Terms of Reference
Position Title: Social Protection Specialist
Level:P-3
Location:Bamako, Mali
Duration:11 months
Start Date: 15 August 2014
Reporting to: Social Policy Chief, UNICEF Mali
Background and Justification
Mali is one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with half of all families earning less than $US1.25 a day and the eighth highest under-5 child mortality rate worldwide. The population projections in 2014 indicate that the country has 17, 3 millions of people, out of which 52 % are under 18 years. The population growth rate is 3, 6%, therefore being one of the five highest rates in the world.
In 2012, the country has experienced political instability and conflict, with negative impact on the childhood development and family structures, including disruptions to key economic, social, and political resources.
Before 2012, Mali had already critical indicators, with high child and maternal mortality rates, extreme vulnerability to climate change as well as a breadth of structural issues that hindered access to basic social services in many of the most impoverished areas but now, the political and social instability has caused population displacement of over half a million people and exacerbated a pre-existing food and nutrition crisis.
The Presidential and Legislative elections were held in late 2013, largely without incident. The political context was relatively calm all over the year, but the social context remained challenging, with the displaced people from the north spread in the main cities in the south regions and neighbouring countries, the flooding and the effects of a pre-existing food and nutrition crisis, impacting the daily lives of the population.
While humanitarian needs related to the conflict remain in 2014, including over 137,000[1] internally displaced persons and 137,000[2] refugees, the political situation in the North remains uncertain, with Kidal region being reoccupied by Armed Groups, after the military clashes between the MNLA and the Malian Army Forces last May 2014.
Before this new development of the political and security context in the North, it was estimated that nearly 284,000[3] internally displaced persons had returned home; however, some of them have probably fled once again, causing a cycle of households’ instability.
As recovery continues, UNICEF, in collaboration with the government, civil society, NGOs and other partners, is providing support to children and their communities in the regions and communities that need it most. UNICEF Mali is also developing its new CPD that will define the keys strategic priorities for the next five years (2015-1019), for the partnership agreement with the Government.
The Social Policy section is providing support to the other sections (Child survival, child protection, Education) to reinforce the complementarity and integration of the program, with the focus on child resilience in Mali.
The Social protection section is also supporting the Government of Mali, specifically the ministry in charge of social protection, to update the National Social Protection policy documents, build the capacity of staff and enhance the nation coordination mechanism of social protection programs in the country, including those implemented by NGOs, privet sector and others partners.
UNICEF is working closely with other stakeholders engaged in the development and implementation of Social Protection and Safety Net programmes, including the World Bank (Jigisemejiri), the European Commission (Cadre Common and AGIR), WFP, UNDP, FAO, the Cash Working Group,… and advocating for complementarity and alignment of partners’ intervention to the governmental priorities and plans.
The new CPD 2015-2019 will include the support to the government in term of coordinating and implementing the National Social Protection Plan, specifically the operationalization of the coordination mechanism, the improvement of the information management system, the decentralization, and the use of innovations that can improve the efficiency of social protection programs.
In order to better coordinate its Social protection support, UNICEF Mali is recruiting a Social Protection Specialist to coordinate and support the development and implementation of Social protection program, in support to the government of Mali.
Purpose
Under the supervision of the Chief Social Poly, the Social Protection Specialist will support the implementation of UNICEF Mali commitment to social protection, as articulated in the CPD and Annual Work Plans(PTAs) signed with the government.
The Social Protection Specialist will serve as the focal person for UNICEF Social Protection package and will work closely with key partners involved in social protection and resilience programs in Mali.
He/She will also support the section in the development of analytical, policy and advocacy tools and strengthen the national social protection response.
Description of Responsibilities
The Social Protection Specialist will work within the social policy section and in close collaboration with both programmatic and operations teams. The Social Protection Specialist will be responsible for developing and supporting the implementation of UNICEF Mali Social protection package, including Safety Nets and Cash Transfer activities, policy and programmatic recommendations regarding social protection interventions.
The Social Protection Specialist will be responsible for identifying the opportunities for improving UNICEF support to the Government and partners, for the efficiency of the National Social Protection policy and program.
The Social Protection Specialist will work closely with the social policy, program and operations teams, government and partners, to assess the training needs of the stakeholders and define UNICEF contribution for the capacity building of social protection actors in Mali.
Specific Tasks:
1.Strengthening partnerships for Social protection
-Coordinate the discussions and the development of strategy documents articulating the role of UNICEF regarding the national social protection and resilience programs in the Mali
-Identify entry points for positioning children in the national social protection and resilience agenda. Considering the discussions in the country on social protection and resilience, some of the main areas of focus for the UNICEF will be :
- The advocacy for the endorsement by the government, of the updated National Policy document and plan
- The operationalization of the National Coordination mechanism, with the participation of all key stake holders
- The advocacy and technical support for the development of a standardized targeting process of beneficiaries and the implementation of a single registry for all social protection interventions, under the leadership of the government
- The synergy and complementarity of social protection and resilience initiatives in the country
-Participate in the differents Social protection and resileince Working Group (Cash Working, AGIR, cadre harmonisé, the community of practice, the food sectiruty and nutrition clusters... for better positionning of Unicef Mali in Social protection discussions;
-Serve as focal person for the Social Policy section for liaising with Social protection stakeholders in the country (DNPSES, DNDS, Jigisemejiri, Cadre commun, Echo, AGIR, WFP, FAO, WordBank, Cash Working Group, communauté des pratiques , civil society and other privet actirs)
2.Staff Capacity Building (Social protection, Safety Nets and Cash Transfer)
-Work closely with UNICEF programs and operations, governement and other stakeholders in identifing the staff training needs in social protection, and the role for UNICEF in the capacity building process.
- Coordinate with the Goverment of Mali and other stakeholders in Planning and organising training sessions, exchange visits or other relevant activities for the staff capacity building on Social protection, resilience or other relavant topics.
-Support the developpement of training materials and the facilitation of training sessions on social protection, safety nets and Cash Transfer.
3.Program Development and Implementation
-Support the design, implementation and monitoring of an integrated National Social Protection program, in close collaboration with other partners (World Bank, EU, FAO, WFP, The Cash Working Group)
-Support the design and dissemination of program implementation tools (Operation Manual, Monitoring and Evaluation tools, result tracking tools, …) by social protection stakeholders, including UNICEF Mali partners
-Reinforce the development of linkages between the Humanitarian NGOs and Governmental programs in social protection
-Reinforce linkages and complementarity between social protection and other social services, such as health, education, nutrition , food security and others, through the national coordination mechanism
-Promote the use of innovations in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of social protection programs
-Reinforce the data collection and management system, and the effectiveness of the Social protection coordination mechanism, at the national and regional levels.
4.Analytical, policy and advocacy tools for social protection
-Support and actively participate in the social protection data analysis process, including poverty and vulnerability analysis, prioritization of intervention zones, cost/benefit of social protection interventions, and others
-Promote the use of evidences and data analysis results by social protection stakeholders when designing, implementing social protection programs.
-Support the dialogue on the national vision regarding Social Protection and Resilience in Mali.
5.Collaboration and team work
-Work closely with social policy team members on other social policy strategy developments, and implementation initiatives (Decentralization, innovation, resilience, public financing)
-Participate and contribute to sector planning meetings and undertake any other relevant tasks as assigned by the supervisor.
Key deliverables
- The National social protection documents are updated and endorsed by the goverment, with technical support provided by Unicef and other keys actors
- The National social protection coordination mecanism is operationnal and effective at the national and regional level
- The process of implementing a single registry for social protection is owned by the governement and operationnel
- The social protection actors in Mali, specifically governmental technical servces and civil society, have the capacity to implement, and monitor social protection, safety nets and cash transfer programs
- An integrated National Safety Net program is implemented by the government, with the participation of various key stake holders and donors to enhace children resilience in Mali.
Key Competencies
- Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.
- Able to work independantly and effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
- Capacity to build and maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments and with partners (Government sercices, UN agencies, Word Bank, EU, Cash working Group, the community of practive, and other partners...)
- Communicates effectively to varied audiences.
- Demonstrates, applies and shares expert technical knowledge across the organization
- Good training facilitation capacity
- Planning, program implementation , monitorinng and evaluation skills
- Capacity to liaise and maintain good relations with government and other partners
Key qualifications
- Masters degree in development studies, social , economics, governance or public policy..
- A minimum of five years of progressively responsible and relevant experience in the field of development and humanitarian work, with specialization on Social Protection, Safety Net and Cash transfer.
- Experience in African countries and knowledge of social protection issues in southern Africa are added advantages.
- Fluent in spoken and written French and have a good working level in English
- Uses information and internet technology applications effectively as a tool and resource.
1 | Page
[1] Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM, the Malian Ministry of Solidarity, Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in the North, Ministry of Interior and Security), April 2014
[2] UNHCR, May 2014
[3] Displacement Tracking Matrix, May 2014