Long Term National Individual Consultancy: Ministry Focal Point for Technical Support on Implementation of UNICEF DGSA Joint Activities

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For every child, an Advocate

Long Term National Individual Consultancy: Ministry Focal Point for the technical support on implementation of UNICEF & DGSA joint activities for 2021-2025 CPD targets and CCTE for Syrians and Other Refugees Programme

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

Turkey has a well-developed Social Protection system supporting Turkish nationals and further extended to Syrian and other refugees residing in Turkey. Turkey is home to the largest number of refugees in the world. There are more than 3,6 million Syrian refugees, including 1,7 million children, as well as 320,000 refugees and asylum seekers of other nationalities, of whom at least 140,000 are children. UNICEF Turkey has been supporting the Government of Turkey to respond to refugee crisis and strengthen the overall social protection system for all children as per the Country Programme Document (CPD) priorities in the form of several programmes and partnerships in the areas of social protection, child protection and education.

 

The Government of Turkey (GoT) has been providing conditional education grants for children from the most vulnerable families in the Turkish society since the beginning of 2000s. Since 2017, the GoT has extended the national Conditional Cash Transfers for Education (CCTE) Programme to refugee families in Turkey. This extension (CCTE for Refugees) is through a partnership between the Ministry of Family and Social Services (MoFSS), the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRC) and UNICEF. The CCTE for Refugees has two components; a cash component, under which a cash transfer is provided to families with at least one child attending school. This component is implemented across the country. Transfer values are set per child and vary by school level and gender, the amount being higher for girls than boys and for secondary school students than primary school students. Second component is the child protection component, aiming at referring vulnerable children who stop attending school to a range of child protection services. This component is currently implemented in selected provinces with highest number of refugees.

According to the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), nearly 800,000 Syrian and other refugee (i.e. Iraqi) children are enrolled in schools across the country as of June 2021. Nevertheless, it is estimated that more than 400,000 Syrian children remain out of school. In order to increase access and attendance to schools as protective environments for the most vulnerable children, UNICEF is supporting the extension of the national CCTE Programme to the Syrians and other refugees in Turkey.

In addition to refugee crisis, due to its location Turkey is also being exposed to a range of natural hazards in recent years including big earthquakes and devastating floods. Given the significant risk, Turkey has developed a set of legislative frameworks, national institutional arrangements, and sector specific capacities to mitigate and manage the impact of natural disasters such as Law No.5902. and Turkey National Disaster Response Plan (TAMP). However, Turkish social policy regime in general and social assistance system is to include more comprehensive and responsive measures addressing socio-economic consequences of different risks and multiple vulnerabilities.

 

COVID-19 was also one of the incidents which Turkey’s social protection system was stressed in a protracted way. Turkey was one of the first countries that has announced a wide range of aid package from social assistance to wage subsidies as a response to COVID-19. With thanks to Integrated Social Assistance Information Management System (ISAIS) which is capable of single registry and interoperable with many different governmental databases, Turkey has very rapidly expanded currently existing social assistance programmes vertically by increasing the transfer amounts, whereas horizontal expansion was also achieved to address the needs of the people whose vulnerability were recently emerged because of overwhelming effect of pandemic. Turkey has gained a very significant experience during this time in efficient use of the social assistance system at the time of shocks. In this respect, UNICEF and MoFSS have also extended partnership on developing and implementing activities for a better social protection system in line with 2021-2025 UNICEF Country Programme. UNICEF is providing technical support on a more comprehensive and better delivery mechanism which entails broader activities on Shock-Responsive and child-focused Social Protection System (SRSP), linkages and integration between social protection and social services programmes based on Cash+ Programming Principles.

How can you make a difference?

PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The main objective of this consultancy is to provide technical and administrative support to General Directorate of Social Assistance (DGSA)  under MoFSS in the implementation of the activities within UNICEF 2021-2025 Country Programme, including developing shock responsive social protection system, improving social assistance delivery mechanisms, integration of social services to social assistance programmes (Cash+) and support implementation of the CCTE for refugees programme.

SCOPE OF WORK

The selected consultant is expected to work under the supervision of the UNICEF Social Policy Officer and the relevant department/s in DGSA under MoFSS; and s/he will primarily be responsible for the following tasks:

1. 1. Analyze relevant documents (i.e. global programme and policy handbooks, guidance notes, and implementation guides) to keep abreast of the dynamic situation in regard to social policies, social protection, social assistance, child poverty, child well-being, shock responsiveness and refugees in Turkey.
   2. Facilitate and provide technical/administrative support for planning and implementation of the 2021-2025 UNICEF CPD joint activities with GDSA on development of integrated, child-sensitive, shock- responsive social assistance programming and integration between social protection and social services (Cash+);
   3. In coordination with Social Protection Officer, provide support core programmatic, planning and coordination processes for the implementation of CCTE for refugees programme,
   4. Facilitate and support the preparation of proposals for relevant capacity strengthening activities to be funded by international institutions; provide support for implementation and coordination of the currently implemented projects in line with UNICEF CPD priorities,
   5. Keep track and ensure that learning from CCTE for Refugees and relevant implementations contributes to the development of integrated, child-sensitive, shock- responsive social protection programming in Turkey;
   6. Ensure risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall process for planning and implementation of the activities in close consultation with relevant partners and UNICEF,
   7. Support planning, administrative work, logistics and implementation of relevant workshops, seminars, conferences, and trainings with counterparts and implementing partners at central and local levels,
   8. Facilitate smooth coordination and communication between central and local offices of the MoFSS including Social Assistance Solidarity Foundations, also other departments within MoFSS and with external partners,
   9. Undertake any other task to ensure the smooth roll-out and implementation of the activities.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy: The national consultant should provide a lump-sum fee. The proposed amount should present the breakdown of monthly fee of the consultant in TL (multiplied by 8 months).

Although the consultancy service does not require a frequent travel schedule, it is expected occasional domestic travels in line with the deliverables. Based on this, an estimation of relevant expenses for inter-city transportation, meals during travel and accommodation for total of 5 domestic travels should also be included in the proposal as a separate line. Such expenses will only be paid when the needed travel is done.

Please note that UNICEF will not pay any other additional cost than the proposed fee.

Payment Schedule: UNICEF will issue a national contract with the consultant in Turkish Liras. The payment will be done in monthly installments upon deliverables as per contractual agreement and will be executed in TL.

Supervision: The consultant will be supervised by the Social Policy Officer of UNICEF Turkey Country Office and relevant Department Heads for the implementation of the above-mentioned activities under DGSA of MoFSS.

REMARKS AND RESERVATIONS

UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract without a prior notice and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and partners are not followed, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

All relevant intellectual property rights in the developed materials/products/documents and associated tools will, upon their development, belong to UNICEF TCO and cannot be published, disseminated, or used without prior written permission of UNICEF.

The consultant will also fully comply with data security and confidentiality policies of MoFSS and will be asked to sign an agreement of non-disclosure by MoFSS.

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

• 1. Degree on psychology, sociology, social policy, economics, law, public administration, social work, statistics, or any other relevant field;
  2. 2 years of relevant work experience,
  3. Previous experience in/with government institutions/INGOs/NGOs,
  4. Knowledge on child rights, poverty reduction and social protection mechanisms,
  5. Knowledge of Turkey’s social protection and social assistance systems is an asset,
  6. Knowledge on shock-responsive social protection system, child policies and cash+ programmes is an asset;
  7. Knowledge and previous experience in the use of social protection mechanisms in emergency settings is an asset,
  8. Familiarity with tools and programs for statistical analysis is an asset;
  9. Full command of Microsoft office is an asset,
  10. Fluency in Turkish is must and a good command of in English is must

 

Please note that the assignment can only be held by an individual national consultant. Applications should be submitted in English and should include:

1. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL ( Price Proposal-MoFSSFocal-TURA2021D_F.docx )with a lump-sum fee to undertake the assignment, with a breakdown of monthly fee of the consultant in TL, and the total incidentals for 5 domestic travels;
2.  P11 Form.doc, where previous experience in relevant filed of work is provided in detail.
3. Cover Letter explaining the motivation behind application in this consultancy (the letter should not be more than 2 pages).

Applications missing the above documents, as described, or late submissions will not be taken into consideration. If needed, an interview may be conducted with the applicants during the evaluation process.

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.