UNICEF recruits 01 Consultancy
Consultancy to review and update state budget analysis of key social sectors.
Job Number: 519759 | Vacancy Link
Locations: Africa: Tanzania,Uni.Re
Work Type : Consultancy
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.
1. Context and Justification
As part of efforts to strengthen public finance for children, UNICEF and the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MoFP) in both Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar have produced concise Budget Briefs (BBs) for key social sectors since 2016.
In 2018, the second generation of BBs were published with a broader analysis of links between sectoral development policies and public expenditure on social sectors, namely education, health, WASH and HIV/AIDS areas for Mainland and health and education for Zanzibar.
Given the complexity of public finance issues, UNICEF and MoFP are planning to update the existing BBs on a regular basis to better inform the budget process, allocation decisions for social sectors and to improve budget performance. Furthermore, UNICEF and MoFP will develop new BBs for additional sectors that are important for children. In this process, UNICEF and MoFP aim to build the analysis on the recent work, ensuring comparability of data and methodological approach, in addition to filling critical gaps.
Timing the release of Budget Briefs in relation to the budget cycle provides opportunities. For example, publishing Budget Briefs by end September every year will allow for analysing actual spending for the previous fiscal year and analysing the planned budget for the current fiscal year. In addition, it can inform the development of the planning and budgeting guidelines for the upcoming FY. The planning and budgeting guidelines are usually released in October or November. Finally, Budget Briefs released in September can be used to influence the budget discussions in Parliament which usually take place between April and June.
However, the proposed schedule for producing Budget Briefs depends on the timing of release of key fiscal reports and the availability of fiscal data.
This new generation of BBs will be complemented by regional budget analysis with an emphasis on sub-national budgets and expenditure for key social sectors (health, education, and WASH) for which sufficiently robust sub-national financial data are available. An increasing focus on sub-national level spending is relevant as it will highlight public financial management (PFM) challenges that are key to the delivery of services for children.
2. Purpose and key objectives
Overall the assignment for this year will focus on three major objectives:
Updating the existing 7 BBs based on the budget performance report for FY 2017/18 and the budget projections for FYs 2018/19 and 2019/20 (Mainland: Health, Education, WASH, and HIV/AIDS; Zanzibar: National level as well as Health and Education).
Developing new BBs for Child Protection (for Mainland) and WASH (for Zanzibar).
Developing a sub-national Budget Brief for one selected region.
The BBs will be shared with government representatives, MPs, development partners, academia, civil society among others, with the intent of sparking broad public interest and debate around the State Budget and how resources are distributed and spent in social sectors. The proposed briefs on key social sectors that impact children’s and women’s well-being in both Mainland and
Zanzibar have the following three key goals:
Analyse and monitor budget allocations to sectors that are important for children in the specified fiscal year;
Assess the efficiency, effectiveness, equity and adequacy of past spending to the extent possible;
Inform advocacy, budget allocation decisions, and measures to improve budget execution performance, through key messages for policy and financing changes.
Two consultants, an international and a local expert, will be hired for this assignment. This TOR is developed for an international consultant who will be responsible for the write-up of the Budget Briefs. A local consultant will be hired by UNICEF to provide technical support in terms of data collection and analysis, facilitating meetings/consultations with key stakeholders and providing analytical inputs to the Budget Briefs.
Methodology and Approach
The structure of the Budget Briefs will be proposed by UNICEF and the MOFP, in line with the structure and flow of 2016 and 2018 Budget Brief series (https://www.unicef.org/tanzania/resources_21193.html). Guidelines tailored to the regional context will be developed in consultation with UNICEF and MoFP for the regional-level Budget Brief.
The BBs are a result of detailed analysis of budget and expenditure data from the MoFP (IFMS data, EPICOR for sub-national level analysis) as well as an in-depth desk review of Public Finance Management (PFM) documents, statistical and sector strategy documents, budget books; budget laws; state budget reports; citizens budget; Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEF); General State Accounts; Government long- and medium-term development plans; sector strategic plans; national surveys, and other relevant documents.
The international consultant will work closely with the local consultant.
| Budget Briefs | Approach and guidelines |
Page limit |
| Updating the existing BBs (Mainland: Health, Education, WASH, and HIV/AIDS; Zanzibar: National, Health and Education). | Template will be based on the structure of 2018 Budget Briefs and finalized in consultation with UNICEF and MOFP. | Max. 4 pages
(7 BBs) |
| Developing new BBs: Child Protection (for Mainland), WASH (for Zanzibar) | The structure and content of these Budget Briefs will be developed based on available data. | Max. 12 pages
(2 BBs) |
| Developing one Regional BB | Indicative structure of the regional BB:
– Overall socio-economic profile of the region (including key child-wellbeing indicators, programmes and policies on children) – Fiscal profile (total regional budget, budget allocation by social sectors) – Analysis of spending trends in social sectors: Education, Health, and WASH. (by LGAs, economic classification, etc.) – Budget execution by sectors and LGAs – Equity in budget allocation – Source of funding The structure will be adjusted based on discussions with the MoFP and availability of data at regional levels. The region is likely to be selected from the UNICEF Country Programme focus regions in the Southern Highlands (Mbeya; Iringa: Njombe; and Songwe) in consultation with the MOFP |
Activities and Tasks
Review all PFM instruments in Tanzania (both Mainland and Zanzibar) and key strategies and plans, including sector strategies.
Build on the previous round of BBs to conduct further analysis of the State Budget (for current and previous five FYs) for key social sectors in both Mainland and Zanzibar.
Develop draft templates for update Budget Briefs, new Budget Briefs, and the regional Budget Brief, including input received from government, and other stakeholder, and finalize in consultation with UNICEF and the MoFP.
Analyse budget data, including data for FY 2017-2018 (actual expenditure) and FY 2018-2019 (budget projections) and develop all Budget Briefs in line with the agreed-upon templates.
Present the analysis and main findings with illustrative graphs, tables, or maps – a full graphic design and layout will be commissioned by UNICEF after endorsement of final draft Budget Briefs.
Participate in consultations and discussions with respective stakeholders.
Present key findings of the budget analysis to country partners for final validation.
Deliverables and Management
The outputs of this consultancy will be the following:
Deliverables/products
|
Deliverables/products |
Minimum requirements |
| Updated BBs:
1) Mainland: Health, Education, WASH, and HIV/AIDS 2) Zanzibar: Overall Budget, Health and Education |
– In word files
– In English – Max. 4 pages each – Summary PowerPoint slides for each BB – Overall PowerPoint slides for Mainland BBs (1) and Zanzibar BBs (1) Total number: 7 budget briefs |
New BBs:
|
– In word files
– In English – Max. 12 pages – Summary PowerPoint slides for each BB Total number: 2 budget briefs |
| Regional BB
|
– In word files
– In English – Max. 12 pages – Summary PowerPoint slides Total number: 1 budget brief |
All deliverables should be accompanied by an Excel file with all used datasets (including graphs, maps etc.), produced in collaboration with the local consultant, and PowerPoint presentations with the most important findings and key messages from each brief, as well as an overall presentation on social spending in Tanzania. A detailed workplan and timeline will be requested at the beginning of the assignment.
All products should follow direct supervision and guidance from Social Policy, Research, Evaluation and Monitoring section of UNICEF Tanzania. The consultant is expected to operate in close synergy with the designated technical experts in UNICEF, MoFP and PORALG.
The assignment is expected to start the second half of February. The first draft of all updated Budget Briefs is expected to be submitted by mid-May and the first draft of the new and regional Budget Briefs are expected by mid-July. Finalized versions will be submitted by 30th of August, for release in the course of the month of September 2019.
Budget
The level of payment will be determined by the profile of the candidate, in accordance with UNICEF rules and procedures. Payments will be made upon submission and acceptance of the specified deliverables and submission of invoices.
The assignment requires travel to Tanzania and within the country. An estimated cost of the consultancy is indicated in the table below. The consultant will be responsible for arranging and paying his/her travel cost. Therefore, in applying for this assignment candidates have to indicate their financial proposal including consultancy fee and travel cost.
|
Item |
Number of Days |
Unit Cost (US$) |
Total (US$) |
| Consultancy fee |
40 |
500 |
20,000 |
| Estimated travel cost |
12 days (DSA for Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Zanzibar, a MINS region) |
180 (average) |
2,160 |
|
At least 2 international travels
At least two travels to Dodoma, Zanzibar, and a Southern Highlands region |
1,500
300 (average) |
3,000
1,800 |
|
| Total estimated budget |
|
|
26,960 |
Payment modalities are established as follows:
1st payment: 30% upon delivery of 7 updated BBs by 15th of May 2019;
2nd payment: 30% upon delivery of draft of 3 BBs including one regional BB by 15th of July 2019;
3rd payment: 40% upon delivering the last versions of all BBs and presenting them to country partners by 30th of August 2019.
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.
Qualifications
The international consultant should have:
A solid knowledge of PFM instruments and at least 8 years of work experience with analyses of social sector government budgets;
Strong analytical and writing skills, and the ability to present results in a simple language, making use of visual aids (maps, graphs and other visual tools);
Work experience in Tanzania is an asset;
Expertise with cross-cutting themes such as equity and sectoral decentralization is an asset;
Working experience with Ministries of Finance or Government Planning institutions will be an additional asset;
An advanced University Degree in Economics, Public Policy, Governance or other relevant areas;
Full computer literacy, incl. an advanced knowledge of Excel;
High proficiency in English;
Ability to complete tasks in a tight schedule.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
Closing Date Wed Feb 13 2019 21:55:00 GMT+0100 (Afr. centrale Ouest)