Национален консултант за изготвянето на ситуационен анализ на публичните финанси и децата
Краен срок за кандидатстване 16 март 2020
- Достъпно на:
- Български
- English
Национален консултант(и) за изготвянето на ситуационен анализ на децата в България и управлението на публичните финанси
Job Number: 530311 | Vacancy Link
Locations: Europe and Central Asia Region: Bulgaria
Work Type : Consultancy
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.
The last SitAn in Bulgaria was conducted in 2016 -2017 (the report was published in 2018[1]) and identified issues hindering the full realization of children’s rights and, to some extent, their causes. The analysis was based on a wide range of information and official, including UNICEF-led studies and researches. It served as one of the key reference documents for UNICEF and its national partners in the identification of priorities affecting the rights of children and contributed directly to the formulation of the Country Partnership between UNICEF and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria (2018-2022) and the Country Programme Action Plan, which was signed in 2018. The Country Partnership includes the four priority programme components: Early childhood development and childcare; Inclusive education and early learning; Prevention and response to violence against children and access to justice for children; and Partnerships for monitoring, communication and promotion of child rights.
In 2020, UNICEF and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria will conduct a med-term of the country partnership. To this end, the UNICEF Country Office has started the preparation of a new SitAn to assess the enabling environment, the underlying and structural causes of shortfalls and disparities across various groups of children, capacity gaps, and data gaps. In addition to the SitAn on the general situation with children in Bulgaria, UNICEF would like to undertake in parallel a thematic Situation Analysis on Public Finance Management and Children in Bulgaria.
[1] https://www.unicef.org/bulgaria/en/reports/situation-analysis-children-and-women-bulgaria
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 Public Finance Management and Children in Bulgaria, drawing primarily from existing data, research and studies. It should provide an overview of the financing landscape for children's policies and issues; present national budget allocations and spending for children in three sectors – health, education and social protection; and provide insight on how finances contribute to child rights implementation.
The Situation Analysis should include the following key components:
1. Country overview section
The section should include high-level information on the macroeconomic situation, the health of public financial management infrastructure and the influence of the political economy on budgets.
General overview of the macroeconomic situation (real GDP, economic growth, employment, income and wages, etc.), outlining possible links to adverse consequences for children and families that will be discussed in the subsequent sections.
Overview of public finance in Bulgaria, including a PFM analysis to expose strengths and weaknesses that are not specific to a given sector that may affect the delivery of services for children. Mapping of key stakeholders and their role in PFM (e.g. Ministry of Finance, line ministries, local governments, Supreme Audit Institution)
This section should include an analysis of approved, allocated and executed expenditure, as disaggregated as possible, including any funding gaps. It should discuss PFM bottlenecks that stand in the way of results for children within the three sectors – health, education and social protection.
2. PFM analysis in the sectors of health, education and social protection (adequacy, effectiveness, efficiency and equity in use of public resources)
This section should prioritize the top PFM issues and opportunities impacting child rights and well-being in Bulgaria and based on the findings:
Identify data and evidence gaps and provide recommendations for addressing the gaps;
Provide recommendations to the Government and UNICEF, to address key PFM challenges for improving child outcomes in Bulgaria;
Provide recommendations to UNICEF on Public Finance for Children engagement strategy in Bulgaria.
Key Findings and Recommendations
This section should prioritize the top PFM issues and opportunities impacting child rights and well-being in Bulgaria and based on the findings:
- Identify data and evidence gaps and provide recommendations for addressing the gaps;
- Provide recommendations to the Government and UNICEF, to address key PFM challenges for improving child outcomes in Bulgaria;
- Provide recommendations to UNICEF on Public Finance for Children engagement strategy in Bulgaria.
Public Finance for Children Framework (Annex 1) provides the overall rationale for UNICEF’s work on public finance and can give a useful structure to the recommendations that follow from PFM findings in the situation analysis.
Methodology and data sources
Methodology
The consultant(s) will primarily rely on secondary data analysis, while limited primary data collection from major child rights duty-bearers and other key informants may occur.
Data sources:
- Reports by the Ministry of Finance
- Reports by the National Audit Office
- Official statistics (National Statistical Institute, Eurostat)
- Annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV staff report and relevant reports
- IMF Fiscal Transparency Evaluation reports
- International Budget Partnership open budget surveys and country reports
- World Bank Country Report
- World Bank Open Budget Portal
- European Semester Country Report
- European Commission Reports on Public Finances
- Public Expenditure Reviews
- Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys
- Child-focused Public Expenditure Measurement
- Fiscal equity analyses
- Key informants’ interviews
The methodology for data collection and analysis and the process of documentation should enable the periodic update of the situation analysis. The consultant(s) will be required to propose a more precise methodology within the Inception phase.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have
Background: Recognized researcher with proven experience in public finance, social policy and policy analysis
Education: Advanced degree in economics and finance, social sciences or related fields relevant for the assignment
Expertise and skills:
Strong analytical skills – references to previous work or institutions
Excellent knowledge of statistics, public finance management, social service systems, development agenda
Experience with policy analysis and public finance management analysis
Fluency in English
Excellent writing skills
Experience: At least 5 years of relevant experience in development of analytical reports and policy documents related to public finance;
Proven experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, policy and finance analysis and report preparation;
Proven experience in handling primary and secondary data
Estimated Costs: The exact financial costs need to be proposed by the applicant(s). The financial proposal should include the Consultant’s fee per day in BGN,
Key deliverables and indicative time frame
The work is expected to be carried out during the period from 23 March to 22 May 2020.
About 25 consultancy working days are estimated for this assignment with the following estimated share of days:
- Inception Phase – total of 5 working days
- Data Collection Phase – total of 5 working days
- Analysis and Reporting Phase – total of 15 working days
The consultant/team of consultants is expected to produce and submit the following deliverables:
- SitAn inception report with proposed methodology and timeline;
- Draft SitAn Report (up to 20 pages) for validation by UNICEF and partners;
- Final Report, including a Summary of 5 pages;
- Power point presentation.
The exact timeline for each deliverable will be agreed during the Inception Phase.
Inputs on submitted inception and draft reports provided by UNICEF and other stakeholders should be addressed in the process preparing the final documents. All materials submitted to UNICEF should be delivered in English, except if otherwise agreed.
All submissions should be electronic.
Full details of the work assignment could be found here.
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 history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Consultants and Individual contractors are responsible for paying any taxes derived from the earnings received from UNICEF.
Opening Date Fri Feb 28 2020 09:00:00 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time) FLE Standard Time
Closing Date Mon Mar 16 2020 09:00:00 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)