Consultancy: Consultant to support the operationalization of the Strategic Shift for the Prevention and Response of Violence against Girls, Boys and Women, Child Protection Programme Team, P

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Consultancy Title: Consultant to support the operationalization of the Strategic Shift for the Prevention and Response of Violence against Girls, Boys and Women

Section/Division/Duty Station: Child Protection Programme Team/ Programme Group/ NYHQ

Duration: 68 Billable days

Home/ Office Based: Open to Either

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The Child Protection Programme Team (CPPT or “the Team”), the Gender Equality Unit in Programme Group and the Child Rights and Protection in Innocenti – Office of Research (OOR) have agreed on a strategic and paradigm shift on the approach to violence against girls, boys and women as part of the new Child Protection Strategy, 2021-2030, and Goal Area 3 of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022-2025. The strategic shift is comprised of three elements: (i) focus on primary prevention of violence (inclusive of recognition of the importance of services responding to victims/survivors); (ii) social and behavioral change and gender transformation as cross-cutting strategic approaches (iii) explicit attention to the violence to which women are subjected in addition to the violence experienced by girls and boys.

Under the umbrella of the SDGs, CRC and CEDAW – all of which underpin UNICEF’s work – and building on the great strides in knowledge and lessons learned during the preparation of the Child Protection Strategy and the UNICEF Strategic Plan and implementation at country level, there is now consensus at the global level on the need to prevent and respond to violence against girls, boys and women in a coordinated way. Greater clarity is needed, however, in detailing how the strategic shift will translate into concrete programming priorities and action on the ground, including its implications for UNICEF’s work along the entire continuum of the humanitarian-development nexus. Importantly, UNICEF is not alone in grappling with how best to address these forms of violence in an integrated way given that the fields of violence against children/child protection and violence against women have evolved separately. Given UNICEF’s unique mandate and practical experience across both of these related but distinct areas of work, it is a crucial moment for the agency to continue demonstrating its leadership in violence prevention and response. This moment creates an opportunity for UNICEF to advance not only its own programming, but to contribute to the field more broadly by expanding the knowledge base about how best to prevent and respond to violence against girls, boys and women in a holistic and coordinated manner.

Looking ahead, these strategic shifts need to translate into actions at the country level and be reflected through both country programmes and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). Such an acceleration will require the buy-in and ownership of this approach by the Child Protection and Gender Regional Advisers and other members of the Extended Child Protection Leadership Team (ECPLT) as well as by CP and Gender staff at the country level, where changes will be operationalized. In addition, the support from colleagues in other Divisions and Teams, particularly those working on “Gender Based Violence/Violence against Women and Girls”, is critical for this new strategic shift. This process presents an opportunity to maximize UNICEF’s impact for girls, boys and women whose lives are touched by violence by clearly articulating how various elements of UNICEF’s architecture and expertise can most effectively be leveraged to operationalize the strategic shift. Likewise, this strategic approach needs to complement and be informed by UNICEF’s strategic shift to strengthen its Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) function, as set out in the Social and Behaviour Change and Community Engagement dimensions of the 2022-2025 UNICEF Strategic Plan. By focusing on quality people-centered approaches and bringing a broader range of evidence-driven approaches to the delivery of all of UNICEF’s results areas, the strategic shift to strengthen UNICEF’s SBC function should support and enable the shift in strategic approach to the delivery of Goal Area 3. A ‘whole of organization’ approach is needed on the concrete programming and research priorities and action on the ground that will operationalize the strategic and paradigm shifts in UNICEF’s programming to end violence against girls, boys and women. Finally, it will be important to further strengthen existing partnerships with relevant UN agencies whose mandates overlap with those of UNICEF where violence against girls, boys and women is concerned.

The CPPT is seeking a consultant to design and implement a consultative planning process that would result in the operationalization of the strategic shifts within UNICEF country programmes. Achieving this will contribute to: i) bridging the divide across violence against children and violence against women by promoting a coordinated programme approach; ii) increasing resources allocated towards preventative and gender-transformative programmes that help advance the rights of women as well as girls and boys; and iii) building and utilising the evidence base (including grey literature and experiential knowledge of practitioners) on effective programmes that can be scaled up as part of violence prevention and protection systems.

Scope of Work:

Under the direct supervision of the Director of CPPT, the consultant with work closely with the ‘core team’, comprised of the VAC Unit and the CPHA Unit (GBViE) in CPPT and the Child Rights and Protection Unit in OoR. The consultant is expected to produce a clearly defined planning and consultative process on how to build a whole-of-organization approach and multi-country strategy to operationalize the strategic shift in UNICEF’s programming to end violence against girls, boys and women at the country level, including UNICEF’s approach to social and behavioural change – i.e. within country programmes and within the framework of the respective UNSDCF.

The consultant is expected to engage with a number of stakeholders within UNICEF, including other Programme Group Teams and Sections, responsible for Goal Areas 1, 2 and 5 of the Strategic Plan and those whose remit cuts across all goal areas, including both the Gender and Social and Behavior Change Units. Through a phased approach, a range of processes and activities are envisioned that i) build on the knowledge and lessons learned during the preparation of the Child Protection Strategy, Gender-based Violence Operational Guide, UNICEF Strategic Plan, and UNICEF Gender Action Plan, which ultimately led to the production of the Strategy Paper on Gender Dimensions of Violence Against Children and Adolescents; and ii) take account of ongoing initiatives to embed a new, strategic approach to SBC across the organisation. It is critical that the consultant design a mechanism which can ensure adequate integration of the agreed-upon activities into the workplans of relevant teams at CO, RO, and HQ for the period 2023-2025. It is also essential that feminist principles and learning are integrated.

Phase one will focus on laying the grounds for the operationalization of the strategic shifts at the country level. The objective of phase one is to design a consultative and participatory work process that will engage all key stakeholders and result owners to achieve buy-in and whole of organization coordinated approach necessary to operationalize the strategic shifts. It will include a regional-level needs analysis, a skills and capacities mapping at HQ and RO, and the preparation of an evidence plan (elaborating on the evidence roadmap published in 2021), and the organisation of an internal UNICEF workshop for team and consensus building to deliver results between 2023-2025. It will also deliver a plan for Phase 2 and ensure consultation and inputs for a robust plan. The consultant will work closely with an expert team at UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, which will elaborate and provide input from the available evidence base that will inform the overall operational framework and preparations in Phase 1.

Phase two will focus on enabling and accelerating the strategic shifts at the country level and implementing these changes through a multi-country approach within the framework of country programmes and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. This includes strengthening the alignment with and/or integrating this work into inter-agency processes – including but not limited to, for example, within the framework of the UN Common Agenda, Spotlight Initiative, inter-agency work in humanitarian action, and the UNCT work on the UNSDCF. The objectives of phase two are to support programme managers at regional and country level to identify and integrate agreed-upon and evidence-informed key interventions on VaGBaW programming into their programme planning documents; and to support regional managers to initiate regional bodies of work in documenting examples of programme excellence in achieving at-scale measurable change as well as to identify specific actions and recommendations to further implement the operational model.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

• Clearly defined planning and consultative process that aim to build whole of organization approach on operationalizing the strategic shift in UNICEF’s programming on violence against girls, boys and women as part of UNICEF country programme
• Compendium on key programmatic interventions and key entry points in the country programme planning and implementation cycle to integrate preventative and gender-transformative programmes that help advance the rights of women as well as girls and boys
• Rollout package and operationalization plan endorsed by ECPLT (tentatively 3-4 regions: 2-3 countries per region)
• Recommendations for possible discussion during the preparations of OMPs, ROMPs and CPMPs
• Multi-country investment case
• COs workplan and programme planning documents with integrated activities.
• HQ planning document on providing multi-sectoral and cross-business technical assistance – including the option of utilizing LTAS for the provision of TA.

Qualifications

Education:

• Master's in Social Sciences and related disciplines (Economics, Statistics, International Development. International Relations, Public Administration or Public Policy, Human Rights or a related field).

Work experience:

• At least 8 years of programming experience, ideally in UNICEF.
• Solid understanding of violence against women and children UN programming in development and humanitarian contexts.
• Demonstrated experience in drafting strategic documents and investment cases, and developing capacity building materials.
• Ability to facilitate and build consensus amongst stakeholders with divergent and conflicting views.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to liaise with people successfully and effectively in a wide range of functions in a multi-cultural environment.
• Fluency in English required.

Requirements****:

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.