UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
The Situation Analysis (the SitAn) of children’s rights and wellbeing is a flagship product designed to inform policy dialogue, partnerships and interventions to improve the lives of children. It is an assessment and analysis of the country situation, with respect to children's rights and critical issues affecting their realization. The SitAn is a crucial part of the child rights monitoring framework and represents a key UNICEF’s programmatic output that helps focus on knowledge gaps related to inequities and child deprivations. By promoting the broad engagement of all stakeholders, the SitAn is expected to inform policy dialogue and child-focused policy advocacy to make an important contribution to accelerating the achievement of child-related goals with equity.
How can you make a difference?
The main purpose of this assignment is to conduct a human-rights based and equity-focused Situation Analysis of children with respect to the realization of children rights. The analysis should examine the progress, challenges and opportunities for achieving child rights and well-being, and the patterns of deprivation that children face. The Analysis should be objective and verifiable and is expected to be used by all partners in addressing key challenges preventing children, especially the most disadvantaged, from enjoying their rights ensured in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other international obligations of the country.
The Situation Analysis report is to highlight the strategic priorities for the country to reduce disparities and address vulnerabilities, and hence make a contribution to further shape the national development agenda, and to accelerate achievement of national and international development goals regarding children, including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It should look critically at the progress that policy and programme interventions have made towards at-scale coverage of inclusive social services for key populations; the adequacy of policy delivery, particularly in terms of budget; and the resources for leaving no child behind.
Also, the SitAn is expected to present robust evidence and highlight opportunities for socially-inclusive development. It should unpack and examine the unequal realization of child rights, as well as the interrelated roles of duty-bearer institutions. It should highlight inequalities between groups, socio-economic characteristics, urban/rural and intra-urban disparities, gender profiles, geographic locations and other dimensions. The SitAn should pay special attention to looking at disaggregated data and unpacking national and/or subnational averages. Besides presenting an analysis of why inequities exist, it should also present contextualized recommendations on what could be done by key stakeholders to attain/ sustain inclusive social development. SitAn should be grounded in the country’s political, economic and social realities, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and regional and global issues that affect children’s rights and well-being. In the core of SitAn should be national issues but, it also explores global and regional issues not included in the national agenda. Most importantly, the SitAn should shed light on the situation of children and young people who are left invisible or uncounted.
The main objectives of a rights- based, equity focused SitAn in Bulgaria are the following:
Develop a deep understanding of the situation of children by analysing the policies and strategies, social and economic trends affecting them (data disaggregated by age, gender, urban/rural, ethnicity, socio-economic status and other relevant factors). Identify and analyse the barriers and bottlenecks that prevent disadvantaged children and families from benefiting from social services across sectors. Provide national government partners with comprehensive equity-sensitive and evidence-based analysis on children and for result-based decision-making; Provide essential information to non-government partners (NGO’s, community-based organizations, civil society, media and business sector) to be used in their planning and interventions to address the most urgent issues affecting children and in Bulgaria. Contribute to the (re)formulation of key national strategies so that the priorities for the most disadvantaged children and are integrated into the socio-economic development agenda. Identify critical data gaps and contribute to the generation of evidence that can improve the monitoring of rights of children, especially the most vulnerable groups Assess the current or potential presence of emergency risks (disaster risks and other potential shocks); the likelihood of their occurrence, the underlying vulnerabilities and the capacities and coping mechanisms of families, communities and local and national institutions. Analyse to what extent there is an enabling environment for the realization of the rights of all children, and analyse how evidence-based interventions and services needed to address deprivations are prioritized in national policies, laws, strategies, plans and budgets Capture new or emerging area of concerns regarding children, such as environmental issues affecting them, mental health issues etc. Analyse the role/impact of business sector on child rights fulfilment as well as public financial management.The Situation Analysis is relevant to a wider audience which includes government bodies, all development partners (including UNICEF), civil society, ombudspersons, children, academia, private sector actors, media and others. The process of developing the Situation Analysis therefore anticipates engagement with the government and key stakeholders, including children and young people. It serves as an opportunity to promote meaningful dialogue between the main child rights actors on children’s issues.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:
Background:
Recognized institution/researcher with proven experience in public policy, social policy and policy analysis, public finance and child/human rightsEducation:
Advanced degree in social sciences or related fields relevant for the assignmentExpertise and skills:
Strong analytical skills Excellent knowledge of statistics, social service and human rights systems Fluency in English – for all team members Fluency in Bulgarian – for national team members Previous experience with UNICEF is an advantage.Experience:
At least 5 years of relevant experience in development of analytical reports and policy documents related to children; Proven experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, policy (and finance) analysis and report preparation; Proven experience in handling primary and secondary data; Knowledge of human rights-based approach to programming; Experience in facilitating consultations with government representatives, NGOs, academia, children, young people and other stakeholders; Excellent writing skills.The assignment is expected to be undertaken by a team or individual consultant(s) to produce the expected results. At least one team member should be a national consultant.
In case of contracting an international consultant, a national consultant(s) to provide the necessary support will be additionally hired.
The exact financial costs need to be proposed by the applicant(s).
The applicants should provide the following documents:
1. CV
2. Financial Offer
3. Methodology and indicative timeline.
The consultancy is expected to start on 13 March 2020.
Full details of the work assignment could be found at:ToR alpha SitAn 2020.pdf
For every Child, you demonstrate:
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
View our competency framework at
http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment his
Consultants are required to clearly identify any potential ethical issue, as well as the processes for ethical review and oversight of the research/data collection process in their proposal. UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection and Analysis can be found at: https://www.unicef.org/supply/files/ATTACHMENT_IV-UNICEF_Procedure_for_E... and should be consistently applied throughout the research process. The procedure contains the minimum standards and required procedures for research, evaluation and data collection and analysis undertaken or commissioned by UNICEF (including activities undertaken by individual and institutional contractors, and partners) involving human subjects or the analysis of sensitive secondary data.
tory. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
This vacancy is archived.