Historique

The present Terms of Reference invites expressions of interest (EOI) for the contracting of one experienced individual to undertake the provision of technical support to the UN Joint Programme implementing agencies, UNICEF and UN Women, on gender equality and child sensitive social protection reform in Barbados and the OECS.
 
Barbados and Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are high and upper middle-income countries with populations ranging from 5,000 (Montserrat) to 294,000 (Barbados). Overall, social and economic indicators are impressive and characterized by medium to high human development, but remain very different across the countries. Similarly, countries ranging from high income to middle income also characterize the region.
Throughout the countries of the sub-region, progress towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been steady. The countries have made notable progress towards the achievement of goals 2 (achieve universal primary education), 3 (promote gender equality and empower women), 4 (reduce child mortality), 5 (improve maternal health), 6 (combat HIV, AIDS, malaria and other diseases), and to a lesser extent, goal 7 (ensure environmental sustainability).
Despite favorable socio-economic indicators, Barbados and the OECS countries remain some of the most vulnerable in the world with regard to natural disasters and environmental degradation, economic dependency and social risks and vulnerabilities. During the period 2008-2011, this situation was exacerbated by the global economic crises, which further exposed the inherent structural weakness of these already small, open and highly dependent economies.
The rising levels of unemployment, reduced working hours and wage cuts have become key features of public and private sector austerity programmes. This decline in economic and productive output has resulted in countries reducing their public spending, including social expenditure, by almost one-third, thereby exposing the most disadvantaged to further economic and social risks and threats and potentially slowing progress toward meeting the MDGs.
Poverty rates in the sub-region range from 18.3% in Antigua and Barbuda to 37.7% in Grenada. Numerous UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, ILO, CDB and World Bank studies have found that income poverty is concentrated amongst women-headed households. Children, women and the elderly are the most affected, as are those living in rural areas. Further, poverty is inter-generational; limited social mobility arising from poor education and minimal labour market opportunities means that children that grow up in poor households are likely to themselves remain poor as adults.  Across the region, these children live predominantly in female headed households where there is no residential father contributing regularly and dependably to child care. Additionally, single parenthood is, in no country, a category of eligibility for social safety net support by the state. The OECS study on social safety nets in the Eastern Caribbean reveals that less than 12% of expenditure is targeted at single parent households. Child care is therefore essentially privatised and gendered, with women carrying the predominant burden of care given that shared family responsibility between mothers and fathers is not embedded in culture.
 
A striking feature of the social assistance landscape is the number and variety of programs involved in the provision of social assistance in each country reviewed. These include cash transfers, near-cash programs (e.g., food stamps and voucher), in-kind transfers and services, active labour market programs, community-based programs, social care services and targeted housing programs. All these social assistance programs that serve, or could serve a risk management function; however, while there is considerable scope for the strengthening of social safety nets, at the same time, there are significant challenges to providing an effective social safety net.
To ensure enhanced coordination and a comprehensive level of support to the countries of the Eastern Caribbean, the UN has come together under a Joint Programme (2013-2015) which seeks to enhance equity, income equality and reduce poverty by rolling out social protection floor initiative and child and gender responsive social protection reform in Barbados and the OECS.

The specific objectives of the programme are:
  • Support national governments in establishing and implementing social protection floors for preventing and alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in Barbados and the OECS;
  • Improve national social protection legal and policy framework for Barbados and the OECS;
  • Strengthen national capacities in (a) child and gender responsive social protection, (b) monitoring and evaluation systems for social protection and (3) active labour market programmes in Barbados and the OECS.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Objectives of the Consultancy
 
The overall objective of the consultancy is to support the UN in ensuring that the outputs supported by the Joint Programme are gender and child-responsive and that the subsequent policies, capacities and monitoring tools adopted in the Barbados and the OECS recognize the different impact that social protection policies have on women and men, girls and boys.  Specifically, the objectives of the consultancy are:
  • Identification of opportunities and methodologies within the Joint Programme’s inception for UN Women’s strengthened support in ensuring gender-responsive policy development and implementation in the area of social protection. This includes guiding UN Women and partners in the use of gender-responsive budgeting tools and methodologies;
  • Provide technical oversight and input to the gender and child-responsive methodologies and analysis being adopted in support of Social Protection Expenditure Review (SPER) and to the Social Budget Analysis to be conducted in three countries;
  • Assist local capacity to develop and adopt gender-responsive national child and gender responsive social protection policy/frameworks in Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
  • Assist local capacity to develop and adopt methodologies to ensure costing of national child and gender responsive Social protection policies/frameworks in Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
  • Contribute towards sub-regional social protection legal review and the eventual Sub-regional Model Social Protection law with a gender and child lens;
  • Provision of gender-responsive technical assistance for consolidation and harmonization of social assistance programmes in Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis, and their Management Information Systems;
Outputs and Specific Activities:
Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Representative, and working in close consultation with the Social and Economic Policy Specialist of UNICEF, the consultant will be responsible for the following outputs in achievement of the above objectives:
  • Develop and finalise a 12 month work plan for the consultancy, after a desk-top review and induction mission to the Caribbean, in coordination with UNICEF and UN Women;
  • Advise UN Women on its programme opportunities within the UN Joint Programme, and provide technical guidance to Caribbean-based experts and implementing partners therein;
  • Upon request, advise and guide UN agencies and staff, locally based experts and implementing partners under the UN Joint Programme on Social Protection so as to ensure a child-responsive and gender-responsive approach under the Joint Programme;
  • Advise, develop and support the use of methodologies in the areas of policy development, costing and fiscal space initiatives, monitoring of policy implementation, and national capacity development, so as to ensure a gender and child responsive approach in all instances;
  • Identify and support the actions necessary to support strengthened capacity in the Caribbean to ensure a child and gender-responsive approach to social protection and budgeting therein;
  • Provision of technical inputs into the tools and methodologies developed under the Joint Programme so as to ensure a gender and child responsive approach;
Reporting Requirements:
Overall reporting of the consultant will be to the UN Women Representative, who will oversee the consultancy on behalf of the UNICEF-led UN Joint Programme. Day to day work of the consultancy will be defined under a work plan, and will be carried out in close coordination and in support of the work of the Joint Programme’s team, including the UNICEF Social and Economic Policy Specialist and the UN Women Programme Specialist on Economic and Political Leadership.

Compétences

Core values:
  • Demonstrates integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
  • Demonstrates professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Core competencies:
  • Extensive experience in Child and Gender-Responsive Social Protection Policies and Budgeting;
  • Excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex concepts and recommendations, both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences;
  • Ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with national partners and pro-activeness in identifying of beneficiaries and partners’ needs, and matching them to appropriate solutions.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:
  • Advanced degree in Economics, Gender Studies; Public Administration, Public Policy, or related field.
Experience:
  • At least seven years proven expertise in support of inclusive poverty reduction and social policy development;
  • Proven expertise in the application of socially inclusive budgeting methodologies and tool development;
  • Proven expertise in the guiding child and gender sensitive policy development and monitoring, ideally in the area of social protection and poverty reduction;
  • Proven knowledge and capacity in gender analysis of policies and budgets;
  • Ability to work in an independent manner and organize the workflow efficiently
  • Familiarity with the UN system, IMF and World Bank systems and programmes considered an asset;
  • Understanding/experience in Latin America and the Caribbean is considered an asset.
Language:
  • Fluency in spoken and written English
Location and Duration:
 
Duration
Consultancy will run from 22 October 2013 until end September 2014, with possibility of renewal. Total number of days under the consultancy is estimated at 100 days within this period.
 
Location
Home based with ability to travel two to three times within the above period.
 
Administrative Information
 
Payment: Payment schedule to be agreed to prior to the issuance of contract, but expected to make payments every eight weeks, as per deliverables to be outlined in the approved work plan for the consultancy.
 
Hardware, software, and communication: The consultant must be equipped with a portable computer (laptop). The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based communication (Skype or equivalent) is required.
 
Expressions of Interest
Please submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) by close of business 7th October 2013
 
EOIs must include:
  • A cover letter highlighting the specific post for which you are applying;
  • Detailed curriculum vitae including a description of main achievements;
  • A price proposal quoted in United States dollars (US$) indicating daily rates and preferred fee structure based on deliverables.
EOIs should be submitted by email to the attention of Marcia Lavine, UN Women (Marcia.lavine@unwomen.org)