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National Individual Consultant: Public Financial Management (PFM) Specialist to enable the piloting of Pre-school Education Services funding schemes in the Republic of Moldova

Chisinau

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: Chisinau
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Operations and Administrations
    • Economics
    • Banking and Finance
    • Education, Learning and Training
    • Public Policy and Administration
    • Social and Economic Policy
    • Early Childhood Development
  • Closing Date: Closed

UNICEF Moldova is hiring an National Indiv Consultant: Public Financial Management (PFM) Specialist, to support the work of an Education Economist (contracted separately under ToR provided in the annex) in collecting and analyzing budget data on Early Childhood Education to support the identification of the most cost-efficient and equitable funding schemes co-developed by the MECR, the MoF and UNICEF, as preparatory work for their piloting in 2022.

UNICEF’s mission in Moldova is to make sure every child in the country is healthy, educated and safe from harm, therefore having the best start in life and a fair chance to reach her or his full potential and benefit from the country’s prosperity. We believe children have a right to live in a more equitable society, where their voices are heard, and needs met as a matter of priority in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. More information on what we do in Moldova is available at: https://www.unicef.org/moldova/

How can you make a difference?

1. Purpose of assignment

Support the Government of Moldova, and especially the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, and the Ministry of Finance, in reforming the funding of pre-school education in Moldova and to increase access to and enrollment in pre-school education in targeted municipalities, specifically among the most vulnerable children such as Roma, children with disabilities, children from  rural areas, children from poor families, and others. More specifically, this support will entail identifying and piloting two funding schemes for pre-schools in two municipalities.
The Public Financial Management (PFM) Specialist is expected to support the work of an Education Economist (contracted separately under ToR provided in the annex) in collecting and analyzing budget data on Early Childhood Education to support the identification of the most cost-efficient and equitable funding schemes co-developed by the MECR, the MoF and UNICEF, as preparatory work for their piloting in 2022.
The consultancy is expected to be carried out within a 11.5-month period, starting from December 2020 and ending in December 2021.
 
2. Objectives
 
Identify the most cost-effective, sustainable, efficient and equitable funding scheme for pre-school through analysis, simulations and field-testing/piloting that would support the achievement of the purpose of the assignment.
 
More specifically, the national consultant will be expected to:
 
• Collect budget data related to education and pre-school education with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, and local public authorities;
• Compile and present these data to support the MECR and the MoF in identifying the two most efficient and equitable formulas which should be selected by these two ministries (in close cooperation with the Education Economist);
• Support the elaboration of the proposals for the piloting /implementing the formula for financing the preschool early education (in close cooperation with the Education Economist);
• Contribute to the draft and advocate for the Governmental decision on piloting the formula in 2 districts and one municipality starting with 2022 (in close coordination with the Education Economist and the Legal Specialist).

3. Details of how the work should be delivered
 
The Public Finance Specialist will build on the existing work already undertaken on public finance for preschools for the piloting of the defined funding schemes for financing the early education from the models/ formulas approved and recommended for piloting. The proposed preparatory work needs to be produced in close cooperation with UNICEF, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and the Ministry of Finance, as well as with the Education Economist and Legal Specialist also involved in this initiative.
 
More specifically, the national consultant shall:
• Familiarize himself/herself with the current financial framework regarding the financing of early education institutions;
• Familiarize him/herself with all financing schemes and elaborate on those approved and recommended for piloting by MECR and MoF;
• Collect the budget data related to pre-school for the pilot rayons, including revenue, allocation and execution, as well as on the reporting process for the past two years;
• Develop a related data base regarding preschools’ activity in the pilot rayons (all indicators related to the number of children, groups, personnel, budget per items);
• Compare the obtained data with the results of the Simulation Models for the funding scheme for preschools already developed in 2019 by UNICEF international consultant;
• Support the Education Economist in the development of concrete recommendations for the financing of early education institutions which will enable the piloting of the selected schemes/ formulas in two districts and one municipality;
• Provide inputs as required for the elaboration of the draft Governmental decision on piloting the formula in identified districts starting with 2022; 
• Organize the trainings on Public Finance Management for LPAs and preschool education staff in the identified districts and municipality in cooperation with the Education Economist;
• Provide support to the MECR and MoF in piloting the funding schemes in identified districts and municipality.


4. Working arrangements and reporting requirements
 
The PFM Specialist will be supervised by UNICEF Social Policy Specialist. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the staff of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, and the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant experts in the field, UNICEF Early Childhood Development (ECD) Officer, and the Head of the General Education Directorate of the MECR.
UNICEF Social Policy Specialist and ECD Officer will provide the necessary support to achieve the objectives of the consultancy and be aware of any issues related to consultant’s performance and quality of work.  
All activities and deliverables undertaken by the Public Finance Management Specialist shall be discussed and planned in consultation with UNICEF, MECR and MoF and will only be executed following approval from UNICEF and these line ministries. The PFM Specialist is expected to deliver each component of the work-plan electronically (in Word format) in English and Romanian languages. At each stage, deliverables shall be sent to UNICEF Social Policy Specialist and ECD Officer by email.
 
5. Support provided by UNICEF

UNICEF will regularly communicate with the specialist, and provide feedback, guidance and necessary support to achieve objectives of the work, as well as remain aware of any upcoming issues related to the performance and quality of work. UNICEF will provide an initial package of relevant documents and an initial list of relevant experts and counterparts to work with.
 

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

• An advanced University Degree in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration/Policy (with a focus/specialization in economics, and/or finance), Economic governance, or other directly relevant fields with a solid knowledge of PFM instruments and proven experience (at least 5 years) with government social sector budget analysis, at national and decentralised levels;
• Experience with collecting and working with complex financial data sets;
• Good analytical and writing skills, and the ability to present the results in a simple language, making use of visual aids (maps, graphs and other visual tools);
• Experience in organizing and leading trainings in PFM at central and local levels;
• Excellent command of Romanian and English, both oral and written; knowledge of Russian is an asset;
• Strong communication (oral and written) skills;
• Previous work experience with Governmental Institutions or UN Agencies will be considered a strong asset.
 
For every Child, you demonstrate:

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

For more details on deliverables and minimum requirements, please refer to attached Terms of reference (ToR)

Download File ToR Public finance specialist_VA.pdf

HOW TO APPLY: Your online application should contain two separate attachments: Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal (templates below). Please secure the Financial Proposal *.pdf document with a password on document view; the password will be requested only from technically qualified candidates.

Download File Technical Offer_Public Finance Specialist.docx

Download File Financial Offer_Public Finance Specialist.xlsx


Applications for this assignment must be received no later than: 4 December 2020

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.


Remarks:
Individual Consultants and Contractors are responsible for paying own taxes derived from the earnings received from UNICEF.

 

 
This vacancy is now closed.
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