Reforming and strengthening the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme

Job Description

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME Bangladesh

Terms of Reference

Reforming and strengthening the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme

1 April – 30 June 2014

1. BACKGROUND

WFP has been engaged in the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme since its introduction in 1975. Originally formed as a relief project, VGD has evolved into one of the largest social safety net programmes in the country, targeting 750,000 ultra-poor women in a two-year cycle

Under its current Country Programme for Bangladesh 2012-2016, WFP is supporting the VGD addressing a number of implementation challenges. Accordingly, a WFP capacity development team has been positioned in the Department of Women Affairs (DWA). Furthermore, WFP is discussing possible reforms to the VGD at the level of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) which – if successful – may help the programme to achieve nutritional and poverty graduation outcomes, thereby providing much greater return on investment.

The United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) has launched an initiative to strengthen social protection systems in Bangladesh. Strengthening Government Social Protection for the Poor (SGSP) will engage with several ministries through a number of UN agencies and NGOs who are well placed to strengthen key aspects of the government’s social protection programme.

Acknowledging the importance of the VGD within the government’s social protection portfolio (both in terms of its outreach and financial sustainability) as well as WFP’s long historical engagement with it, SGSP has earmarked special resources to the VGD/WFP collaboration. Under the SGSP, WFP’s engagement with the VGD will take place at two levels: 1) At the policy level (with the MOWCA), introducing the necessary design changes that will help the VGD to achieve nutritional and poverty graduation outcomes and; 2) At the operational level (with the DWA), strengthening the monitoring and evaluation arrangements as well as certain critical implementation arrangements to enable more effective service delivery.

2. PURPOSE

Working with the WFP team placed in MoWCA and the DWA, as well as their government counterparts, the consultant will facilitate the articulation and documentation of a strong, clear and realistic vision for VGD reform and strengthening that is in line with national development priorities as well as the goals of the SGSP programme. The vision may be long-term (five to ten years), and should indicate the milestones by which incremental changes can be tracked.

In addition, the consultant will support the same stakeholders to design and document a 3-year plan of action for VGD reform and strengthening (in line with the duration of the SGSP programme) that works towards the longer term vision and details the necessary steps that will need to be taken during the initial years. The plan of action will detail the necessary actions that will need to be taken – as well as the stakeholders who will be responsible for doing it, both in Government and WFP - and will take into account existing capacity and budgetary constraints in both MoWCA/DWA and WFP.

3. KEY DELIVERABLES

1. A clear vision and strategy for reforming and strengthening the VGD programme, which is agreed with by the Government with clear indication on how it fits into the priorities included in the National Social Protection Strategy.
2. A logical framework for the 3-year plan of action that is grounded in a robust theory of change and takes into account the political economy of social protection in Bangladesh and specifies results, targets, indicators, means of verification, and assumptions.
3. A 3-year plan of action for WFP’s activities under the SGSP programme, indicating milestones to be achieved and associated time-lines broken down by individual activities and stakeholders;

4. METHODOLOGY

The consultant will be responsible for managing his/her own workload and will design a methodology for engagement accordingly.

However, the consultancy will necessarily include the following:

Literature Review[1]

• SGSP programme document
• VGD Emerging Challenges and New Opportunities Report
• VGD Stakeholder Analysis
• VGD operational documents and evaluation reports
• National Capacity Index assessment baseline and update results
• Government of Bangladesh National Social Protection Strategy and other related background papers
• Assessment of various Social Protection programmes supported by the Government of Bangladesh (e.g. World Bank 2005, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies 2011)
• WFP Bangladesh Country Programme
• WFP Bangladesh Nutrition Strategy
• WFP Bangladesh Country Strategy
• WFP Food Security for the Ultra Poor Lessons and Outcome reports

Consultations

• Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
• DWA staff (national and regional)
• WFP senior staff
• WFP social safety net unit
• A sample of VGD beneficiaries
• A sample of VGD implementing NGOs
• Key donors engaged in social protection (DFID/DFAT)
• Think tanks and civil society enagaged in research on social protection (i.e. PPRC, SANEM, CPD, PRI etc)
• Ministry of Finance
• Ministry of Social Welfare
• Ministry of Food
• Statistics and Information Division
• Ministry of Disaster Management
• Planning Commission

5. REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Minimum requirements

• At least 11 years of post-graduate progressively responsible relevant experience.
• In-depth knowledge of and first-hand experience in government capacity building and/or policy reform processes
• Experience in working directly with government in low/middle-income settings
• Familiarity with social protection systems, debates, and emerging best practices globally
• Strong interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity
• Strong negotiation and influence skills
• Strong team-building skills
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Familiarity with nutrition and/or poverty graduation methods and programmes

Preferable

• Experience working in Bangladesh
• Experience in gender and food security

6. DURATION

Three months from 1^st April 2014 to 30^th June 2014.

The consultant will be based in Dhaka with trips to field locations as required.

7. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

WFP will provide a 3-month international consultancy contract based on a monthly honorarium rate, a daily subsistence allowance and economy class flights from the place of residence to Dhaka and back as well as airport transfer terminals as per its rules and regulations.

Interested consultants are requested to submit a cover letter outlining how their skills and experiences match with the requirements of the assignment. They are also requested to submit their Curriculum Vitae (with contact telephone number, email address and names and contacts of three references), a two-page summary on their proposed way to achieve the key deliverables of the consultancy.

Applications are to be submitted to the WFP Bangladesh Representative/Country Director (Ms) christa.rader@wfp.org and Deputy Country Director (Mr) ally-raza.qureshi@wfp.org with copy to the Human Resources Officer (Mr) hafiz.mujahid@wfp.org by latest 20 February 2014.

[1] All documents will be compiled by WFP and shared with the consultant once s/he has been contracted

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