Repost: Home-based, part time consultancy to document practices in Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) in UNICEF

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, hope

This is a call for a home-based, part-time consultancy for 80 working days within the period September-January 2022

How can you make a difference?

Background
As UNICEF, we are strongly committed to putting affected families, children and adolescents at the center of our work, as reflected in the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, in the IASC commitments on Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), in the Grand Bargain and wider 2030 Agenda commitments. These are central elements for improving the quality and effectiveness of our humanitarian and development programmes and ensuring affected communities can fulfil their rights to participate and be heard.
Building on existing good practices in country programmes, UNICEF is implementing a roadmap to scale-up Accountability to Affected Populations across the entire organization, in order to put our commitments into practice in a systematic and coordinated manner.
One of the key results of the roadmap is that “Good practices in AAP across UNICEF programmes are fully documented and shared across the organization and with partners, to build-up an evidence base for future programmes”.

Purpose
The purpose of the consultancy is to:
• Identify and document good and promising practices in AAP in UNICEF programmes at country level, including recent experiences from Covid-19 response.
• Develop a series of good practice technical briefs that describe the practice and what it entails in terms of process, resources, results, lessons learned and challenges.
• Develop an advocacy brief summarizing key lessons learned in strengthening AAP in programmes and barriers to success.
• Develop an analysis brief on the role of governments in strengthening AAP and related a guidance note for UNICEF Country Offices.

Scope of work
Since the adoption of a business case in 2018 to scale up AAP across the organization, AAP commitments have been embedded into relevant programme policies and procedures in UNICEF, and approaches have been implemented by a number of Country Offices in a variety of humanitarian and development programmes, including during Covid-19 response. This progress has been monitored and documented; however, an in-depth documentation of successful AAP processes hasn’t been carried out to date.
Such documentation will allow UNICEF to share specific knowledge on AAP more broadly within the organization, and to produce evidence of successful initiatives that can be replicated at organizational and inter-organizational level.
Managed by the Senior Advisor, Community Engagement and Accountability, EMOPS Geneva, and working closely with the AAP Officer (Knowledge Management) and the AAP specialist, the consultant will work on the following deliverables:

Document a series of good practices in AAP implemented by UNICEF Country Offices
• Review existing compendiums, databases and documentation of work carried out to date to identify 10-12 most promising practices or examples of AAP in UNICEF programmes. Such practices cover a variety of approaches, including participation of affected populations in decision-making, complaints and feedback mechanisms, partnership with a variety of stakeholders, including governments, and innovative approaches from Risk Communication and Community Engagement during Covid-19 response that have contributed to strengthening AAP approaches.
• Design questionnaires for interviews to be carried out with different stakeholders.
• Coordinate interviews with UNICEF Country Offices, UNICEF partners and other relevant stakeholders.
• For each practice identified, conduct a series of interviews with UNICEF staff, staff from implementing partners organizations or other relevant stakeholders to understand the work carry out.
• Collect relevant documents, guidance and tools used by Country Offices for the implementation of each practice.
• Produce summaries of interviews highlighting process undertaken, challenges, success factors and lessons learned.

Develop good practice technical briefs on AAP linked to technical tools
• Develop a template structure for the briefs, including suggestions for design of the materials.
• Based on the interviews carried out and the summaries of interviews, draft 10-12 technical brief of good practices in AAP.
• Each brief should reference 5-10 technical tools produced by Country Offices that can support replicating the practice.
• Coordinate inputs and seek feedback from Country Offices, AAP Unit and other relevant stakeholders and review products accordingly.
Develop an advocacy brief on AAP
• Develop a template structure for the advocacy brief, including suggestion for design.
• Drawing from elements highlighted by in the technical briefs, such as lessons leaned and challenges, develop an advocacy brief aimed at UNICEF senior level management.
• Coordinate inputs and seek feedback from AAP Unit, AAP working group and other relevant stakeholders and review product accordingly.
Produce an analysis brief and guidance note on role of governments in AAP
• Review existing literature that describes engagement of governments in the implementation of AAP commitments in UNICEF’s programme, including linkages to social accountability and the humanitarian-development nexus.
• Develop a set of questions and carry out interviews with relevant stakeholders to fill gaps from literature review. Such analysis can be combined with documentation of good practices.
• Develop policy analysis brief that analyze the role of governments in upholding AAP commitments
• Develop a short practical guidance note for UNICEF Country Offices on how governments can be engaged on AAP.

Document a series of good practices in AAP implemented by UNICEF Country Offices	Questionnaires for interviews with different stakeholders Summaries of interviews highlighting process undertaken, challenges, success factors and lessons learned.	30 days
Develop technical briefs on AAP	Template structure for the briefs. 10-12 technical briefs of good practices in AAP.	20 days
Develop an advocacy brief on AAP	Advocacy brief for UNCIEF senior management.	10 days
Produce analysis brief and guidance note on role of governments in AAP	Analysis brief for UNCIEF senior management. Guidance note for UNICEF Country Offices	20 days

Payment: payments will be done upon submission of the invoice after successful completion of the deliverables as certified by the supervisor. The payments  will be issued on the schedule to each milestone defined below:
Deliverable 1+2 – 50%
Deliverable 3+4 – 50%

The performance of work will be evaluated based on the following indicators:
• Completion of tasks specified in ToR.
• Compliance with the established deadlines for submission of deliverables.
• Quality of deliverables.
• Demonstration of high standards of work.

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

-Advanced Degree in the field of Social Science, Communications, Humanitarian Affairs, Development Studies, or a closely related field.

– Minimum 6 years of professional experience in the area of development and humanitarian response and/or international development.
– Familiarity with the principles of accountability to affected populations, social accountability, and community engagement (feedback and complaints mechanisms, participation, information provision).
– Professional expertise in documentation, designing and conducting qualitative research reviews and evaluations, design of surveys, conducting interviews and groups discussions and data collection.
– Extensive experience in interpreting and summarizing results of qualitative research, drafting case studies and technical briefs, and presentation of findings for advocacy.
– Experience with managing and conducting multi-stakeholder consultations at different levels.
– Preferably work experiences with UNICEF or other UN agency, ideally in a country office.
– Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently
– Excellent English communication and writing skills. Samples of previous work will be required.
– Knowledge of French or Spanish is an asset.

Interested qualified candidates should apply online within the given deadline and submit the following along with the duly complete online profile:
• CVs and/or Personal history forms (downloadable from http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc(P11 supersedes CV)
• A proposed approach/methodology. (2 pages max)
• Samples of previous work (links or attachments)
• Daily fee in USD. Applications without fees will not be considered.

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.

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.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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

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.