Background

In March 2011 the National Social Protection Strategy for the Poor and Vulnerable (NSPS) has been endorsed by the Council of Ministers of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). The strategy has been developed, starting in 2009, by the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) - appointed as coordination body for social protection by the RGC - with the support of the Interim Working Group on Social Safety Nets (IWG – SSN).

The NSPS, according to the principles of the Social Protection Floor Initiative, is an integrated plan to move from short-term safety nets and stand-alone programmes towards a more sustainable and coherent long-term framework to address both poverty and vulnerability. The strategy lays out a set of objectives, related programmes, and instruments addressing specifically:
  • Basic needs of the population in situations of emergency and crisis;
  • Poverty and vulnerability of children and mothers;
  • Seasonal un- and underemployment and livelihood opportunities;
  • Affordable health care for the poor;
  • Social protection for special vulnerable groups.
In July 2010, with the initiative to move forward on NSPS implementation, - following Government directions - a Social Protection Coordination Unit (SPCU) was established within CARD. 

A 2011-2015 work plan  for the SPCU has been developed by the Secretariat of SPCU-CARD, in conjunction with the Social Protection Core Group  (SPCG),  which includes: 1) Institutional support for NSPS coordination; 2) Immediate steps after NSPS approval; 3) Policy support and harmonisation of NSPS; 4) Monitoring and evaluation; 5) Capacity development; 6) Information and Knowledge Management.

Since 2012 UNDP has supported CARD – SPCU for the elaboration of a Monitoring framework that could assess progress against the 5 objectives of the Strategy. The Framework, that was officially presented last 12th of November 2012 to the Interim Working Group on Social Safety Nets is now complete. Output indicators have been gathered through administrative data and Outcome indicators have been calculated through survey data. The data available are ready to be analysed and processed into Social Protection Monitoring Report n. 0, (Baseline). The report should comprehensively and meaningfully analyse crosscutting issues outputs and outcomes data but also be easy to replicate in the future as well as easy to read for the general public.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The scope of the assignment will cover the elaboration of a report to be replicated in next monitoring rounds. This includes:
  • The definition of a Social Protection Monitoring Report Structure to be shared and agreed with the SPCG core group;
  • The analysis of the output and outcome data as well as crosscutting data provided by the framework;
  • The comparison of those data with at least two scenarios in the region;
  • The collaboration with UNDP Social Protection and Communication team for the creation of relevant graphic exemplifications of the data explained;
  • The close description of how the document was elaborated to be put together with the guideline handed over to the government at the end of the year.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Key deliverables of the assignment are:
  • A detailed work plan;
  • A Social Protection Monitoring Report draft  n. 0 for comments;
  • A final Social Protection Monitoring Report n.0 with comments incorporated.
In order to produce the above mention deliverables, the consultant will be given a period of 14 days over 2 months period, starting from 1st August 2013. A tentative workplan is outlined in the table below and a detailed schedule will be further elaborated at the beginning of the consultancy in coordination with UNDP.
  • The definition of a Social Protection Monitoring Report Structure to be shared and agreed with the SPCG core group;
  • The analysis of the output and outcome data as well as crosscutting data provided by the framework;
  • The elaboration of a first draft for comments;
  • The elaboration of a final draft with comments incorporated;
  • The collaboration with UNDP Social Protection and Communication team for the creation of relevant graphic exemplifications of the data explained;
  • The close description of how the document was elaborated to be put together to the guidelines handed over to the government at the end of the year.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Strong analytical skills and critical thinking skills;
  • Good facilitation and presentation skill;
  • Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively with various partners including the government, civil society, private sector, UN and other development donors and high quality liaison and representation at local and national levels;
  • Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to foster relationships with key stakeholders from donors, government counterpart, and other local partners;
  • Understanding of rural development, social protection;
  • Ability to work under pressure, effectively coordinate research team and meet tight deadlines without compromising quality of work;
  • Computer literacy and knowledge of standard PC software packages (MS. Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.) is essential. Experience in the use of web based management systems is an asset.

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Master or PhD in economics, education, public policy, international development studies, and/or related subjects.

Experiences:

  • At least 5 years of work experience at international level in social sciences, sociology, development studies, and/or labor market and skill development at theoretical level and practical level in the field;
  • Demonstrated experience in Poverty and Vulnerability analysis;
  • Proven relevant experience in Cambodia or at least in developing  countries in a multi stakeholder environment including development organization, national counterpart, civil society, private sector;
  • Experience in providing policy advise in the area related to Social Protection, Social Security, Welfare, Well-being;
  • Experience working and engaging with senior government officials, donor representatives and civil society on policy and strategic issues;
  • Substantial experience in working on complex policy-based research related to social protection, poverty reduction, analyzing poverty and vulnerability, etc.;
  • Experience in providing substantive inputs into technical documents;
  • Ability to write effectively, particularly technical and policy papers and studies;
  • Excellent presentation and communication skills;
  • Previous experience or familiarity with the UN/UNDP is an asset.
Language:

  • Strong command of written and spoken English.

Important Note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at http://www.un.org.kh/undp/procurement-notices/undpjobid38156 for more detail about term of references, instructions to offeror, and documents to be included when submitting offeror.

Documents to be included when submitting the offer/application:

Interested offeror/individual must submit the following documents/information:

FC: 04000