Background

Strengthening social protection systems in Samoa and other Pacific Island countries
The UN ‘Strengthening Resilience of Pacific Island States through Universal Social Protection’ (also called the Social Protection Joint Program) aimed to support four Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) (Samoa, Cook Islands, Tokelau, and Niue) in their efforts to strengthen their sustainable, inclusive, and evidence-based social protection systems. The Program is being implemented in the four PICTs from June 2020 to August 2022. 

The four PICTs are among the most fragile Small Island Developing States due to their isolated geography, small economies, and vulnerabilities. With limited economic opportunities, and rise in poverty, exclusion, and inequality, the quality of life for many of the local people has deteriorated. Urbanisation and monetisation are changing lifestyles and social dynamics creating new forms of hardships, high costs of living, and lack of access to basic services and decent employment opportunities. Increased non-communicable diseases, the emergence of new forms of communicable diseases, alcohol abuse, and domestic violence are other key concerns for the well-being of Pacific Island people. 

The Social Protection Joint Program (SP-JP) aims at increasing resilience through viable and financially sustainable SP systems that will address life cycle vulnerabilities, strengthen Social Protection floors, and enhance employability. The objective is to develop universal, evidence-based, nationally owned SP systems and introduce SP floors to help accelerate Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) progress through integrated programming and Leaving No One Behind. The Program is spearheaded by a Multi-Country Steering Committee (MCSC) and a Technical Committee for each of the four PICTs. 

In line with the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and outcomes of the UNDP Pacific Strategy 2018-2022, the SP-JP have adopted five strategic interventions in developing and strengthening coherent SP systems– data/evidence; inclusive participation and partnerships; sustainable finance; institutional coordination and capacity building; and outreach. The SP-JP has four outcomes: universal, inclusive & equitable SP systems; efficient and effective management and delivery of SP floors; low transaction cost of SP benefits with financial inclusion; and increased resilience through mainstreaming of disability, gender, youth, and climate-related contingencies. 

Informal social protection systems in Samoa

The social protection system in Samoa includes formal and informal social protection. The informal social protection system plays a critical role in Samoa’s society. Its key elements include safety nets and support provided by extended families, communities, and churches. Other strengths of the informal system is its contribution to social stability and cohesion; maintaining the fabrics that hold society together (under the fa’aSamoa) - providing social capital and a sense of identity and community. Around 80% of Samoans live in village communities with their life governed and influenced by informal institutions of the fa’aSamoa and church systems. More than half of Samoa’s working-age population are involved in some economic activities in the informal sector, mostly in subsistence activities and domestic duties. 

The informal social protection mechanisms complement and supplement formal social protection. A scalable, universal, and sustainable social protection system requires the integrated development of formal and informal mechanisms that protect everyone from all risks, including poverty, exclusion, and vulnerabilities during their life cycle. The state has a role to play in strengthening the roles of informal institutions in social protection through formalised social protection public policy, programs, schemes, and other mechanisms. In the context of small island developing economies, there must be an ongoing realisation and recognition of the roles and contributions that both formal and informal institutions and mechanisms play in the development and implementation of appropriate social protection measures, given limited resourcing capacities and opportunities in small developing contexts. 

However, a question remains as to ‘what is the contribution of the informal system to social protection?’, ‘how much is that contribution?’, ‘who is benefiting?’, and is that contribution able to sustain the required social protection floor for Samoa?’. Examples of these contributions may include informal unpaid childcare, elderly care, and care for persons with disabilities by family members, relatives and friends; basic needs provisions for family members; church contributions to members who are in need of support such as food, clothing, and school fee supplements; charities provided by local civil society organisations and individuals; village groups and organisations, and others. Given the informalities, irregularities and invisibilities that exist in the informal system as well as its unpredictability feature, little is known or documented about these contributions of the informal system to social protection, and monetary value and measurements. To inform ongoing efforts to develop and strengthen social protection measures, there is a need to establish a better and evidence-based understanding of these contributions to the informal social protection system in Samoa. 

This Terms of Reference (TOR) is developed to seek the technical expertise of a qualified Consultant to work with the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) and UNDP in conducting of a costing exercise of the Informal Social Protection System in Samoa. 

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF WORK

Objectives 

The objectives of the consultancy are to:

i). Undertake a costing exercise of the informal systems to social protection in Samoa; and 

ii). Provide a report on the outcome of the costing exercise which also includes implications of the costing outcome/findings for the overall social protection system and measures for Samoa. 

Tasks

To achieve the above objectives, the consultant is expected to ensure the effective and efficient performance and completion of the following tasks:

i). Develop costing models and methodologies for valuing different sorts of informal care work and contributions in consultation with the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) and UNDP.

ii). Collect the required data (existing and new) to enable the conducting of the costing exercise. 

iii). Conduct the costing of the informal social protection measures and provide a nationally representative estimates of the opportunity cost of childcare, disability care, old age care as well as church contributions and support to the vulnerable people.

iv). Carry out any required stakeholder consultations to seek any required additional data and to verify data and information. 

v). Analyze and interpret the findings of the costing exercise. 

vi). Seek other expert inputs on the costing exercise. 

vii). Write a report on the outcome of the costing exercise which also includes implications of the costing outcome/findings for the overall social protection system and measures for Samoa. 

viii). Present and discuss the costing exercise and its outcome/findings (i.e., the report) with SBS, UNDP and SP-JP Samoa Technical Committee (STC) and Multi-Country Steering Committee (MCSC). 

ix). Review the costing findings and report taking into account inputs and comments received. 

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Strong mathematic and statistical skills.

• Strong analytical skills and critical thinking skills.

• Excellent research and evaluative skills.

• Strong policy knowledge and skills. 

• Excellent report writing skills. 

• Excellent inter-personal and teamwork skills, networking skills, and proven ability to work well in multicultural environments.

• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills.

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with various partners including government, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies, development partners, and communities.

• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to foster relationships with key stakeholders. 

• Ability to work under pressure, effectively coordinate others and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of work. 

Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment. 

Required Skills and Experience

Assessment of competencies

The assessment of individual consultants will be in accordance with the evaluation criteria below:

• 70% for Technical; and
• 30% for Financial.

Technical Evaluation Criteria will be based on the information provided in the CV and relevant documents that are to be submitted as evidence to support the above-required criteria.

Only the candidates that have achieved a minimum of 70 points (70% of 100 points) will be deemed technically compliant and considered for the interview assessment. The technical competencies will be assessed as per criteria and scoring outlined in Table 3:

Table 3: Evaluative criteria for the consultancy

Download the full details and Terms of Reference plus the template for submission of your proposal from the UNDP Procurement notices website link https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=89993.