Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF SWZ organization mission TBD

Context

Despite its middle-income status, Eswatini is still plagued by high poverty and inequality levels. The persistence of poverty and inequality in Eswatini has been exacerbated by the HIV prevalence levels, the aftermath of the political unrest, overreliance on volatile Southern African Customs Union revenues, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. These dynamics have further hampered the Eswatini Government’s plans and actions to tackle these challenges. In the Eswatini National Development Plan 2024-2028, to strengthen public finance management processes and budget controls is identified as a key priority for improving fiscal expenditure management – it is found that the frail macroeconomic situation is associated with poor public finance management and investment decisions, a weak planning and budgeting system and the multi-sectoral approach not yet applied in the country; in particular, the Public Finance Management Act of 2017 has not yet been fully operationalized by the Planning and Budgeting Committee. While PF4C is central to UNICEF’s strategy to reduce multi-dimensional deprivations of children, the PF4C programming within the UNICEF ECO is a relatively new area. With the increasing importance of PF4C advocacy, particularly under the guidance of the UNICEF ECO Country Programme Document 2021-2025, it is crucial to understand the public financial management system and public finance policies in Eswatini and to identify areas for improvement. This is conducive for UNICEF ECO to develop its PF4C strategy to: 1) internally support programme teams e.g., in health, WASH and education to strengthen their PF4C advocacy and practices; and 2) externally to join other development partners to continue to strengthen support for the government for more efficient budget formulation and execution, including increased transparency in public finance. Through assisting with the PF4C Strategic Note Development in Eswatini, the UNV will gain insights into the country's public finance management system, public finance policies, and relevant opportunities, constraints, and challenges. Being mentored by the Social Policy Specialist, the UNV will also get the opportunity to learn about UNICEF’s PF4C work.

Task description

The UNICEF Eswatini Country Office (ECO) is looking for an online volunteer to assist with the Public Finance for Children (PF4C) strategic note. The purpose of this assignment is to provide an overview of the public finance system in Eswatini especially linking to the budgeting circle, as well as the public finance policies. Specifically, the study's findings will serve as a key reference for the PF4C programming at the UNICEF ECO. Under the supervision of the Social Policy Specialist, the online volunteer is expected to support the following tasks: •Stocktaking the existing materials related to public finance in Eswatini, conducting desk research based on the existing materials and identifying opportunities and development priorities for the PF4C programming in the UNICEF ECO. Throughout the assignment, the online volunteer is encouraged to provide feedback and ask questions. At the same time, s/he is encouraged to participate in a variety of PF4C-related webinars and events. The online volunteer will be required throughout the assignment and thereafter to maintain the confidentiality of the contents of the documents.