UNICEF National Consultancy: Costing of Social Cash Transfer Programme Strategic Plan Jobs in Malawi

UNICEF National Consultancy: Costing of Social Cash Transfer Programme Strategic Plan Jobs in Malawi

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.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) Poverty Reduction and Social Protection Division (PRSP) provides policy oversight and coordination.

The SCTP now reaches more than 300,000 households, about 10 percent of all households in the country. The programme started as a pilot project in Mchinji district in 2006, reaching all 28 districts in 2018.

The Government, with support from UNICEF, has developed a five-year Strategic Plan with the aim of improving the impact and delivery of the programme.

The strategy identified several SCTP reforms to be implemented in the next five years. Some of these reforms include (i) moving towards categorical targeting; (ii) switching payment of cash transfers to from manual payment to electronic payment system; (iii) making the SCTP shock-sensitive and (iv) strengthening linkages to social sectors and other available services.

The SCTP operates under the framework of the Malawi National Social Support Programme (MNSSP) II. To reduce sector fragmentation, the Government in collaboration with development partners intends to establish the Social Support Fund (SSF).

The SSF will be a pooled funding mechanism for Government and donors to jointly fund all social support programmes in the country including the SCTP.

Financing SCTP through the SSF will have both operational and cost implications which should be considered in the strategy. In addition to the reforms and the possibility of implementing the SCTP through the SSF, Government is also considering to increase the SCTP beneficiaries to cover 15% ultra poor households.

The introduction of the above reforms is expected to affect the cost of implementing the programme. The reforms are at different levels of implementation. For instance, e-payments are being roll-out to additional districts after a successful pilot in Balaka and Ntcheu while categorical targeting is being tested in Thyolo.

Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive costing of the programme to ensure that both Government and Development Partners have a forecast of cost changes. Considering that the reforms and the expansion will not take place at the same time, there will also be a need to identify costs for specific reforms or mix of reforms.

Currently, the SCTP cost can only be established through budgets submitted by Ministry of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW) to specific donors and a transfer costing model which was developed however, with the new reforms being proposed in the strategy, the cost of implementing the programme will likely change.

In this view, UNICEF would like to hire an individual consultant to undertake a comprehensive costing of the SCTP Strategy.

How can you make a difference?

The consultant will be required to:

Engage key senior Government officers in the Ministry of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW), Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs as well as representatives of the SCTP donors including European Union Commission, the German Government, Irish Aid, the World Bank and other key SCTP stakeholders to establish institutional commitment and plans on SCTP financing.

Design a costing methodology/model, to be validated by the relevant stakeholders. The model will be used

to establish the cost of implementing the new SCTP strategy as a whole and specific reforms.

Collect data required for estimating the cost of implementing the SCTP in its present format and also when reforms being proposed in the SCTP Strategic Plan have been rolled out. This includes;

Expansion of Coverage: Ultra poverty statistics per District; Ultra poverty projections per District; category specific transfer amounts; Breakdown of administrative costs per transfer per household; current donor budget commitments; Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) expansion costs.

Transition to categorical targeting: targeting and retargeting roll-out costs; target populations projections per district; category/individual/household-specific transfers.

Transfer Adequacy and Shock Sensitive Social Protection: The cost of additional households outside the SCTP (horizontal expansion - HE) and periodic increase of transfer level to existing beneficiaries (Vertical expansion VE); Projections for target population per district for HE and VE; Inflation projections; Inflation adjustment mechanism and entity; Exchange rate projections.

Programme Delivery and Administration Costs: E-payments roll-out costs; E-payments admin costs and projections; Admin cost for VE and HE; GRM adaptation costs; MIS adaptation to categorical targeting costs; MIS data migration costs; SCTP annual and multi-year budgets from Government and donors.

Harmonized Financing for SCTP: SSF specifications and related costs; Donor financing rules and limitations; Contingency funds for VE and HE.

The cost of integration and linkages to social services; exit packages and service packages (e.g. light touch add-ons).

Establish once-off costs for implementing new SCTP reforms.

Estimate the cost for implementing the SCTP when the new reforms are incorporated in the programme and in each case estimate the cost per household.

Establish the cost for implementing each reform area in each SCTP districts as well as nationally.

Assess the cost implications of establishing the social support fund on the SCTP.

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

Academic qualification:

Advanced University degree in in Economics, Development Studies, Public Policy or other related fields.

Work experience:

10 or more years of demonstrable experience in socio-economic analysis and research is required.

Proven experience in costing social protection plans, policies, strategies and programmes is an asset.

Proven experience in economic modelling and costing exercises is required.

Proven experience and understanding of public financial management.

Experience in assignments related to the social protection financing and costing of social support interventions would be an asset.

Technical skills and knowledge:

Strong writing and professional verbal communications skills, with demonstrable evidence producing high quality products is required.

Advanced knowledge and understanding of social protection is required.

Proven ability to work in collaboration with Government institutions is an asset.

Competencies:

Highly organized with ability to multi-task and prioritize.

Ability to work remotely and with minimum supervision.

Strong attention to detail.

Versatile and flexible team player.

Adherence to timeframes provided.

Languages:

Fluency in English – both written and verbal skills are required.

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; UNICEF National Consultancy: Costing of Social Cash Transfer Programme Strategic Plan Jobs in Malawi

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