SHORT-TERM INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANCY: PROGRAM MONITORING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

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Background:

As the Syrian conflict enters its ninth year, the impact of the crisis on neighboring countries continues to deepen. By the end of June 2021, Turkey remained home to over four million refugees and migrants—the largest such population in the world. Nearly 3.6 million Syrians—including over 1.6 million children—are under temporary protection, 98% of whom live in host communities. Nearly 680,000 refugee children are enrolled in school, however an estimated 400,000 are still out of school. Refugee and migrant children are highly vulnerable and at heightened risk of isolation, discrimination, economic and sexual exploitation and child marriage. Their vulnerability will likely increase further due to the direct and indirect impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Turkey-UNICEF Country Programme of 2021-2025 contributes to addressing these issues through its education, child and social protection components. In order to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of their implementation, UNICEF and its partners use different tools and data collection approaches, including monitoring through field visits and interaction with partners, beneficiaries and other relevant actors serving the refugee community. While transitioning to the new UNICEF Turkey Country Program Document (CPD) of 2021-2025, the increasing focus of programmes, including the child protection programme, on building refugee families’ and communities’ resilience should be maintained by continuing with the ongoing monitoring initiatives through increased direct feedback from the beneficiaries. In order to sustain this approach in the most effective way, the work of UNICEF staff in the field needs to be complemented by consultants that speak Arabic. These consultants will enable the UNICEF field teams deeply understand the cultural and social dynamics that are intrinsic to the refugee community.

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Purpose of the Assignment:

The purpose of the consultancy is to support the UNICEF Field Office in Gaziantep in monitoring the child protection programme especially through modalities that require direct interaction with beneficiaries.

Scope of Work

UNICEF is seeking one consultant to be employed in its Field Office in Gaziantep for monitoring the relevance and effectiveness of the child protection programmes. Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist based in Gaziantep, and in close collaboration with the rest of the Child Protection section in Ankara, the consultant will support UNICEF in the monitoring of programme implementation in the Southeast Turkey. The consultant will ensure direct communication with beneficiaries, especially children and families, and contribute to UNICEF’s accountability towards beneficiaries. S/he will also contribute to the analysis of program quality and results and support future program revision and program design where necessary.

In close coordination with other members of the Child Protection section, both in the Field and the Country Office, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Engage with beneficiaries as part of the overall monitoring of child protection programs in the Southeast Turkey, including programme results for beneficiary children. Support the Child Protection team in the Field Office in communicating with the refugee community through the organization of focus group discussions and other data collection exercises with UNICEF beneficiaries.
• Report on specific issues/difficulties with regards to the UNICEF programme response, including the perspective of the beneficiary population.
• Contribute to the preparation and implementation of monitoring activities by the Child Protection team. Undertake regular program field visits, gather and provide information to help the team to assess progress or critical issues/challenges.
• Produce regular and timely reports on monitoring results. Organize data and information, prepare and maintain records.
• Analyse data to monitor progress in the achievement of programme objectives. Research and contribute to the development of new approaches, methods and practices for field-level monitoring. Adjust existing monitoring tools to improve their language and cultural appropriateness.

• Assist Field Office program staff with Arabic to Turkish/English translation and interpretation.
• Perform other tasks related to monitoring as relevant for the Child Protection programme such as developing and maintaining provincial profile of child protection risks factsheets, knowledge management and information management, etc.

Based on the scope of work outlined above, the consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables:

* All deliverables as per scope of work must be satisfactorily completed and accepted by UNICEF TCO in order to facilitate payment. Delivery estimated working days are tentative.

Given the nature of the deliverables, they will have to be produced at different stages throughout the consultancy period. Therefore, payments will be based on monthly reports that will include evidence of progress against each deliverable.

The contract will be effective from the date of signing until successful submission of the deliverables, which are estimated to require a total of 240 working days over a period of 11.5 months.

The consultant will be based in the UNICEF Field Office in Gaziantep, with frequent travel to other locations in Southeast Turkey.

The consultant will be required to travel within Turkey (especially in the Southeast of the country). UNICEF will cover the accommodation and travel expenses of the official approved trips within Turkey.

• Payment schedule: UNICEF will issue a contract in TRY. The payment will be made upon submission of monthly invoices and reports demonstrating satisfactory progress/completion of the deliverables as mentioned above.
• Reservations: UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract without prior notice and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the project partners are not followed, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

Education: University degree in social science, politics, economy or any related field. Four years of relevant work experience may be considered in lieu of a university degree in cases of strong candidates.

Language: Fluency in oral and written English and Arabic is mandatory. Fluency in Turkish will be considered as an extra asset.

Experience: At least 3 years of professional experiences including at least one year in humanitarian operations, monitoring or another related field. Work experience and demonstrated familiarity of the Syrian culture and community practices is a strong asset.

Knowledge: Experience in utilizing computers including word processing, spreadsheet and other software packages.

Skills: Excellent communication and reporting skills.

Other Requirements:

• Deep understanding and sense of ethics with regards to children’s and women’s rights issues
• Evidence of having experience in working with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Excellent communication, facilitation and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.

Please note that the assignment can only be held by an individual consultant. Applications should be submitted in English and should include:

1.  Financial Proposal.docx using the Financial Proposal Template.
2.  P11 Form.doc, where previous experience is provided in detail and Motivational Letter describing why the candidate will be the right choice for the position.

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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.

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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.