UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, protection.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The Convention of the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children all recognise that the ideal setting for a child to grow up in, and for persons with disabilities to fulfil their potential and participate as full citizens, is within a family environment that provides a nurturing and loving atmosphere, or, when necessary, within a community-based care system which is suitable to meet their individual needs. In addition to the human rights case, there is a strong economic case for choosing family- and community-based care over institutions. The cost of providing family- and community-based care is often less expensive, and the social return is much higher.

After decades of evidence-based advocacy and policy dialogue, many governments have led reforms to close or transform large-scale institutions and replace them with community and family based alternative care services and put in place family support services to prevent children from being unnecessarily separated from their families. Throughout the countries in ECA region, significant progress has been made in terms of the development of new child and family services, although continued investment and momentum is required to ensure the reforms are completed and are irreversible and no child is left behind in any forms of institutional care. All countries of the ECA region need a renewed political commitment and institutional engagement to ensure full transition of the child care system towards family- and community- based care for children.

In order to support this full transition of the child care systems across the ECA region UNICEF ECARO has established De-institutionalisation and child care reform as a flagship and is undertaking consistent efforts to foster the needs political commitment, mobilise needed resources and provide support to authorities to finalise the transition. In doing so, UNICEF has initiated the development of a series of white papers to provide guidance to government and non-government stakeholders on the development of the full continuum of support and care, as well as a multi-country evaluation in order to inform and foster significant changes in the child care and protection systems across countries in the ECA region. A series of regional and sub-regional convening are also planned to facilitate exchange and learning between countries on the child care reforms.

To support these initiatives UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) is hiring an international consultant to support regional work with the focus on thematic areas on child care reform, linked to violence against children, justice for children, and social service workforce strengthening.

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist the consultant will provide technical support to UNICEF ECARO in developing a number of white papers and organization of a number of regional and sub-regional convening events, with an aim to mobilise the expertise, share learning and strengthen the commitment and technical capacities of the government and other stakeholders to finalise the transitions of the child care systems toward family- and community-based care for children.

Specific tasks and deliverables for the consultancy will include:

1. Ensure an effective process for the development of ECARO series of white papers (the paper on family support and gate-keeping system, the paper on care and protection for children with complex emotional needs and display difficult or offending behavior, the paper on restorative justice). To support these 3 deliverables the consultant will:

• organize at least one meeting of the technical working groups for the 2 papers bi-monthly,
• produce meeting minutes and follow up actions, and
• track progress against the final deliverable.

2. Ensure a participatory planning and preparation process for a regional conference on child-care reform in cooperation with the child protection team at ECARO, UNICEF country offices and country teams. In doing so, the consultant will:

• develop draft concept notes for a regional conference on child-care reform (2025) and on integrated and multi-agency services for children-victims of violence (2024), including a workplan and possible funding opportunities,
• identify key experts and key resources for the organization of the 2 events,
• collaborate with country offices and teams to organize the participation of the country delegations, as well as of the key partners and stakeholders, and
• support country offices’ initiatives on subregional conferences on child-care reform – specifically in Croatia and Central Asia, including

3. Provide technical support to country offices and country teams on child care reform, social service workforce strengthening and violence against children. In doing so, the consultant will:

• provide direct support to at least 5 countries,
• collect technical resources and make them available to countries in ECA region, and
• organize at least 3 exchange events on thematic areas of interest for countries in ECA region.

4. Coordinate the cooperation and support to ENOC in the framework of their annual flagship on alternative care for children. In doing so, the consultant will:

• Maintain regular communication with ENOC to identify support needs and provide technical support and guidance,
• Support mobilise expertise at the country level
• Review the draft of the report produced by ENOC

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone	Deliverables / Outputs	Timeline / Deadline
Ensure an effective process for the development of ECARO series of white papers, i.e. • the paper on family support and gate-keeping system, • the paper on care and protection for children with complex emotional needs and display difficult or offending behavior, • the paper on restorative justice	– Organize at least one meeting of the technical working groups for the 2 papers bi-monthly, – Produce meeting minutes and follow up actions, and – Track progress against the final deliverable.	30 working days; Between April and October 2024
Ensure a participatory planning and preparation process for a regional conference on child-care reform in cooperation with the child protection team at ECARO, UNICEF country offices and country teams. In doing so, the consultant will:	– Develop draft concept notes for a regional conference on child-care reform (2025) and on integrated and multi-agency services for children-victims of violence (2025), including a workplan and possible funding opportunities, – Identify key experts and key resources for the organization of the 2 events, – Collaborate with country offices and teams to organize the participation of the country delegations, as well as of the key partners and stakeholders, and – Support country offices’ initiatives on subregional conferences on child-care reform.	30 working days; Between July and November 2024
Provide technical support to country offices and country teams on child care reform, social service workforce strengthening and violence against children. In doing so, the consultant will:	– Provide direct support to at least 5 countries, – Collect technical resources and make them available to countries in ECA region, and – Organize at least 3 exchange events on thematic areas of interest for countries in ECA region	30 working days; Between April and July 2024
Coordinate the cooperation and support to ENOC in the framework of their annual flagship on alternative care for children. In doing so, the consultant will:	– Maintain regular communication with ENOC to identify support needs and provide technical support and guidance, – Support mobilise expertise at the country level – Review the draft of the report produced by ENOC	30 working days; Between March and September 2024

Estimated Duration of the Contract

120 working days between March and November 2024

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be remote/home-based with no travel foreseen.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 120 working days to undertake this assignment.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A relevant Master’s degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, social work, sociology, or another relevant social science field
• At least seven (7) years of experience in relevant fields
• Proven experience and knowledge related to the ToRs areas
• Demonstrated experience of producing high-quality reports and other documents to specified deadlines
• Demonstrated experience of working with a range of stakeholders including policy makers, practice-based organizations and non-governmental organisations
• Good analytical skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Knowledge of guidelines and standards for child protection in emergency / humanitarian / development setting is highly desirable
• Knowledge of the ECA region, including regulatory frameworks for national child protection system is desirable
• Ability to be flexible and deliver results under tight deadlines
• Fluency in English (oral and written)

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV and Cover Letter in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.