Terms of Reference

Social Protection Policy Engagement and Capacity Building

Contract #:(to be provided by PSU)

  1. Background:

Social protection is a potentially powerful tool in helping UNICEF realize its vision of a world where the rights of every child are realized – as a right in itself and in its role for supporting the realization of other rights. Social protection systems have the potential to act as a key catalyst in achieving greater progress in child outcomes, particularly for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families. Across a number of countries including Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Malawi, social protection programmes have been shown to have significant positive impacts on crucial outcomes for the MDGs and beyond. In many cases, these effects are more sizeable among the most disadvantaged, even within programmes already reaching the poor and disadvantaged.

There is growing recognition by national governments and international policy makers of the importance of developing social protection systems as part of strategies to increase equity combat multidimensional poverty and vulnerability, and to anticipate and respond to shocks. Nonetheless, policy makers and practitioners working on social protection in developing countries are increasingly confronted with new challenges as they institutionalize and expand the scale and scope of programs.

Assisting in the expansion of social protection coverage and the development of child sensitive social protection systems has therefore been key area of work for UNICEF in recent years (under Focus Area 5 of the Medium Term Strategic Plan), and this work has been increasing. As of 2009, UNICEF’s engagement in social protection spans 124 programmes in 76 countries. This reflects a growing number of country programmes engaging on social protection policy, cash transfers, and family and social support including for OVCs, as well as longstanding work on education user fee abolition, health insurance, nutrition supplementation, etc as part of broader social protection system.

The strengthening of UNICEF’s focus on equity underscores the importance of the social protection in reaching vulnerable and disadvantaged populations, and in complimenting sector interventions to ensure access of all to services. The increased focus on equity has also increased demand for the Social Policy & Economic Analysis Unit to support cross-sectoral work on social protection. There are also a number of related initiatives, including the Global Out of School Children Initiative and UNICEF’s active participation in the UN Social Protection Floor Initiative.

As UNICEF’s work in this area grows, there is a need to strengthen the conceptual and practical links with other areas of UNICEF work; continue to strengthen our engagement with government and development partners, and provide relevant policy tools, materials, state of the art updates, and technical support to UNICEF staff and partners.

  1. Purpose:

Under the guidance of the Social Protection Specialist (DPP-SPEA), and in consultation with senior staff, the main objective of this assignment is to support the DPP-SPEA’s ongoing work on social protection, with a particular focus on strengthening UNICEF’s policy engagement with partners and supporting exchange and learning among UNICEF staff and partners.

The consultant will support two major initiatives to consolidate and strengthen UNICEF’s policy engagement on social protection, including UNICEF’s role as a convener/facilitator of diverse partners to support the strengthening of social protection systems which maximize the realization of children’s rights. Specifically, the consultant will a) work closely with social policy colleagues globally to organize a cross-regional policy conference for developing country government staff on social protection which is tentatively set for May 2011: ‘Expanding social protection coverage and strengthening social protection systems – meeting the challenges'; and (b) support the Social Protection Specialist in the development and dissemination of UNICEF’s Social Protection Framework. A third area of work will be environmental scanning on new developments and analytical support in the area of social protection in order to respond to the high internal demand for technical and policy inputs, e.g. circulating key articles or synthesizing emerging findings and lessons to UNICEF networks. In addition, the consultant will backstop the Social Protection Specialist in supporting internal capacity-building and exchange.

  1. Expected Results (Measurable results):

In carrying out the various tasks outlined in this TOR,the consultant will provide analytical inputs, technical capacity-building support, and produce empirical studies and other outputs for DPP-SPEA research on social protection. The main outputs are successful organization of the cross-regional workshop for partner government staff, ‘Expanding social protection coverage and strengthening social protection systems – meeting the challenges' and analytical inputs to the production and dissemination of UNICEF’s Social Protection Framework publication.

  1. Duration:11 months full-time; from 1 December 2010 to 31 October2011. The consultant will work on-site, although there is some flexibility to work part of the time off-site.
  1. Activities, resources, deadlines:

Outputs/deliverables / Duration
(person days) / Deadline / Amount payable (US$) breakdown
The consultant will provide support to DPP-SPEA (Division for Policy and Practice, Social Policy and Economic Analysis Unit) work on the following:
In close collaboration with the Social Protection Specialist, lead organization of cross-regional policy workshop on social protection ‘Expanding social protection coverage and strengthening social protection systems – meeting the challenges'. This includes:
-Identification of participants, working closely with country offices.
-Facilitating the development of workshop content and agenda, and identification of speakers and resource people as necessary.
-Development of workshop materials and communications.
-Overseeing workshop logistics.
-Draft synthesis note on key discussion points and outcomes of the conference. / June 2011
Support the Social Protection Specialist in the development and dissemination of UNICEF’s Social Protection Framework. This includes:
-Writing sections and research assistance, as necessary.
-Strategically seeking input and feedback from UNICEF staff and external partners; consolidation of feedback and revisions.
-Development of a dissemination strategy.
-Tailoring relevant sections for input to the Global Child Poverty Report. / Final draft - January 2011
On-going, end of contract.
Environmental scanning on new developments and analytical support in the area of social protection:
-Circulating key articles, new resources, and synthesis emerging findings and lessons to UNICEF networks, including Social Policy Community of Practice.
-Technical inputs to UNICEF Policy and Practice deliverables (e.g. briefing notes, policy briefs, and research papers) / On-going, end of contract.
Backstop the Social Protection Specialist in supporting internal capacity-building and practice exchange on social protection and its links to UNICEF’s strengthened focus on equity. Organize events and produce materials to engage UNICEF staff in moving forward internal thinking and policy/programme work on social protection, and to promote UNICEF work with external actors. This includes:
-Organization of a social protection brown bag series in NYHQ, in collaboration with Programme Division and Emergencies colleagues.
-Contribution and facilitation to social protection discussions on intranet-based Community of Practice.
-Development of specific technical notes, based on the UNICEF Framework and Social Protection Programme Guidance papers, as necessary.
-Technical assistance to regional and country colleagues as needed. / On-going, end of contract.
Provide assistance in the day-to-day management of social protection workstreamrelated to social protection and providing support to the Social Protection Specialist while she is on mission. / On-going, end of contract.

TOTAL

/ 11 months full time
  1. Key skills, technical background, and experience required:
  • Advanced university degree (Mastersor PhD) in economics, social sciences, public policy and/or international development policy;
  • Three to five years professional work experience in policy, technical assistance, capacity building related to social welfare/social protection.
  • Expert knowledge on social protection policy debates and evidence required.
  • Previous experience in social welfare/ social protection policy development or programme implementation at national level is a plus.
  • Excellent networking and interpersonal skills required.
  • Previous research experience on poverty and/or development. Experience in quantitative or qualitative data collection and analysis a plus.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills in English required; skills in another UN language desirable.
  • Ability to work independently and respond to feedback in a timely and professional manner;
  • Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to contribute to a team.

Proposed by:

Jennifer Yablonski, Social Protection Specialist, UNICEF DPP-SPEA

Signature: Date: .

Authorized by:

Signature: Date: .

Consultant’s Name:

Signature: Date: .

1