Regional Social Policy Consultant

**Job no**: 567920

**Contract type**: Consultant

**Duty Station**: Panama City

**Level**: Consultancy

**Location**: Panama

**Categories**: Social Policy

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, **_hope_**

The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices.

UNICEF works to put the rights and well-being of the most disadvantaged children at the heart of the social, political, and economic agenda, in line with our equity focus, working across our organization and with our partners in government, civil society and the private sector to support shifts in public policy, fuel social engagement, and increase investment for children.

**How can you make a difference?**
- Under the supervision of the Regional Social Policy Adviser, the Regional Social Policy Consultant is accountable for providing technical support and assistance to regional and country office teams in various Social Policy areas of work in LAC, with a focus on social protection, including care systems and support/disability inclusive agendas; child poverty analysis, public finance for children, and local governance.
- The consultant will work primarily on the delivery of technical assistance, both remotely and in-person, to regional and country offices; the production and publication of high-quality knowledge products; and the contribution to nurturing key partnerships at regional level in what pertains to social protection and care.**Scope of Work**:
1. Support the development of high-quality knowledge products: Provide technical coordination and quality control, produce and/or complement analysis and writing of final pieces; contributing to editing, design and publication of final product. The specific products are:
a. Finalization and publication of the regional social protection strategy.

b. Finalization of two papers on investment in social sectors related to children and best practices

c. Publication of a study on family-based care services.

d. Review and finalization of a study on Social Protection for Children and Adolescents in LAC, to be produced jointly with ILO.

e. Finalization of Care and Support Guideline for COs, jointly with ECD and Gender

f. Finalization of Care and Private Sector, jointly with B4R

g. Develop TORs for the study ‘Costing of minimum packages of disability inclusive policies’

h. Update, finalize and publish the mapping of UNICEF local governance work in LAC

2. Provide expert technical assistance, both remotely and in-person, to regional teams and to COs, by means of reviewing TORs and knowledge products, as well as supporting policy dialogue with national/local counterparts for development of legislation and programmes, on what pertains to:
a. Social protection system strengthening, including care systems and disability inclusive social protection, expansion of coverage and adaptation to specifically vulnerable groups.

b. Child poverty analysis and advocacy efforts for child poverty reduction strategies

c. Public finance for children

d. Capacity building of local governments for improved child-sensitive policies at subnational levels, including integrated social services.

3. Support coordination and nurturing of external regional partnerships for regional work on social protection, public finance for children and local governance, as well as coordinate internally with other teams (in particular: Gender, Early Childhood Development, Inclusion) and global initiatives (HQ technical teams and focal points for social protection, disability-inclusive social protection, gender, and care, data/DPAM).

4. Support Social Policy Unit’s planning and monitoring, as well as knowledge management functions as needed.

**To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have**
- An advanced university degree (master’s) in Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
- A minimum of five years of relevant professional work within social policy analysis and/or programming, including in social protection specifically, is required.
- Previous professional experience in Latin America and the Caribbean is required.
- Proficiency in Spanish and English is required.
- Professional technical knowledge in social policy, including social protection, is required.

**For every Child, you demonstrate**

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

UNICEF competencies: building and maintains partnerships, demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, drive to achieve results for impact, innovate