The state of Amazonas has been affected by the worst drought in its history. In October 2023, all 62 municipalities in the state had declared a state of emergency and with more than 150,000 estimated families affected, totaling around 600,000 people.

Within this context, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is supporting the state of Amazonas in defining and implementing sensitive measures for children, adolescents, and their families, considering the current and future impacts on health, access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, education, social protection, and protection against violence.

UNICEF’s strategy for the response to the drought sought to meet the most urgent needs in terms of health and nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene in the communities affected by the drought, with a special focus on guaranteeing the basic rights of the children and adolescents who live there. At the same time, the strategy is seeking to strengthen the capacity of municipalities and regions to respond to future climate-related emergencies in a multi-sectoral way.

UNICEF has been developing an assessment tool for social protection shock-responsiveness at the municipal level that supports the development of improvement plans. Based on a rapid assessment at the beginning of the emergency, important gaps to effectively respond to the drought emergency in the social protection system have been unveiled, which indicates that municipalities in the Amazon state can strongly benefit from this tool. By engaging with Social Assistance focal points at the municipal level, UNICEF will assess municipalities in Amazonas and provide recommendations for the design of improvement plans.

PURPOSE

UNICEF Brazil is looking for a social protection consultant who will engage with social assistance teams at the municipal level, apply the shock-responsiveness assessment tool and provide recommendations to support improvement plans. The consultant will work alongside the UNICEF team in Manaus/AM, under the direct supervision of the Chief Field Officer.

Expected results:

1. Support UNICEF’s liaison with municipal social assistance systems in Amazonas;
2. Analysis of shock-responsiveness of the local social protection system of, at least, 37 municipalities in Amazonas;
3. Report with recommendations to improve shock-responsiveness of the municipal Social Assistance system in Amazonas.

deliverables

Deliverable 1: Work plan, including a travel plan proposal, with a detailed timeline.

The work plan should be developed according to the expected results mentioned in this Terms of Reference and alignment with UNICEF and should include the proposed methodology for data collection.

The travel plan should include 2 trips of 5 days each to municipalities with remote access in the Amazonas state.

Deadline: 5 days from the beginning of the contract

Payment: 0% of the contract fee

Deliverable 2:  Intermediate report

This deliverable should include the status of data collection and preliminary results.

Deadline: 30 days from the beginning of the contract

Payment: 40% of the contract fee

Deliverable 3:  Report with data analysis and recommendations for municipalities

This deliverable should include one-pagers comprising the assessment analysis and recommendations for each municipality.

Deadline: 2 months from the beginning of the contract

Payment: 60% of the contract fee

 

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Drive for results
• Quality of analysis and reports
• Timely delivery of results
• Ability to communicate
• Accuracy of deliverables

 

KEY COMPETENCIES, TECHNICAL BACKGROUND, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, Social Sciences, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• Advanced knowledge of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS);
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation tools will be considered an asset;
• Master’s degree in social work, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Political Science, or another relevant technical field will be considered an asset;
• Knowledge of SUAS in emergencies will be considered an asset;
• Relevant experience in a UN agency will be considered an asset;
• Fluency in Portuguese.

UNICEF’S CORE VALUES

Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS)

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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.

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• The consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed.
• Consultant’s travel costs should be included in the consultant’s fee.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant and mandatory courses are completed.
• Consultants will not have any representative, certifying, or approving authority, or supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.
• The consultant will work remotely on a delivery basis.

 Financial Proposal

• Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.
• A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.
• The payment will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Insurance and health coverage

• The contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expenses, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of the contract as he or she considers appropriate.
• The contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

Restrictions

• Consultants may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF.  Notwithstanding, consultants and individual contracts must complete the applicable mandatory training.
• In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government​, or unless on leave without pay.

Remarks: 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.