Home-based: Global CP AoR Strategy Development 2025-2029 Consultant (75 working days between Mar and Oct 2024) – Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS)

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 purpose of this consultancy is to develop the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) strategy for 2025-2029, including planning and facilitating consultations, conducting surveys, drafting the strategy, facilitating the validation process and finalization of the strategy. The full strategy document will likely include (i) a review and situation analysis; (ii) a strategic framework which defines the vision, mission, priorities, objectives, guiding principles and functions; and (iii) an implementation plan, and monitoring framework. The strategy will draw on key learnings from the previous strategic period, the UNICEF Humanitarian Review, CLARE II (Evaluation of the UNICEF Role as Cluster Lead (Co-Lead) Agency) and the Global CP AoR Learning and Development Strategy (2023-2026) as well as in-depth discussions with the Global CP AoR team, country CP AoR coordination teams, the Global CP AoR Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) and other key partners and stakeholders.

Background

Humanitarian and child protection needs: The 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) estimates that 299.4 million people need humanitarian assistance across 35 countries. It notes that more people are displaced now than at any other time since the beginning of the century with worldwide more than 1 in 73 people forcibly displaced. Children constitute 41% of all forcibly displaced people despite being only 30% of the world’s population (UNHCR, 2022). Conflict, the global climate emergency and economic factors have been identified in the GHO as the three main drivers. The UN Secretary General’s 2023 report on Children and Armed Conflict included the highest ever numbers of verified grave violations against children throughout 2022 with the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups increased by 21 percent compared to the previous year. Climate induced disasters continue to increase in scale, frequency and intensity, often against a backdrop of conflict and instability, such as in the Horn of Africa as well as Libya, while 2023 also saw several devastating earthquakes in Afghanistan, Morocco, Syria and Türkiye. Moreover, over the past years we have seen a number of new crises, such as in Pakistan, Sudan, and the State of Palestine, and Ukraine, and a continuation of many others, such as in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Niger, South Sudan, and Yemen. Despite the overwhelming needs, an Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IACS) Protection Policy and numerous Humanitarian Country Teams’ protection strategies, child protection still receives limited and largely insufficient humanitarian funding – as demonstrated in a 71.4% funding gap over 2023 (as of 12 December 2023) and child protection representing on average 2% of the funding requirements of the overall humanitarian appeal but receiving less than 1% of the appeal’s funding (Unprotected. Special edition, 2023). In 2023, at least 69.6m children and adults were in need of Child Protection services and 28.8m of them were targeted through support coordinated by child protection AoRs and child protection working groups in close to 30 contexts.

Global CP AoR strategy development: This strategy development process and plan will draw on learnings from the current Global CP AoR Strategy (2020-2024) which defined its four goals as: (1) strengthen advocacy, policy and integrated approaches through key partnerships; (2) provide operational support to enhance coordination; (3) strengthen locally owned child protection coordination systems and services; and (4) improve the quality of child protection prevention and preparedness measures and responses. These were crafted in light of rising humanitarian needs, an ongoing funding gap and global commitments challenging us to change our ways of working. Since the development of the 2020-2024 Strategy, the humanitarian operating environment has continued to evolve quickly with unforeseen challenges raised by the COVID-19 global pandemic and also critical reviews of protection in humanitarian action and particularly its architecture (e.g., the Independent Review of the Implementation of the IASC Protection Policy, 2022) as well as other global initiatives relevant to the cluster approach (ongoing Independent Review of the IASC response to internal displacement, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) flagship initiative and the establishment of the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Solutions to Internal Displacement).

Recent key documents will also inform the new strategy, including the UNICEF Cluster Lead Agency Review Evaluation 2 (CLARE II), the UNICEF Humanitarian Review and its MTR, the UNICEF 2021-2030 Child Protection Strategy and the Global CP AoR Learning and Development Strategy (2023-2026). Additionally, the GPC as well as the Global Housing, Land and Property and Mine Action AoRs will develop their new strategies in 2024; and the Gender-based Violence AoR’s strategy is currently in effect through 2025. Thus, the Global CP AoR Strategy will align with these strategies as relevant.

Scope of work

Working with the Global CP AoR Coordinator, Deputy Coordinators, Information Management Specialist and Global Help Desk, and with input from other members of the Global CP AoR team, country CP AoR coordination teams, small inter-agency advisory group, the SAG and other key partners and stakeholders, including other clusters/AoRs, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

1. Review previous strategy and workplan (including goals, functions, principles and themes and progress against the workplan) and analyze current considerations, trends, challenges, and opportunities in light of developments within both the child protection sector and humanitarian system since 2020 and emerging trends.
2. Develop light analysis on key 2020-2024 workplan achievements and gaps.
3. Based on extensive consultations with partners, other clusters/AoRs, country level CP AoR coordination teams, facilitate the definition of the Global CP AoR strategic priorities for the coming 5-year period and develop a strategic framework (e.g., vision, mission, priorities, objectives/goals, functions, guiding principles).
4. Develop results and actions for implementation within each priority and develop top-line indicators for these, as the basis for a workplan template and a clear monitoring framework.
5. Compile a full draft of the strategy document, validated through consultations with the Global CP AoR team, country CP AoR coordination teams, UNICEF (as CLA), other key partners and stakeholders, and other clusters/AoRs, with the aim to have a final validation with the SAG members.
6. Revise and finalize the fully designed strategy, based on feedback received. Develop and finalize an abridged version in Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Work Assignment Overview

Estimated Duration of the Contract

75 working days between March and October 2024.

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be home-based with no travels foreseen.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Please propose a lumpsum professional fee (in USD) based on 75 working days to undertake this assignment. 

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

• Master’s degree in International Affairs, Political Science, Management, or other relevant fields.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of work experience in the humanitarian sector and/or the child protection in humanitarian action sector, including experience in the field.
• Significant experience in conducting reviews, assessments and/or evaluations of humanitarian issues as well as in strategy development.
• Previous experience on projects that require a highly iterative and consultative inter-agency process, with capacity to incorporate a range of feedback and perspectives in final products.
• Knowledge of institutional mandates, policies and guidelines pertaining to humanitarian assistance, the humanitarian architecture and coordination mechanisms, in particular of the Global Protection Cluster and CP AoR Coordination is considered a strong asset.
• Knowledge of the institutions of the UN system.
• Fluent oral and written English is essential.
• Good knowledge of French/Spanish/Arabic is a plus.

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.

View our competency framework at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV, a Cover Letter, and a Financial Proposal in your application by indicating your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a proposed 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.