Justification/Background
The situation analysis in Lesotho reveals that poverty, unemployment, HIV and AIDS and food insecurity are the major threats to human well-being in Lesotho. A total of 57.1%[1] of population live below the poverty line and poverty rates are 50% higher in rural areas than in urbanareas. Poverty situation in Lesotho is mainly driven by income inequality, with the Gini-Coefficient of 0.525[2]. Moreover, the most vulnerable sectors of the population are not only impacted by poverty, but also unequal access to services and specific vulnerabilities due to geographic location, disability status, impact of HIV and AIDS on families, and gender.
The Lesotho social protection sector has made significant progress in the last 5 years towards a systemic and inclusive system. The legal framework comes from the National Strategic Development Plan 2012-2017 (NSDP) where Government indicated its commitment to promote social protection as a key priority to fight poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. This commitment has been translated by a growing social protection spending in recent years. The country spends about 9.6 percent of GDP on transfer programs, well above the 1-2 percent spent by most developing countries. However, despite the high spending on transfer programmes, only a small share of the benefits goes to the poorest households and consequently the expansion of public spending has not improved Lesotho’s social outcomes by much.
The Lesotho Child Grants Programme initially funded by European Union and taken over by Government of Lesotho in 2013 is the first cash transfer to be targeted to the poor and ultra-poor of Lesotho. It has significantly contributed to strengthen the social protection sector particularly the movement towards establishment of a social protection system.
2. Scope of the Work (Work assignment)
Objective
This consultancy will contribute to support implementation of the Social Policy programme in two main areas:
- Technical supports and inputs to the social protection programs, and
- Knowledge management, including internal and donor reporting, coordination of technical knowledge for advocacy purposes, documentation of lessons learnt and good practices of the Lesotho Country Programme, particularly in the area of social protection (Child grants programme (CGP) experience, Integration of Social safety nets and conditional cash transfer).
Main tasks
For knowledge management and reporting
- Support social policy section on its inputs and contributions to the annual report
- Contribute to the writing of social policy donor reports,
- Contribute to clearance process for all donor reports,
- Participate in the process of formulation of the Description Of action (DOA) for the 3rd phase CGP with EU and Government,
- Support social policy programme in writing project proposals for fundraising
- Support production of relevant policy briefs, articles on lessons learnt and analysis articles regarding CGP implementation and UNICEF’s contribution in the last two years.
For technical advice on social protection
- Participate in section meetings, technical working group meetings and provide inputs
- Support social policy section to implement recommendation from technical working group meeting and project steering committee meeting
- Provide support and inputs in organization of strategic workshops and technical discussions regarding social protection
- Support the monitoring of UNICEF supported social protection programme particularly the CGP expansion, Conditional cash transfer (CCT) and Integrated social safety nets (ISSN) interventions
- Provide quality assurance of technical manuals and implementation tools
- Provide support on implementation of new initiatives to promote graduation to social protection such as (i) community development for graduation, (ii) the one stop shop or referrals mechanisms, (iii)
3. Expected Deliverables
- Final Progress Report to the European Union (EU), based on the EU reporting standards and including a Financial Report,
- Reports on the documentation of lessons learnt of CGP or other social protection initiatives provided,
- Contribution to the final description of action for the EU 3rd phase supported,
- Technical advises, support and orientation provided to implementation of the SSN and CCT pilot as well as formulation of the social protection strategy,
- Funding proposals for resource mobilization supported,
- Consolidated final report on supports and contributions provided.
4. Payment Schedule
· Monthly payment will be issued based on the approval of the monthly implementation report by the Ministry and UNICEF. The monthly implementation report will summarize progress on the implementation of planned activities during the month. It should also highlight challenges, recommendations and suggest the work plan for the next month.
· The final payment will be linked to a full implementation report of the 9 months of consultancy. This report will document key progress and achievements, challenges and recommendation for the way forward.
5. Desired Background and Experience
Supervision
The consultant will be supervised by the Chief of Social Policy and recruited under grade P2 according to his/her level of experience.
Professional background and education
· University Degree in Social sciences, Economics or Development management.
· At least three years of relevant work experience with main focus on social protection.
· Experience in report writing
· Excellent writing and editing skills in English.
· Proven experience in implementing time limited projects and working under tight deadlines.
· Experience with UN or NGO is an asset.
· Good interpersonal and communication skills
6. Conditions
POLICY BOTH PARTIES SHOULD BE AWARE OF:
· Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays.
· Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.
· No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or Contractor.
· For international consultants outside the duty station, signed contracts must be sent by fax or email.
· Signed contract copy or written agreement must be received by the office before Travel Authorization is issued.
· No consultant may travel without a signed Travel Authorization prior to the commencement of the journey to the duty station.
· Unless authorised, UNICEF will buy the tickets of the consultant. In exceptional cases, the consultant may be authorised to buy their travel tickets and shall be reimbursed at the “most economical and direct route” but this must be agreed to beforehand.
· Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.
· Consultant will be required to sign the Health Statement for Consultants/Individual Contractors prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, including Medical Evacuation.
· The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' must be completed by the consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section
[1] Source: Government of Lesotho (2012):National Strategic Development Plan 2012-2017
[2] Source: United Nations Development Programme (2013): Human Development Report 2013
How to apply:
Interested and suitable candidates should ensure that they forward their applications (a cover letter, CV, and signed P11 form which can be downloaded at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc), quoting the indicative fee range with the title of the consultancy to: cmasilo@unicef.org, copying oniang@unicef.org
All applications should be sent by cob 14 November 2014.
Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
