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 UNICEF THAILAND

Position : Consultancy: Multi-country assessment of WASH financing and budgeting

Publish on Sep 10, 2014 | Viewed 1,909

Job information

  • Reference Id: Bkp_0001557
  • Company: UNICEF THAILAND
  • Position name: Consultancy: Multi-country assessment of WASH financing and budgeting
  • Job location: Bangkok
  • Non-Thais allowed: No
  • Job type: Contract
  • Vacancy: Several positions
  • Gender: Male or Female
  • Age: non definite age
  • Job level: Officer
  • Experience: Over 5 Yr(s)
  • Education: Bachelor's degree up
  • Monthly salary range: Negotiable
  • Job field(s):

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Are you ready to USE your TALENTS to make the world a better place for Children?


If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Job description

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to conduct a multi-country assessment of WASH financing and budgeting in selected countries in EAP at national and sub-national level. The assessment is intended to map and analyze decision-making, financial flows, and allocation criteria applied at various levels relevant to WASH services in case countries and selected administrative units (provinces, districts) to inform UNICEF research and advocacy for equitable and sustainable WASH services for children. The study will be based on both desk review and in-country research and it is envisaged that it will include:

     a) An institutional assessment of WASH financing units and service providers as well as decision-making processes in relation to government planning, budgeting, and implementation of WASH services; this would include the process of planning and approving expenditures as well as the actual spending of funds (budget execution). The assessment will allow better understanding of the key actors involved in and responsible for making decisions on WASH planning, budgeting, and implementation at different levels of government as well to understand the guidance they receive or provide for financial allocations.

     b) A fiscal assessment of financial flows relevant to the provision of equitable WASH services to children, including mapping of pathways of financial flows and transfers and assessment of allocation criteria applied at national and sub-national levels; this exercise may focus on key WASH components in sectors such as WASH in schools in Education, WASH in health facilities in Health, sanitation and hygiene promotion or implementation capacity / staffing. The objective is to identify funding flows for WASH and the criteria for allocation, disbursement, execution, and monitoring.

 

It is expected that the study will provide an in-depth mapping and analysis of WASH financing and budgeting, and will provide insight into criteria used at critical decision points in allocation of funds and hence will allow to draw detailed policy recommendations and potential entry points for UNICEF interventions and advocacy at country-level for equitable and sustainable WASH services for children. The study is intended to explore five main issues, building on existing research and analysis of the WASH sector complemented by in-country qualitative research:

     1) Who pays? Which are the main financing units for WASH services (national/sub-national authorities; private sector; households; civil society; donors)? What are their relative contributions?

     2) Who decides? Which are the actors that determine geographic and sub-sector allocations at different levels of government? How does the planning and budgeting process for WASH look at different levels of government?

     3) How are funds allocated? What are the allocation criteria, how are they decided, and how equitable, gender-sensitive are these criteria? What is the current process for the geographic and sub-sector allocation of expenditures on WASH?

     4) What are the funding flows? How and through which entities/systems does funding flow from financing units to service providers? How could these be improved to support equitable WASH budgeting and service delivery?

     5) How are funds spent and monitored? How are WASH expenditures implemented at the local level? Which are the final service providers? How are WASH expenditures monitored and validated?

 

Work Assignment:

1) Draft inception report including

     a. review of existing literature and tools for WASH financing and budgeting analysis, existing country-specific documentation of WASH financing/budgeting and research gaps;

     b. detailed description of the methodology and work plan, based on consultation with UNICEF EAPRO and participating UNICEF Country Offices, for approval by UNICEF reference committee. The methodology should follow the guiding questions described above but include adjustments specific to each case country (e.g. decentralized vs. centralized service delivery etc.).

The consultants are encouraged to draw on and align the study with existing methodologies (GLAAS, GLAAS TrackFin, UNICEF WASH-Bottleneck Analysis Tool, WaterAid institutional analysis tools, Service Delivery Assessment and Costing tool) while maintaining the broad sectoral delineation proposed by UNICEF.

2) Conduct further desk review of existing research, legislation, and other official documents.

3) Conduct in-country qualitative field research in close collaboration with participating UNICEF Country Offices (proposed are Indonesia, Viet Nam, and Mongolia), regularly sharing draft products for comments as per agreed work plan.

4) Develop research outputs for review and approval by UNICEF reference committee, including an institutional and financial assessment as well as policy recommendations for improved WASH financing and entry points for UNICEF interventions and advocacy:

     a. Detailed research reports (min. 30 pages), short briefing papers (max. 5 pages), and PowerPoint presentations (max. 30 slides) for each selected country case study.

     b. Detailed synthesis report (min. 50 pages), synthesis PowerPoint presentation (max. 30 slides) and short synthesis briefing paper (max. 8 pages).

     c. Paper on the research findings for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

All research outputs should follow the UNICEF style guide and include visually interesting infographics and diagrams. The final submission should include all relevant raw data in Excel format.

 

Work Schedule and Expected deliverables:

Main Tasks - Inception and Desk Review

1) Task Details

  • Undertake consultation with selected countries  Identify focus areas and develop draft methodology  Analyze or consolidate available data and reports;

Deliverables

  • Draft Inception report for review and comments, including review of existing literature and tools for WASH financing analysis, research methodology, and detailed work plan

Due date

  •  2 weeks

 

2) Task Details

  • Incorporate Inception Report with received comments

Deliverables

  • Final Inception report

Due date

  •  1 weeks

 

Main Tasks - Country Visits and Consultations

1)Task Details

  • Undertake in-country field research and partners consultations

Deliverables

  • Country Visit / Mission reports

Due date

  • 1 week per country

 

Main Tasks - Analysis and Reporting

1) Task Details

  • Analyze and consolidate findings from desk/document review and country visits

Deliverables

  • Draft research outputs (including draft outlines)

Due date

  • To be agreed in work plan – several rounds of comments and revision foreseen3-4 weeks

 

2) Task Details

  • Incorporate all the comments into one Final research outputs documents for wide dissemination  

Deliverables

  1. Research reports & briefing papers & presentations
  2. Synthesis report & presentation & briefing paper
  3. Paper on the research finding – for publication in peer-reviewed journals

Due date

  • 2 weeks (following receipt of feedback

 

Estimated Duration of Contract  :  9-10 weeks over the period from September 2014 - January 2015

Official Travel  :  Travel to/from case countries (Indonesia, Viet Nam, and Mongolia)

Qualification

  • Postgraduate qualification in Public Finance, Public Administration, Economics or similar field
  • Minimum five years relevant professional level experience in development related activities in the field
  • Demonstrated experience in qualitative and quantitative research and analysis related to WASH financing is essential
  • Proven Expertise in conducting multi-country research projects
  • Prior experience of working with UNICEF / in East Asia and Pacific region is an asset
  • Experience of writing peer reviewed articles is as asset
  • Excellent English report writing skills and a track record of producing high quality reports
  • Good understanding and sensitivity to East Asian contexts and cultures
  • Fluency in oral and particularly written English is essential

 

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV/P-11, contact information of 2 references, a sample of previous work on similar assignment, proposed daily professional fee in USD and all-inclusive lump sum (economy class tickets and other incidentals) to case countries by 9 September 2014 to < hrbangkok@unicef.org >.

 

--------------------Only short listed candidates will be notified.--------------------