Social Protection Capacity Development and HDP Nexus Consultant

1. Background

In recent years, the ILO Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS) has dedicated increasing attention to analysing the role that effective coordination amongst Humanitarian, Development and Peace actors can play in strengthening national social protection systems, both in peace as well as in crisis time. In many of the countries within the region, humanitarian organisations provide safety nets to vulnerable groups on an almost permanent basis, due to the protracted and recurrent crises. As such, ILO has recognised the need to invest resources and technical know-how into the alignment of the humanitarian mandate with its main mission of supporting the development of national social protection systems. These interventions have advanced system coordination and programme alignment within the humanitarian, development and peace nexus and contribute to position the ILO as a credible voice within the debate at both national, regional and global level.

As a relatively new area of work for the ILO, further capacity development as well as exposure to relevant experiences will be required for its staff as well as for its constituencies. To this effect some efforts have taken place within the framework of the TRANSFORM Arab Region initiative to undertake the revision of existing training modules as well as the development of new ones, dedicated to exploring the meaningful mainstreaming of Nexus principles within the curriculum. Likewise, the TRANSFORM Hub has engaged in the development of a new training course on the extension of coverage through integrated social protection system in collaboration with TRANSFORM Africa. This initiative, started in April 2024 is likely to continue until early 2025, where the new module is expected to be piloted and TRANSFORM Trainers will be exposed to this new content. Moreover, as the various capacity development initiatives explored at country level have demonstrated a significant level of overlapping as well as potential for efficiencies, further effort has been put in by the Regional Office in consolidating demands into a regional capacity development strategy, to be implemented in the coming months and carried over in 2025.

1. Purpose

The ILO Office for the Arab States seeks to obtain the services of a consultant in the field of both: a) social protection capacity development and b) support strategic positioning and resource mobilization on HDP Nexus in ILO Social Protection programming, to ensure continuity and contribute to the advancement of activities started in 2024.

In particular, under a) the consultant will contribute to the development of the National Social Protection Academy in Lebanon, as well as to the consolidation and implementation of a comprehensive SP capacity development strategy encompassing the demands of SP teams in the region (OPT, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq mainly), while providing technical inputs to the TRANSFORM Coordination Hub for the undertaking of specific tasks, in support to the Junior Consultant. Under b) the Consultant will contribute to policy and programme analysis, strategic positioning, in coordination with relevant staff within country teams as well as from technical units at SOCPRO HQ, support the team in positioning the ILO within relevant debates (for instance within relevant platform such as SPIAC-B); c) coordinate and consolidate financing proposals and support wider resource mobilisation efforts in the area of HDP Nexus within SP.

The Consultant will work under the overall technical supervision of the ILO regional social protection specialist, while specific country deliverables with be directly overseen by respective national teams as required.

1. Work assignment, Scope of Work and Methodology

The scope of work has been defined to ensure continuity and support progress of activities undertaken within both fields of capacity development and HDP Nexus during the past year, in line with relevant technical cooperation projects. The specification of tasks will be further defined and adjusted throughout the assignment in coordination with the supervisor and based on the needs of ILO SP country teams, so as to support programme activities’ successful completion as well as adequate representation of ILO in relevant fora, complementing regional and country team staff.

The consultancy can be performed remotely, although consideration will be given to arranging missions in country as by enhancing understanding of regional context and of teams’ respective priorities, they are likely to add value to the assignment expected deliverables.

Capacity Development

Regional

1. Support the consolidation and implementation of the regional capacity building strategy on social protection, building upon and creating synergies between existing initiatives such as TRANSFORM Arab region, the Social Protection Academy in Lebanon, the Arab Social Protection Compass, the forthcoming regional training initiative on social insurance, and other relevant ones (20 days)
2. Provide technical oversight and inputs to the implementation of the TRANSFORM Coordination Hub work plan for 2024-2025, in collaboration with a Junior Technical Consultant, specifically with regards to : a) the development and revision of the TRANSFORM Curriculum ( e.g. the development of new modules on integrated SP system and HDP Nexus); b) the capacity development and expansion of the TRANSFORM Master Trainers’ cohort, by supporting the organisation and implementation of TOT and relevant initiatives ; c) the consolidation of programme proposals and briefs aimed to promote and mobilise resources for the TRANSFORM initiative (20 days)

Iraq

1. Provide technical oversight and inputs to the implementation of TRANSFORM training in Iraq specifically with regards to a) adapting the training materials to the context of Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; b) serving as the ILO resource person in the course of training delivery (online or in person, based on availably and security situation in the region) (10 days)
2. In coordination with the ILO Office in Iraq and the ITC-ILO, contribute to the conceptualization of the national capacity building strategy on social security and the development of the ToT curriculum for social security professionals in Iraq (20 days)
3. Support the participation of Iraqi stakeholders in regional capacity development initiatives on social protection, including but not limited to Arab Social Protection Compass, regional training initiative on social security (10 days)

Lebanon

1. Support the refinement of the Foundations of Social Protection course based on the first pilot, based on feedback from participants, trainers, and other stakeholders involved in the course to identify strengths, gaps, and areas for improvement, and sharing recommendations for course enhancements and their integration into course material (10 days)
2. Support further rollout of other training tracks, including exploration of partners and resource people (academia, private sector, NGOs, SOCPRO, and other), ensuring alignment with the strategy of the Social Protection Academy in Lebanon, and monitoring the effectiveness of the tracks for further improvement (10 days)
3. Revise the SP Academy strategy based on learnings from pilot outcomes, stakeholder feedback and further consultations (5 days)
4. Development of a one-year workplan for the rollout of courses, presenting a roadmap for the different training tracks and the subsequent courses per track, tailored to the diverse needs of participants, particularly in relation to their roles and responsibilities within the National Social Protection Strategy; key topics covered under every course, and milestones for the rollout of the Academy’s courses (10 days)
5. Provide technical oversight to the implementation of TRANSFORM applications in 2025, in collaboration with the Junior Technical Consultant, including revisions to the curriculum length and content, development of new modules, and supporting the organisation and implementation of TRANSFORM TOTs (5 days)

HDP Nexus in Social Protection

Regional

1. Support the analysis of policy and programming across countries engaged in the progressive operationalisation of HDP Nexus in social protection, facilitating documentation and dissemination of lessons learned with the public as well as capacity development and knowledge – exchange across ILO teams and its constituents, in coordination with SOCPRO and Crisis Unit at HQ Geneva and other relevant stakeholders, including donors, academia etc (20 days)
2. Support representation of ILO ROAS in fora, events and initiatives related to HDP Nexus in social protection (e.g. SPIAC-b working group; sp.org community of practice et). (10 days)
3. Support the strategic positioning, donor engagement consolidation of funding/project proposals related to ILO work in the field of HDP Nexus in SP (20 days)

Occupied Palestinian Territory

1. Support the national team in drafting technical notes and blogs on the HDP social protection nexus work, including with respect to detailing progress made, showcasing main achievements in terms of improved coordination amongst humanitarian agencies, development partners and the government, and disseminating key learnings. In coordination with the national team, identify challenges limiting coordination & alignment, and propose recommendations to overcome them. (6 days)
2. Provide ad-hoc technical support to inform the workplans and technical reports of the Social Protection and Voucher Assistance Thematic Working Group (SPCVA TWG), including on how to ensure the 11 principles of OECD-DAC Recommendation are well considered and integrated, with particular attention given to the current situation and crisis in country. (4 days)
3. Review the final products of ongoing analysis (conflict-sensitive AND gender-sensitive analysis) to be used to inform the new EU-funded project “Strengthening capacities towards a coherent national social protection system across the humanitarian” and assist the national team in incorporating the recommendations resulting from the products to the design and implementation of the project, directly feeding to the SPCVA TWG. (2 days)

Lebanon

1. Provide support and technical input for adapting and initiating new social protection nexus initiatives ensuring that they are responsive to the country context and needs and align with ongoing efforts within the HDP Nexus framework, based on internal analysis and ongoing discussions with stakeholders. (10 days)
2. Main deliverables, payment schedule and timeframe

The consultancy will begin on the 1st of October 2023 and should be completed by 30 November 2025 for a total of 192 working days.

Timeframe and schedule of deliverables mentioned below will be reviewed at least quarterly to reflect progress and advancement status and priority of different files in light of regional and country contexts.

1. Qualifications and Selection Criteria :

Education

– Advanced degree in economics, statistics, or development and social studies, social protection, education or public policy.

Experience

– 10 or more years of experience in social protection, including in contexts of emergency.

– 5 or more years of experience in capacity development, training and/or adult education, ideally in the field of social protection

– 2 or more years of programming work in the HDPN space, ideally in the field of social protection

– Experience in planning, project management, reporting and technical assistance in the field the assignment.

– Experience in coordination of multi-stakeholders’ initiatives

– Experience working with the ILO, another UN agency or other international development organization preferable.

Skills and knowledge

– Extensive knowledge of social protection ILO frameworks and standards

– Excellent written and spoken English and presentational capacities. Fluency in French and/or Arabic language is an asset.

– Excellent organisational, inter-personal skills and communication skills

– Knowledge of the development context in the Middle East and North Africa region preferable.

How to apply

6. Qualifications and Selection Criteria

Individual consultants are invited to share the following documents by September 26, 2024, with the ILO Regional Social protection team at: fawaz@ilo.org and pellerano@ilo.org

• A cover letter outlining fit for the assignment

• CV

• An example of previous work on a similar assignment

• Financial proposal (Daily Rate)