Panama: Innovations, Individual Contractor (Consultancy)

Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: Panama
Closing date: 12 Dec 2016

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Assignment

Under the guidance and supervision of the LACRO Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the Consultant will work on mapping effective innovations that affect the life of children at the country and regional level, identifying opportunities to develop partnerships and strengthening the innovative capacity of UNICEF COs and RO. The work will analyse a vast array of innovations types, such as data-related innovations, partnerships, human centred-design for policies, programmes and services, and communication strategies to get make the voice of children accounted for.

Assignment Tasks

Innovation is vital to improving the state of the world’s children. The speed at which global problems — from disease outbreaks, to the global refugee crisis, to millions of out-of-school children — disrupt the lives of children around the world is only getting faster. UNICEF innovates in order to stay agile and find solutions to the evolving challenges affecting all children.Innovation at UNICEFis driven by an interdisciplinary team of individuals around the world tasked with identifying, prototyping, and scaling technologies and practices that strengthen UNICEF’s work for children. Innovations range from new ways to structure programmes to new products and technologies. To create these solutions, UNICEF works with anetwork of global problem solverswho can find new ways to accelerate results that reduce inequities for children. These innovators are also creating a new global infrastructure of openness, of collaboration across borders, of exploration, and of innovation for equity.

UNICEF’s approach to innovation is basedon ourInnovation Principles, which highlight the importance of designing with the end-user, understanding local ecosystems, designing for scale, and using open source technology and open data.

UNICEF in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region context, in which most countries are Middle Income and High Income Countries, has the potential to be an engine of innovation to propel and boost sustainable results for children in the priority areas of the countries in which UNICEF works.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

  • Systematize ongoing innovations to deliver results for children that UNICEF country offices are implementing, including a categorization of the innovation, results, lessons learned, associated costs and indicators of sustainability.
  • Identify and conceptualize lessons learned of implementing innovations in the region and ideas on how to identify, design, and implement innovations in country offices that are driving faster and more sustained changes for children in the region.
  • Identify and categorize key partners of innovation and platforms at the regional level and windows of opportunity to work with them, including centers of excellence, government agencies, universities, research institutions, entrepreneurs and startups associations.
  • Support the design and knowledge exchange materials in the region to outline the views and role of UNICEF on innovations in the LAC region.
  • Facilitate discussions on knowledge building and knowledge sharing on innovation.
  • Modality

    The consultancy will be home-based with some traveling to 2-3 countries, including a short working trip to the UNICEF Regional Office, based in Panama.

    KEY END-RESULTS

    END PRODUCTS (e.g. report, article, documents, etc.):

    Deliverables

  • A report with a systematization / mapping of ongoing innovations to deliver results for children that UNICEF country offices are implementing, including a categorization of the innovation, results, and lessons learned, implementation costs, and a brief analysis of institutional and financial sustainability of each innovation. The report will include identified lessons learned of on how to identify, design, and implement innovations in country offices that are driving faster and more sustained changes for children.
  • An exploratory report with innovations for children in the region outside UNICEF, including a short list of key partners of innovation and platforms at the regional level and windows of opportunity to work with them. The list may include centers of excellence, government agencies, universities, research institutions, entrepreneurs and startups associations.
  • A framework for the LAC region with an understanding of what how LACRO should consider innovation to be implemented in the Region, providing the basics on for what innovation efforts are to be applied, the typologies of innovation, the support institutional and financial mechanisms available both internally and externally. The report will also specify innovation entry points to better support the implementation of UNICEF innovations in the LAC region in the context of middle and high income countries.
  • MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

    Education:

    Advanced university degree in social sciences, business administration or other related fields. Knowledge of human centred design and design thinking approach.

    Work Experience:

  • 5 years or more of relevant professional work experience in the implementation of innovations for development, especially in high and middle income countries.
  • Experience working in Developing Countries in the LAC Region.
  • Experience working with the innovative teams for public private partnerships and non-traditional knowledge centres.
  • Languages:

    Fluency in English and Spanish. Fluency in Portuguese and/or French an asset.

    Other skills and Attributes:

  • Capacity to communicate effectively and work collaboratively.
  • Availability to perform short trips to 2-3 LAC countries.
  • High level of Integrity and commitment to UNICEF’s mission and professional values.
  • Analytical and conceptual ability.

    To view our competency framework, please click here.

    Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

    UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.

    How to apply:

    UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=501698

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