Home-based: International Consultant to support localised implementation of the European Child Guarantee (30 working days between Mar and July 2024) – Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO)

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, a champion.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The European Child Guarantee, adopted as a Council recommendation in June 2021, aims to break this vicious cycle. Its objective is to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing effective access to key services: childhood education and care, education, healthcare, healthy nutrition, and adequate housing. The European Child Guarantee is a key deliverable of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and answers directly to Principle 11 of the Pillar: Childcare and Support to Children. The Action Plan proposes a target for the EU to reduce by at least 15 million the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2030, including at least 5 million children.

In partnership with the European Commission, UNICEF piloted innovative approaches and models to design and implement services and interventions that reduce the effects of poverty and social exclusion. The evidence of the piloting phase of the child guarantee in 7 countries (Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Lithuania, and Greece) testified to how crucial the involvement of the local authorities and actors is. Local authorities are vital in designing innovative approaches and models to combat social exclusions.

In four out of seven pilot countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy), UNICEF has continued the implementation and supported local authorities in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating local plans for children to tackle child poverty and social exclusion of children. The National Action Plan of the Child Guarantee was adopted in October 2023 in Romania and UNICEF is supporting the government and the local authorities to ensure full implementation of the CG at the regional level.

Based on sound theories of change, UNICEF is supporting local authorities in countries mentioned to: a) strengthen the capacity of the Local Authorities (LA) and other relevant stakeholders at the local level to collect data on children, especially the most disadvantaged, b) develop resource mobilisation strategies and leverage resources (EU, State budget, Child Guarantee earmarked funds etc.), c) support coordinated and participatory processes to define, develop and mainstream evidence-based and -informed services and interventions, supported by capacity building, systems strengthening, and community mobilisation measures d) to provide tools and capacity to continuously assess and adapt the implementation, as well as to use as evidence for continuous planning and report for accountability and transparency, using both programmatic and financial monitoring.

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the ECARO local partnership manager and child protection team, the consultant will document the work done in five European Union countries to reach the most vulnerable through locally integrated services. The documentation is envisioned to produce simple-to-read, compelling, synthesized documents. The documentation files should be able to be read as standalone documents. The writing is expected to be captivating, inspiring, and addressed to an Institutional audience. The consultant is expected to produce five short documents and one comprehensive document documenting critical interventions in five countries supporting the localised implementation of the European Child Guarantee. Through concrete examples, the aim is to promote the importance of addressing the territorial solid dimension of child poverty and ensuring a multi-sectoral approach to integrated services and appropriate coordination and monitoring by planning and implementing measures to foster cooperation with regional and local authorities.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone	Deliverables / Outputs	Timeline / Deadline
To produce five (5) short documents and one (1) comprehensive document with critical interventions in five countries supporting the localized implementation of the ECG. The consultant is expected to interact with the five (5) countries: – Romania: the focal point is Nicola Sannazaro – Bulgaria: the focal point is Dessislava Encheva – Greece: the focal point is Maria Michailidou – Croatia: the focal point is Martina Tomic-Latinac – Italy: the focal point is Stefano Rimini	The documentation of each country should follow the same structure as provided in the template: – Background (200 words) – Actions (250 words) – Results (250 words) – Challenges and achievements (250 words) – Resources (200 words) – Contact details	30 working days; five (5) short documents by May 2024;  one (1) comprehensive document with critical interventions by July 2024

Estimated Duration of the Contract

30 working days between March and July 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 30 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: communication, journalist, international relations, European studies.
• Minimum five (5) years of proven experience and knowledge in related to the ToRs areas
• Proven experience in successful coordination of similar projects
• Excellent written and spoken skills in English
• Knowledge of the EU region is highly desirable
• Strong formatting and editing skills
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrated experience of producing high-quality reports and other documents to specified deadlines
• Ability to be flexible and deliver results under tight deadlines
• Excellent analytical and written skills
• 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.