CHARITY JOBS IN AFRICA

Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: Sierra Leone
Closing date: 27 Sep 2013

Consultancy to Conduct Situation Analysis for Children in Sierra Leone

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Sierra Leone Country Office, invites applications from interested person for the above mentioned consultancy in the Social Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Section.

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Duration: 7 weeks

Estimated Start Date: 21 October 2013

PurposeIt is imperative that a new Situation Analysis is conducted to ascertain the current state of child rights in Sierra Leone to facilitate development of a new Country Programme Document 2015-19 to address bottlenecks to achievement of rights, expand equity and improve outcomes for children.

The Government has designed a new Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), Agenda for Prosperity, to guide national development for the period 2013-17. The Situation Analysis will consider the national priorities and analyze the current situation of children with a view to enabling UNICEF, the UN Country Team, Government and other development partners to achieve the strategic priorities in the Agenda for Prosperity, especially with regard to the needs of children.

OverviewUNICEF Sierra Leone is looking for a qualified consultant to conduct an equity-focused Situation Analysis for Children in Sierra Leone. The Situation Analysis of Children’s and Women’s Rights (SITAN) is an important document that identifies the most vulnerable children, the bottlenecks to achieving their rights and facilitates decision making by UNICEF, development partners and Government on how the rights of children can be achieved in an equitable manner. Sierra Leone has registered some progress in various aspects of child rights. However, the Situation Analysis conducted in 2011 showed that child rights are still precarious and efforts to improve access to survival, education and protection needed to be stepped up. Poverty and inequity in access to services are major obstacles to the realisation of the rights of children in the country.

ObjectivesThe Situation Analysis will be conducted to achieve the following objectives:(a) Produce a robust analysis, based on relevant data, of outcomes and trends in child survival, education, protection and livelihoods of children appropriately disaggregated by age, poverty, disability, sex, parental care, educational achievement, location and other important categories. (b) Analyse the factors that influence adolescent behaviour and opportunities and their effect on outcomes for children and women in Sierra Leone.(c) Assess the current situation and opportunities for innovation in community engagement and financing to improve outcomes for children and women in Sierra Leone.(d) Identify and analyse key barriers and bottlenecks that prevent children and women from benefiting from required services. (e) Analyse the extent to which gender affects inequalities and deprivations faced by children and women. (f) Assess the current and potential emergency risks, including epidemic, conflict and other disaster risks and underlying vulnerabilities that could affect various groups and the preparedness of the various actors to mitigate risks and emergency occurrences.(g) Analyse the extent to which social norms, policies, laws, budgets and coordination of programmes enable or hamper the fulfilment of the rights of children and women.(h) Make appropriate policy and strategic programme recommendations that can be implemented by UNICEF, UN Country Team, Government and development partners to remove bottlenecks, expand equity and improve fulfilment of child rights in Sierra Leone.

Responsibility of UNICEF• Facilitate availability of data and documents.• Arrange for meetings with partners and field work including transport while in the field.• Payment of applicable Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA).• Payment of costs of international flights from home country to Sierra Leone and back, visa and terminal expenses. The office will arrange transportation to work on the first day of the mission while the staff finds his or her own means of transportation except that transport for field work and other official purposes will be provided. • Identification of possible hotels to stay. • UNICEF shall not be responsible for any other payments, insurance and reimbursements other than those specified here. The consultant is strongly advised to take out medical and evacuation insurance for the duration of stay in Sierra Leone.

Responsibility of the Consultant• Diligent work to deliver satisfactory outputs specified in the ‘deliverables’ in a timely fashion.• Adherence to all rules and procedures customarily required by UNICEF in the conduct of such work including maintaining confidentiality, recognizing that all products of the work are intellectual property of UNICEF and its partners and keeping working hours for the duration of the consultancy.

Deliverables(a) SITAN Inception Report describing:• How the primary and secondary data to be used in analyses will be collected;• Anticipated information shortfalls and how these will be addressed;• Stakeholder participation modalities;• Analytical methods for the entire SITAN including the special thematic areas;• Management of validation processes.(b) First draft SITAN report to be reviewed and commented on by stakeholders, the Steering Committee and UNICEF.(c) A report for each of the special thematic areas commented on by stakeholders, the Steering Committee and UNICEF.(d) Second draft SITAN report presented in validation meeting with all stakeholders where the Consultants facilitate discussions and take on board recommendations by stakeholders.(e) Final SITAN report integrating all analyses, special thematic areas and incorporating comments and inputs from the validation process approved by the Representative and the Steering Committee.

Qualification and Competencies • Minimum of a Master’s degree in international development, medicine, public health, education, economics or law. A combination of skills in various of these disciplines will be an added advantage.• A leader with vast experience of more than 10 years managing provision of child health, education, protection services and advocacy for child rights in an international organization. Previous experience in a senior position in UNICEF will be a definite advantage. • Wide exposure to child rights issues in various developing country situations gained through relevant work experience, with substantive experience in sub-Saharan Africa.• Demonstrable experience in statistical analysis.• Excellent communication and presentation skills in English.

How to apply:

Submission of Applications:Interested persons should send by email to srlrecruitment@unicef.org the following:

(a) An application letter of no more than 1 page.(b) A write-up of no more than 2 pages suggesting the analytical methods they will use and how they will identify bottlenecks in conducting the Situation Analysis.(c) Curriculum Vitae of no more than 4 pages.(d) A completed UN Form P.11 found on the UNICEF website.

The Personal History Form (P11) in MS Word format can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

The deadline for receipt of applications is 27 September 2013

UNICEF is a smoke-free environment.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 our organization.