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, care.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The main purpose of the assignment is to provide technical support to UNICEF in its partnerships’ implementation and coordination activities with the municipal partners in Slovakia and related stakeholders (relevant ministries, partnering civil society organizations, Centre for research of Ethnicity and Culture, Union of Cities in Slovakia, etc.) to support Ukraine refugee response and long-term integration and support for social inclusion of children, young people and their families from Ukraine as well as other vulnerable groups at the local level.

The assignment will support and contribute to the scope of UNICEF’s collaboration with partnering municipalities with the following key focus areas:

• Supporting evidence-based programming, planning and effective coordination of different actors at the municipal level;
• Strengthening the capacities of the municipalities in effective refugee response and long-term integration of refugees;
• Ensuring the provision of basic services for Ukrainian children and families (in the areas of education, health, child protection, early childhood development, adolescents’ development and participation);
• Establishing of needs mapping mechanisms, communication resources and feedback mechanisms from the affected population;
• Support of transition from emergency response to long-term integration services – working towards establishment of contact and assistance centres for refugees and migrants;
• Strengthening social cohesion, cultural and social participation on local level;
• Supporting long-term sustainability of UNICEF supported measures in the selected municipalities.

Scope of Work

1. Engagement and liaison with local actors in support of emergency programme activities

• Support the Programme Specialists with the municipal partnership implementation
• Support UNICEF’s engagement and, based on asks determined by the Programme Specialist, liaison with local actors, other state and municipal institutions, CSOs in support of UNICEF’s programme activities
• Act as a UNICEF supportive focal point assisting municipalities to implement their workplan activities, including coordination of relevant partners at the local level, strengthening ties and exchange with other municipalities as well as national authorities and relevant stakeholders
• Support the Programme Specialist to monitor and oversee high assurance and quality implementation of the workplans between municipalities and UNICEF, support with workplan amendments and future programmatic planning
• Support municipalities with establishing contact and assistance centres for refugees and migrants as new cooperative community platforms in the field of integration and social inclusion of refugees from Ukraine, as well as for other foreigners and vulnerable groups
• In collaboration with UNICEF’s partnership with Centre for Research on Ethnicity and Culture (CVEK) support the development and approval of “Long-term strategy for the inclusion of foreigners in the selected municipalities with a focus on vulnerable children and women”
• Support municipalities with establishment and implementation of grant schemes to support the community integration activities and programs realized for and with children, youth and their families to strengthen their social inclusion and intercultural exchange at the community level
• Assist the municipal partners with identification of relevant actors and possible inclusion of new partners in their activities implemented jointly by UNICEF as part continuation and hand-over of services provided at the local level and formally supported by UNICEF
• Attend relevant meetings with key counterparts for the implementation of UNICEF’s agenda at the local level and document discussion and action points as required
• Ensure the flow of information within UNICEF on the progress, meeting outcomes, and results by sharing key action points of common interest across relevant forums and with the respective members of the UNICEF team
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations, and/or to alert appropriate staff and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and decisions

2. Partnership monitoring and reporting

• Provides support to the reporting and monitoring of municipal workplan activities
• Conduct programmatic visits and quality field monitoring of the workplan activities
• Provide support on data collection, analysis and information sharing to support evidence-based planning and programming
• Jointly with programme colleagues review reports submitted by partners, support findings dissemination and follow up
• Identify secondary data and information resources that would complement information needs of UNICEF and municipal partners as appropriate
• Support municipalities with creating channels to ensure information service to refugees and foreigners and creation of a feedback mechanism through a website and social media channels
• Support knowledge management activities by ensuring that the partnership engagement is well documented and embedded into UNICEF’s internal systems

3. Coordination, peer-exchange, and capacity building of the municipal partners

• Under the supervision of Programme Specialist, support complementarity between the municipality activities and seek for joint/harmonized approaches (joint missions, assessments, capacity building), including identifying common issues shared by partnering municipalities to enhance synergies and possible joint action
• Under the supervision of Programme Specialist, support municipalities to formulate a joint advocacy agenda towards relevant authorities. Actively liaise between municipalities to pursue the agenda, participate on relevant fora, and lead the advocacy efforts
• Coordinate UNICEF efforts to support capacity building of municipal staff in effective refugee response and integration response based on children and women rights approach by organizing workshops, webinars, trainings and other events as relevant
• Support effective coordination and exchange between the municipalities and other relevant stakeholders

4. Networking and partnership building

• Actively participate in selected activities organized by municipalities to support social cohesion, inclusion, cultural and social participation
• Attend and actively participate in events related to municipalities advocacy priorities and resources mobilization. Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with the municipalities, relevant government counterparts and national stakeholders though active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results

Given the changing nature of the crisis, the coordination modalities and platforms may be reviewed and adjusted according to the evolving situation on the ground.

Work Assignment Overview

Estimated Duration of the Contract

144 working days between May and December 2024.

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be partly office-based in Bratislava.

As part of this assignment, some local travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

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 144 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as these will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

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

• Master’s degree in Social Science, Social Work, Psychology, Law, Programme Management and other relevant field
• At least five (5) years of experience of working with international organisations or government agencies (national, regional or local level)
• Proven experience in coordinating projects and programmes
• Experience in reporting and report writing
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Excellent written and spoken Slovak
• Understanding of the Slovak context and experience of working with stakeholders in Slovakia
• Experience with inclusion of children and families with refugee and migrant background is desirable
• Responsible, attentive to details
• Ability to network and maintain good relationships
• Experience of working in an emergency is desirable
• Experience in organizing capacity building activities and peer exchanges is desirable
• Experience in data collection and evidence-based programming and planning is desirable
• Experience with the Ukraine emergency is desirable

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.