Duties and Responsibilities
Scope of the assignment and Methodology:
Informed by the Oxford Policy Management study, the assignment will include the desk review of the existing local tools and global best practices based on evidence of what works in a low-resource contexts, stakeholder engagement (MoPSLSW, MoHCC, MoPSE, OPDs and other key stakeholders), piloting of the draft harmonized tool in two districts, validation of final product by all parties who were part of the exercise, presentation of the final product to the Government of Zimbabwe.
Desk Review of the process and Tools:
Review the current assessment process and tools as well as the country context, including the perceptions of key stakeholders, reflecting on the principles of UNCRPD and the ICF classifications and referring to good practice from similar contexts. The review should be informed by the life cycle and human rights lenses, checking how applicable the tools are to all persons with disabilities within their diversity, with particular attention to its applicability to children. The review should also focus on several criteria: ease of access all over the country for all persons with disabilities across the life cycle; length of the process from start to approval; denial and appeal; information gathered and used for determination; case management.
Stakeholder Engagement and Consultation:
The Consultant will take the lead to produce and implement a workplan together with technical working group for the project, and conduct a series of engagement meeting with national stakeholders for consultation and inputs on each existing disability assessment tool and areas to be added to the harmonized assessment tool, especially with officials from the respective ministries and persons with disabilities. During the stakeholder engagement, the consultant will also review existing service delivery capacities of health care, social work/welfare, CSO partners, and other outreach mechanisms that could be used for disability assessment at local level. Mapping Service package which the disability assessment will (and should) give access to those deemed to have disabilities, i.e. which services and benefits require an additional disability assessment. The consultant is expected to devise methods which will be used to engage all participants in the assignment and show how the process will be conducted.
Development of the Harmonized Tool:
Draft a report outlining a proposal for revised assessment including: i) determining the appropriate model of functioning and procedures with institutional arrangements; ii) develop an easy to use assessment form and detailed a proposed manual of operations for the assessment, indicating roles and responsibilities about application, data collection, data analysis, grievances, and recertification; and iii) propose options for digitalization including an database information system, this should allow for decentralization and supervision and better use of data for case management and policy planning; iv) propose an overall approach to implementation.
Piloting (pre-testing) of the Harmonized Tool:
The Consultant will consolidate the inputs from stakeholders and develop a draft tool which will then be piloted in two district guided by MoPSLSW and UNICEF. The Consultant will identify areas which require further attention in the tool and how applicable and usable is the tool being harmonized. The Consultant will then use the experience from the pilot to further align the Harmonized Tool which will be used in the internal stakeholder validation exercise.
Key Stakeholders Review and Validation of Final Product:
After consolidation of feedback the pre-testing exercise, the consultant will need to facilitate a validation workshop on the proposed harmonized tool with key stakeholders of the disability sector including MoPSLSW, MoHCC, MoPSE, National Technical Committee for Disability Inclusion, OPDs, UNICEF and other agencies, build the capacity of national stakeholders on the draft tools, manual and other resources.
Disability Assessment:
A disability assessment is an examination of a person’s impairments and functional limitations, the environmental barriers and facilitators they face, and how these all combine to influence the person’s ability to fully participate in society. It is important to distinguish between the assessment and determination with the latter being the official decision on whether a person has disability or not. The assessment can comprise different components which can be done separately or jointly.
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) compliant disability assessment: The assessment should be CRPD-compliant and respect the following principles:
-Respecting the dignity of the person including the ease and respectfulness of the process
-Full accessibility (assessable location for assessment, information, meetings, etc.)
-Focus on support required for functioning and participation rather than impairment
-Age appropriate (difference between children and adults)
-Having been designed with the participation of representative DPOs
Country-wide coverage including a proactive outreach strategy and particular attention to those most
disadvantaged (rural, remote, etc.)
-Respecting the diversity of disability
-Respect for privacy (of data)
-Gender-sensitive
-Disability assessment process reflecting the components of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF): Elements of the ICF model (impairment, activities, environmental factors, personal factors) should be considered in the assessment, as well as support required, including to feed into the design of the national Disability Database. A disability assessment process which is only looking at the impairment/health condition and which is done only by doctors would not be aligned with the CRPD and the ICF
Child sensitive disability assessment:
The consultant is required to ensure that the process and tools develop are child sensitive as assessment of childhood disability require age specific approach. Particul;ar attention will be paid to stakeholder consensus on how to proceed both for assessment and determination in early childhood.
Elements of the disability assessment/determination process should include the following:
-CRPD compliant and in line with ICF framework
-Predictable outcome, including clear information on which questions influence the disability
determination (yes/no or levels)
-(Preliminary) identification of support needs and, when relevant, further referral to additional
assessments (for instance, for assistive devices and personal assistance)
Appeals process
-Information on available support services, benefits, etc.
-Decision on need (or not) for periodic reassessment
-Collection and analysis of administrative data for policy and programme design
