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, dedication.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The escalation of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 created a humanitarian crisis and placed a generation of children at risk. In the aftermath of the war’s escalation, millions of children were uprooted from their homes and exposed to increased risk of violence, exploitation, abuse, and family separation.

One of UNICEF’s earliest programmatic responses to the mass influx of Ukrainian children and families into neighbouring countries, was the establishment of Blue Dot Safe Space, Protection and Support Hubs (Blue Dots) in coordination with UNHCR. Blue Dots are one-stop centres and safe spaces where children, families and people with specific needs can access critical protection services and information. Through Blue Dots, UNICEF and partners have made available localised information and advice, child-and-family-friendly spaces, gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, risk mitigation and response services, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services, identification/referral of children and other persons at risk, and legal aid and counselling. Blue Dots have also provided multisectoral assistance, including access to safe transportation, safe sleeping areas, hot meals and drinks, medical first aid and specialized aid, parenting support training, and referrals to cash assistance programmes. Set up at strategic locations along major crossing points and transit routes, such as border crossings, train and bus stations as well as refugee accommodation centres and community centres in urban areas, UNICEF-UNHCR Blue Dots have provided an indispensable source of protection, safety and information for children and their families displaced from Ukraine.

By December 2022, 41 UNICEF and UNHCR coordinated Blue Dots had been established throughout Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Poland, and Slovakia. These spaces allowed UNICEF and its partners to provide 741,157 people, including 241,915 children, with protection, access to services and/or vital information throughout 2022. Over time, as cross-border movements have decreased and the needs of displaced children and their families evolved, UNICEF child protection teams have adapted their programmatic response. In some hosting countries, and under the framework of a UNICEF and UNHCR regional guidance, this has included the closure of Blue Dots or their transition to municipality-led and community-based centres.

This consultancy will document the establishment, scale-up, maintenance, and transition or closure of the Blue Dot model in the context of UNICEF’s response to the Ukraine refugee crisis. The consultant will collate the Blue Dot guidance, good practice models and tools/resources, including those relating to performance monitoring, evaluation and management, as well as ensuring accountability to affected populations, that have been produced by UNICEF teams as a part of the refugee response. Any additional resources to depict the Blue Dot model within the Ukraine context will be developed. The consultant will package these resources in an online toolbox to institutionalize learning of the Blue Dot model.

Scope of Work

1. Conduct a desk review and mapping of the existing guidance and resources on the Blue Dot concept produced by UNICEF at the regional and country level, in coordination with UNHCR. This should include resources and good practices on the establishment, scale-up, transition/closure, and contingency planning of the Blue Dot model in the Europe and Central Asia region, including tools/resources relating to performance monitoring, evaluation and management, as well as to ensure accountability to affected populations.
2. Convene and consult with relevant UNICEF teams to identify and develop additional guidance tools.
3. Develop a user-friendly digital toolbox of resources relevant to the Blue Dot concept, which will be situated within UNICEF’s internal SharePoint site.
4. Presentation of online toolbox with relevant UNICEF regional teams.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone	Deliverables / Outputs	Timeline / Deadline
Desk review and mapping of available and missing guidance and resource tools on the Blue Dot concept	Desk review and mapping exercise	15 working days; By 24 May 2024
Liaising with different RO and RRO/CO sections to identify missing guidance and ensure resource tools are comprehensive and include country-level content (as appropriate)	Guidance documents	15 working days; By 24 May 2024
Development of online toolbox	Online toolbox	8 working days; By 24 May 2024
Presentation of online toolbox with relevant UNICEF regional teams.	Presentation of online toolbox	2 working days; By 24 May 2024

Estimated Duration of the Contract

40 working days between April and May 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 40 working days to undertake this assignment.

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

• Bachelor’s degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, social work, sociology, or another relevant social science field.
• Demonstrated minimum three (3) years’ experience of working on child and/or family safe space, support, and protection hubs, within humanitarian responses.
• Demonstrated experience of producing high-quality written documents
• Demonstrated knowledge management abilities, including utilising online platforms.
• Demonstrated knowledge of child protection programming, including in the fields of mental health and psychosocial support and gender-based violence service delivery, is an asset.
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• 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.