NATIONAL CONSULTANT – Social Policy Consultant in Tbilisi, Georgia

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Background

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children's lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfil their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

UNICEF Country Programme Document (CPD) in 2021-2025 summarizes UNICEF Georgia's contribution to the realization of the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. The overarching goal of the Programme is to support Georgia in accelerating the universal realization of child rights, by fostering greater social inclusion of the most deprived children and by reducing disparities and inequities affecting children and their families. The programme is informed by the Situation Analysis, recommendations from human rights treaty bodies, the Universal Periodic Review, and national legislation, strategies, policies and programmes.

In the frames of CPD, Social Policy (SP) Section of UNICEF Georgia undertakes actions to ensure that by 2025 children and adolescents, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized, equitably benefit from a strengthened governance framework of inclusive social policies and programmes that focus specifically on enhanced realization of the rights of all girls and boys, monitored through a robust child rights mechanism.

This expected result defines directions and actions of the section's work and its partnerships. More specifically, the actions are designed to address the following results: national authorities and municipalities have capacity to develop evidence-based social policies and budgets, to  plan and implement social protection programmes, to grant disability status and provide social assistance to children with disabilities in the frame of the social model of disability; In addition the actions aim to ensure that strategic partnerships are strengthened to the promotion and protection of child rights and national human rights monitoring mechanisms are reinforced to monitor child rights.

In the context of above, several activities, relevant to this assignment, have already started and are ongoing will require involvement of the consultant:

• In the frame of the COVID-19 response in the area of social protection, UNICEF supports capacity building of its partners (Social Service Agency, municipalities’ child right and protection units, other) and reaches out to the vulnerable families with children with humanitarian support; Support in being provided to UNICEF partner state agencies with personal protection equipment to ensure safety and protection of the frontline staff;
• Together with the National Statistics Office of Georgia UNICEF conducts a Real Time Monitoring of the selected socio-economic indicators of Georgian households to check COVID-19 impact their wellbeing;
• SP section provides support to implement the national de-centralization strategy and to strengthen municipalities to perform its new increased duties. In this regards, several different actions are being planned and implemented: technical support to develop mechanisms for delegation of the selected social programmes to municipalities; support capacity building of the social services workforce at the municipal level to develop and implement needs-based, child-focused equitable social programmes; in the frame of the Child-friendly Cities Initiative, support selected municipalities (through the Memoranda of Cooperation between UNICEF and Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi) to transform their communities into safe places, in which children develop their potential and thrive;
• In 2019-2020 under the supervision of the social policy section Impact Evaluation of the Targeted social assistance programme was to assess the impact of the TSA on children and adults’ outcomes such as poverty, health, individuals’ behavior, individuals’ expectations, etc. It is planned to conduct intensive consultations with the relevant government agencies (Ministry of IDP from the occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MoIDPOTLHSA), Social Service Agency, Government Administration (AOG), Parliament of Georgia) to present findings of the TSA evaluation, to share the recommendations to government on further refinement of TSA/and other social assistance programs and to provide technical support in planning interventions to impove social protection system;
• Social policy section is involved in supporting the government to analyze social protection support for children with disabilities and conceptualize optimization of the social protection support based on the social model of disability; with action follows the previous support of UNICEF to transform system of disability assessment and stats determination for persons with disabilities; mapping existing social protection system; conduct studies to better understand social protection needs of children with disabilities and consult on the optimized schemes of support is on the agenda of the section work in 2021.

Purpose of the assignment

This consultancy is developed to cover a maternity leave of a Social Policy Officer. The selected candidate will support UNICEF Social Policy section and provide assistance to all stages of its programming especially in the areas related to interventions at municipality level and actions to support enhancement of social protection system, particularly through the lenses of the COVID-19 related emergency.

Work Methodology

Under the supervision of the Social Policy and Economic Specialist, together with the social policy section team and UNICEF team in general, the selected candidate will be coordinating agreed actions, communicating with the programme partners, donors, and provide professional expertise in social protection and social policy areas.

Consultant's work might involve travel in the regions of Georgia (maximum 12 days during the consultancy), which will be reimbursed by UNICEF as per submitted financial proposal. The work does not require to be present at the UNICEF premises during all working days, however it might imply presence at the office or other agreed places to participate in the meetings with UNICEF team members and partners depending of the safety regulations. Overall, on average the consultant will have to work 15 days a month.

Tasks within the assignment

1. Support UNICEF in emergency context to respond to COVID-19 social protection needs of the country, including technical assistance to AOG, MoIDPOTLHSA and municipalities;
2. Support UNICEF in the implementation of the Memoranda of Cooperation with three municipalities (Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi), which includes completion of child rights situation analysis, development of CFCI strategies and action plans for Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi Municipalities;
3. Coordinate action at the local level in relation to the development municipalities' capacity for social programming needs -assessment, programme development, programme budgeting, implementation and monitoring;
4. Provide technical support to the central level decisions related to delegation of social services to municipalities;
5. Support UNICEF in coordinating actions and stakeholders aiming at optimizing social protection measures for children with disabilities; 
6. Support UNICEF in strengthening existing partnerships as well as establishing new ones with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society, municipalities and local leader;
7. Support in planning and reporting of the on-going activities of the section as well as action planning and in business as usual as tasked by the supervisor during the course of work. 

1. Ethical Considerations

Consultant is required to clearly identify any potential ethical issue, as well as the processes for ethical review and oversight of the research/data collection process in their proposal. UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection and Analysis can be found at:  https://www.unicef.org/supply/files/ATTACHMENT_IV-UNICEF_Procedure_for_Ethical_Standards.PDF and should be consistently applied throughout the research process. The procedure contains the minimum standards and required procedures for research, evaluation and data collection and analysis undertaken or commissioned by UNICEF (including activities undertaken by individual and institutional contractors, and partners) involving human subjects or the analysis of sensitive secondary data.

Requirements

Time frame and terms of payment

The work is expected to be carried out within a period of 4 months after signing the contract. A total of 60 consultancy working days (15 days per month) are estimated for this assignment.

At the end of each month consultant should produce a detailed report of actions undertaken during the month and an invoice, indicating work done and the days spent. The consultancy will be paid based on the agreed daily rate (max 15 days per month) upon submission of the invoice with number of days worked and prorated on the number of days worked in that particular month.

The consultant has no entitlement for annual leave, sick leave, maternity, adoption or paternity leave or any other kinds of special leave. UNICEF will not undertake any liability for tax, duty or other contribution payable by the manager on payments made under this contract. UNICEF will not issue a statement of earnings.

The remuneration will be negotiated between UNICEF Georgia and the selected consultant, based on an initial proposal of the selected consultant. Applicants are therefore requested to submit a gross daily consultancy rate in GEL. Applicants are also requested to submit a daily rate for possible  travel to any region of Georgia. The daily rate should include costs of one overnight stay in the region and three meals (in GEL).

Required qualifications and experience:

The assignment is expected to be undertaken by a national consultant:

Required background and experience:

Background

• Candidate should have proven experience in policy planning;
• Candidate should have a sound expertise in the area of local governance; employment record at municipalities is an additional asset;
• Candidate should have a sound understanding of the social protection system of Georgia;
• Experience in coordinating actions of multiple stakeholders.

Education

• Advanced degree in social sciences, public policy, law or related fields

Expertise and skills

• Strong analytical skills -references to previous work or institutions
• At least 2 years of relevant experience in policy planning
• Experience organising, conducting/facilitating workshops and round tables
• Experience in facilitating consultations with government representatives, NGOs, and youth
• Understanding of human rights principles, international human rights treaties
• Fluency in English and Georgian
• Excellent writing skills

Management and Supervision

The Consultant will work in close consultation and under the supervision of UNICEF Social and economic Policy specialist. 

Approval Procedures and Logistics

• Consultant should act with integrity and respect for all stakeholders in line with UNICEF ethical guidelines regarding evidence generation.
• UNICEF holds copyrights for all the documents (including raw materials, etc.) may not be reproduced, distributed or published without  written permission from UNICEF.
• All personal data related to UNICEF supported surveys, studies, etc. should be accessible to team members, but no one else. The Consultant need to set up secure systems (a) to ensure that other staff within their institutions cannot access their data via the shared staff drives, and (b) to ensure secure data transfer between institutions. Cloud based storage with limited sharing rights could be considered in this instance. Different personal data files need to be link-able, they need to be held separately so that they can only be linked purposely, by researchers who are authorised to do so. There is also a need to ensure that data cannot be removed from secure systems in ways that might compromise data security.
• UNICEF will share with the selected consultant all the relevant materials it has and provide required expertise.
• UNICEF will provide administrative support for the work of consultant.
• Information from produced documents cannot be shared with media without the written approval of UNICEF.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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 be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.