| Introduction : Country: Vientiane, Lao PDR. Description of the Assignment:
The National Consultant will contribute to the successful delivery of Output 1 of the Project - Policy advocacy and outreach on social protection in Lao PDR. The National Consultant will work closely with the head of the Inclusive Growth Unit, the Country Office Economist Team and technical experts at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and at ILO country and regional teams. The objectives of the consultancy are to develop background papers on social protection policy, financing and stakeholder coordination and to support the design and drafting of a larger programme document on scaling UNDP and the UN Country Team’s social protection support.
SCOPE OF WORK Under the overall guidance of the the head of the Inclusive Growth Unit, the Country Office Economist Team and technical experts at UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub and at ILO, the National Consultant will be responsible for the following: Task 1: Social Protection Policy Paper for the 10th NSEDP · Review the findings of the 9th NSEDP mid-term review (2023) and the ongoing mid-term review of the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) supported by ILO and the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour. · Conduct stakeholder consultations including line ministries and development partners including ILO, the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, WFP and the UNRCO. · Draft the social protection paper identifying key priorities, targets and monitorable indicators for the 10th NSEDP · Support the dissemination of the paper in high-level forums Task 2: Background Paper - Social Protection Financing in Lao PDR · Conduct a desk review of the investment needs for Lao’s Social Protection System including actuarial analysis developed by ILO on the Social Security Fund and the National Health Insurance scheme. Identifying the financing needs and the financing gap. · Analyze financing sources with a deep dive on fiscal space for financing social protection · Conduct stakeholder consultations including line ministries and development partners including ILO, the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, WFP and the UNRCO. · Draft the social protection financing paper identifying concrete and practical options with technical support from UNDP Lao PDR economist team, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub Inclusive Growth Team and ILO technical teams. · Support the dissemination of the paper in high-level forums Task 3: Roadmap for setting up a ‘model’ institutional coordination mechanism on Social Protection · Identify options to reinforce coordination of government and development partner input on social protection issues and priorities to the national development planning and financing process · Identify existing coordination mechanisms amongst all actors working on social protection · Discuss the possibility of establishing a Social Protection SWG with key Government stakeholders (Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Social Welfare & Labour, Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister’s Office) and with key development partners · Draft the roadmap based on feedback received from the stakeholders Task 4: Design and draft the project to scale UNDP and UN Country Team’s support to Social Protection · Based on background papers developed and stakeholder consultations carried out, identify priority options to scale social protection support while complementing existing support from development partners. · Facilitate stakeholder consultations and multi-stakeholder workshop to develop the Theory of Change and co-create interventions for a joint programme with development partners and Government. · Provide coordination support to a joint UNDP-ILO in-country mission · Draft the project document · Finalise with UNDP, ILO, UNICEF, other relevant UN agencies, UNRCO and Government partners Task 5: Support the coordination and progress reporting on UNDP Social protection initiatives · Provide support to internal coordination of UNDP social protection initiatives, creating synergies as much as possible
Provide support to prepare progress update and annual reporting on UNDP social protection initiatives. Period of assignment/services: 100 working days. Proposal should be submitted directly in the portal no later than the indicated deadline.
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