Terms of Reference of the Office of Research Innocenti
and
The Human Rights Cluster of the Programme Division, UNICEF
Consultancy
Public Sector Reform for Children:
Research on the Effectiveness of Governmental Children’s Machineries
For the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
1. Background
The UNICEF Office of Research Innocenti serves as an international knowledge source for the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in both developing and industrialized countries. The Office of Research (OoR) is responsible for ensuring strategic research and the building of the evidence-base supporting UNICEF’s thinking and direction. The Gender Rights and Civic Engagement unit within the UNICEF Programme Division (PD) at NYHQ is responsible for policy advocacy and support to UNICEF’s interventions at regional and country levels to advance CRC implementation with a rights based approach.
In relation to the implementation of the CRC, research at the OoR has covered specific areas of the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s “General Measures of Implementation”, such as legislative reform and child-sensitive budgeting. A missing element has been an analysis of how government structures and processes actually operate and how to make them more effective for children. Governance research, which investigates how rules and actions are produced, sustained, and regulated, provides concepts and tools to understand and address the problem of implementation gaps in relation to children’s rights. In this context, the research outlined in these ToR aims to look wider than formal mechanisms to the multiple factors that underlie effective and sustainable policies.
The utility of analysing implementation using a governance framework resonates with discussions around the post-2015 global development agenda, which have identified the promotion of human rights and good governance as a key strategy to achieve sustainable, equitable and effective development. In the current financial climate partners and governments seek more cost-effective and sustainable ways of securing development outcomes. The governance paradigm offers an opportunity to enhance, replicate and explore promising approaches in processes and institutional reforms that contribute to such outcomes, especially for children.
Against this backdrop, UNICEF’s Office of Research Innocenti and the GRACE unit in PD, NYHQ developed this research initiative on public sector reform, with specific focus on decision-making and coordination processes. The research seeks to gain an in-depth understanding of who in the public sector, and on what basis, makes decisions on the implementation of policies directly relevant to child rights, how these are sustained and translated into action, and how the process relates to formal and other coordinating structures. The research, which takes civil registration (with a major orientation towards birth registration) as the implementation issue of focus, involves empirical studies in a select number of countries.
The research will include an equity dimension. Taking a minimum of two different geographical areas in each research country, one with relatively good birth registration results for children and one with relatively poor results, it will examine the contribution of governance to these differential outcomes. The findings will be directly relevant to Level 3 monitoring for strategic result areas (SRAs) and strong programme design. Level 3 monitoring provides UNICEF with the opportunity to help countries identify the socio-cultural, legal, political and economic determinants that are hampering the ability of vulnerable groups to access services. Understanding the dynamics of decision-making and coordination within the broader context of a governance system will help address those bottlenecks and barriers and strengthen programme design.
The research uses civil registration as an entry point because of its strategic importance for the realization of children’s rights and UNICEF’s mandate. As a policy, effective and equitable provision of civil registration requires coordination between multiple sectors and departments of the public sector.
The key research question is: what constitutes effective coordination to deliver strong civil (birth) registration?
The study will develop a methodology that can be applied in multiple settings to understand and analyse effective practical coordination in diverse policy settings
Purpose of the consultancy
The first phase of the research initiative consisted in laying the analytical framework and elaborating the methodology. Specific products have consisted in a working paper on Governance for Children’s Rights by a senior public administration expert, an expert consultation gathering public administration experts and child rights advocates, and a draft methodological note.
The second phase of the research involves country case studies. These identify and study policy coordination and processes starting from the outcome and moving towards the central level – a methodology referred to as ‘backward mapping’ – in two geographical areas, well-performing and low performing – in order to assess and understand service inequities and their drivers. They build on a local team of researchers, which will be trained to collect the data.
Specific expertise in research in public administration was hired to provide technical leadership and to oversee the collection of data at the country level, and to carry out the analysis, with a view to ensuring a high quality, consistent research process and products. So far, in 2012/13, a country study consisting in two local level case-studies was carried out in Ghana, with the support and cooperation of the Ghana CO. This provided the opportunity to test and refine the methodology, and generated lessons on the ancillary information needed to produce a robust study and the significance of local partnership and ownership.
With these lessons in mind, the next step in phase two is to take the research to Peru. A minimum of two area case studies will be carried out – one in Amazonia and one in a more affluent part of the country.
2. Objective(s)
The objective of this consultancy is to provide overall leadership, including training, technical guidance and analysis and drafting, for the implementation of the country study on policy coordination and processes, formal and informal, regarding civil registration in Peru.
3. Specific tasks to be undertaken by consultant
As principle investigator, to provide expertise for the pilot case study on decision-making and coordination in public sector by:
Prior to an initial country visit
1. Conducting literature review in relation to (a) civil/birth registration and (b) the local context to gain preliminary understanding of the situation and to review the research framework. Where possible this will involve accessing laws and policies, other official documentation, grey literature and published academic sources.
2. Supporting the identification of robust local universities or research institutions and researchers, in order to identify a research partnership, in consultation with UNICEF Country Office;
3. With support from the UNICEF Country Office, identifying key stakeholders within government and civil society:
4. With support from the UNICEF Country Office, identifying two case areas for field research to be studied in the country with a view to understanding the dynamics, similarities and differences in governance of civil registration;
During an initial field visit
5. Consolidating 1 – 4. This will include: a) refining the scope of fieldwork, including the steps necessary to ensure full “backward mapping” through all necessary axes of coordination (horizontal and vertical) at all relevant levels of the public sector; b) meeting with universities or research institutions in order to scope possibilities for partnership;
6. With support from the UNICEF Country Office, meeting key stakeholders within government and civil society: a) to introduce the research and secure necessary government commitment and permissions; b) to further refine the scope of the research.
7. With the UNICEF CO and the Office of Research, defining roles and responsibilities covering the management of the research process, including the roles and responsibilities of the national partner.
8. With the UNICEF OoR, refining the research protocol.
After the initial visit
9. Support the OoR and the UNICEF CO to enlist a national partner for the research: this will include supporting the selection process, and then working with the partner to review the information gathered so far;
10. With the national partner and supported by the UNICEF CO and OoR, consolidating the literature review and information gained so far into:
a) a draft description of the national civil registration system within the context of national government systems, written as a succinct draft report. The report, in a preliminary fashion, will identify the function of birth registration in Peru, including any role in the generation of national statistics. It will identify the relationship, if any, of birth registration with other forms of civil registration and structures for their implementation. It will identify lead actors, their roles and responsibilities;
b) consolidating the research protocol and a written plan of action for the research phase (including defining roles and responsibilities of the national partner).
Both will be shared with the OoR and the UNICEF Peru CO for comment and review. The UNICEF CO will share with key government stakeholders for comment.
During the second field visit
11. With the support of the UNICEF CO, and the lead national partner, training on the methodology and data collection to local researchers;
12. Conducting interviews with key informants, in particular senior officials, in person, working with the lead national partner. The research process will include meetings with senior officials at federal level, including with officials with a stake in civil registration but not necessarily with a line responsibility.
13. Supervising the research with other levels of the system, including meeting with senior local officials to set up the work in their areas. Interviews at these levels will primarily be conducted by the national partner, however the principle investigator will participate in some interviews in order to assure that the work is being correctly and robustly handled;
14. Assuring the quality of the research process, including by monitoring the consistency of data collection and ensuring that the relevant information is accessed;
15. Coordinating with the UNICEF CO and OoR as relevant;
16. With the national partner, processing, consolidating and analysing the data collected;
After the second field visit
17. With the national partner, writing the case-study;
18. On the basis of the knowledge gained through the pilot case, reviewing the methodological framework and tools for the conduct of subsequent case-studies.
4. Specific outputs/products/results with delivery dates
1. Trip report on first field visit, covering the areas 5-7 itemized above but also including early stage observations on the organization of civil/birth registration and government structures in Peru (by 31 March 2014)
2. (With OoR and UNICEF Peru) selection of national partner (by 31 March 2014)
3. Revised draft description of organization of civil/birth registration and government structures and a revised research plan of action (as per 10 above) (by end April 2014)
4. Training materials and research protocol agreed with local researchers and training carried out (by end April 2014);
5. Trip report on second field visit (by mid May 2014)
6. First draft report consolidating the findings of each area-study (approx. 25 pages), written as a Peru case-study (by mid June 2014);
7. Second draft report consolidating the findings of each area-study (approx. 25 pages), written as a Peru case-study, incorporating a very succinct statement of laws and policies governing birth registration in Peru (by mid-July 2014);
8. Refine the methodological note and overall framework for the use in subsequent case-studies (by mid-July 2014)
5. Qualifications and/or specialized knowledge/experience required and desirable for undertaking the assignment:
1) Academic background - Advanced degree in public administration, political science, or a related field.
2) Professional experience – Twelve years of experience minimum in the area of public sector reform and governance, including field experience assessing and advising on the functioning of government structures. Demonstrated knowledge of a human rights-based approach, governance, and children’s rights (with a particular of focus on the most marginalized and excluded, such as children with disabilities, indigenous and minority children, and girls).
3) Additional skills – Strong analytical skills, including demonstrated research and writing skills including writing for publication. Ability to work in a team as well as manage an independent work programme with multiple elements. Candidate will be required to submit a sample of published work related to public sector reforms.
4) Excellent command of written and spoken English; Knowledge of another UN language highly desirable.
9. Duration of the consultancy:
60 working days between 14 March and 15 July 2014.
10. Supervision and work arrangements:
The assignment will be under the overall guidance of Andrew Mawson, Chief of Child Protection, Office of Research Innocenti.
The consultant will be primarily home-based. S/He will be expected to have very frequent contact with her/his supervisor. All submissions will be made electronically unless other means are needed (e.g. voluminous documents, technical problems).
Florence, 24 February 2014