UNICEF Zimbabwe is inviting applications for an individual consultant for the development of a social protection community-based feedback mechanism

Job no: 530019

Position type: Consultancy

Location: Zimbabwe Division/Equivalent: Nairobi Regn'l(ESARO)

School/Unit: Zimbabwe

Department/Office: Harare, Zimbabwe

Categories: Child Protection, 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.

For every child, child protection

UNICEF has been operating in Zimbabwe since 1982. We are a team of passionate professionals committed to the protection and fulfillment of children's rights.

The current UNICEF-Government of Zimbabwe Country Programme of Cooperation (2016-2020) aims to support Zimbabwe to sustain and build upon the gains achieved for children during the 2012-2015 Country Programme of Cooperation. The programme focuses on improving the quality of social services, increasing access to services, and helping to build national and sub-national capacities to provide low-cost, high-impact interventions for all children, especially the most vulnerable.

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Consultancy Terms of Reference

Title

Development of a social protection Community Based Feedback Mechanism (CBFM)

Purpose

The CBFM will facilitate citizen (including children) participation in the development process through an accessible structured platform for citizens (including children) to provide feedback to duty bearers as well a system for a clear feedback loop to the communities.

Location

Based Harare with possible national consultations

Duration

3 months

Reporting to

Child Protection Specialist

Background

The United Nations working with the Government and the Donor community is committed to, 'realizing the Sustainable Development Goals in a universal, human-rights based and transformative manner'. Delivery of development outcomes is intricately bound to citizen engagement through inclusive participatory mechanisms. To this end, UNICEF, working with the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW), UNDP and UN Women is leading the development of a Community Based Feedback Mechanism (CBFM) in the implementation of government social protection programmes. This will facilitate citizen engagement through a structured feedback platform. As noted in the UNICEF Zimbabwe Audit report (2019), such a CBFM will enable, comprehensive gathering of complaints, consolidation of lessons learned, and appropriate follow-up or adjustment to programming. Development of a CBFM will thus enable consolidation of uncoordinated existing feedback mechanism that tend to be programme based and often lack proper functionality evidence in key indicators like citizen engagement, child participation, proper feedback loops and community feedback informed programme adjustments/adaptations.

In August 2018, the Government of Zimbabwe announced a Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) - an ambitious agenda of governance and economic reforms intended to secure the political transition and attract international investment. The Programme prioritizes fiscal consolidation, economic stabilization and growth, but also includes a governance reform section focusing on rule of law, access to justice, democratization, respect of human rights, national unity, peace and reconciliation, and alignment of statutes to the constitution. The CBFM will therefore contribute towards realization of the national peace aspirations through implementation of meaningful citizen engagement including children.

The work will therefore assist with the below key actions;

• Review currently available CBFMs focusing on those that amplify the voice of the child.
• Building on activity 'one' above, develop a CBFM that uses the most effective context relevant channels- the CBFM to include but not limited to;
• Feedback loop to communities including to children
• System for feedback analysis to establish trends.
• Offer high level platforms to discuss and act on trends from community feedback.

To ensure wider stakeholder acceptance of the developed CBFM, as part of the deliverables, the consultant will develop an advocacy pack that articulates key tenants of the system as well as reasons for its adoption. This pack will assist the MoPSLW and the UN family to push for wider adoption of the developed CBFM.

Objectives

The overall objective of the work is to develop a CBFM that will ensure provision of structured platforms for citizen voices (including children) and mechanisms for duty bearers to provide timely feedback to communities. Specifically, the work includes;

• Review of existing CBFM including those that amplify the voice of children.
• Development of a context relevant CBFM to ensure citizen voices are heard within the context of service delivery.
• Integrate mechanisms for feedback loops to the community.