CFCI Model Consultant, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3 months (Open to All Nationalities)

Contract

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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, hope

Together with the Malaysian government and others who are truly passionate about child rights, UNICEF works in Malaysia to ensure every child has the opportunity to grow healthy and happy; live safely; and achieve their full potential.

With the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the 11th Malaysia plan as our guides, we endeavor to change minds, change policies, and in turn change the lives of all children in Malaysia.

https://www.unicef.org/malaysia/

How can you make a difference?

The Child Friendly Cities Initiative has started to be implemented in Malaysia. At this point, there is 1 candidate city (Petaling Jaya), 4 cities with signed MoU in the state of Sarawak, and at least 23 city councils that have expressed interest in being part of the initiative. There is a growing interest among city councils to be part of this initiative in Malaysia. This calls for the development of a CFCI model that can be implemented across the board, with a cohort approach that allows for multiple city councils to sign up to CFCI and implement in a coordinated manner.

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop a CFCI model that is comprehensive of all the steps in the CFCI journey (assessment, Memorandum of Understanding, Situation Analysis, Plan of Action, Candidate City recognition, implementation, evaluation and final recognition) and that can be applied across the board to all interested city councils in Malaysia.

The model should consider:

• that the UNICEF Social Policy team is small in size, and thus, a cohort approach to CFCI implementation is needed;
• the types of interventions completely under control of city councils and differentiate with those actions that require action and cooperation with state and federal agencies,
• the great diversity of implementation contexts in Peninsular and East Malaysia,

It is expected that the model be broken down by CFCI implementation step and that detailed guidance on how to translate the general guidance from the CFCI Handbook and the UNICEF Local Governance Approach to Programming into the context of Malaysia is developed. The model needs to incorporate key decisions around operationalization of the CFCI handbook to the context of Malaysia, such as:

• tools and processes to use for undertaking preliminary assessment for multiple city councils that are part of a CFCI cohort;
• sample MoU document that can be used for cohort signing ceremony (as opposed as individual/ one by one signing ceremony as has been the practice so far);
• incorporation of the SitAn cohort model that will be developed as part of the SitAn Quality Assurance consultancy (and not as part of this consultancy) into the model framework;
• plan of action development guide that is flexible to include city specific nuances as well as broad enough to be able to generate the possibility to compare progress between cities;
• M&E framework and user guide for local councils to be able to properly set baselines, targets and monitor progress over time;
• Clear definition on minimum criteria for recognition of city as CFCI based on the M&E framework that is applicable to all cities in the cohort;

The expected outcome is a clear step-by- step, user friendly guide that can be the framework for implementing the CFCI in Malaysia.

It is expected that most of the work can be done remotely. However, in order to contextualize the model to Malaysia, trips to selected city councils which are engaged in CFCI in Malaysia should be visited. This may include Petaling Jaya, Kuching North, Kuching South, Miri, Padawan, who are already on board after signing the MoU, and other potential cities, such as city councils in Johor, Sabah and Selangor. This will capture the situation of current engaged cities for which the model will apply in its later steps and prospective cities that will use the framework from the onset.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social sciences, urban planning or similar *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• At least 5 years working on local governance related issues, ideally on urban settings
• Working with local authorities in developing countries is an asset
• Having supported/worked on the UNICEF CFCI is an asset
• Excellent oral and written English skills
• Experience in developing M&E frameworks is an asset
• Experience in developing urban planning/ development models or frameworks is an asset
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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 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.