Eritrea: Consultancy for Strategic Moment of Reflection Exercise- UNICEF Eritrea

UNICEF Eritrea

Terms of Reference

Consultancy for Strategic Moment of Reflection Exercise

Title: Consultancy for Strategic Moment of Reflection and CPD preparation process

Contract type: Individual contract

Proposed equivalent level: P4

Duration: 4 months (16 October 2015 – 15 February 2016)

Duty Station: Home based assignment and travel to Asmara, Eritrea

Supervisor: Deputy Representative, UNICEF Eritrea

1.Background and Rationale:

The current Government of State of Eritrea /UNICEF country programme of cooperation (2013-2016) is in its penultimate year of implementation which marks the commencement of discussions on the development of the next country programme of cooperation (CPD), 2017-2021. The experience in the last two and half years has enriched the ECO team with a wide range of good practices and lessons learned to be carried forward in making pragmatic adjustment for the current country programme cycle as well as in formulating a new CP. Since 2012, when the current Country programme was formulated, there have been notable developments at the global, regional and national level, particularly, the 2014-17 UNICEF Strategic Plan and results, the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ESAR Regional Priorities. Furthermore, the GoSE National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP), which was under development at the time of the current country programme

The UN System in Eritrea has started its preparatory work to formulate the new SPCF 2017-2021 from July 2015 – February 2016. The design and structure of the UNICEF’s Country Programme Document (CPD) will be formulated in alignment with the framework and priorities of the UNCT led 2017-2021 SPCFUNDAF under the guidance of UNICEF ESARO advisors.

In this regard, ECO has commenced the development of the next Country Programme (2017-2021); ECO has developed the CPD roadmap in order to guide the CPD development process. With the advice of UNICEF ESARO, the CPD development process has been formulated with following key four phases and time line as mentioned in Table 1.

Table 1: An overview of the CPD development schedule

PhaseExpected Time 1.Scoping and scheduling : development of CPD Road Map March – May 2015 2.Analytic phase : review of available data and development of SITAN May – October 2015 3.CPD design phase : Strategic Moment of Reflection (SMR) and development of CPD November 2015- January 2016 4.Validation and submission February – March, 2016

Currently, ECO is in phase 2 undertaking the Situation Analysis of Children and Women in Eritrea (SITAN) 2015 which is expected to largely inform the formulation of strategies and priorities of the next CP. ECO has covered the first two phases of the CPD development, scheduling and analysing, and the remaining phases, CPD designing and writing, are to be undertaken in the last quarter of 2015 and in early 2016.

The third phase of CPD development starts with drafting of sector strategy notes and programme priorities by respective programmes. ECO will organise a Strategic Moment of Reflection (SMR) exercise involving relevant experts from Regional Office and peer reviewers from other Country Offices. In terms of timing, ECO will organise the SMR shortly after the Strategic Prioritisation Retreat which is planned to be organised by UNCT in the last week of October 2015 so that UNICEF’s prioritisations and strategies can be fully aligned with the ones set out by UNCT.

Rationale

The complex nature of the programming environment in Eritrea calls for an in-depth and critical analysis of the country context to enable ECO to develop a programme that is strategically positioned to be flexible and responsive to the ever changing landscape. It is expected that SMR will enable ECO to collectively review the evidence synthesised out of the SITAN and agree on programme structure, focus, priorities, results, strategies and partners. The purpose of SMR is to enable prioritisation of programme outcome areas for the upcoming CPD and development of programme strategies relevant with the country situation.

At the same time, the programme should also respond to quality and equity issues within the social sector. The SMR offers a unique opportunity to bring external and internal expertise together and focus on key results that can contribute to support the national priorities for the realization of the rights of children and women. While optimising the comparative advantages of UNICEF in-country, the SMR can capture entry points to re-enforce the existing programme strengths where UNICEF can make or has made a difference and optimise and identify opportunities for sustaining the achievements made through the human, technical, and financial investment. The technical mission support from ESARO and other UNICEF peer reviewers, together with government and external partners will be key to the elaboration of evidence informed programme priorities and strategies, and resources for achieving results for children and women in Eritrea

This consultancy is to provide support to ECO throughout the designing and writing phases of CPD in close collaboration with all programme and operations teams.

2.Objectives

a)Objective of Strategic Moment of Reflection

The overall objective of the SMR is to review and further refine the envisioned country programme as outlined in the draft CPD. More specifically, the SMR will enable focus on:

• Alignment of the Post-2015 MDG agenda, national priorities, sector strategic plans and programme strategies and UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and other global agenda for children and women (Commitments for child survival, SUN, Universal access to child education, and ESARO key priorities);
• Review of the changing context as a key consideration for the programme priorities and strategies
• Prioritization of key inequities and deprivations and identifying the bottlenecks and barriers to addressing them
• Assessing the effectiveness of each programme strategy to achieve results, namely; Capacity development; Evidence generation, policy dialogue and advocacy; Partnerships; South-South and triangular cooperation; Identification and promotion of innovation; Support to integration and cross-sectoral linkages; and Service delivery;
• Ensuring inclusion of cross-cutting issues such as intersectorality, gender sensitivity, equity focus, resilience, humanitarian assistance, and human rights based approaches, and SMART result frameworks.
• Confirming key evaluations that will be necessary during the country programme cycle

b)Objective of the consultancy

The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to ECO to facilitate the SMR process, CPD designing and writing phases.

3.Scope of the consultancy

Under the guidance of Deputy Representative and in close collaboration with Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the consultant will undertake following:

a) Desk review of the SITAN report and other relevant publications

The consultant will review significant publications and reports of GoSE and the Country Office including the SITAN 2015 to enrich the understanding of the context and background settings of the CP. Certain documents to be reviewed are in Annex 1.

b) Review sector strategy notes and programme priorities prepared by respective programmes

The consultant will review sector strategy notes and programme priorities which will become crucial inputs to the CPD development.

c) Participate in the Strategic Prioritisation Retreat organised by the UNCT in preparation of the new SPCF

The participation in the UN-GoSE Strategic Prioritisation retreat for SPCF 2017-2021 development will guide the consultant’s analytical work on the development of UNICEF’s CPD for the same period. It is important to note that this event is to be organised by UNCT/UNDP and the timing may vary.

d) Facilitate the Strategic Moment of Reflection workshop

Facilitation of the UNICEF’s strategic moment of reflection (SMR) workshop is the core activity of the assignment and the consultant will organise preparatory work for the workshop in close collaboration with the Programme Coordination Office and M&E unit.

e) Consolidate the sector strategy notes into a draft version of standard CPD

The consultant will develop draft version of CPD through consolidation of sector strategy notes. The consultant will make sure that the content and structure of CPD is in line with the most recent UNICEF’s standards and guidelines of CPD.

f) Revise the draft CPD based on the comments provided by the office

The consultant will revise the draft CPD based on the comments from ECO.

4.Methodology

The SMR process will be conducted on 9 November 2015with internal level sectoral consultations between the UNICEF Chiefs of Sections and the ESARO Advisers, and facilitated by an International Consultant. This will be followed by SMR internal peer review and presentations and ending with a one-day broader consultation on the draft CPD with national partners and government, aimed at broadening the view on UNICEF’s engagement in Eritrea.

The SMR will be guided by:

· Technical guidance and thematic consultations between programme sectors and ESARO Regional Advisers and the International Consultant

· Presentations by the UNICEF Section Chiefs focusing on Basic Education, Health and Nutrition, WASH empasizing the outcomes on MNCH, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS; Education and Gender Empowerment (BEGE), Child Protection (CP), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), as well as, inputs from cross-sectoral areas (Social Policy, monitoing abd Evaluation, C4D, Communications, Planning and Monitoring, gender and the operational support.

· Expert inputs from peer reviewers

· In-depth discussions for the new CPD on the way forward with national partners and government

· Understanding of the operational support needed to achieve programme results with specific consideration of Efficiency and Effectiveness and Risk Mitigation.

· Areas of focus across the programmes, including working modalities with government, civil society, and youth and children

Following the SMR, the draft sector strategy notes and programme priorities are to be revised taking into consideration of the issues emerged during the review. ECO will share drafts with relevant Regional Advisors for review and technical advice. The draft CPD will be a consolidation of the strategy notes and inputs from respective focal points. Once the draft CPD is finalised, a validation meeting will be organised with the involvement of key stakeholders particularly government counterparts, relevant UN agencies and other development partners. The purpose of the validation meeting is to review and validate the key priorities, strategic orientations and the expected results of the new Country Programme. The proceedings will be documented and used to guide the preparation of the final CPD. Following the validation meeting, the CPD will be updated and finalised at the Country Office level.

5.TIMELINE AND KEY MILESTONES

The indicative time line and key benchmarks of the consultancy are as follows:

NoItems Oct 15 Nov 15 December 15 January

2016 1 Desk review 2 Participation in strategic prioritization retreat (UNCT)[1] 3 Facilitation of SMR workshop 4 Consolidating sector papers and drafting CPD 5 Revising CPD

6.Deliverables

1. Report of the SMR workshop
2. Semi-final draft version of CPD

7.Duration of the consultancy

4 months from mid-October 2015 and mid- February 2016

8.Official travel

· The consultant will travel to Asmara and stay for 10 working days (2 weeks) from end October to mid-November. Dates are to be confirmed.

· UNICEF will cover DSA and travel.

· UNICEF will cover economy class round trip air ticket from his/her home country to Asmara and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) while his/her stay in Asmara.

9.Contract Supervisor:

The supervisor of this assignment is the Deputy Representative of UNICEF Eritrea.

10.Type of Supervision that will be provided:

The supervisor with the UNICEF team will ensure the consultant’s compliance with the TORs and progress being made as per the agreed work plan, and provide regular feedback through face to face meetings, phone calls, and emails.

11.Consultant’s Work Place/Any facilities to be provided by office:

· The Consultant will work at UNICEF office while he/she is performing on site activities.

· UNICEF will provide a desk and internet access according to the UNICEF’s IT regulations.

12.Nature of ‘Penalty Clause’ to be stipulated in Contract:

Penalties for Unsatisfactory Performance or Incomplete Assignment: Final payment of fees for this assignment will only be effected upon satisfactory completion of services to UNICEF’s satisfaction and certification to that effect by the Supervisor of this assignment.

13.COST ESTIMATES

It is expected to engage with an international consultant at P4 level for this assignment.

14.PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Lump sum payment is to be made upon completion of assignment.

15.Qualifications:

• An advanced university degree in Social Sciences, or Law or similar background
• Must have proven experience of producing analytical write ups
• At least 8 years of working experience in analysis of social issues, preferably on children and in an international environment (previous experience with similar child rights studies an advantage)
• Knowledge and understanding of statics, economics, laws, and polices
• Strong analytical skills and excellent English language writing skills
• Knowledge of and working experience in UNICEF or other relevant UN-agency an advantage
• Contacts with major government partners for implementation of this analysis an advantage

Annex 1 Documents for desk review

The below is the list of some publications to be reviewed by the consultant and UNICEF will make sure sharing with the consultant when he/she is on board. However, the analytical process will not limit to these documents only and additional documents are to be reviewed as they emerge throughout the process.

· Strategic Partnerships Cooperation Framework (2013-2016)

· Country Programme Document (2013-2016)

· Contry Programme Action Plan (2013-2016)

· Situation Analysis of Children (2012) (2007)

· Reports on Strategic Moment of Reflection (2014)

· Country Office Annual Reports of ECO (2012, 1013, 2014)

· National Indicative Development Plan (2014-2018)

· Eritrean Population Health Survey/DHS reports (1995, 2002, 2010)

· Health Sector Strategic Development Plan (2013-2016)

· Report of Health Management Information System (2012-2013)

· National Education Policy

· Gender Education Policy

· Adolescent Development Policy

· Adolescent Development Strategy

· Basic Education Statistics (2013)

· Comprehensive National Child Policy

· Education Sector Development Plan (2013-2017)

· Eritrea Universal Periodic Reports (2012, 2013, 2014)

· Essential Education Indicators (2013)

· FGM Mapping Study Report

· Out of School Children Study (draft report)

· EPI Coverage Survey (2013)

· Food Security and Nutrition Survey (draft report)

· Emergency Obstetric Care Study (draft report)

[1] The Strategic Prioritization Retreat is to be organized by UNCT/UNDP and the timing of the event may vary.

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 all-inclusive fee range and the consultancy title on or before 04/10/2015 to: aermias@unicef.org

Applications submitted without an all-inclusive 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.