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The purpose of this consultancy is to support UNICEF Kosovo with technical expertise in implementation of the
disability inclusion agenda based on the 2024 Annual work plan.
How can you make a difference?
UNICEF Kosovo continues to implement its Kosovo Programme 2021-2025, contributing also to the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. One of the main components of the UNCEF programme includes interventions that aim to strengthen the Social Inclusion of Vulnerable Children in Kosovo through cross-sectoral coordinated actions to be implemented from the perspectives of social and child protection, health and education that are aiming at strengthening the systems response and improvement of the overall situation of vulnerable children. UNICEF Kosovo office is dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of every child, with a focus on the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, including children with disabilities. Despite progress in aligning Kosovo’s legal and policy frameworks with international standards, significant gaps in implementation and data collection persist.
The 2020 MICS survey revealed that 8% of children aged 2-17 have functional difficulties, with this figure nearly doubling in marginalized communities. Legislative efforts, such as the development of the National Disability Strategy and the enactment of laws on Early Childhood Education and Social and Family Services, mark positive steps, but challenges remain in providing comprehensive and inclusive services.
Additionally, children with disabilities continue to face barriers to early intervention, rehabilitation, education and necessary support. Addressing these challenges requires a robust legislative framework, increased financial support, and sustainable financing mechanisms for service providers. UNICEF continues promoting the rights and well-being of children with disabilities and ensure that legal and policy frameworks are aligned with international standards, contributing to the equitable development of Kosovo’s social services.
The situation of children with disabilities in Kosovo remains dire, as they face significant barriers and discrimination in various aspects of life. The lack of adequate support for remote learning and increased risks of violence in the household further marginalized these children. Additionally, the draft Law on Evaluation, Status Recognition, Benefits, and Services for Persons with Disabilities, which aimed to address these issues, has faced delays in approval, despite continuous advocacy efforts. The persistent challenges include the absence of reliable data on the number of children with disabilities, limited access to services, and the dominance of a medical approach to disability, which focuses on impairments rather than a holistic understanding. Moreover, the healthcare system in Kosovo lacks systematic early
identification and intervention for children at risk of disability, leading to late diagnoses and missed opportunities for proper development. Families, especially those from marginalized communities, are often unaware of their rights and lack the necessary support to protect and care for children with disabilities. Foster care, an alternative to institutional care, remains underdeveloped and insufficiently supported, further complicating the situation for these vulnerable children.
With EU support, UNICEF is implementing a three-year program to “Strengthen Kosovo’s child protection system, focusing on the most vulnerable children”. The program improved access to quality social services and education for children in street situations, those out of school, and children with disabilities. It achieved key results by ensuring that these children received equitable and inclusive support, while also strengthening child protection systems to prevent and respond to violence. The program scaled up services on the ground and provided technical assistance to enhance Kosovo’s child protection framework. It also worked to influence national policies to better address the needs of vulnerable children. As a result, over 10,000 children benefited from improved protection and education, and more
than 1,300 professionals across various sectors received training to better support these efforts. Under Result 2, the program focuses on strengthening both legal and practical support for persons with disabilities, with an emphasis on children. It aims to develop and support the implementation the “Law on Evaluation, Status Recognition, Benefit, and Services for Persons with Disabilities,” along with the necessary administrative instructions. The program also seeks to enhance inclusive services by bolstering multidisciplinary evaluation teams, deploying teacher assistants, and providing assistive devices. Additionally, it supports the new model of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) centers, which offer comprehensive bio-psycho-social rehabilitation and reintegration services.
Similarly, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women, are coordinating efforts under the Development Coordinator’s Office (DCO) to implement the Inception Phase of the UNPRPD Multi Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) initiative. This initiative aims to promote disability-inclusive development by applying an intersectional approach to each stage of the process, learning from people with diverse forms of knowledge and participation in decision making and advancing the rights of women and men, including girls and boys with disabilities in Kosovo. For this purpose UNICEF, UNFPA and UN WOMEN in close cooperation with the Office of Good Governance/Office of Prime Minister (OGG), and in consultation with OPD’s and other UN agencies in Kosovo, are conducting a situation analysis for persons with disabilities in Kosovo to
understand key bottlenecks and barriers that persons with disabilities are phasing in Kosovo. The findings and recommendations from this exercise will support enabling an environment for better social inclusion of people with disabilities, as well as children.
For this purpose, UNICEF is looking to hire a local consultant to support its interventions including the following
Activities/Inputs and Outputs:
Activity/Inputs: Provide technical assistance and support to the Kosovo Disability Forum, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, and Ministry of Finance -labor and Transfers to finalize the Law for Persons with Disabilities.
Outputs: Strengthened capacities and enhanced technical expertise of KDF, OPDs and MFLT for the finalization of the Law for Persons with Disabilities in line with UNCRPD, ICF and best international practices.
Activity/Inputs: Support the development of the UNPRPD Situation Analysis (SitAn) for persons with disabilities in Kosovo.
Outputs: Finalized UNPRPD Situation Analysis (SitAn) report on persons with disabilities in Kosovo that will identify key bottlenecks and barriers they face. Through effective coordination of the SitAn process, all planned interventions by international and local consultants are
completed, resulting in a comprehensive report with active engagement and validation by key stakeholders, supported by the Steering Committee.
Activity/Inputs: Support IPs to enhance bio-psycho-social rehabilitation and reintegration services for children with disabilities and monitor their implementation.
Outputs: Strengthened rehabilitation and reintegration services for children with disabilities.
Activity/Inputs: Provide technical expertise to assist UNICEF’s program team in advancing the implementation of its Disability Inclusion Agenda and provide inputs for the development of the new UNICEF Kosovo Program Document 2026-2030.
Outputs: Effective advancement of the Disability Inclusion Agenda through expert technical support and provision of inputs during the development process of the new UNICEF Kosovo Program Document 2026-2030.
Work Assignments Overview: Identify best practice models for the assessment of disability based on a bio-psycho-social approach and provide recommendations to MFLT, KDF, and OPD’s to include the instrument as an integral part of the draft Law on Evaluation, Status Recognition, Benefit, and Services for Persons with Disabilities
Deliverables/Outputs: Summary report on proposed instruments for assessment of disability in Kosovo in line with UNCRPD, ICF, and best international practices.
Delivery deadline: by Oct 5, 2024 (3 days)
Work Assignments Overview: Provide technical guidance on drafting and finalizing the law, while supporting KDF in organizing advocacy initiatives to facilitate strategic engagements with key government officials and stakeholders to advance the legislative process.
Deliverables/Outputs: Technical inputs on the Final version of the draft of the law provided, along with a report summarizing the outcomes of meetings, workshops, and advocacy efforts.
Delivery deadline: by Dec 30, 2024 (9 Days)
Work Assignments Overview: Coordinate the development of the UNPRPD Situation Analysis (SitAn) for persons with disabilities in Kosovo by organizing data gathering and analysis, aligning with UNFPA, UN Women, and UNDCO, and serving as Secretary of the Steering Committee. Facilitate the drafting and finalization of the SitAn report.
Deliverables/Outputs: Detailed coordination plan for consultants, with a summary of stakeholder interviews and the first draft of the SitAn report. Finalized SitAn report, revised with Steering Committee input and validated through a multistakeholder workshop.
Delivery deadline: by Dec 30, 2024 (10 Days)
Work Assignments Overview: Collaborate with Implementing Partners (IPs) to develop and strengthen inclusion and biopsycho-social rehabilitation services for children with disabilities. Monitor the implementation of these services and provide feedback for improvement.
Deliverables/Outputs: Progress reports on the development and implementation of rehabilitation and reintegration services for children with disabilities.
Delivery deadline: by Nov 25, 2024 (6 Days)
Work Assignments Overview: Provide technical expertise to UNICEF’s program team to advance the Disability Inclusion Agenda by providing inputs for the development of the new UNICEF Kosovo Program Document 2026-2030, facilitating the work of UNICEF disability inclusion task force and providing inputs for DIPAS and UNDIS reports and alignment with the new CPD.
Deliverables/Outputs: Draft Inputs for UNICEF Kosovo Program Document 2026-2030 ensuring alignment with DIPAS, UNDIS and broader UNICEF goals and priorities. Disability task force meetings conducted and facilitated. Inputs and follow-up activities on DIPAS and UNDIS provided.
Delivery deadline: by Dec 20, 2024 (10 days)
Work Assignments Overview: Provide technical expertise to develop a Disability inclusion TOC for the period 2026-2030.
Deliverables/Outputs: Disability inclusion TOC for the period 2026-2030 drafted.
Delivery deadline: by Sept 10, 2024 (5 days)
Work Assignments Overview: Conduct Mapping of disability interventions by pillars and identification of potential for synergy.
Deliverables/Outputs: Mapping of disability interventions by pillars conducted.
Delivery deadline: Oct 20, 2024 (2 Days)
Work Assignments Overview: Develop a donor concept note/proposal on disability inclusion.
Deliverables/Outputs: Donor concept note/proposal on disability inclusion drafted.
Delivery deadline: by Dec 25, 2024 (5 days)
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Proven Expertise in Disability Inclusion: At least 10 years of experience in disability inclusion, including policy development, advocacy, and strategic planning in line with CRPD and SDGs.
- Multi-Sectoral Coordination and Advocacy: Skilled in coordinating multi-sectoral initiatives Including with Government, OPDs, UN agencies, and Multilateral Organizations, organizing stakeholder consultations, and advocating for disability-inclusive policies.
- Technical Expertise in Legal and Policy Analysis: Extensive experience in analyzing and developing disability-related legal frameworks, policy development, and disability assessment instruments in Kosovo.
- In-depth understanding of bio-psycho-social approaches to disability assessment.
- Expertise in developing and enhancing bio-psycho-social rehabilitation services for children with disabilities. Familiarity with DIPAS, UNDIS, and UNICEF Kosovo’s Program.
- Capacity Building and Training: Proven ability to enhance the capacities of organizations of persons with disabilities and their umbrella organizations through training and strategic planning support.
- Communication and Facilitation Skills: Strong communication, facilitation, and report writing skills, with a track record of delivering results within deadlines.
- Commitment to Inclusive Development: Knowledge of gender perspectives and the “Leave No One Behind” approach.
Note: Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply
Competencies
- Works Collaboratively with others.
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships
- Manages ambiguity and complexity.
- Applying technical expertise
- Follows instructions and procedure.
- Administrative details:
IT and Communication equipment required
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
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 credential(s) 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 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.