International Child Protection Case Management Consultant (Review interagency SOPs in State of Palestine)

If you are committed and passionate about making a lasting difference for children, UNICEF State of Palestine would like to hear from you. This consultancy is open to International Consultants.

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 

UNICEF in the State of Palestine works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential. We are working for every child and young person in the State of Palestine. 

The Child Protection Area of Responsibility in State of Palestine is led by UNICEF and brings together key stakeholders to ensure a common understanding of child protection priorities to implement a coordinated response. The CPAoR exists to maximize intra and inter-sectoral coordination, maintain overview of situation, needs and developments and ensure timely and coordinated responses to emergencies. Membership of the CP AoR is open to UN agencies, national and international organizations, as well as government. Prior to the escalation of the conflict on October 7 2023, the CP AoR had established a Case Management Working Group for the West Bank. Since the escalation an Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) Technical Working Group has been established.

How can you make a difference? 

In Gaza, an Inter-Agency Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) for Case Management was endorsed and rolled-out in 2019. In the West Bank, an SOP for Case Management was endorsed by the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), but there has not yet been any dissemination or roll-out of the guidance. As a result and in light of the current context, there is an urgent need to update the case management SOPs, ensuring they are applicable to the emergency context (including integrating the procedure for UASC) and harmonized and aligned across the State of Palestine, with endorsement from MoSD and buy-in from key stakeholders working in child protection case management. 

Scope of work:

The Child Protection Case Management (CPCM) Adviser will lead an Interagency Case Management Task Force (CMTF) under the National Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) in its case management initiatives. The CPCM Adviser will support in responding to gaps identified by the CP AoR, including the coordination, development and roll out of Standard Operating Procedures, monitor and adapt as necessary (in agreement with the CMWG) the agreed core CM tools and forms. In addition, the CPCM Adviser should seek to link guidelines, forms and trainings with the in-country legal framework and work closely with the government to ensure their engagement within the CMTF. Following successful development of SOPs, the CPCM Advisor will work with the CPAoR Coordinator to establish a Case Management Working Group to support the roll-out and capacity building of child protection actors; this will include development of ToR (identifying co-chairs) and a Work Plan for the Case Management Working Group.

Work Assignments Overview  

1. Lead the establishment of a Case Management Task Force (CMTF) under the CPAoR to update Inter-Agency Case Management SOPs, together with relevant child protection actors/line ministry
2. Dissemination, roll-out and capacity building of SOPs
3. Support the establishment of a Case Management Technical Working Group to  ensure the deliverables of the Task Force are taken forward

Expected Deliverables;

First Deliverable: 

1. Develop a ToR for CMTF
2. Review, update, contextualize and harmonize the Case Management SOPs for SoP, ensuring the engagement of CM actors (ensuring integration of IDTR SOPs, other Clusters/AoRs and MoSD on referral pathways and cross cutting issues related to case management)
3. Update and finalize Data Protection and Information Sharing protocol  (ensuring partners endorsement)
4. Develop tools to collect data and analyze manually the case trends to  produce quarterly analysis to inform actions.

Second Deliverable:

1. Develop and deliver of case management trainings  (ensuring links to local contexts and engagement of CPAoR partners)
2. Identify current needs and gaps in the delivery of case management among child protection partners
3. Develop training package on case management (based on SOPs and referral pathways) and training plan for the Training of Trainers (ToT) for case workers (frontline workers) and case worker supervisors
4. Develop and contextualize coaching and mentoring guidelines and materials for F2F or remote delivery
5. Produce a list of Trainers (pool of trainers) and a training plan to support with capacity building efforts and co-lead trainings where needed
6. Design and deliver a Training of Trainers to the pool of trainers so that they are equipped to roll out capacity building in case management

Third Deliverable: 

Cost and Terms of Payment:

The agreed fee will be paid to the consultant in three installments on receipt of the agreed deliverables, as below: 

• 50% upon completion of deliverable 1
• 35% upon completion of deliverable 2
• 15% upon completion of deliverables

Deliverables and timelines: Please refer to the ToR attached for more details  Terms of Reference – Child Protection – Case Management Specialist.pdf

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

Education: 

• Master’s degree in international social work, social studies, International Development, Psychology, or a related field.

Experience:

• Eight years child protection case management and inter-agency coordination experience in international settings with international NGOs/UN Agencies

Languages:

• Fluency in English is mandatory, and fluency in Arabic is desirable. Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Experienced in setting up and maintaining databases for case management services

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

UNICEF competencies required for this post are

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors 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. 

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 credentials and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

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 for ensuring 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.