CASH & VOUCHER ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST CONSULTANCIES

ANNOUNCEMENT OF RECRTUITMENT TO CARE INTERNATIONAL CASH & VOUCHER ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST CONSULTANCIES – FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

CARE In The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Caucasus and Balkans Regions

CARE in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Caucaus and Balkans is seeking highly-skilled Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) Specialists who are willing to work with CARE for a long-term basis under a ‘Consultancy Framework Agreement.’ The Consultancy Framework Agreement is an arrangement that permits CARE to retain one or more qualified individual consultants for multiple consultancy assignments within a 24-month period. After a competitive procurement process, one or several consultants will be recruited to the Framework Agreement under a generic Terms of Reference (See below TOR) that broadly define the nature and scope of services required for the duration of the CVA Specialist Framework Agreement.The criteria for selection is predicated on the below points:

1. These consultants would be required to respond to potential consultancies within in five working days – either to express interest or disinterest – and to deploy when CARE’s organization needs demand in the MENA, Caucasus and Balkans regions that fall under CARE’s regional model.
2. These consultants would be required for short-term (1-3 weeks) and medium-term (4-12 weeks.) deployments.
3. These consultants will be hired under the Framework Agreement for the period of 24 months initially, which could be extendable1
   The Terms of Reference for CVA Specialist is below:
4. Overview:
   CARE USA is one of the world’s leading multi-mandate aid agencies, fighting poverty and injustice in over 104 countries worldwide and helping 65 million people each year find routes out of poverty, with a specific focus on the empowerment of women and girls.
   1 Upon mutual agreement of CARE MENA RMU and Consultant, the term of this agreement may be extended for another 24 months. Such extension may be made subject to the terms and conditions in the framework agreement signed by each consultant.
   In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) CAucaus and Balkans Region, CARE operates in 11 countries or sub-regions, which include: Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia), Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories (West‐Bank & Gaza), Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. While the size and scope of programming vary considerably from one country office to another, sectors that are consistently targeted in MENA include in humanitarian responses and development programs: sexual and reproductive health; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); shelter; food nutrition security, women and youth’s economic empowerment, gender-based violence (GBV), a life free from violence, gender equality, and women’s voice; climate justice, inclusive governance, and building resilience.
   The use of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) have seen a considerable expansion within humanitarian responses at large, as well as with CARE’s work in emergencies. CVA is a tool that can be used to deliver outcomes in each sector, including Food and Nutrition Security, Agricultural Livelihoods, WASH, Shelter, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. CVA can also be implemented as multi-purpose cash assistance, which can produce outcomes across different sectors.
   CARE aspiration is to be the go-to organization on gender in cash and voucher assistance across development and humanitarian work. We understand the multidisciplinary nature of capabilities that drive quality in our cash and voucher assistance. We aspire that our cash and voucher assistance will be known for meeting women and girls’ needs in ways that represent the best possible outcomes by maximizing inclusion, effectiveness, and efficiency
5. Responsibilities:
   The Cash and Voucher Assistance Specialist will be responsible for capacity-building, assessment, response analysis, design and implementation of cash transfer programmes that are multi-sectoral as well as sector-specific in nature. Depending on specific needs and locations, the CVA Specialist will deploy to explore opportunities to integrate CVA and other market-based approaches into emergency & development programming undertaken by CARE country presences in the Region. The CVA Specialist will work with country office and partner staff to ensure a rapid, proportionate and effective response, building cash and market-based programming capacity of county office staff as well as partner organizations. Depending on the context, the CVA Specialist may need to take a very active role in technical coordination, support and advocacy with the country-specific clusters, cash working groups, the government and other stake holders and technical agencies relevant to cash transfer programming.
   The specific objectives below describe the overall scope of work for possible assignments under the CVA Specialist Consultancy Framework Agreement. The overall scope of work below serves as an “umbrella” of possible future assignments brought to the CVA Specialist Consultancy Framework Agreement. Consultants are expected to touch on one or more of the relevant sub-categories included in the Consultancy Framework Agreement. The list below describes the overall scope of work that is inclusive of all future assignments. The deadlines for these assignments depend on the assignment’s nature and the project timeline the assignment is associated with.
   To reflect into practice CARE’s global ambition on gender sensitive Cash and Voucher Assistance and to empower women and girls, elevate their voices and attend to their needs, it is highly required to develop some practical and user-friendly guidance and tools to support our staff and partners. To this end, CARE has developed a range of guidance and tools in various language to facilitate high quality, design implementation and monitoring of CVA.
   Expected roles and responsibilities 1 Conduct capacity building for CARE and partners’ staff
   Provide in-country or remote capacity-building, with support from global CARE CVA team, and using the CARE guidance on CVA, to ensure that gender and protection considerations are fully considered. 2 Support program or project design
   Contribute to new business development opportunities (concept notes, proposals), including (and not limited to) market and multi-sectoral assessments, determination of the modality, of the value of the transfer, etc. 3 Provide technical support for project implementation
   Short-term deployments to provide technical support to kick-off the CVA component of projects, or provide technical support and recommendations during project implementation. This includes development of SOP, identification of financial service providers, coordination with the cash WG, recruitment & orientation of CVA staff, etc. 4 Contribute to evaluations and case studies
   Participate in monitoring field visits and evaluation activities including process, market and impact monitoring and capture learning and feedback to improve the cash transfer and market-based programming.
   Document cash transfer processes & learnings in case study reports.
   Participate in (internal) review meetings to identify lessons learned from cash and market-based programming
6. Required Skills and Requirements:
   • At least five to seven years of relevant professional experience (designing and implementing CVA programming) in the MENA region or countries, especially in protracted crises, and those are vulnerable to natural hazards and economic shocks. • Extensive experience at the international level in CVA programming and training – CALP-certified trainer will be a plus. • Market assessments and analysis.
   • Good experience in donor requirements and regulations for CVA programming. • Good interpersonal and communication skills. • English and Arabic are a must. • Be able to promptly respond to calls for proposals in a short time (within 5 business days); • Be able to accommodate short turnaround time (varies depending on the nature of the assignment, typically between 1-12 weeks);
7. How to Apply:
   In order to apply to the Framework Agreement, CARE kindly requests the interested individuals to send a) a cover letter b) an updated CV c) a daily rate in USD for 20 working days deployment and d) a daily rate for more than 20 days up to 90 days (if it is different and more competitive daily rate for long term deployment) to [email protected] with a subject line: Cash and Voucher Assistance Specialist on or before May 9th, 2022.
   Successful applicants will be contacted and invited for an interview to further clarify terms and conditions of employment under this Framework Agreement for Cash and Voucher Assistance Specialists.