National Individual Consultant: National Disability Action Planning (NDAP), 6 months, UNICEF State of Palestine

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 fulfil 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, a voice.

UNICEF in the State of Palestine works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential. We are working for every child and young person in the State of Palestine.

Under the supervision of the Social Policy Specialist, the National Disability Action Planning Consultant will work directly with the Ministry of Social Development to draft the NDAP. The NDAP will cover a period of 2021 to 2023 to align to the period of the current National Policy Agenda (NPA) and the Social Development Sector Strategy (SDSS). The final product will be a draft of the NDAP presented to the Ministry of Social Development for final endorsement. The process of development must respect the national COVID-19 regulations.

The process must be open and consultative by bringing in views and requirements of government, civil society with a focus on Disabled Persons Organizations, private sector, academia, UN agencies and donors. The process of consultation and stakeholder engagement is equally important as the development of the NDAP as this will: i) bring stakeholders together in dialogue; and ii) facilitate contact between organizations that can collaborate to take action on agreed national priorities within the NDAP.

How can you make a difference?

This consultancy will support strengthening the realization of Disability Rights across the social protection in the State of Palestine. The consultant will work directly with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) as it leads the portfolio for the rights of persons with disability under the Social Development Sector Strategy (2017-2023). The project is part of the UN joint programme on Social Protection strengthening between ILO, UNICEF and WFP focused on the rights of Persons with Disability (PwD) and Older Persons (OP). The Joint Programme aims to support the government’s effort to adapt the national social protection system to address the specific needs of particularly vulnerable groups, notably PwD and OP.

Major Tasks to be accomplished:

The Consultant will work with the Ministry of Social Development to develop a National Disability Action Plan. The consultant will:

1. Deliver an Inception Report in the first month based upon desk review of existing documents and initial discussions with a limited number of key stakeholders including MOSD, 1-2 Disabled Persons Organizations, and UNICEF. The inception report will include (but not be limited to):
   1. Proposed methodology
   2. Proposed timeframe of implementation
   3. List of key stakeholders by category (Ministries; Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs); International NGOs working with PwD in the SoP, Academia; Private Sector; UN Agencies; donors active on disability rights)
   4. Proposed structure of the National Disability Action Plan
   5. Challenges with risk analysis and mitigation measures
   6. List of reference materials
2. Hold a national consultation process with a broader number of key stakeholders including Ministries; Disabled Persons Organizations; Academia; Private Sector; UN Agencies; and donors active on disability rights. This may either be through a national workshop or through other means dependent on COVID regulations. The Consultant will issue a report on this national consultation that will include (but not be limited to):
   1. Proposed structure of the NDAP including categories of action and draft action areas
   2. List of organizations consulted with names and functions of participants
3. Draft a National Disability Action Plan for review and inputs by key stakeholders. The draft will include:
   1. Categories of action such as: Legislation and Policy; Physical Access Issues; Early Childhood Development, community engagement with focus on combat stigma towards people with disability
   2. Specific actions including details such as: Responsible organization; Timeframe for delivery; Priority (High; Medium; Low); Status (Not started; Ongoing; Complete)
   3. Budget: This must either be per year or for the full 3-year period of NDAP.
4. Develop a final draft of the National Disability Action Plan for endorsement by the Ministry of Social Development or the council of ministers. This final draft must integrate feedback from the key stakeholders consulted as part of the process. This may either be a national workshop or through other means dependent on COVID regulations.

Deliverables and deadline(s) for submission: 

Deliverable Date	Deliverable	% of payment
30 May 2021	Inception Report	25%
30 July 2021	Report of first round of national consultation for the development of the National Disability Action Plan (this may either be a national workshop or through other means dependent on COVID regulations)	25%
31 August 2021	First draft of a costed National Disability Action Plan	25%
31 October 2021	Final draft of a costed National Disability Action Plan for MOSD or the council of ministers’ endorsement	25%

 

Recourse: UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines, if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the partners are not followed

The consultant must respect the confidentiality of the information handled during the assignment. Documents and information provided must be used only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.

Estimated duration of contract and Tentative Dates

6 Months from 1 May to 31 October 2021

Terms of Payment: UNICEF will make the payment to the consultant against the established deliverables. The terms of payment will take into account factors out of the consultants’ control given that these deliverables are dependent upon a range of stakeholders internal and external to UNICEF.

Candidates should submit a financial proposal for the assignment, outlining all-inclusive fees (including professional fees and other professional expenses, etc.).

Duty Station: This consultancy is home based with regular visits to MoSD in Ramallah, State of Palestine. The consultant will be responsible of providing his/her own ICT equipment, while MoSD will secure an office and other office furniture whenever the consultant works at MoSD.

Official Travel Involved: In-country travel may be required. The consultant will be responsible of organizing official travels in consultation with MoSD team and will be responsible of travel costs.

To qualify as an Advocate for every child you will have: 

Qualifications: Advanced University Degree in political or social sciences, human rights or another relevant field. A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.

Experience:

• Minimum three years of professional experience in strategic planning, disability rights and/ or policy analysis.
• Previous experience in developing national planning documents is a requirement.
• Experience working on programming on the rights of persons with disability such as on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) is highly desirable.
• Experience to prepare and implement workshops, meetings, interviews, with high level professionals from the line ministries and MoSD partners representing disability.

Language: Fluency in Arabic is required and fluency in English is highly desirable. The consultant should have high-quality written Arabic for both drafting and editing.

The terms of reference is attached for more information.

 TOR National Individual Contractor National Disability Action Planning (NDAP) Consultant.pdf

 For every Child, you demonstrate: 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability.

Other competencies:

• Strong analytical and writing skills (Arabic and English);
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to develop relations with national governments and humanitarian agencies.
• Ability to adapt to changing requirements and assignments given;
• Ability to identify key strategic issues, opportunities and risks;

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

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

Remarks:

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.

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