CALL FOR EXPERT – TERMS OF REFERENCES

Function: Legal expert for drafting of Administrative Instruction for the procedure, conditions and principles for the implementation of public - private partnership in the field of social and family services

Place of work: Kosovo wide

Project name: Strengthening access to justice system for girls and boys, through delivery of the capacity building programme on diversion and education measures for justice for children professionals and strengthening of social services in Kosovo

Coalition of NGOs for Child Protection in Kosovo – KOMF, established in 2011, is a coalition composed of 34 local and international NGOs working in the child protection field, with the joint mission to advocate and protect the rights of children in Kosovo.

KOMF supported by UNICEF, is implementing the project “Strengthening access to justice system for girls and boys, through delivery of the capacity building programme on diversion and education measures for justice for children professionals and strengthening of social services in Kosovo”.

In support of the process of drafting of 22 administrative instructions that derive from the new Law on Social and Family Services, based on the request for support from the Ministry of Justice, KOMF is publishing the Call for the recruitment of a local individual expert to provide legal expertise for drafting of Administrative Instruction for the procedure, conditions and principles for the implementation of public private partnership in the field of social and family services

Background

Law on Social and Family Services has been approved in December 2023. The approval of the new Law on Social and Family Services officially paved the way for the reform of social services in Kosovo. The new law is expected to ensure that children, families, and citizens in need receive more qualitative and sustainable social and family services. From the new Law on Social and Family Services, derive 22 Administrative Instructions which will enable the implementation of this law.

Around 50 licensed non-governmental organizations provide specialized services for various categories of children. The services provided include residential services for children victims of domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and trafficking, specialized day care services for children and adults with disabilities, support services for alternative care for children without parental care; services aimed at family empowerment and preventing child abandonment, services for children who are substance abusers; and services for children in street situation and those involved in hazardous work.

The main challenge for social service providers from the nongovernmental sector, remains the unsustainable financing for the provision of social services. Funding continues to be provided through subsidies for short periods of time, meaning few months (6 to 10 months) and is not based on the needs of beneficiaries.

Municipalities and the Ministry have not created a sustainable contracting scheme for the purchase of social services from the nongovernmental sector, and support to non-governmental organizations is provided on ad hoc basis and through subsidies. Financial means allocated for the nongovernmental organizations are considered insufficient and they cover only a small portion of the overall services costs. It is worth to mention that the short duration of published calls for the provision of services and the time gaps between these calls from the municipalities, are continuously causing difficulties in the functioning of social service providers. The budget allocated is mainly divided proportionally in equal amounts among service providers, without taking into account the needs of the beneficiaries. This manner of financing risks the termination of services provided by the non-governmental sector; therefore, an immediate intervention is recommended.

Likewise, the sustainable contracting scheme cannot be achieved without setting a costing of social services.

Thus, a very important process is the drafting of the Administrative Instruction for the procedure, conditions and principles for the implementation of public - private partnership in the field of social and family services, which in addition will include the costs per units for each social service and will foresee contracting procedures for purchasing of social services based on the Public Procurement Law for longer periods. Establishing unit costs for social services will be a prerequisite for developing procedures for contracting and purchasing social services from the nongovernmental sector, influencing a fair allocation of funding for social services and increasing the sustainability of services.

Drafting of the Administrative Instruction for the procedure, conditions and principles for the implementation of public - private partnership in the field of social and family services is foreseen to be supported by KOMF and it is foreseen to be approved until March 2025 by Ministry of Justice.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The purpose of this activity is provision of legal expertise in drafting of the Administrative Instruction for the procedure, conditions and principles for the implementation of public - private partnership in the field of social and family services.

Supervisor: Project Coordinator

Start Date: November 2024

End Date: February 2025

Number of working days: 20 working days

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Master degree in Law, or other relevant disciplines related to the field, PhD is desirable;
• At least five (5) years of experience on legal and policy framework on social services, child rights, social protection in international and local context and in planning;
• Working experience with the Government, international agencies and donors in a legal expertise, advisory and capacity building role;
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills;
• Excellent writing and communication skills;
• Extended professional expertise and experience on drafting analysis and reports on children’s rights, social welfare and child protection;
• Working experience with the NGOs, international agencies, government, in frame of professional expertise, advisory and capacity building role;
• Excellent command of English language, in both speaking and writing.

Quality Evaluation

The quality of the applications will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria in the evaluation grid below.

Application submission:

All interested candidates are invited to send the below listed application documents via email, at; [email protected] .

• CV;
• Portfolio (evidence of previous experiences) in the drafting of legislation in the social field;
• Three references from previous employers;
• Financial proposal with the proposed daily and total fee (Gross). The financial proposal must include the statement of the validity of the proposal, at least four weeks from the submission date.

Deadline for submission:

The proposal has to be received by latest on 10 November 2024, by midnight. Proposals must be submitted in English language. Proposals received after the deadline or in other languages, will be not considered.

Please note that only the selected candidates from their documentation will be notified for the interview.

The selected expert will read and sign the service contract, together with the below listed documents: KOMF internal personnel regulations, child protection policy, policy against sexual exploitation and abuse and KOMF job description. the mentioned document constitutes the integral parts of the employment agreement between the employer and the consultant.