Consultancy - Family Care and Support Guidelines, LACRO, Panama City (3 Months)

UNICEF LACRO is looking for a consultant to support country and regional work on the family care and support agenda.

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, an advocate

How can you make a difference? 

Background

UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is composed of 24 country offices that work in 36 countries and territories. The main role of the regional office (RO) is to provide technical assistance, build the capacity and exercise quality control to the 24 country offices (COs).

The Social Policy Unit (SPU) at UNICEF LACRO works in the provision of technical assistance, quality assurance and evidence generation in relation to the eradication of child poverty and the strengthening of social protection systems, in support of Social Policy Officers and Specialists in UNICEF’s country offices.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed shortcomings in the ways we manage care in Latin America and the Caribbean, transforming a pre-existing claim into a priority for policy dialogue and public institutional reforms. Today, at least 14 countries in the region are in the process of creating or modifying their care policies, in response to what women's organizations have been pointing out for decades as the consequences of the “care crisis”. The urgency from governments materializes with the understanding that the imbalance produced by demographic tendencies, the insertion of women in the labor market and the persistence of social norms that distribute the burden of care in a highly unequal manner, generates profound effects that closely link the full development of children and adolescents, gender equity and the prospects for economic advancement in the region. As a result, COs in LAC have expressed that family care and support policies and programmes, a pillar of social protection systems, are a priority for their 2023 workplans.

An important task for UNICEF within this agenda is related to the integration of the perspective of people with disabilities and their effective access to social protection. In other words, as the regional conversation evolves on what pertains to integral care systems, it is important that support requirements and systems that enable people with disabilities to live autonomously and participate in their communities are considered in policy dialogues and embedded in the ongoing reforms. As one of the pioneers cases in LAC, UNICEF Colombia has accompanied the Colombian government (Vice Presidency of the Republic, the National Planning Department and the ICBF) in the development of institutional capacities to strengthen their understanding of what an inclusive social protection system for children entails, and now faces the challenge to strengthen the technical and political dialogue on how a care system should be designed so that it adequately considers and addresses social protection needs from the childhood and disability policy perspectives, as well as one of gender equality.

The care agenda also sets a challenge in the ways that UNICEF engages with the private sector. Since the launch of the Child Rights and Business Principles in 2011, UNICEF has developed a strong advocacy on family friendly policies (FFP), to promote workplace where caretakers can balance their work and care responsibilities. This agenda has been evolving over the last 12 years and requires adaptation to correspond to the most recent evolutions of both labor market and workplaces, and care systems. Today, as UNICEF keeps on promoting the FFP agenda, we want to reenforce our advocacy, but ensure it is embracing this societal evolutions, such as the evolution of gender roles in care and the challenges faced to develop solid the care systems in LAC (including the co-responsibility of business), the new flexibilities and working relations in companies, the lessons learnt during COVID-19 and the challenges for the insertion of young people in the labor market.

Purpose of the Assignment

This consultancy aims to support country and regional work on the family care and support agenda.

Under the guidance and supervision of the Social Policy Regional Advisor the consultant will develop programmatic guidance for COs to engage on family care and support work, including the provision of technical assistance to Governments, the support to local policy dialogues and the implementation of related policies and programmes.

In addition, and in collaboration with the Business for Results (B4R), as well as HQ and Colombia Social Policy teams, this consultancy will develop a paper on the co-responsibility of the private sector in care systems in LAC as well as support and document the mainstreaming of the disability perspective into the care policy dialogue in Colombia as first regional experience.

Specific Tasks

Overall, the consultant will contribute to the technical guidance provided to COs by UNICEF LACRO in family care and support.

Specifically, the consultant will:

1. Develop a document setting programmatic guidance for UNICEF specialists engaged in the areas of family care and support policies in Latin America and the Caribbean. This programmatic guidance must summarize a strategic vision, while reflecting on the various country institutional contexts and best practices. In particular, the paper must present an updated panorama of family care and support policies and systems in countries in LAC and highlight the best experiences in different contexts (i.e., national/centralized and federal/subnational experiences).

2. In Colombia, the consultant will: (a) support the design and roll out of a methodology to work with key stakeholders towards the construction of the national family care policy in what pertains to disability; (b) facilitate an ongoing roundtable of discussions with multiple actors (civil society, government, etc.) throughout three in-person and one virtual workshop, tasked with determining what are the minimum support that must be guaranteed to the population living with disabilities; and (c) produce a roadmap to guide the construction of a care system that is inclusive of people with disabilities.

3. Develop a family care system training module in LAC, to be delivered within a regional course on social protection and disability (the module will be lectures in approximately 4 hours).

4. Develop a position paper on the role of the private sector on family care and support systems in LAC intended for both internal (UNICEF staff) and external (Business related and Government/Regulator entities) audiences. The document will touch upon the evolution of the care policies and systems in the region with emphasis on the role of the private sector; the latest trends regarding workplaces post-COVID19 and best practices (through regional cases) of private institutions in embracing the care and support agenda; and set recommendations for the private sector, shifting the existing narrative towards one of shared responsibility or co-responsibility of business. Finally, the document will include the main advocacy messages and next steps in terms of both interventions and knowledge generation that UNICEF can lead as part of its work on care with the private sector.

Expected Results [measurable]

Expected outputs:

1. Workplan and timeline (first week after contract signature) for the four overall products.
2. Draft position paper on family care and support systems and the private sector.
3. Roadmap for Colombia’s care and support agenda to integrate people with disabilities within the ongoing construction of care policies/system, as a result of the methodology development and application within roundtable discussions with stakeholders.
4. Care Systems in LAC Module for course.
5. Draft guidance on family care and support policies for UNICEF in LAC for comments and a PowerPoint presentation for an open regional and global audience.

Deliverables

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

Minimum Requirements and Qualifications

Education

• Academic degree in Social Sciences (Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, or related subjects)

Work Experience

• Demonstrated experience of at least 15 years in leading policy dialogues and/or implementing programmes in social protection, with specific attention to family care, care systems and disability support topics in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Demonstrated experience as providing advise to public institutions or international organizations in LAC on social protection, family care and disability support topics is required.
• Record of publications on social protection, family care and disability support policies is an asset.

Languages

• Proficiency in Spanish is required.

Technical knowledge (if applicable)

• Expert knowledge of the care debate, with attention to recent academic and policy trends in LAC as well as of the challenges and opportunities posed by this agenda to the organizations of peoples with disabilities and the private sector.
• Expert knowledge of public care and support systems and policies in LAC.

Other skills and attributes (optional)

• Ability to work independently, with low levels of supervision. Strong focus on results. Able to work effectively in a multicultural environment.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills.

Administrative details

Supervision

The contractor will report to the Social Policy Regional Advisor.

Specific products will be jointly overviewed by the Colombia Social Policy Specialist and LACRO Business for Result (B4R) team, in coordination with Education/Early Childhood Development and Gender as necessary.

Workplace

This is a home based

Duration

This consultancy will have a duration of three (3) months.

How to Apply

Application should be submitted online and should include: Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. Qualified candidates are requested to submit daily and monthly fees in their financial proposal.

Travel

Travel is foreseen for this consultancy.

If applicable, travel will be covered by UNICEF as per policy.

• Travel costs will be estimated and added to the contract once they are determined based on UNICEF Financial Rules and Regulations.
• For agreed country visits, the contractor/consultant will be responsible in administering their own travel. UNICEF will reimburse travel related expenses based on actual costs or on the below criteria whichever is lower and upon presentation of receipts.
• Any travel involved should be budgeted according to UN Travel Standards as a ceiling.
• UN Secretariat Administrative Instruction on Official Travel, ST/AI/2013/3: Sect. 4, para. 4.2, numerals (d) and (e)
• For information on Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), can be found on the International Civil Service Commission website (all countries and destinations can be found by navigating on the map).

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

*****  

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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:  

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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.