Individual Consultancy – SWA Engagement of Parliamentarians on Water, Sanitation Hygiene (Remote 31 May – 15 Dec. 2021/35 Workdays) REQ#540433

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, clean water…

The Secretariat of the SWA global partnership is hosted by UNICEF at its Headquarters in New York. Several Secretariat members are posted with various SWA partners including IRC in the Netherlands, AMCOW, IADB, Lis-Water, MARI-FANSA and WaterAid. The Secretariat’s Country Engagement Team works under the guidance of the CEO to promote engagement of partners to achieve the three objectives of SWA’s strategy:

• Build and sustain the political will to eliminate inequalities in water, sanitation and hygiene
• Champion multi-stakeholder approaches towards achieving universal access to services
• Rally stakeholders to strengthen system performance and attract new investments

 How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this consultancy is to prepare a user-friendly handbook for parliamentarians and provide input on the development of a parliamentarian’s engagement plan. The consultant will report to the Programme Specialist – SWA Country Engagement.

The handbook will:

• Provide parliamentarians with knowledge on the contents of the human rights to water and sanitation and SDG6, and on the roles parliamentarians can and have to play to promote their implementation including in the context of social, economic and cultural rights;
•  Provide a common understanding of the main bottlenecks that hamper progress to the achievement of the water, sanitation and hygiene targets;
• Share good practices and ideas on legislative, budgetary, and oversight initiatives parliamentarians can undertake and promote to achieve the human rights to water and sanitation and eliminate inequalities.

Parliamentarians engagement strategy

The handbook will be complemented by a Parliamentarian’s engagement plan which will outline the long-term strategies, activities, and outcomes for supporting work with parliamentarians.

Review Team

The SWA Secretariat will form a review team which include representatives from the different constituencies of the partnership. Members of the review team will have specific tasks prior to, during and after the preparation of the handbook. The consultant will provide support on coordinating the inputs from the review team on the handbook draft and on leading joint discussions of the contents of the handbook.

Deliverables                                               Duration – Estimated (20) days    Deadline:   15 September 2021

DELIVERABLE 1

1.1.  Develop the draft(s) of Handbook for parliamentarians on the human rights to water, sanitation and hygiene and related SDG targets

• Develop a plan of action detailing the development steps of the handbook and the resources needed from the SWA secretariat and partners
• Develop the outline of the handbook ensuring its high-level political focus and covering the human right to water and sanitation and the related targets of the SDGs
• Gather information necessarily to prepare the handbook including through interviews with selected issue experts and agencies which work with parliamentarians
• Prepare the first draft of the handbook by June 30
• Get inputs on the draft from selected parliamentarians on the political and strategic focus of the focus of the handbook
• Develop the second draft by end of July

1.2    Parliamentarians engagement plan

• Gather examples of parliamentary engagement strategies from other SDGs
• Include questions related to the development of the engagement plan in consultations to be done as part of the development of the handbook
• Collate the input from the consultations and appropriately prepare them for use by the secretariat
• Provide input to the development of the plan by joining meetings and offering written oral suggestions to processes led by the Secretariat

1.3    Liaise with review team for the handbook development

• Join meetings of the review team on
  • Input on the first draft of the handbook
  • Input on the preparation of the engagement plan
• Provide the review team with insights from the research on parliamentarians’ engagement; this may include regular emails or preparing presentations, where needed.

Deliverables                                              Duration – Estimated (15) days                  Deadline:   15 November 2021

DELIVERABLE 2

2.1    Develop the final Handbook for parliamentarians on the human rights to water, sanitation and hygiene and related SDG targets

• Receive written input from the review team, the secretariat and selected SWA leaders; August 10^th
• Final draft prepared by August 20^th
• Implement changes suggested by the proof-reader and editor; September 15^th
• Prepare a PowerPoint slide by September 30, to be used for the launch of the handbook
• Submit a library of documents focussed on engagement with parliamentarians gathered as part of  the preparation of the handbook by 30 September

2.2    Parliamentarians engagement plan

• Gather examples of parliamentary engagement strategies from stakeholders working on other SDGs
• Include questions related to the development of the engagement plan in consultations to be done as part of the development of the handbook
• Collate the input from the consultations and appropriately prepare them for use by the secretariat
• Provide input to the development of the plan by joining meetings and offering written oral suggestions to processes led by the Secretariat

2.3 Support the launch of the Handbook

• Contribute to preparations for the launch of the handbook necessary, attend the launch of the handbook in December 2021

2.4    Liaise with review team for final inputs

• Participate in a final meeting of the review team
  • Final inputs on the proposed engagement plan
  • Provide the review team with final insights from the consultancy period.
• Prepare a brief lessons learnt document

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

• Advanced degree in international development, sustainable development, law, political science, public health, governance, integrity, business, economics, water or sanitation engineering, or another relevant field.
• At least ten (10) years of relevant mid to senior-level experience in international development.
• Excellent knowledge of comparative constitutional and human rights law, preferably at both national and international levels.
• Experience with high-level consultations and written high-quality publications that are directly related to the subject-matter of the consultancy.
• Ability to demonstrate full impartiality and objectivity considering the potential sensitivity of the topic.
• Good understanding of SWA processes or experience in the WASH field, and/or experience of organizing and participating in country and regional processes that involve parliamentarians.
• Understanding of global, multi-stakeholder partnerships desirable.
• Outstanding listening, verbal and written communications skills in English, including the ability to express complex strategies in simple and actionable terms.
• Strong conceptual and research/analytical skills with the ability to think strategically, and rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusions and recommendations.
• Strong client-focus with flexible and creative approach to problem solving. 
• Track record of consulting on complex tasks which require understanding of political systems and experience and submitting high quality and timely outputs.
• Proven ability in delivering on self-managed work.
• Fluency in English is required. Good command of Spanish and/or French is considered an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)  
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)  
• Drives to achieve impactful results (1)  
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)  
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)  
• Demonstrates Self and Ethical Awareness (1)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.     This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Applicants are invited to:  Include a cover letter of interest, CV, your approach to the assignment, technical and financial proposal (daily in US$) to undertake the above TOR. Applications submitted without a proposed fee will not be accepted.  

• travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
• Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
• Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Duty Station Remote based. No travel required. The consultant will be available by email, telephone and skype to facilitate inputs to and production of the report.

Terms of Payment: The consultant will be paid per deliverable based on satisfactory and timely delivery of outputs.

Contract Duration: 35 days within the duration up to 15 December 2021 (as reflected in the deliverables table)

Your appointment is limited to Sanitation Water for All (SWA), a UNICEF hosted fund. 

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.