National Child Protection Consultant, Athens, Greece, 6 months, Home Based

UNICEF Greece Country Office is looking for a National Child Protection Consultant. Under the guidance of the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, the Consultant will provide technical support to the Municipal Social Services for the development of a model of child protection services at municipality level, ensuring that the rights of children are protected and promoted.

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 became operational in Greece in early 2016 as an outposted team from the Regional Office of Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) to respond to the significant influx of refugee and migrant children and their families at that time. Following several years of engagement with national stakeholders, UNICEF and the Government of Greece made a decision in January 2020 to formalize the agency’s presence in the country as a full-fledged Country Office. The office falls under the auspices of the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia located in Geneva, which supports the work of 22 Country Offices within its geographical scope, reporting in turn to global headquarters in New York. These offices carry out UNICEF’s mission through a unique set of programmes that focus on practical ways to realize the rights of all children. Within the framework of a mandate for all children in Greece, UNICEF and Greece are now working to address the needs of all vulnerable, marginalized and left-behind children in the country. In the context of the Country Programme for Greece (2022-2026) approved by the UNICEF Executive Board in February 2020, UNICEF and the Government of Greece have agreed on national priorities for children, concerning health, education, social protection, child protection, justice and youth employability. The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child , in everything the organization does — in programme, in advocacy and in operations.

The Municipality of Athens, being the largest and most populous in the country, recognized the need for immediate interventions to protect children at risk, increased the number of professionals to work exclusively on child protection cases and is working towards establishing a Department of Family and Child Protection that meets international standards. UNICEF will support the Child Protection team of the Municipality of Athens through a Consultant with professional expertise to work on developing a clear operating framework and procedures. The long term aim will be for the Municipality of Athens to pave the way for other municipalities in the country to implement good practices and upgrade the services they provide to children.

Under the guidance of the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, the Consultant will provide technical support to the Municipal Social Services for the development of a model of child protection services at municipality level, ensuring that the rights of children are protected and promoted.

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of this assignment, under the UNICEF action ‘Developing a model of child protection services at municipality level’ is to provide technical support to the Municipality of Athens to enable the municipal social services to develop an operational framework of the social service unit as regards child protection cases. The consultant will work closely with the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist in Greece and the Child Protection team members involved and in close coordination with the Head of Municipal Social Services and the respective team members.

UNICEF will provide the Municipal authorities with a report including recommendations on a clear set of duties, map official and unofficial referral pathways, draft statutory collaboration protocols for all actors involved, data collection processes and tools, map social workers case load, capture daily tasks of the team members and the time required.

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

• Advanced university degree in Social Work, Social Policy, Social Sciences, or a related field.
  ● Proven experience of a minimum of 7 years including supporting social policy in the field of social welfare supporting processes, public administration, including stakeholder consultations, research, monitoring and reporting.
  ● A deep understanding of the child protection context, policy, and governance structures at the national and subnational levels in Greece is a strong asset.
  ● Previous engagement with and demonstrated understanding of child rights, will be an advantage.
  ● Strong communication skills are required.
  ● Greek and English fluency required.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants are invited to:

a. Complete their UNICEF profile

b. Attach relevant academic degrees, latest CV and motivation letter

c. Indicate a lump-sum amount quoted in Euro for the whole assignment. The amount should be provided per deliverable by completing the consultancy financial proposal table. Consultancy Financial Offer_.xlsx

PLEASE NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS FROM CANDIDATES WHO DO NOT SUBMIT A FINANCIAL PROPOSAL TABLE WILL BE CONSIDERED INCOMPLETE AND WILL NOT BE FURTHER REVIEWED.

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.