Country: Senegal
Closing date: 14 May 2019
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Background
UNICEF WCARO is seeking the services of an individual contractor/consultant to carry out an independent assessment of the quality of 2017 and 2018 Country Office (CO) and Regional Office (RO) donor reports. The exercise will involve a review of a sample of the 2017 and 2018 donor reports submitted by all 24 Country Offices and the Regional Office and provide concrete recommendations for stronger and more consistent donor reports in the region.
In 2016 and 2017, offices in West and Central Africa Region (WCAR) collectively submitted a total of 1,831 donor reports to public, private (including UNICEF National Committees) and multi-sector donors. Inadequate reporting of results and late submission of reports are major risks to UNICEF’s reputation, good relationship with donors, and successful fundraising.
Due to the importance of high quality reporting, the Office of Internal Audit recommended in May 2007 that all Regional Offices exercise a greater role in oversight and quality assurance of donor reports. The UNICEF Programme Policy Procedure (PPP), notes that as part of the oversight function, “ROs are responsible for monitoring and undertaking a sample assessment of CO reporting performance” and that undertaking an independent annual Quality Assurance Review of donor reports is a best practice in the area of reporting to donors and ROs are encouraged to undertake similar reviews.
In compliance with this recommendation, WCARO has been conducting quality assurance exercises of donor report since 2010 and most recently in 2016/17. The 2019 exercise is part of the WCARO PPME section’s 2018-19 rolling work plan and relates to the deliverable on ensuring that all WCAR documents are edited, quality assured and submitted on time.
Scope of work
1) Activities and Tasks:
Phase I: 1st two weeks from the start day of the assignment): Start of review
• Consultant to review and update the methodology, tools and sample for the exercise, including review of UNICEF corporate guidance, tools and best practices on donor reporting and quality assessments, and produce outline of the report.
• Prepare a brief inception report outline the methodology.
Phase II (By end June): Assessment of reports using checklist:
• Undertake an assessment of a sample of 60 donor reports using the agreed methodology and tools.
• Prepare a draft synthesis report, with annexes, for review by WCARO
Phase III (End-July): Final synthesis report with annexes including checklists
• Produce the final synthesis report, with annexes, addressing the WCARO comments on the draft report.
• Prepare a powerpoint presentation summarizing the methodology and key findings of the report.
2) Work relationships:
• The consultant will work independently and will be home based.
• The interaction between WCARO and the consultant will be by email or phone/Skype as appropriate.
• The consultant will report to the Regional Chief of Programme and Planning.
How can you make a difference?
Objectives
Goal and Objective: Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Programme and Planning in WCARO, the consultant will be responsible for assessing the quality of sample donor reports against a set of quality criteria (See Annex) and providing practical recommendations for improving the quality of donor reports in the region.
Furthermore, this exercise aims at improving the overall capacity of Country Offices and Regional Office in writing donor reports and identify area for further improvements in the area of “Donor Reporting and Contribution Management”.
Deliverables and Schedules
Prepare a PPT to summarize the key findings.Deliverables
Duration
(Estimated # of days)
Timeline/
Deadline
Payment
Phase 1: deliverables due 31 May
(i) updated methodology and tools (including checklist, country summary sheet, 1-page feedback report, outline of the synthesis report, and others as required) following review and revisions
(ii) inception report
45 days total distributed across all 3 deliverables at the discretion of the consultant (documented in inception report)
31 May 2019
25%
Phase 2: deliverables due 30 June
Assessment of a sample of 60 donor reports, in line with inception report, based on agreed methodology and using agreed tools, to prepare the following deliverables:
(iv) completed checklists, for each report
(v) country summary sheet, for each country office and regional office
(vi) 1-page summary feedback sheet, for each report, addressed to the respective country and regional offices, including highlights of best features of reports and areas for improvement
(vii) draft synthesis report, which should include at least: executive summary, background, purpose of the review, analysis of trends, strengths, good practices, weaknesses, recommendations. The report should be easy to read with appropriate illustrations in the form of graphs and tables summarizing trends; it should discuss the results of the donor reports quality assessment and highlight good practices from different offices (e.g. using boxes with examples).
As per above
30 June 2019
35%
Phase 3: deliverables due 31 July
(viii) final synthesis report with annexes (including revisions)
(ix) powerpoint presentation which summarizes key findings (including revisions, if any)
As per above
31 July 2019
40%
Additional guidance:
Timing
Total working days for the consultancy: 45 days (non-consecutive)
Fees: to be negotiated based on the best value-for-money offer. Applicants are requested to submit a financial proposal with the application.
Payment schedule: The payment is upon satisfactory completion of the deliverables agreed, according to the following distribution: phase 1 deliverables – 1st instalment = 25%; phase 2 deliverables – 2nd instalment = 35%; phase 3 deliverables – 3rd instalment = 40%. See above table on deliverables.
Reporting Requirements
The consultant shall submit all deliverables listed above, to the Regional Chief Programme and Planning, electronically via email. The dates for submission and contents of deliverables are listed above under ‘Deliverables’
Profile Requirements
Desired competencies, technical background and experience:
Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.
Other competencies:
Administrative Issues
Conditions:
The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.
Risks:
Risks include poor quality of internal and particularly external documents and/or late submission of documents, which could have potential reputational risks for UNICEF WCARO. Mitigation measures include ensuring the UNICEF guidelines on writing and branding as well as WCARO branded templates are used by consultant.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
For every Child, hope
UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
The technical competencies required for this post are….
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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.”
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
How to apply:
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 organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=521844