Consultant New Job Opportunity at UNICEF South Africa April, 2020 | For South African Nationals ONLY

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TOR – Prevention and early intervention in social development budgets 2020/21 (For South African Nationals ONLY)Job Number: 531167Locations: Africa: South AfricaWork Type : Consultancy 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, results Background and Justification Budget Briefs are seen as providing a good entry point for country-level budget analysis and advocacy. In the context of South Africa, work on budget awareness and advocacy has been deemed to be timely, given the present economic climate in the country and the many competing demands placed on budgets in an increasingly tight fiscal situation. Furthermore, in a middle-income country context, UNICEF services are pitched at the policy and advocacy level, thus necessitating a focus on how well government spends resources in producing outcomes for children. Budget Briefs are seen, therefore, as a valuable advocacy tool to enhance the focus on children-specific spending programmes and to ensure that the limited resources are spent in the best possible way. The Budget Brief series explores the issue of effectiveness, quality, and the efficiency of spending. A careful analysis is done to determine whether any sector budget has positive (or negative) implications for the survival, growth and development of children.
South Africa is known for its high levels of violence against women and children. The government has responded by moving violence against women and children to the top of its policy agenda. This was also accompanied by a host of other interventions, such as providing additional funding to support provincial governments to provide a more stable source of funding for Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) that are delivering front-line services. What adds to this complex policy mix is the fragmented implementation of the country’s premier child legislation, namely the Children’s Act of 2005. There remains a need, therefore, to understand the status and priority given to prevention and early intervention programmes in provincial social development departments. The MEC for Social Development in provinces is required to produce provincial profiles pertaining to prevention and early intervention and the completion of these profiles will have implications for the resources needed to address prevention and early interventions. Furthermore, the Children’s Act requires the MEC for Social Development to finance prevention and early intervention programmes as a matter of priority, and it will be instructive to understand the nature and extent of funding of prevention and early intervention programmes.

Scope of Work

1. Goal and Objective:  Under the supervision of the Social Policy Manager in the Social Policy and Child Protection unit, the consultant will

• Develop an appropriate case study methodology (at least 2 provincial social development departments) to examine the issue of
  
  • The conceptualisation of prevention and early intervention programmes,
  • The implementation of prevention and early intervention programmes, and
  • The financing of prevention and early intervention services in provincial social development departments.
• Determine the quantum of prevention and early intervention spending generally, and spending on violence against children more specifically;
• Establish the spread of the spending on prevention and early intervention spending generally, and spending on violence against children more specifically: in other words, did the departments follow the targeting prescriptions in the Children’s Act?
• Develop a restricted set of recommendations for how the government can expand the financing of prevention and early intervention programmes to strengthen the country’s emphasis on a developmental social welfare system.
• Please note that the consultant can use guidelines for developing a UNICEF budget brief as well as an Excel-based tool for organizing and presenting data, which is available through this link.

1. Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered: This work relates directly to achieving output 4.1 in the Annual Work Plan of the Social Policy and Child Protection programme, which involves undertaking annual budget analysis: publish budget briefs on education, health, social development including public finance at national and subnational levels.
2. Activities and Tasks:  the list of activities and task include

• Submit an Inception Report detailing Consultant’s understanding of the task at hand, proposed methodology and sources of data to be used in assignment, including at national and provincial levels;
• Draft, refine and finalize a “Prevention and Early Intervention Budget Brief” that focuses on the Goal and Objectives set out in Section 1 of this TOR;
• In the draft Prevention and Early Intervention Budget Brief mentioned above, detailing the key results and what implications these have for the well-being and development of children ; and
• Present draft final findings to the Social Policy Manager and the Chief of Social Policy and Child Protection and members of the broader UNICEF team via Skype or in-person (if that is feasible for the Consultant).

1. Work relationships:  The Social Policy Manager is responsible for co-coordinating and managing the work of the Consultant. This involves regular communication via email, telephonic conversations and where possible, in-person meetings. The Social Policy Manager will inform and update the Chief of Social Policy and Child Protection of progress in the work and expected completion dates of this important output. The Consultant will provide regular updates of progress and inform the Social Policy Manager of any unintended findings that are relevant to this output. The Programme Assistant will support the Social Policy Manager in ensuring that the requisite administrative processes are adhered to and for the timely submission of project-related paperwork.
2. Outputs/Deliverables:

The process for completing the assignment is critically dependent on the submission of a realistic and achievable work plan as well as a methodological approach that will ensure that the key questions are addressed in the research. Furthermore, the Consultant will have tight timeframes to execute this work, which requires a deep familiarity and expertise in the areas of applied budget analysis and social welfare programmes more generally. Payment is dependent on the successful completion of each of the three deliverables, which is in line with the expectations of the Social Policy and Child Protection programme team.

Reporting guidelines: Budget Brief templates have been developed by the Regional Office and these same templates/formats are applicable to the production of the Prevention and Early Intervention Budget Brief. These guidelines should be considered for both the draft and final Prevention and Early Intervention Budget Brief. The draft and final Prevention and Early Intervention Budget Briefs must be submitted to the Social Policy Manager.

1. Required Travel:  Not Applicable

Payment Schedule
The schedule of payments is indicated as per the table in the preceding section.
Payment to the Consultant will only be done upon satisfactory completion of deliverables as agreed in the work plan. Payment is staggered as per the approved work plan of the Consultant and per the payment schedule listed in the table above.

Desired competencies, technical background and experience

1. Education: An appropriate Master’s degree qualification in economics, statistics, health management, public policy, development studies or an advanced social science qualification.
2. The Consultant will have an excellent understanding of social welfare policy and budget trends in South Africa;
3. The Consultant will have done applied budget analyses of the social sectors in South Africa;
4. A minimum of eight years of technical consultancy in the applied budget field and policy research on social welfare is required.
5. Competencies: Excellent data analytical ability, exceptional writing skills, knowledge of the South African social services sector, knowledge of sub-national financing arrangements, and knowledge of targeting policies in the social services sector in South Africa.
6. The Consultant should have an excellent understanding and competence in written and spoken English.

Administrative issues
The Consultant reports to the Social Policy Manager in the Social Policy and Child Protection unit. Most of the scheduled meetings and progress updates will be done via email and telephonic conversations. A formal presentation of results (via Skype or in-person) when the draft Social Protection for Children Budget Brief is delivered to solicit feedback for further refinement and finalisation of the project.

Conditions
The Consultant:

• Will carry out the bulk of the assignment in his/her private space and no arrangements are in place to use the UNICEF office in Pretoria;
• Should the assignment require additional travel, the Consultant will be reimbursed for any additional travelling costs. If air travel is undertaken, the Consultant will be reimbursed for an economy return flight.

All entitlements and conditions of service are governed by UNICEF policies.
As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary
The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.
Risks
It is anticipated that there are relative few direct risks in the execution of the assignment. The key mitigating factor is the availability of national and provincial budget data, which form the bedrock of the analyses.  These data sets are publicly available and access to these resources is not considered a challenge. By the time the assignment commences, all provincial governments will have introduced their budget proposals in their respective legislatures and the budgets can also be accessed online. However, due to the methodological requirements (case study method), sufficient time should be allocated to identifying the appropriate staff to be interviewed and this may take time. The Consultant is encouraged to consult other relevant documents such as Annual Reports of line departments for execution data, survey data that have a direct bearing on issues addressed in the Budget Brief, and any other trusted and reputable source that can enhance the overall quality of the Budget Brief.


How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates are requested to submit their application through the link at the end of this advert by 30 April 2020.
This notice will also appear on http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/, http://www.unicef.org/southafrica UN Job List, UN Jobs.
Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in ZAR) to undertake the terms of reference above (including admin cost if applicable).
Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.
We invite you to watch a short video on the system on how to apply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePgDIQ9RVYs&feature=youtu.be
If you have not been contacted within 1.5 month of the closing date, please accept that your application was unsuccessful. Regret emails will be sent only to shortlisted/contacted candidates.
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:
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.
Opening Date Thu Apr 16 2020 09:00:00 GMT+0300 (East Africa Time) South Africa Standard Time
Closing Date Fri May 01 2020 00:55:00 GMT+0300 (East Africa Time) 
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