Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Jubbaland State

Federal Government of Somalia
Child Sensitive Social Protection Programme 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Project Officer– Coordination, Operational and Strategic Operational Support for CSSP2 implementation

Background

The Child Sensitive Social Protection Programme (CSSP) is an unconditional cash-based social transfer program that targets pregnant and lactating women (PLW) with children under one-year-old. The programme is funded through transitional development aid funding by the German Government (Ministry of Economic Cooperation BMZ) through KfW and is being implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) through the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA). The CSSP programme builds upon UNICEF's social protection experience both within and outside of Somalia to ensure the greatest impact on the future well-being of children. The programme aims to improve the ability of families to cover the bare minimum requirements of basic food and water for survival and to enhance access to essential social services, such as health and nutrition services and birth registration. These objectives are to be achieved through a monetary transfer during a crucial stage of child development – within the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Through its ‘cash plus’ element, the programme will also contribute to improving the ability of households to maintain their livelihoods and meet the basic expenditure for health and protection through strengthened linkages between cash transfer programmes and key services.

The second phase of the CSSP will be implemented in one district each in two Federal Member States: Hirshabelle and Jubbaland.  In parallel with the first phase, the design of CSSP Phase II is aligned to the national social protection program Baxnaano with a planned integration as a second categorical window of Baxnaano. The three components of the CSSP programme that will contribute to this objective are:

1.      Component 1: Social Cash Transfers to Pregnant/Lactating Women and Young Children (1,000 days) to be implemented using the government social protection delivery system and led on the ground by implementing partners through a partnership agreement with UNICEF and close collaboration with the Somali Government at federal, state and district levels.

2.      Component 2: Improved Access to Nutrition and Health Information and Services via Cash Plus- to be led by UNICEF Social Policy in collaboration with the health, nutrition, and child protection sections. 3.      Component 3: Strengthening Government Capacity and ownership of Social Protection in Somalia- to be led by UNICEF Social Policy in collaboration with the Government at the federal, state and district levels.

Job Summary

The Project Officer (CSSP2) will support the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs at State level to establish functional social protection structures at the state and district levels for the coordination, implementation, monitoring and generation of evidence on the Child Sensitive Social Protection Programme (CSSP). The Project Officer will ensure that the structures and systems established at state and district levels effectively leverage and coordinate with existing resources from Baxnaano, SAGAL and the decentralization institutional structures supported under the UN Joint Programme on Local Governance (JPLG) to efficiently deliver social protection (particularly social transfer) programmes to Pregnant and Lactating Women and their families in the selected programme locations. The Project Officer will further strengthen the capacity of MoLSA staff at the state and Social Affairs Department (SAD) at the district level in the areas of monitoring and coordination of social assistance, improving communication and Grievance and Redress Mechanisms (GRM). The incumbent will provide hands-on experience and on-the-job training to the Government personnel (civil servants) involved in the implementation of the CSSP programme at all levels. Furthermore, the Project Officer will lead state-level efforts to develop a social protection decentralization strategy in close collaboration with the MOLSA federal, UNICEF and other key stakeholders.

Objectives and scope of work

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Director General (DG) and in close collaboration and consultation with the CSSP Coordinator at MOLSA Federal, the implementing partner and UNICEF, the Project Officer will provide technical support to the implementation of CSSP activities. Specifically, the incumbent will be responsible for the following:

1.Technical and operational support to the day-to-day management and implementation of CSSP programme operations. This includes:

ü  Planning, implementation, management, monitoring and reporting of all activities under components 1, 2 and 3 of CSSP such as:

§  Community mobilization, sensitization, and engagement

§  Development of partnerships, beneficiary selection, registration, and enrolment

§  Develop and support the implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

§  Substantial support to the management of complaints and feedback mechanisms/grievance redress

§  Carry out information, awareness raising and other direct communication with beneficiaries throughout programme implementation. 

§  Conduct field implementation and monitoring visits for beneficiary registration, data collection/processing/reconciliation and related activities.

§  Analyze findings from field verifications of MCH, including resource gaps, and liaise with UNICEF and implementing partners to provide recommendations as required.

§  Lead the process of identifying and recruiting Community Health workers for CSSP in close collaboration and consultation with the Ministry of Health.

§  Provide technical guidance to identified Community Health Workers on the CSSP as appropriate, including ensuring that the community is mobilized through dialogue and awareness raising on health, information and nutrition services.

§  Provide context-specific guidance to implementing partners, community health workers, communications teams and any technical assistance firms or consultants recruited for CSSP, ensuring that any tools or operations designed for CSSP are culturally appropriate and cover all key areas of intervention based on the programme results framework.

§  Liaise and engage with focal persons within line ministries related to CSSP on the programme, providing information as necessary and to facilitate their timely and consistent support on the programme as required.

ü  Engage and contribute substantively to operational and strategic dialogue on CSSP implementation, including the review and endorsement of the POM.

ü  Liaising closely with UNICEF and IPs given their direct responsibilities for elements of the operationalization/management of cash delivery to beneficiaries e.g., logistics, finance, procurement, and IT, providing advice on any bottlenecks that may impede the timely delivery of cash transfers to beneficiaries.

ü  Closely coordinate with CSSP M&E Consultant to ensure that relevant outcome and output indicators for the CSSP are systematically being collected and analysed in a manner that will help the programme determine the effectiveness of cash transfer delivery and social service integration.

ü   Active participation and support to all dialogue and discussions around social protection data (including data protection and data sharing.

ü  Support the DG in establishing a social protection department in the ministry.

2.      Stakeholder management, coordination, and liaison and capacity building

§  Ensure that the Senior Management Team are kept well-informed on the progress of the programme and can make well-informed, timely decisions on operational delivery when required.

§  At state level, provide oversight on communication and discussions and ensure an adequate level of coordination between all key implementing stakeholders and service providers contractually engaged for all components of the CSSP II.

§  Serve as the lead state liaison to facilitate discussions with local stakeholders to inform the above processes and to ensure appropriate information exchange.

§  Collect data to inform the development of a social protection sectoral decentralization strategy for the state.

§  Participate in the meetings of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on decentralization.

§  Organize and participate in all relevant dialogue with stakeholders and donors on child-sensitive social protection.

§  Provide on-the-job training and mentoring to staff (state and district) involved in the design and implementation of the child-sensitive social protection programmes.

3.      Knowledge Management

§  Review and ensure timely reporting on the progress, achievements, impact, cost-effectiveness, and/or challenges and bottlenecks of implementation of cash transfer interventions with recommendations to improve quality, impact and timeliness.

§  Maintain thorough knowledge of the project as well as an understanding of how that impacts other stakeholders.

§  Review external communication documents and visibility materials for the CSSP

Supervisor & Deliverables

The Project Officer shall be supervised by the Director of Social Protection, MoLSA FMS and will provide the following deliverables:

·         MoLSA’s direct technical and operational support to the CSSP programme implementation

·         Monthly CSSP progress update and field monitoring report, including information at the state and district level, with highlights of bottlenecks (if any), and clear recommendations for addressing them.

·         MoLSA reports on field monitoring visits (beneficiary registration, data collection/processing and reconciliation), and ensuring that they are shared with MoLSA FGS.

·         Organization and execution of two learning events based on the experience of FMS, districts, and the implementing partners in implementing the CSSP.

·         Represent MoLSA FMS within the CSSP PIU and provide regular updates to the counterparts at FMS level on implementation progress.

·         Support capacity development activities for MoLSA FMS and District SAD staff involved in the CSSP programme.

The monthly payment of the consultant will be subject to the satisfactory delivery of concrete deliverables and the submission of timely and quality monthly progress reports to MOLSA and UNICEF.

·          University degree in social science, economics, public administration etc and 5-7 years of relevant work experience

·         Knowledge and practical experience in, Government engagement, communications and outreach, stakeholder cooperation and project cycle design, management, and implementation.

·         Excellent theoretical and operational understanding of the field of social protection, Child sensitive social protection, specifically social safety nets and cash transfer programs and previous experience on Social Protection in Somalia.

·         Understanding of the overall political, administrative, and institutional context of Somalia at the federal, state and district level.

·         Excellent computer skills (especially Microsoft office applications) and ability to use information technologies as a tool and resource.

·         Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

·         Ability to speak fluent Somali and English language.

·         Ability to multitask and work under tight deadlines in a highly complex environment.

·         Ability to take initiative, work independently and deliver high-quality results on time.

Duration of Assignment: Appointment will be for an initial year, and subject to renewal based on satisfactory performance and funding availability

To apply, send your CV to emails [email protected]o and copy or Cc [email protected] indicating the vacancy number and location for the position you are applying to by June 18th, 2024.