Consultancy - Senior Safeguarding Specialist (PSEAH and safeguarding), Education Cannot Wait (ECW), Remote (220 working days), REQ

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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, education.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the first global movement and fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises. It was established in 2016 during the World Humanitarian Summit by international humanitarian and development aid organizations, along with public and private donors, to help reposition education as a priority on the humanitarian agenda, usher in a more collaborative approach among actors on the ground and foster additional funding to ensure that every crisis-affected child and young person is in school and learning.

Based on the recognition that continuous access to quality learning is a priority for children and families affected by conflicts, natural disasters, and displacement and that no programme nor organization can do it alone, ECW comes as a ground-breaking initiative bringing together public and private partners eager to work together differently and mobilize the funding required to deploy immediate and sustainable solutions.

ECW’s mandate is articulated around five core functions:

1. Inspire political commitment, so that education is viewed by both governments and funders as a top priority during crises.
2. Plan and respond collaboratively, with emphasis on enabling humanitarian and development actors to work together on shared objectives.
3. Generate and disburse additional funding to close the $8.5 billion funding gap needed to reach 75 million children and youth.
4. Strengthen capacity to respond to crises, nationally and globally, including the ability to coordinate emergency support.
5. Improve accountability by developing and sharing knowledge, including collection of more robust data to make better-informed investment decisions, and knowledge of what works and does not.

Education Cannot Wait is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.

How can you make a difference?

ECW positions education strongly on the humanitarian agenda and advocates for quality education that is inclusive and integrated with protection for communities and learning spaces in emergencies and protracted crises. Embedded within the United Nations system, ECW adheres to and ensures that safeguarding standards, including protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and Sexual Harassment (PSEAH), are applied throughout its investments.

Its orientation towards safeguarding is informed by, inter alia, the strategy to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse across the United Nations system, and Security Council Resolution 2272 (2016) addressing sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations. ECW also aligns with UNICEF as its host institution regarding HR, legal, finance and administrative policies and procedures, and with safeguarding efforts undertaken by members of its governance body. As a fund investing in tackling challenges of access to education for children and youth in emergencies and protracted crises, ECW recognizes its responsibility to drive up PSEAH and child safeguarding standards and practice and ensure a ‘do no harm’ approach. Action on safeguarding is aligned to other strategies and frameworks in ECW, including the gender strategy and the risk management framework.

The purpose of this consultancy is to deepen ECW’s existing safeguarding work programme, ensuring alignment with the safeguarding policies, procedures, and initiatives of UNICEF and the IASC. The focus of the consultancy will be the operationalization of ECW’s safeguarding regulatory framework across the ECW investment portfolio, as well as advisory and capacity strengthening support to the ECW Secretariat.

In undertaking the deliverables below, the consultant must place child safety and wellbeing in programming as well as partner capacity at the heart of their approach, finding an appropriate balance between heavy regulatory approaches and field-friendly implementable solutions.

EXPECTED RESULTS: (MEASURABLE RESULTS)

Partner safeguarding assessments and policies (30% of time)

1. Undertake a stock take of current Implementing Partner PSEA Assessments and child safeguarding measures and develop a work plan to ensure that all Implementing Partners have valid PSEA Assessments in place by end March 2023.
2. Create and agree time-bound Safeguarding Action Plans with all those partners which require significant adjustment to their PSEA Assessments and/or child safeguarding measures by the end of March 2023.
3. Undertake a simple stock take of the PSEAH and child safeguarding regulatory frameworks of UN Agency grantees of ECW e.g. UNICEF, UNHCR, by December 2022. This should examine whether: the frameworks are in place and easily accessible; there is an accompanying operational framework, and there is evidence/reports of the framework being applied.
4. Create a library of all ECW implementing partners’ Corporate Safeguarding Policies by the end December 2022.

Monitoring (18% of time)

1. Within the first 30 days of the consultancy, create and agree a comprehensive Safeguarding Workplan with the Chief of Strategy and Planning, mapping how the expected results of the consultancy will be delivered. At the end of each subsequent month, provide updates against expected delivery at a progress meeting with the Chief of Strategy and Planning on progress.
2. Develop a methodology or checklist for ECW to use to monitor partner compliance with ECW safeguarding requirements by end November 2022.
3. Compile a suite of safeguarding indicators to be used in ECW’s monitoring and reporting processes (e.g., reports on grantee risk; ECW corporate risk frameworks) by end March 2022. This will require close coordination with ECW’s Risk Manager.
4. By end December 2022, liaise with ECW co-chairs UK and Norway to discuss and agree the utility of a 6-months/yearly confidentiality-sensitive Safeguarding Report to ECW donors covering key trends, statistics and lessons learned.
5. Monitor Implementing Partners’ progress against agreed Safeguarding Action Plans. Advise ECW on remedial action for non-compliance where applicable.
6. By end December 2022, create a tool or approach to assess Implementing Partners’ management of safeguarding cases.
7. As required by the Chief of Strategy and Planning, lead on the production of key data sets and analysis to be used in reports for ECW’s Senior Management Team and Executive Committee.
8. Undertake 1 multi-country field visit during the consultancy period to review safeguarding policies in practice in countries where there have been safeguarding incidents/repeat incidents or that are high risk.

Incident reporting and referral mechanisms (15% of time)

1. Prepare standard operating procedures on safeguarding incident reporting and referral, to be integrated as an Annex into the ECW Operations Manual by end October 2022.
2. Update the incident reporting template used by ECW grantees by end October 2022.
3. On an ongoing basis, support ECW’s response to partner incidents. This includes updates to the Executive Committee; advising on the identification of lessons learned; and coordinating corrective action.

Quality assurance of ECW investments (10% of time)

1. Review each ECW MYRP investment proposal (approx. 9 per year) from a safeguarding lens within a timeframe agreed with the Education Team, and recommend amendments to strengthen safeguarding measures, paying particular attention to the Risk Matrix.
2. By January 2023, ensure a smooth transition of the above activity to the ECW Country and Emergency Managers.
3. By January 2023, assess how/to what extent safeguarding has been addressed in ECW FERs and make recommendations to the Emergency Manager on how safeguarding can be strengthened in FERs.

Capacity strengthening (20% of time)

1. By end February 2023, develop respective user-friendly guidance on incident reporting and referral mechanisms for: grantees; staff; and affected populations, including child-friendly guidance.
2. By end February 2023, develop a suite of user-friendly guidance documents, screening tools and check lists to support ECW’s roll-out of its safeguarding obligations e.g. a check list to support review of Implementing Partner PSEA and child safeguarding assessments.
3. By end February 2023, develop user-friendly guidelines for partners to manage non-SEAH safeguarding risks (to complement their compliance with the UN Implementing Partner PSEA Capacity Assessment Protocol)
4. By end April 2023, develop and deliver a set of half-day virtual workshops/webinars (inclusive of feedback questionnaires for attendees on achievement of workshop objectives) to the following stakeholders: implementing partners by region; ECW staff; ECW thematic specialists; ECW Country and Emergency Managers. Partner workshops should major on end-to-end compliance with ECW expectations and guidance available; ECW staff workshops should major on ECW obligations and guidance available; 1 ECW thematic specialist workshop should major on the development of integrated safeguarding tools; and 1 workshop with the Country and Emergency Managers should build their capacity to confidently take on quality assurance of FER and MYRP proposals with a safeguarding lens.
5. Necessary action resulting from these workshops should be captured in the Safeguarding Workplan.

Data privacy (2% of time)

1. By end June 2023, review current ECW practices related to collection of data then identify areas for improvement and roll these into guidance for ECW stakeholders.
2. By end June 2023, develop a data privacy procedure by June 2023 tailored to ECW’s operations.
3. By end June 2023, ensure alignment of advocacy guidelines and consent form if/as relevant with any possible UNICEF updates.

Sustainable transition management (1% of time)

1. Create a strong Information and Knowledge Management repository of key documents, guidance, check lists and training underpinning the above deliverables, ensuring user-friendly access by relevant ECW staff.
2. Lead the production of a Job Specification for a P4 Safeguarding Manager by end February 2023.
3. Before the end of the consultancy period, provide a comprehensive virtual handover to the incoming Safeguarding Manager, including an updated Safeguarding Workplan running until December 2023.
4. At end of consultancy period, deliver a presentation to the ECW Senior Management Team on Safeguarding progress over this consultancy period.

Stakeholder engagement (4% of time)

1. Liaise with internal and external stakeholders as needed in performing the above-mentioned duties. This includes proactively establishing meetings where required with UNICEF and UNICEF-hosted fund leads on safeguarding.
2. By end November 2022, explore and decide on the feasibility of creating an ECW Working Group or Community of Practice on Safeguarding (to include grantees and potentially sub-grantees) with the chief aim of providing ECW with advice and constructive criticism in rolling out the above programme of safeguarding and PSEA activities.
3. Tasks manage ECW interns and P2/P3-level officers supporting the above workstreams as required by the Chief of Strategy and Planning.

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

• Advanced University 's degree (or equivalent) in one or more of the following disciplines: social work, international development, law, social sciences, public administration, or other related fields.
• A minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible experience in safeguarding (child safeguarding, PSEA, PSH), child protection and/or gender-based violence risk mitigation in humanitarian and development action at the international level.
• Proven experience in conducting safeguarding partner assessments and developing action plans for humanitarian and development action.
• Ability to undertake complex analysis, engage with uncertainty and formulate recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience in managing responses to complex safeguarding incidents, including knowledge of best practice approaches, in humanitarian and development action.
• Proven experience in delivering capacity-building activities on risk and/or safeguarding.
• Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish), particularly French, is desirable.

Duty Station

Home-based. The consultants will work remotely.

Duration:

220 working days

Travel

The consultant will be required to take at least one multi-country field visit during the contract period.

Insurance:

UNICEF will not be responsible for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during the consultant’s service. Therefore, the selected candidate must provide proof of enrollment in a health/accident plan prior to starting his/her work.

How to apply:

Please complete your profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system. Please provide (attach) a Personal History Form (P-11) highlighting previous engagements which meet the qualification criteria described above. Personal History Form (P11) can be downloaded from:https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html

Please indicate your ability, availability and financial proposal (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above.

Applications submitted without a financial proposal will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.