Myanmar: Cash Expert to Myanmar Operation

Terms of Reference

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Title: Cash Expert to Myanmar Operation

Duty Station: Yangon, Myanmar

Contract Type: Consultancy

Duration: 6 months, June 2016 – November 2016

Background and rationale:

Under UNHCR’s institutionalization plan for Cash Based Interventions (CBI), Myanmar is a focus country for 2016 and is also one of the countries benefitting from the DFID interagency emergency preparedness project that includes a cash transfer component. In order to ensure continuity on CBI and to capitalize fully on support already provided and the ongoing capacity building initiatives, the Myanmar operation is seeking technical CBI support in form of a six month consultancy.

The time-bound injection of technical expertise to the country operation would ensure that in-house capacity is built and UNHCR partners are equipped to plan and implement CBIs in various settings. It would provide required technical guidance to enable the Office to gradually scale up CBI as an assistance modality in addition to current in-kind assistance (e.g. NFI, shelter, etc.), and as part of preparedness for future displacement and possible refugee return operation in South East Myanmar. This will build on CBI feasibility studies that were undertaken in 2015 in South East Myanmar and in Rakhine and Kachin states.

CBI issues are in principle coordinated by the programme staff, led by Senior Programme Officer at the national level and by the field-based programme officers and also national staff in area of operation. For the concrete CBI intervention Kachin and return to South Eastern Myanmar will be prioritized with the initial scale of up to 90,000 persons in Kachin and northern Shan for NFI and a few thousand people at most for return from Thailand, for 2016. It is envisaged that once the Myanmar team is sufficiently trained and systems in place, the existing team will be equipped to use the CBI when such mode of assistance is feasible and desirable.

Objectives and deliverables:

The objective of the proposed cash expert deployment to Myanmar is twofold:

1. Assist the Myanmar operation in establishing proper systems for implementing CBIs (including transfer modalities and SOPs)

2. Build capacity of national staff, including finance, supply and programme as well as staff of partner NGOs

The cash expert will be expected to deliver the following outputs:

1. Support the Office in the identification of potential partners for CBI (by operational area)

2. Assess the capacities of partners to use cash, their geographical outreach, the preferred modalities etc.

3. Identify the best delivery mechanism and the potential financial service provider (FSP) for the country or according to regions.

4. Support the preparations for competitive bidding for (FSP) or mobile-cash services, as per the preferred option of transfer and establish the agreements.

5. Assist with the design and implementation of a Cash Based Programme, aligned with Country strategy

6. Identify region-specific challenges and risks associated to CBI and propose mitigation plans

7. On the basis of past in-country experience and lessons learned, support the Office in the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and monitoring tools for SE and Kachin and review those for Rakhine and support the implementation.

8. Contribute to the preparedness activities included in the DFIP project by expanding capacity building initiatives to the partners especially national NGOs.

9. Build the capacity on CBI of UNHCR national staff, partners and government officials at different levels, including through trainings, knowledge transfer, coaching, lessons learned, etc.

10. Support coordination of Cash-Based Initiatives, particularly raising awareness on protection risks and benefits while implementing cash and/or voucher in the cash working group, maintaining a coordinated response

11. Deliver an end of mission report including recommendations for each area of operation and the national level.

The proposed deployment time is six months in order to allow sufficient time in each location to understand the context, work with UNHCR field teams and partners and to support at the national level to establish agreements with service providers. The person will spend approximately eight weeks in South East, eight weeks in Kachin, two weeks in Rakhine and four weeks in Yangon. Depending on developments on the ground there could also be a need to extend the support to the Thai border operation and for the expert to go to Thailand for about 1-2 weeks as part of the support to the South East.

Experience and competencies:

· Excellent knowledge of cash-based interventions (including technical guidelines and standards) and specific field experiences in CBI

· Proven knowledge and technical skills in design, implementation and monitoring of CBI, preferably from a multi-sectoral perspective

· Analytical thinking and planning skills; ability to set priorities, prepare manageable work plans and to evaluate progress

· Ability to produce tools and to contribute to CBI implementation and monitoring

· Excellent written and cross-cultural communication skills

Interested applicants should apply by submitting their CV, along with a cover letter in English explaining their interest in the position, via the following link:

https://unhcr.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk0hysn

The application deadline is 15 May 2016. Please note that only short-listed applicants will be contacted.