INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT – DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER RESPONSIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS IN SAMOA

The ‘Strengthening Resilience of Pacific Island States through Universal Social Protection’ joint programme of the United Nations (UN) and Governments in Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau, is being implemented from June 2020 to December 2021, to help strengthen social protection systems in these four Pacific Islands and Territories (PICTs). The implementation of this Social Protection Joint Programme (SP-JP) is spearheaded by a Multi-Country Steering Committee (MCSC) and a Technical Committee (TC)   for each of the four PICTs, in collaboration with five UN Agencies.  

The four PICTs are among the most fragile Small Island Developing States due to their isolation, small economies, and vulnerability. With limited economic opportunities, the quality of life of many of the local people has deteriorated with increased poverty and inequality.  An increased number of people are facing economic hardships and are unable to meet basic needs. Those who are just above the poverty line are more vulnerable to the increasing economic and health shocks. Urbanization and monetization are changing lifestyles and social dynamics creating new forms of hardships, such as high costs of living, lack of access to basic services, and limited decent employment opportunities. Increased rates of non-communicable diseases, alcohol abuse, and domestic violence (especially against women and girls) are also among the key concerns. 

Governments in these four PICTs provide little social protection. Formal Social Protection (SP) is relatively novel in PICTs, and existing SP initiatives are fragmented and limited in scope. Traditional and communal systems have provided local people with social capital and protection through family and community networks, reducing extreme cases of hunger, homelessness and social disorders. However, with increased globalization, as well as increasing economic crises, health pandemics, and other global challenges, traditional protection systems are facing extreme pressure. Communal values of caring and sharing are continuously eroded with some communal obligations contributing to more hardships, particularly for those living in the most vulnerable conditions.   

In line with the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and outcomes of the UNDP Pacific Strategy 2018-2022, the SP Joint Programme (SP-JP) provides support to the four PICTs in developing universal, evidence-based, and nationally owned SP systems. The Government of Samoa through its newly launched Samoa 2040 vision highlighted the importance of social protection for improving and ‘maintaining peace, security, and inclusivity’ in Samoa which are ‘critical for Samoa’s sustainable development aspirations’. 

The SP-JP aims at increasing resilience through viable and financially sustainable SP systems addressing life cycle vulnerabilities, strengthening SP floors, and enhancing employability. Owing to its wide scope that spans life-cycle vulnerabilities, the developed SP floors are expected to improve human development indices, reduce inequalities; support skills development and employment generation; and enhance income security and equitable access to basic services. Inclusive, rights-based SP floors are further expected to empower women, remove discrimination in access to services, and facilitate access to decent work for all including persons with disabilities, school dropouts, youth, and women. Gender is a central dimension of social protection and inclusive development, with improved gender equality as either a driver or outcome of social protection. 

A key and important feature of the SP-JP is the integrated development of gender-responsive social protection mechanisms and initiatives into the overall SP systems that are under review for further development and strengthening. The UNDP’s commissioned review of SP systems in Samoa (Khondker, 2021)  shows that SP systems in Samoa favour the non-poor over poor and vulnerable citizens, including women and children. It identifies that existing social protection systems in Samoa have a disproportionate coverage for men over women in terms of beneficiary transfer amounts. The overall social protection spending, measured by GDP per capita, is 3.3% for males and 2.0% for females, which is an indication of the existence of gender disparities in current social protection systems. While this review provides an overall gap of social protection coverage by gender in Samoa, it, however, it fails to provide a complete picture about the nature and extent of gender disparities (or otherwise) of existing social protection systems in Samoa. It does not provide sufficient evidence-based analysis and grounding to inform the integrated development of a gender-responsive social protection system for Samoa. 

To address this gap, UNDP is seeking the service of a qualified consultant to work with UNDP and Samoa SP-JP Technical Committee in the integrated development of a comprehensive and holistic gender-responsive social protection system for Samoa.

Objectives

The objectives of the consultancy are to:

1. Carry out a comprehensive ‘Gender Analysis of Social Protection Systems in Samoa’;
2. Explore and examine the underlying reasons for the low coverage and/protection of women compared to men under existing social protection systems in Samoa;
3. Analyze key gender gaps in the existing and proposed social protection systems in Samoa and provide recommendations on how existing social protection mechanisms and the proposed social protection framework/system (developed and advanced under the SP-JP) can be made gender-responsive; and
4. Integrate a ‘Gender-Responsive Social Protection System’ into the proposed social protection framework, so that Samoa’s social protection system is gender-inclusive and responsive.

Tasks

To achieve the above objectives, the Consultant is expected to ensure the effective and efficient performance and completion of the following tasks:

i) Carry out a comprehensive gender analysis of the (existing and proposed) social protection systems in Samoa. The analysis needs to:

• include the use of relevant sex-disaggregated data and information to show the existence and extent of gender parities/disparities in social protection systems.
• adopt the life cycle approach to social protection.
• adopt the transformational development lens to social protection.
• examine both the formal and informal social protection systems, including the mechanisms, services, schemes, programmes, and other aspects/dimensions of those social protection systems. 
• consider disaster and emergency informed and responsive social protection, such as the COV-19 stimulus package, disaster (e.g. cyclones) responses, and others.
• examine social protection systems proposed in previous and existing assessments and studies including the National Social Protection Policy for Samoa that is being developed under the SP-JP

ii) Assess the extent to which (existing and proposed) social protection systems are gender-sensitive and/or gender-responsive. This includes identifying the reasons for the low coverage and/protection of women compared to men under existing social protection systems.

iii) Based on the analysis from i) and ii), identify the key gaps within the social protection systems (both existing and proposed), in terms of gender-sensitive and gender-responsive social protection, considering the following areas/dimensions:

• social protection floors – policies, plans, and legislation.
• social protection services, schemes, and programmes.
• coverage level of beneficiaries (current and proposed).
• fiscal space – resource mobilization and expenditure on social protection.
• governance and institutional settings.
• operating and administrative systems.
• the extent of effective and efficient implementation.
• human resource capacity requirements for the implementation of the proposed gender-sensitive/gender-responsive social protection system.
• monitoring and evaluation mechanisms/capacities.

iv) To inform the above-mentioned required gender analysis of social protection systems and the integrated development of a proposed gender-responsive social protection system for Samoa, carry out:

• The required stakeholder consultations to seek the views of key stakeholders and that those views must be incorporated and reflected in the reports (deliverables of this consultancy).
• A review of the relevant literature to identify (and thence incorporate into the above-mentioned gender analysis as well as the integrated development of a proposed gender-responsive social protection for Samoa) the following:
  • best practices.
  • evidence of what has worked and has not worked.
  • lessons learned.

a benchmark of gender-responsive social protection in Samoa against those in the region and at the global level.  

v) Provide recommendations on how existing social protection mechanisms and the proposed social protection framework (developed and advanced under the SP-JP) can be made gender-responsive.

vi) As part of v), integrate a ‘Gender-Responsive Social Protection System’ into the social protection framework so that Samoa’s social protection system is gender-inclusive and responsive. The ‘gender-responsive social protection system’ must encompass and address the following areas/components:

• SP policy inclusive of SP floor(s) – inclusive of contributive and non-contributive measures.
• Contributions of both formal and informal systems to social protection – identifying areas for development/strengthening of a contextualized and sustainable SP system.
• Gender-sensitive fully costed SP system.
• Cost-benefit analysis of the proposed gender-responsive SP system.
• SP system administration and implementation requirements.  
• Capacity development needs and requirements for the adoption and implementation of the proposed gender-responsive SP system.
• Multi-year Implementation Plan, Budget, and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.
• Recommendations including areas for prioritized implementation.

vii) Seek other expert inputs on the ‘Gender Analysis’ and ‘Proposed Gender-Responsive Social Protection System’ for Samoa.

viii) Present the findings of the ‘Gender Analysis’ and ‘Proposed Gender-Responsive Social Protection System’ to key stakeholders, including the SP-JP Technical Committee and the Multi-Country Steering Committee (MCSC).

ix) Ensure incorporation of inputs of experts, stakeholders, Technical Committee, MCSC, and others into the finalization of the ‘Gender Analysis’ and ‘Proposed Gender-Responsive Social Protection System’.

Expected outputs and deliverables

In line with the scope of work outlined above, the Consultant is expected to ensure the effective and efficient completion and submission of the outputs and deliverables within the timelines specified in Table 1 below:

Table 1: Outputs, deliverables, and timelines

Timeframe of the consultancy 

Within the timelines specified in Table 1 above, the Consultant is expected to commence this consultancy in May 2021 and to complete it by July 2021.

Payment Schedule 

The Consultant will be remunerated in accordance with the effective completion and submission of the required deliverables within the timelines of the required timelines in Table 1. The payment schedule will be processed in accordance with the payment schedule given in Table 2:

Table 2: Payment schedule

The Consultant will be recruited for 40 working days from the effective date of the contract. S/he has to perform all the activities in about 9 weeks of this consultancy timeframe.

Functional Competencies

• Strong understanding of social protection systems.
• Strong understanding of gender-responsive social protection.
• Strong policy and planning knowledge and skills.
• Strong analytical skills and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent research and evaluative skills.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Excellent inter-personal and teamwork skills, networking skills, and proven ability to work well in multicultural environments.
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with various partners including government, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies, development partners, and communities.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to foster relationships with key stakeholders.
• Ability to work under pressure, effectively coordinate others and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of work.

Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Qualifications and Experiences:

• Minimum Master’s degree in Gender, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Law, Public Administration, Public Policy, Social Policy and/or related social sciences.
• At least 10 years of work experience at international level in Social protection, Social sciences, Gender, Sociology, Development economics, Poverty reduction, and/or Labour market and skills development at theoretical and practical levels in the field.
• Proven experience in providing policy and programming advice in the area related to Social Protection, Social Security, Welfare and Well-being.
• Demonstrated experience in gender analysis, gender mainstreaming, and gender policy advocacy in social and economic development, including social protection development and strengthening work.
• Proven track record of experience in undertaking policy development and strengthening work.
• Substantial experience in research related to social protection, poverty reduction, analyzing poverty and vulnerability, etc.
• Relevant work experience in the Pacific Islands is a strong advantage.
• Relevant work experience in developing countries in a multi stakeholder environment with a development organization, Government, civil society, private sector, or a research/academic institution.
• Sound understanding of project results-based management would be an asset.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English required.

The assessment of individual consultants will be in accordance with the evaluation criteria below:

• 70% for Technical; and
• 30% for Financial.

Technical Evaluation Criteria will be based on the information provided in the CV and relevant documents that are to be submitted as evidence to support the above required criteria.

Only the top 3 candidates that have achieved a minimum of 49 points (70% of 100 points) will be deemed technically compliant and considered for the interview assessment.

The technical competencies will be assessed as per criteria and scoring outlined in Table 3:

Table 3: Evaluative criteria for the consultancy

RECOMMENDED SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Given below is the recommended format for submitting your proposal. Proposals must include:

• CV or P11 form addressing the evaluation criteria and why you consider yourself the most suitable for this assignment. The selected candidate must submit a signed P11 prior to contract award.
• 3 professional references most recent.
• A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work.
• Financial Proposal specifying the daily rate and other expenses, if any.
• Letter of interest and availability specifying the available date to start and other details.

Kindly note you can upload only ONE document to this application as per the annexes from this

Proposals must be submitted by 7 June 2021.

Incomplete applications will not be considered and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Queries about the consultancy can be directed to the UNDP Procurement Unit via [email protected].

DOWNLOAD THE FORMS FOR SUBMISSION AND THE COMPLETE TERMS OF REFERENCE FROM THE PROCUREMENT NOTICE ON WEBSITE https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=78802