Local Governance Consultant, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 9 months

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, care.

UNICEF Mongolia promotes policies and laws that better deliver on children’s rights. We are working with the Government of Mongolia and other partners to ensure that the benefits of the country’s development reach the most impoverished and vulnerable children.  

How can you make a difference? 

Under the general guidance of the Chief of Social Policy, the Local Governance Consultant is accountable for providing technical support and assistance to contribute to the country program outputs: i) National and subnational governments demonstrated increased political commitments towards equity-focused, child-rights related budget allocation ii) national and subnational governments have increased capacity to make policy decisions related based on quality up-to-date and evidence.  The consultant will be responsible to support the CO to design and develop provisional/subnational government dashboard/performance indicator generating database for child-related situational analysis and coordinate the UNICEF CO joint provisional workplans and activities with the Governor Offices to strengthen the national system ensuring children benefit from evidence-driven and child sensitive policies and programmes at each provincial and local level and maintain the provision of quality services, particularly for the most vulnerable.  

The consultant substantially incorporates and assist CO input to meet the need to target the most vulnerable communities and strengthen partnerships with provincial authorities to systematically address deprivations to children’s rights and the need to improve cross-sectorally and focus on demonstrating, leveraging local resources and advocating the change at the provincial and local government level. 

  Support in strategically coordinating UNICEF CO joint provisional workplans with Governor Offices, enhancing provincial planning to ensure child-sensitive policies and programs benefit children at the local level. 

• Coordinate UNICEF CO joint provisional workplans and activities with the Governor Offices to strengthen the national systems, ensuring that children benefit from evidence-driven and child-sensitive policies and programs at each provinces and local level.
• Assist in incorporating CO input to target the most vulnerable communities and strengthen partnerships with provincial authorities, provincial native living abroad and in Ulaanbaatar to systematically address deprivations of children’s rights.
• Overall coordination and analysis of UNICEF interventions at the provincial and local levels to ensure coherence and implementation of the Country Programme Document (CPD).
• Arrange meetings with Governors to facilitate collaboration and alignment with UNICEF’s objective.

Develop situational analysis dashboard to strengthen the results for children and support in design structuring the disaggregated database on Child Deprivations & Vulnerability 

• Support to design and develop a provisional/subnational government dashboard/performance indicator generating database for child-related situational analysis.
• Generate aggregated socio-economic analysis of each provision to inform decision-making enabling measuring the performance and results at the provincial level.
• Focus on improving cross-sectorality and advocating for change at the provincial and local government levels.

 Strengthening Social Protection Coverage and Impact for Children at Local government level 

• Support strengthening the subnational social protection policies, legislation, and programs with a focus on increasing coverage and impact on children, especially the most marginalized
• Identify, generate, and present evidence to support increased social protection coverage and impact, collaborating with partners.
• Assist in improving integrated social protection systems with the national systems, such as cash transfers and child benefits, aligning with the Subnational and Local Governance Programming Framework
• Conduct assessment of social protection’s impact on children, emphasizing evidence-based approaches ensuring national programs and policies receive adequate funding at the provincial and local levels.

Improving Use of Public Financial Resources for Children at the Local government budget 

• Conduct budget analysis to inform advocacy and provide technical assistance for equitable allocations for essential child social services to accelerate results for Children at the local level.
• Support the identification of policy options for improved funding mechanisms for child-sensitive social protection interventions.
• Build capacity of partners for improved monitoring and tracking of public expenditure to enhance transparency, accountability, and effective financial flows for essential service delivery, facilitating community participation where needed.
• Generate data and evidence for advocacy for 2024-2025 Budget cycle.

 Strengthening Capacity of Local Governments to Plan, Budget, and Monitor Child-Focused Social Services 

• Collaborate with authorities and local communities to enhance policies, planning, and budgeting for local service delivery with a focus on child-friendly approaches.
• Support capacity-building on data collection, analysis, and coordination of essential child-focused social services in provinces, districts, and communities.
• Systematically address deprivations of children’s rights and the need to improve cross-sectorality, focusing on demonstrating change at the local level through the integrated “Soum [District] Model Approach” in partnerships with provincial authorities.

Others

• Helps manage and coordinate technical support around child deprivations, social protection, public finance and governance ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely manner so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery is maintained.
• Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and the Government.
• Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, reporting and monitoring and evaluation of the country programme (including end-of-year reporting and annual work plans)

Contract duration (start and end date): 9 months.

Travel plan: The consultant is expected to travel to provinces at least 4 times during the consultancy period.

For detailed Terms of Reference please click  Local Governance Consultant_TOR_ad.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, finance, partnerships, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of 2 years of relevant professional experience is required.
• Proven experience in data evidence management, social policy analysis and development, including collecting and analyzing data on socio and economic indicators, provincial performance data and reports proposing policy responses, and advocating for resource allocation to address social issues.
• Expertise and experience in designing and implementing development programs, social sector policies and programs, with a focus on marginalized communities and children, including knowledge of integrated systems and monitoring their impact on child outcomes is an asset.
• Solid understanding and background on coordination and policies between central and local government including social sector services implementation at subnational level is value added.
• Strong background in budget analysis and financial management, identifying policy options for financing social protection interventions, and building capacity for transparent and accountable public expenditure tracking is added value.
• Fluency in English and native Mongolian is required.

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

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/individual contractors 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. 

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.