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Climate change has been causing increasingly frequent and extreme natural disasters in Brazil and worldwide. Vulnerable children and adolescents, along with their families, have fewer resources to relocate or adapt to climate change. Often, this group lives in geographically exposed areas to disasters and experiences the first and most intense impacts of socio-environmental shocks and their secondary economic consequences.

Brazil has a robust intergovernmental social protection system that aims to support vulnerable families in guaranteeing their rights and overcoming inequalities and poverty, including during socio-environmental shocks. The Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) works in coordination with other sectoral policies and encompasses services, benefits, projects, and programs, playing a fundamental role in the implementation of Brazil’s most important national cash transfer program, Bolsa Família.

Despite the robustness of the Brazilian social protection system, COVID-19 and the most recent extreme events in the Amazon region and Rio Grande do Sul have revealed challenges in adapting social protection services and benefits to ensure an effective and timely response to large-scale shocks, particularly at the state and municipal levels of SUAS. Similarly, climate change and the high risk of new socio-environmental shocks in various regions of the country make it essential for the system to advance in preparation and response to emergencies.

With extensive expertise in preparedness and emergencies, UNICEF has been supporting governments at national and subnational levels to increase social protection shock-responsiveness. In partnership with the National Collegiate of Municipal Social Assistance Managers (CONGEMAS), UNICEF developed two technical guides to support municipalities: CRAS in emergencies: guidelines and orientations for preparedness and Contributions to adapt SUAS services to emergencies. In addition, the document SUAS in emergencies, elaborated in partnership with the Social Assistance department of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro systematizes the municipality’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights lessons learned in urban centers.

Since 2023, UNICEF has partnered with the National Secretariat of Social Assistance (SNAS) of the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Poverty (MDS) to develop and disseminate a series of technical guidance to prepare and respond to emergencies. To date, five documents have been released, collectively reaching over 10,000 views. The first document is a quick guide for managers and social workers at the subnational level. The other four provide in-depth guidance on critical dimensions of preparedness , response and recovery within Brazil’s Social Assistance system, including administrative and budgetary management, social work, shelter management, and social assistance surveillance.

Based on the lessons learned from the most recent emergencies, technical guidance on social assistance benefits and cash transfer programs  has been perceived as a key gap to be addressed. In this sense, an additional document will be developed to be integrated into the existing series.  

The development of the document with technical guidance on Social Assistance Benefits and Cash Transfers will be led by the Ministry of Social Development (MDS), involving the Emergency and Benefits section of the National Secretariat of Social Assistance (SNAS) and the National Secretariat of Citizenship Income (SENARC), with the support of a social protection consultant. The consultant will work in alignment with the Social Policy technical team in Brasília. Additionally, UNICEF will mobilize communication efforts to support the dissemination of materials and maximize outreach.

SCOPE OF WORK:

UNICEF Brazil is looking for a Social Protection consultant to support the development of technical guidance for Social Assistance workers on Social Assistance Benefits and Cash Transfer programs in emergency contexts. Under the supervision of the Chief of Social Policy, the consultant will work closely with SNAS and SENARC technical teams and support coordination efforts led by UNICEF.

The expected results are:

• Support UNICEF’s liaison with the SNAS and SENARC technical team throughout the development process;
• Participate in workshops to collect contributions from key actors and ensure the guidance reflects diverse inputs;
• Draft Technical Guidance on Social Assistance Benefits and Cash Transfers in Emergencies, incorporating discussions and guidance from MDS, evidence, and best practices to be reviewed by and discussed with the MDS team, specialists, and representation of SUAS governance and participatory bodies;
• Develop a first version of the guidance to be shared in a public consultation process.
• Revise and finalize the technical guidance, incorporating feedback from the public consultation and technical validations.

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DELIVERABLES

• Deliverable 1: Workplan with a detailed timeline.

The document should include a travel plan* and a draft of methodologies and tools for data collection.

• • Deadline: 15 days from the beginning of the contract

Estimated Budget: 15% including travel costs

• Deliverable 2: Technical guidance draft already considering missions’ inputs
  • Deadline: End of month 3.
  • Estimated Budget: 20%.
• Deliverable 3: Technical guidance first version
  • Deadline: End of Month 6.
  • Estimated Budget: 25%.
• Deliverable 4: Technical guidance final version  
  • Deadline: End of Month 7.
  • Estimated Budget: 40%.

*The consultant is expected to travel twice to participate in in-person meetings to collect data and/or workshops with key stakeholders. Consider one mission of 5 days to the Rio Grande do Sul with 1 workshop in Porto Alegre and 1 in Lajeado and another  mission of 3 days to   Vivência (PE). Travel costs should be included in the deliverable 1.

DURATION OF CONTRACT:

7 months

TRAVEL PLAN

*The consultant is expected to travel twice to participate in in-person meetings to collect data and/or workshops with key stakeholders. Consider one mission of 5 days to the Rio Grande do Sul with 1 workshop in Porto Alegre and 1 in Lajeado and another mission of 3 days to Vivência (PE). Travel costs should be included in the deliverable 1.  

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENT

Mandatory

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Social Sciences, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• Master's degree in Social Work, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
• Minimum of ten years of professional experience with Social Assistance public policies.
• Advanced knowledge of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS), including social assistance benefits and cash transfers.
• Proven experience in developing technical guidance materials on Social Assistance Benefits and Cash Transfers.
• Experience with SUAS in emergencies will be considered an asset.
• Knowledge of SUAS in emergencies will be considered an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN agency will be considered an asset.
• Fluency in Portuguese.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Fluency in Portuguese

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

• A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum, administrative cost, travel cost and subsistence costs, as applicable.

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UNICEF’S CORE VALUES

Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS)

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 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:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.