NGO JOBS

Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 09 Sep 2013

Terms of ReferenceChild Poverty and Social Protection Consultancy

1. Background:UNICEF’s central mission has always been to reaching the most deprived and most vulnerable children. Such a focus on equity rests on the normative and moral justifications of the Convention on the Rights of the Child but is also a necessary condition for ensuring long-term growth prospects, which hinge on today’s children being the economic and social engine of future prosperity and well-being.

Evidence of a growing inequity alongside growth in inequality exists across a wide range of countries, despite positive economic growth and progress against targets for many child-related MDGs. Inequality can be captured by disparities in income, health, education and other outcomes, whereas inequity suggests that there is some structural ‘unfairness’: either today’s income inequality is reducing opportunities to become more equal, or there are cultural, political or other reasons for unfairness based on discrimination or other factors. UNICEF’s recent analysis in 2011 found wide differentials in children’s access to basic needs and resources such as health, education, clean water and that these deprivations are disproportionately concentrated among the poorest and most marginalized populations within countries.

UNICEF in The East and Southern Africa region is developing important work on regional approaches to ‘Situational Analysis’ that consider the links between poverty, food security and malnutrition in order to consider better policy responses, including consideration of integrated social protection programmes.

1. Purpose:(UNICEF Social Inclusion Policy and Budgeting (SIPB) Section, based in the Division of Policy and Strategy in UNICEF Headquarters is considering evidence generation from household surveys better understand the incidence and drivers of child poverty and deprivation as well as assess the potential areas of policy advice and advocacy and to develop tools for use at the Regional and Country level to address them alongside child malnutrition.

The Child Poverty and Social Protection unit within the SIPB section is working with UNICEF Regional Social Policy in the East and Southern Africa Region (ESARO) to consider child malnutrition in the light of household consumption levels, food security and poverty status. Under the guidance of the Child Poverty Analysis Specialist (DPS-SIPB), and ESARO Social Policy Regional Advisors, and in consultation with senior staff, the main objective of this assignment is to provide technical and research products to support ESARO UNICEF staff in the development of a Regional Nutritional Situational Analysis.

Two policy-framing pieces of work are required:

i) An assessment of the tools available to improve regional DHS survey indicators of child well-being and malnutrition by including estimates of household monetary consumption status.

This work will test and develop ‘Poverty Mapping’ techniques developed by The World Bank alongside other approaches to ‘matching’ household survey data. The work will produce profiles, advice and tools for ESARO Regional Social Policy staff to assess how far country level data from Demographic & Health Surveys can be supplemented in those countries in the region that do not have access to ‘integrated household surveys’. A preliminary assessment and advice on widening the approach to cover Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys in the region will also be provided

The work will focus in the first instance on the Tanzanian National Panel survey from 2010 and the Tanzanian DHS of 2010.

ii) Produce Profiles and Analytical Tools to Show the Relationships between Consumption Poverty, Food Security and Child Malnutrition

This work will develop a set of analytical tools and evidence to consider the consumption levels of households with children against the national poverty lines, food security status and child malnutrition.

Tools will be developed to improve Regional capacity in Situational Analysis and other areas of UNICEF operational and programming activity to consider the determinants of child malnutrition and the potential of social protection programmes to be part of integrated policy responses to child malnutrition.

Two sets of tools and related evidence are envisaged:

• Descriptive profiles of overlapping incidence based on consumption levels, to illustrate the ranges of household consumption in which children are identified as poor, having food insecurity and being malnourished.

• Based on the findings gained from this first set of tools for consumption profiles, identifying the determinants of malnutrition in children. Models will consider multivariate analysis of poverty, household food security and malnutrition .

This work will be developed in the first instance using a single wave of data from the Tanzanian National Panel. The profiling and regression work will then be repeated in a second country as specified by the ESARO regional social policy team.

A report of each of these country profiles will set out how results from these analyses can be replicated in other countries in the Region using similar integrated surveys. Tools to roll out and expand the work across other countries will be developed, including analytical templates and underlying STATA programming code and archived derived datasets.

With the recent development of expanded coverage of Panel LSMS surveys in the Region, the consultant will also consider and advise on how to develop an approach to improve econometric analysis of the incidence of child malnutrition using panel data in the Region.

In addition, the consultant will provide technical support to The Child Poverty and Social Protection of SIPB on statistical issues and econometric analysis on on-going areas of policy work, In particular two areas of work are:

iii) Analysis to inform policy questions in specific countries related to the targeting and costing of social protection programmes. As part of the unit work in supporting countries on design and costing and financing of social protection, the consultant will support country offices to contribute/lead in ongoing analysis to identify targeting options and costs and poverty impacts of different social protection options, including how to strategically engage where this work in being done by other (e.g. World Bank). The first country for this analytical support will be Myanmar.

iv) Advice and assistance on the specification for analysis of household survey data relating to the incidence of and reform of price subsidies and their replacement with social protection programmes. In particular, such advice will cover the issues of substitution effects, of underlying elasticities and of the role of static and dynamic modeling of effects and reform and how these are best specified to capture children’s health, education and nutritional outcomes alongside household level welfare considerations.

1. Expected results: (measurable results)Under the guidance of the Chief of the Child Poverty and Social Protection Unit, SIPB, DPS at UNICEF New York, the consultant will provide expert econometric analytical skills and advice to the Section in general as well as to the specialist teams within it. The consultant will work on the ESARO Child Malnutrition, Food Security and Poverty under the direct supervision of the Policy Specialist on Child Poverty Analysis, and have regular consultation with ESARO Chief of Social Policy and related staff in the region. Presentations of work and reports will be made in Nairobi office. The consultant will work on Social Protection and Subsidy Reform under the direct joint supervision of the Policy Specialist on Social Protection and Policy Specialist on Child Poverty Analysis.

2. Start date: 24 September 2013 End date: 27 June 2014

3. Timeframe: 9 months

Deliverables Duration(Estimated # of days) DeadlineReport and Tools to improve DHS estimates of child monetary deprivation and malnutrition 60 31st Dec. 2013Poverty, Food Security & Child Malnutrition in Tanzania 40 28th February2014Poverty Food Security & Child Malnutrition in 2nd country 20 30th April 2014Report on Estimation of Child Malnutrition using Panel Survey 20 27th June 2014Advice and assistance on Social Protection simulation and Subsidy Reform modelling 49 As directedTOTAL 189 days

1. Key competences, technical background, and experience required:a) Ph.D. in applied economics, public policy, or other subject where applied econometric techniques can be explicitly demonstrated Specialized training neededb) A minimum of 3 years post PhD work in applied policy analysis, preferably on relevant policy areas in developing countries.c) Substantial experience in managing and analysing household survey micro-data. Experience in advanced regression-based modeling, panel data, simulation and imputation techniques and matching techniques preferredd) Experience in Poverty Mapping preferred.e) Knowledge of child poverty measurement requiredf) Demonstrated high level competency in STATA programming and analysis requiredg) Proven ability to work under tight deadlines and drive for resultsh) Strong drafting and communication skills)i) Fluency in English

General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants / Individual Contractors

1. Legal StatusThe individual engaged by UNICEF under this contract as a consultant or individual contractors (the “Contractor”) is engaged in a personal capacity and not as representatives of a Government or of any other entity external to the United Nations. The Contractor is neither a "staff member" under the Staff Regulations of the United Nations and UNICEF policies and procedures nor an "official" for the purpose of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946. The Contractor may, however, be afforded the status of "Experts on Mission" in the sense of Section 22 of Article VI of the Convention and the Contractor is required by UNICEF to travel in order to fulfil the requirements of this contract, the Contractor may be issued a United Nations Certificate in accordance with Section 26 of Article VII of the Convention.

2. ObligationsThe Contractor shall complete the assignment set out in the Terms of Reference for this contract with due diligence, efficiency and economy, in accordance with generally accepted professional techniques and practices.

The Contractor must respect the impartiality and independence of UNICEF and the United Nations and in connection with this contract must neither seek nor accept instructions from anyone other than UNICEF. During the term of this contract the Contractor must refrain from any conduct that would adversely reflect on UNICEF or the United Nations and must not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICEF. The Contractor must exercise the utmost discretion in all matters relating to this contract.

In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, the Contractor (a) will conduct him- or herself in a manner consistent with the Standards of Conduct in the International Civil Service; and (b) will comply with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICE relating to fraud and corruption; information disclosure; use of electronic communication assets; harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority; and the requirements set forth in the Secretary General's Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

Unless otherwise authorized by the appropriate official in the office concerned, the Contractor must not communicate at any time to the media or to any institution, person, Government or other entity external to UNICEF any information that has not been made public and which has become known to the Contractor by reason of his or her association with UNICEF or the United Nations. The Contractor may not use such information without the written authorization of UNICEF, and shall under no circumstances use such information for his or her private advantage or that of others. These obligations do not lapse upon termination of this contact.

1. Title rights

UNICEF shall be entitled to all property rights, including but not limited to patents, copyrights and trademarks, with regard to material created by the Contractor which bears a direct relation to, or is made in order to perform, this contract. At the request of UNICEF, the Contractor shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to UNICEF in compliance with the requirements of the law governing such rights.

1. Travel

If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform this contract, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract, on the following basis: (a) UNICEF will pay for travel in economy class via the most direct and economical route; provided however that in exceptional circumstances, such as for medical reasons, travel in business class may be approved by UNICEF on a case-by-case basis.
(b) UNICEF will reimburse the Contractor for out-of-pocket expenses associated with such travel by paying an amount equivalent to the daily subsistence allowance that would be paid to staff members undertaking similar travel for official purposes.

1. Statement of good healthBefore commencing work, the Contractor must deliver to UNICEF a certified self-statement of good health and to take full responsibility for the accuracy of that statement. In addition, the Contractor must include in this statement of good health (a) confirmation that he or she has been informed regarding inoculations required for him or her to receive, at his or her own cost and from his or her own medical practitioner or other party, for travel to the country or countries to which travel is authorized; and (b) a statement he or she is covered by medical/health insurance and that, if required to travel beyond commuting distance from his or her usual place or residence to UNICEF (other than to duty station(s) with hardship ratings “H” and “A”, a list of which has been provided to the Contractor) the Contractor’s medical/health insurance covers medical evacuations. The Contractor will be responsible for assuming all costs that may be occurred in relation to the statement of good health.

2. InsuranceThe Contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expense, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of this contract as he or she considers appropriate taking into account, among other things, the requirements of paragraph 5 above. The Contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members. The responsibility of UNICEF and the United Nations is limited solely to the payment of compensation under the conditions described in paragraph 7 below.

3. Service incurred death, injury or illness If the Contractor is travelling with UNICEF’s prior approval and at UNICEF's expense in order to perform his or her obligations under this contract, or is performing his or her obligations under this contract in a UNICEF or United Nations office with UNICEF’s approval, the Contractor (or his or her dependents as appropriate), shall be entitled to compensation from UNICEF in the event of death, injury or illness attributable to the fact that the Contractor was travelling with UNICEF’s prior approval and at UNICEF's expense in order to perform his or her obligations under this contractor, or was performing his or her obligations under this contract in a UNICEF or United Nations office with UNICEF’s approval. Such compensation will be paid through a third party insurance provider retained by UNICEF and shall be capped at the amounts set out in the Administrative Instruction on Individual Consultants and Contractors. Under no circumstances will UNICEF be liable for any other or greater payments to the Contractor (or his or her dependents as appropriate).

4. Arbitration(a) Any dispute arising out of or, in connection with, this contract shall be resolved through amicable negotiation between the parties.
   (b) If the parties are not able to reach agreement after attempting amicable negotiation for a period of thirty (30) days after one party has notified the other of such a dispute, either party may submit the matter to arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL procedures within fifteen (15) days thereafter. If neither party submits the matter for arbitration within the specified time the dispute will be deemed resolved to the full satisfaction of both parties. Such arbitration shall take place in New York before a single arbitrator agreed to by both parties; provided however that should the parties be unable to agree on a single arbitrator within thirty days of the request for arbitration, the arbitrator shall be designated by the United Nations Legal Counsel. The decision rendered in the arbitration shall constitute final adjudication of the dispute.

5. Penalties for Underperformance

Payment of fees to the Contractor under this contractor, including each instalment or periodic payment (if any), is subject to the Contractor’s full and complete performance of his or her obligations under this contract with regard to such payment to UNICEF’s satisfaction, and UNICEF’s certification to that effect.

1. Termination of ContractThis contract may be terminated by either party before its specified termination date by giving notice in writing to the other party. The period of notice shall be five (5) business days (in the UNICEF office engaging the Contractor) in the case of contracts for a total period of less than two (2) months and ten (10) business days (in the UNICEF office engaging the Contractor) in the case of contracts for a longer period; provided however that in the event of termination on the grounds of impropriety or other misconduct by the Contractor (including but not limited to breach by the Contractor of relevant UNICEF policies, procedures, and administrative instructions), UNICEF shall be entitled to terminate the contract without notice. If this contract is terminated in accordance with this paragraph 10, the Contractor shall be paid on a pro rata basis determined by UNICEF for the actual amount of work performed to UNICEF’s satisfaction at the time of termination. UNICEF will also pay any outstanding reimbursement claims related to travel by the Contractor. Any additional costs incurred by UNICEF resulting from the termination of the contract by either party may be withheld from any amount otherwise due to the Contractor under this paragraph 10.

2. TaxationUNICEF and the United Nations accept no liability for any taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant and individual contractor on payments made under this contract. Neither UNICEF nor the United Nations will issue a statement of earnings to the consultant and individual contractor

How to apply:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV and P 11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html) to pdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line “Child Poverty and Social Protection Consultancy/Social Inclusion, Budget and Policy Section” by 9 September 2013, 5:00pm EST. Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.