Location: Yerevan, Armenia
Category:
Type: Full Time
Deadline: 14-Jun-17 18:00:00
Salary:
Description
The purpose of this assignment is to conduct an in medias res cost-benefit analysis of the introduction of alternative pre-school services in consolidated communities in Armenia, including the costing analysis of the expansion of existing and introduction of new alternative pre-school education service models throughout the marzes with recommendations for the expansion of the model in other marzes/ throughout the country.
The incumbent will conduct a rigorous and cost-effective design-stage Economic Appraisal of the alternative pre-school programme in Tumanyan consolidated community, including an in medias res Cost Benefit Analysis that considers the full range of programme impacts (at household, community, regional and national levels), seeking wherever possible ways to credibly monetize these. He/ she will also use the results for costing the expansion scenarios of pre-school services in the already existing 18 and planned consolidated communities throughout the country.
The objective of the consultancy is to conduct:
- Cost-benefit analysis of alternative pre-school services in Tumanyan consolidated community (small group alternative pre-school education service vs. traditional community based pre-school education), including:
a) Comparison of the alternative options based on the economic modelling applying constant and non-constant variables;
b) Calculation of long-term pay-back period of the invested resources (for each alternative option, considering e.g. community development programme period, other strategic State and Regional strategies) and provision of recommendations on effectiveness and efficiency (in the conditions of keeping the normal maintenance of the capital assets);
c) Application of the analysis to other consolidated communities in the country;
d) Development of recommendations on re-allocation of financial, human and other resources from institutional format to alternative models, as well as to the expansion of suggested alternative pre-school services, with special focus on transitional costs.
The incumbent will be supervised by and report to the UNICEF Education Specialist and Social Protection Officer with regular de-briefing with the UNICEF management. The incumbent will work on a daily basis with UNICEF education and Social Protection Section. The Social Protection Officer will support the incumbent on a regular basis. The Incumbent is supposed to work closely with the officials of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development and Ministry of Education and Science and other relevant agencies/ organizations, particularly the Communities Finance Officers Association and "Step by Step" NGO.
Responsibilities
The incumbent is expected to fulfill the following tasks:
- Familiarize with the documents, reports and studies on the Pre-school education, Child Protection System reform and Community consolidation and public administration reform in Armenia; consider relevant time-series data where applicable (June 2017);
- Responsible for meetings and discussions with project partners, ministries, local authorities, NGO representatives to obtain relevant data; Government counterparts involved in the pre-school education services sphere and consultations with relevant experts; field visits to project sites (if needed) (June-July 2017);
- Conduct calculation and modelling of cost-benefit analysis based on comparative options of the project, considering capital and current costs for the period of at least 5 year (July-August 2017);
- Develop a report with follow-up recommendations on the costs, benefits and modalities of the alternative pre-school education models for UNICEF and the Government of Armenia for further scale-up in other consolidated multi-settlement communities (August-September 2017);
- Responsible for presentation of the draft report to main stakeholders for validation and incorporation of the feedback into the report (September 2017);
- Prepare and deliver a presentation of the report findings for a high level policy advocacy meeting (November 2017).
Methodology and Technical Approach:
- Responsible for desk review of documents, studies and reports, national policy strategic documents and relevant reforms regulating the given sphere;
- Consult with relevant UNICEF staff as appropriate and required in order to clarify intervention logic, theory of change, assumptions, baselines and activity plans;
- Carry out discussions and consultancies with key stakeholders and counterparts (government and NGO); pay field visits to project sites (if needed);
- Design relevant economic modelling and defining the respective constant and non-constant variables for the model;
- Responsible for cost-benefit analysis (CBA) should be based on the in medias res type of CBA method, as it supposed to be done during the project implementation phase;
- Calculate several alternative options with changing variables;
- Implement comparison of the alternative options and defining the optimal version using pay-back period method and/ or other methods of cost-benefit analysis (for example NPV - Net Present Value or ARR-accounting rate of return);
- Responsible for development of analytical report with costing and benefiting calculations and follow up recommendations for UNICEF office and the Government of Armenia. The report should cover the rationale for intervention, the options considered, intervention logic and evidence, alternative costs, incremental benefits, the balance of cost and benefits, attribution, risks and uncertainties, incidence of costs and benefits, financial sustainability and impact, as well as summary and recommendations.
Deliverables:
The incumbent is expected to produce and submit the following deliverables within the specified timeline:
- Desk review, discussions and meetings with the project stakeholders - June-July 2017;
- Preparation of methodology for the cost-benefit analysis - Mid-July 2017;
- Calculations and modelling with respective deliverables - End-August 2017;
- Presentation of the findings to main stakeholders for validation - Mid-September 2017;
- Submission of the final report with follow up recommendations - 30 September 2017;
- Preparing and delivering a presentation of the report findings at the high level policy advocacy meeting - November 2017.
The deadline for submission of the final deliverable to UNICEF Armenia is 05 November 2017.
RequiredQualifications
- Advanced university degree in Economics, Social Protection Policy and/ or Finance;
- More than 8 years of experience in the field of social-economic development and budgeting;
- Expertise in project level evaluations and conducting analysis, preferably in cost benefit analysis;
- Knowledge of economic modelling;
- Knowledge of the Pre-school education and child protection system in Armenia is an asset;
- Knowledge on territorial administration and community budgets is an asset;
- Previous cooperation with the Government in socio-economic analyses;
- Access to necessary sources and data;
- Experience in programme monitoring and evaluation;
- Excellent oral and written communication skills;
- Excellent analytical and facilitation skills.
Benefits
No comments:
Post a Comment