Narrative report on the situation of children and adolescents in Brazil

The consultant will provide a narrative report on the situation of C&A and the major trends likely to impact Brazil and the World in the next years.

Background & Rational

As UNICEF Brazil Country Office (BCO) enters the final years of its current Country Programme (CP) 2017-2021 with the Government of Brazil (GoB), the office is looking ahead to the strategic planning process, which will unfold primarily in 2020, with the submission of a new Country Programme of Cooperation to the UNICEF Executive Board in June 2021.

 

The last months of 2020 and the first half of 2021 will also be a decisive period for the development of UN’s integrated strategic planning process in Brazil, which includes the Common Country Analysis (CCA)[1] and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework – UNSDCF (previously known as the United Nations Assistance Framework - UNDAF).

 

Understanding the importance of contextualized data analysis for UNICEF’s strategic thinking and planning, this Terms of Reference aims at developing a narrative report on the situation in Brazil and the major trends likely to impact Braziland the Region in the next years with a focus on Children and Adolescents (C&A). The report should shed light on the situation of children's rights in Brazil, identifying deprivation in access to health, nutrition, education, child protection, social protection and water, hygiene sanitation (WASH), considering child relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the priority indicators of UNICEF’s ongoing programmes. It should also allow the BCO to contribute to the CCA, by providing the necessary inputs to fill out the CCA templates that will be shared as soon as they become available.

In addition, the report should present major trends regarding:

• Covid-19
• Demographic trends;
• Artificial intelligence, Digital Environments and Children;
• Climate change and children;
• Migration/Children on the Move.

One of the main goals of a CP is to support the country in identifying the most excluded C&A and monitor and measure progress to fulfil their rights. Therefore, more than cover all UNICEF’s programmatic and thematic areas, the report should also consider gender, race, income level and geolocation desegregation.  In addition, whenever data is available, C&A on the move and C&A with disabilities should be taken into consideration as well.

 

Furthermore, the next CP will have the additional challenge of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic impacts. In this sense, the narrative report should take the COVID-19 pandemic impacts into account, providing analysis on the most affected groups, programmatic/thematic areas and regions in Brazil as well as the consequences for C&A. 

 

Considering the rapidly changing context due to the COVID-19 pandemic but also the relevant political, social and economic changes over the past years in Brazil, UNICEF Brazil Country Office will benefit considerably from a narrative report on the situation in Brazil and the major trends likely to impact Brazil and the World to better inform the new CP.  In this sense, UNICEF is hiring a consultant to develop a narrative report on the situation of children and adolescents in Brazil comprising the following sections:

 

1. Major trends impacting children and adolescents in the next 5-10 years. Important trends to consider for this section:
   1. 1. Covid-19
      2. Demographic trends;
      3. Artificial intelligence, Digital Environments and Children;
      4. Climate change and children;
      5. Migration/Children on the Move.
2. Data analysis on progress on key child focused SDGs in Brazil – this should include a vulnerability/equity analysis, including crossing different indicators to define who are those furthest behind. Identifying gaps, connections, synergies and potential trade-offs between SDGs;
3. Social exclusion and leaving no one behind: analysis of major patterns of exclusion based on human rights, gender, race, ethnicity, geography (spatial) including the ways these are enshrined in laws, norms, cultural practices, institutions, policies and social practice.
4. Governance and Institutional Capacity to deliver on child focused SDGs: analysis of different levels of governance, mapping of key actors by sector and major policy implementation gaps.
5. Financing landscape for child focused SDGs, including domestic public and private finance.
6. Major risks impacting child rights in Brazil.

 

Purpose

 

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide a narrative report on the situation of C&A and the major trends likely to impact Brazil and the World in the next years. It should take into consideration secondary data already collected and organized by UNICEF (see ANNEX I for the data available), that should be complemented with additional data and relevant insights from studies and research to produce a cohesive narrative. Any data that could contribute to exposing the inequalities in Brazil should be presented and discussed with a focus on C&A. The report should stress significant changes in the context that have occurred in the last 4 or 5 years, as well as the major trends for the next decade.

It is expected that the results of this consultancy inform the strategic planning discussions for the development of the BCO Country Programme (2022-2026) and other any relevant planning processes as well as update UNICEF’s knowledge on children and adolescents’ situation in Brazil.

The main users of the narrative report will be UNICEF Brazil, UNICEF LACRO and UNICEF HQ. The national and subnational government authorities and institutes in Brazil (e.g. ministries, municipal and state governments, research institutions) and implementing partners could also benefit from the results.

The selected consultant will work directly with the Social Policy and Monitoring & Evaluation (SPM&E) team, reporting to the Chief SPM&E and the M&E Specialist, and will liaise with the Deputy Representative for coordination with the Programme Team and contribution to CCA process. No travel is foreseen for the assignment.

 

Methodology

 Below is an indicative of methodology to carry out the situation analysis. It is based on the Common Country Analysis Concept Note (CCA)[2] and is inspired by UNICEF’s New Generation Situation Analysis Guidance and Toolkit[3]However, due to time restrictions this situation analysis narrative report is not intended to fulfil all the aspects of the guidance.

In this sense, the assessment will rely primarily on secondary official data and will be developed considering the following phases:

• Desk review of existing data on selected topics from administrative data sources, and published studies including most recent situation reports and studies on children in Brazil, evaluations and survey reports (UNICEF will provide an initial list of the documents to be considered);
• Initial presentation of the desk review findings and define the scope and methodology;
• Data Analysis of UNICEF’s proposed indicators, including SDG’s indicators;
• Development of the analytical narrative;
• Presentation of final results of the narrative report of the situation analysis of C&A in Brazil;
• Interviews with internal key informants from Programme Areas as necessary throughout the process.

 

Expected results:

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound

 

The main expected result is a comprehensive situation analysis narrative report of the situation with a focus on Children and Adolescents in Brazil. This will be organized in three deliverables as detailed below:

Note: All deliverables should be in English.

 

Deliverable 01:

Initial report with results of the desk review and proposed structure of the narrative report, including scope and methodology, including the methodology to collect insights from with individual teams within UNICEF.

Duration (Estimated # of Days): 10 days

Deadline: January 4^th, 2020

Amount: 20%

Deliverable 02:

Full draft narrative report including the analysis of the situation in Brazil and the major trends likely to impact Brazil and the World in the next years, pointing out the challenges of children and adolescent in Brazil in their access to health, nutrition, education, child protection, social protection and water, hygiene sanitation (WASH). The report should present a clear and concise narrative and should include graphs, maps and tables to support the narrative. It should cover the indicators of all UNICEF’s programmatic and thematic areas suggested by UNICEF’s Team, it should consider insights form the research, studies and reports assessed during the desk review and the major trends for themes such as: Demographic trends; Artificial intelligence, Digital Environments and Children; Climate change and children and Migration/Children on the Move. The analysis should also consider desegregations by gender, race, income, disability and location, whenever possible and relevant.

Duration (Estimated # of Days): 25 days

Deadline: January 29^th, 2021

Amount: 50%

 

Deliverable 03:
Final report and PowerPoint presentation of the main findings emerging from the narrative report and participation in a workshop to presentation to the BCO team.

Duration (Estimated # of Days): 26 days

Deadline: February 26^th, 2021

Amount: 30%

 

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 

• Timely delivery of reports/presentation.
• High quality analysis.
• Collaboration with SPM&E team.
• Full compliance with requests made by the team.

 

Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline

 

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, economics or other humanities. Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) would be considered an asset.

 

Work Experience:

 Required:

• Minimum of five years of professional experience in data analysis and analytical/intelligence reports;
• Experience in analysing economic, social and demographic data;
• Previous UN experience and experience working with UNICEF’s Themes;
• Proven experience in producing analytical reports in English.

 

Desirable:

• Experience in public policies, international development or economics;
• Prior experience working for UN agencies;
• Knowledge or experience working with Brazilian administrative data and official household surveys;
• Experience in teleworking and consulting by products.
  
  

Languages:

• Fluency in Portuguese and English.

 

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• Consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or individual Contractor
• No consultant may travel without a signed travel authorization prior to the commencement of the journey to the duty station for international consultant.
• Consultants / ICs will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.

 

Financial Proposal

Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.

A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants and individual contractors are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable

 

The payment will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

 

Restrictions

 

Consultants and individual contractors may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF.  Notwithstanding, consultants and individual contracts must complete the applicable mandatory trainings. 

In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government​, or unless on leave without pay.

 

UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.