the Cabinet of Ministries for approval, in line with the recommendations of the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2012) and as encouraged by the UNICEF Regional Director last year.

Since the Strategy was first drafted in 2015, it did not fully capture recent global and national development such as the SDGs and 12 Strategic Road Maps.  A quick analysis of the draft National Child Strategy reveals that the Strategy reflects only half of the child-related SDG targets.

As the Strategy is considered as a general document, it requires a detailed plan of action in line with SDG targets and national priorities. Therefore, SCFWCA and UNICEF have agreed to develop a National Plan of Action for Children and the SDGs (NPACS). UNICEF will provide technical assistance through the engagement of international and national experts to assist the SCFWCA in preparation of the NPACS.

Currently, Azerbaijan has developed numerous multi-year strategies and State Programmes that contribute to different areas of child welfare. All current child-related sector strategies and State Programmes have limited linkages with each other and are not consistent in terms of planning and monitoring. One of the main challenges is to track and monitor how each programme contributes to child well-being on a national level as well as how it supports SDG targets. NPACS will be a framework document built on existing strategies and State Programmes to establish time-bound targets and priority actions linked to available resources, State Programmes and SDGs. NPACS will also be expected to help identify possible gaps in current social development planning, particularly for the most vulnerable children in Azerbaijan.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical support to the Government and UNICEF to develop a NPACS harmonized with SDG targets and national priorities. The anticipated output is an NPACS aligned with the State Programmes, child-sensitive sustainable development targets and socio-economic development plans, with clear targets, key priority actions and a monitoring and evaluation framework for the NPACS.

Description of tasks

The implementation of tasks requires intensive consultations with all government counterparts, NGOs and other partners, including inputs from children and adolescents. An international consultant will develop the NPACS framework, guide and facilitate consultation meetings and workshops to ensure active involvement of all concerned parties and provide technical support to working groups.  The international consultant will be supported by a national institution/consultant(s) and will undertake the tasks according to the below four-stage approach:

Stage 1: Literature review and development of the NPACS framework and methodology/tools

• Desk review of all relevant documents (SDGs, national priorities, 12 Strategic Road Maps, national strategies and State Programmes including their financial status, global and regional similar good practices etc.)
• Formulate the framework of NPACS, including a brief situation analysis, priorities and targets, key implementation and coordination actions, and a monitoring and evaluation/reporting framework.
• Develop methodology and tools in mapping and analysis of existing strategies and State Programmes.
• Prepare an inception report to describe the framework and work plan with the attachment of methodology and tools.

  Stage 2:  Alignment & prioritization

• Guide the national institution/consultant(s) on collection and analysis of related national documents, statistics and financial data/information
• Conduct in-country visit for in-depth consultation/interviews with key stakeholders, based on the developed methodology and tools in close cooperation with the SCFWCA, national consultant(s) and UNICEF;
• Align all existing child-related national strategies and State Programmes (including their financial status) that contribute directly to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) with the most critical 35 SDG indicators related to children to be included in NPACS;
• Identify gaps between national targets and SDG targets and present those targets, which are not covered by national policies; Analyse all information and draft the NPACS with clear priority areas for child development in Azerbaijan and implementation/coordination plans until 2030.

Stage 3: Developing SMART Monitoring & Evaluation framework

To increase the effectiveness of the NPACS implementation it is important to develop monitoring and evaluation framework.

• Identify key Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound (SMART) indicators and targets reflected in the national policy documents which can support the monitoring and reporting of the progress towards SDGs;
• Generate and link additional SMART indicators to the actions of the NPACS for tracking, monitoring and reporting on implementation of the NPACS.
• Identify or suggest Means of Verification and recommendations on Monitoring and Evaluation system for the NPASC.

Stage 4: Drafting and finalizing the NPACS documents

• Based on review and analysis, to prepare a full document of the NPACS with no more than 30 pages excluding result and M&E matrix.
• Prepare a PowerPoint presentation to summarize the key contents of the NPACS.
• Submit a consultancy report (not more than three pages) to summarize process, challenges and key recommendations for follow-up actions in financing and implementing the NPACS.

Deliverables and time-frame

 The assignment should start on early-February 2019 and end by end-June 2019.

The assignment is home based. Trips to Baku are required. Number of trips and the duration of stay in Baku should be proposed by the applicant and agreed with UNICEF Azerbaijan.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in child development, development economics, business administration, international relations, public administration or other related fields; 

 Experience

• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in the area of social development, preferably with Middle-Income countries at the national, regional or global level;
• A proven work experience for development and designing inter-sectoral strategies and plans of action, including monitoring and evaluation frameworks;
• Previous experience in processing and synthesizing complex information into strategic documents and writing high quality publications/papers on sustainable development and child related issues;
• Proven experience in developing reports, mappings, guidance notes or other relevant materials for national level work either for the governments or international organizations;
• Exceptional knowledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and respective funding and financing requirements and gaps;
• Knowledge and experience on financial assessment and costing of strategies and actions is an asset;
• Previous experience with the UN system is an advantage;
• Experience of work in the Europe and Central Asia region is an asset.
• Fluency in verbal and written English; Knowledge of Russian or Azerbaijani is an asset.

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.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

The consultant will be directly supervised by the UNICEF Child Rights Monitoring Specialist and work in close collaboration with the focal point of the SCFWCA and UNICEF under the guidance of the UNICEF Representative. When necessary, local experts will be involved to provide in-country support for the assignment.

Administrative and travel arrangement

• The consultant is expected to work independently. The consultant will need to organize own travel to Azerbaijan, including ticketing for the most direct and economical route in economy class and visa. All planned expenditures for travel and visa and the daily subsistence allowance as per UN-approved rate should be included in the contract cost together with the agreed fee cost.
• The SCFWCA and UNICEF will provide support to secure meetings with relevant stakeholders and provide administrative support for the organization of any national and local level workshops/trainings. The consultant will use his/her own computer and communications equipment (laptop, telephones, etc).
• No work or travel may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN DSS Basic and Advanced Security certificates, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance with hospitalisation and repatriation coverage. The dates for the travel will be determined in consultation with UNICEF.
• Consultant will be required to sign the Health Statement for consultants/Individual contractors prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, including Medical evacuation.
• The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' must be completed by the consultant.
• Local travel and airport transfers (where applicable) will be covered in accordance with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs.
• Please also see UNICEF’s Standard Terms and Conditions attached.

Remarks:

Consultants and individual contractors, regardless of contract duration, must complete the applicable mandatory trainings. The link to these online trainings will be provided during the selection process for the successful candidates.

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

Application

Interested parties should submit a proposal through the e-recruitment portal including the following:

1. Cover letter
2. Resume of experts/team members
3. Technical and financial proposal with a daily rate in USD and estimation of international travel cost.
4. Sample of previous similar work