Consultancy - Technical Assistance for the Development of a Guide for the Transitory and Alternative Care of Children and Adolescents Affected by Human Mobility - LAC Regional Office

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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 fulfil 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.

UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work in 190 countries and territories to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices.

UNICEF works to put the rights and well-being of the most disadvantaged children at the heart of the social, political, and economic agenda, in line with our equity focus, working across our organization and with our partners in government, civil society and the private sector to support shifts in public policy, fuel social engagement, and increase investment for children.

For information of the work of our organization in the LAC Region, please visit our website: UNICEF LAC Region

For every child, protection The protection of refugee and migrant children and adolescents has become a permanent challenge for many Latin American and Caribbean countries. Faced with this scenario, the countries of the region have developed different policies and responses which, although they can be included under the general label of care for migrant children and adolescents, show significant differences and adaptations to the context.

The heterogeneity in the supply of services for migrant and refugee children and adolescents is expressed in the concurrence of different approaches to face the problem. Several countries in the region have experienced increasingly intense migratory movements that have created a demand for care services. Thus, a range of care services for migrant children and their families has been emerging which, although in some cases have been guided by the standards of the Convention on the Right of the Child, in other cases show that the challenge of adapting practices to a human rights approach.

UNICEF LACRO has been reviewing the implementation of transitional and alternative care models in the region for children and adolescents on the move in the region. The review raised some questions such as when to ‘mix’ the migrant and non-migrant population, the consideration of the ‘life plans’ of the children on the move, the different approaches required for unaccompanied children versus other migrant children including those moving with their families, the role of alternative and transitory care in best interest assessment/determination, the role of alternative and transitory care in the access to basic services such as health care and education, among others. This contributed to a working document on potential procedures and elements that should be considered in for the use of alternative and transitional care for children on the move.

This document concluded that “Beyond the particular characteristics of each attention forms identified, one of the most significant general features is the diversity of forms these services take. Given this wide variety of options, it is necessary to develop a tool that can be agreed upon by the bodies involved to establish minimum quality standards for the temporary shelter services available.”

How can you make a difference? Purpose of the Assignment The purpose of this assignment is to prepare and deliver guidelines for transitional and alternative care of children and adolescents on the move in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This Guide will be specific for the alternative and transitory care of children on the move and their families, considering the characteristics and complexity of the migratory phenomenon and the specific vulnerabilities of the children taking in account gender, disabilities, ethnicity, etc. It will consider the different stages of the migration process (community of origin, transit, destination and return), the different ages of migrant children and whether they are alone or with family, as well as the differentiation between short-, medium- and long-term interventions.

It will have a human rights and gender-based approach within its structure and will consider different ethnic, indigenous, abilities, gender identity and sexual orientation. It will be guided by the programming experience of UNICEF and other organizations working on alternative and transitory care for children on the move. It will be specific to the Latin America and the Caribbean context.

Specific Tasks The process of elaboration of the guide will include:

• A preparatory stage to develop a methodology for defining the guide. This includes identifying relevant tools and any international/national policies for transitory and alternative care and selecting some key informant interviews within UNICEF and with other actors in the migration arena. The methodology will include a small virtual expert roundtable that will include regional and international experts. The guidelines are for alternative and transitory care facilities that support children, adolescents and, as appropriate, their families who are on the move. • Support to the implementation of a small virtual expert round table. This round table will verify the areas to be covered in the guidelines and deepen the understanding of what needs to be considered. A report of the meeting will be written as well as used to inform the guidelines. • Draft Care Guide for the alternative and transitory care of children and adolescents on the move. This should be aligned with international principles and standards, evidence based and practical. This guide should include a ‘check list’ like element of areas that need to be considered and responses. It should incorporate a complementary bibliography of other relevant tools and resources to support practitioners working in alternative and transitory care. • A final draft Guide that has incorporated recommendations and observations from the reference group will be presented in a webinar for different stakeholders for any further comments and observations may be included in the final version of the guideline. Final Guide.

A reference group will be defined by UNICEF to support the review of the reports and progress in this consultancy.

All products will be in Spanish and English.

Expected Results The following results are expected at the end of the consultancy:

a) Methodology and work plan to achieve the objectives defined. b) Support to the implementation of expert round table and draft proposal of the guide for alternative and transitory care for children in human mobility processes. c) A final Guide which includes a short brief on the process for development, and an Annex report on the expert round table. d) A PowerPoint in the Guide, and a webinar for the presentation of the guide.

Deliverables

To qualify as an champion for every child you will have… - Education: University degree in social sciences, international development cooperation or related training in the technical fields of this technical assistance.

- Work Experience: • Training and experience in alternative or transitional care, specifically for children on the move. • Practical work experience in Latin America and the Caribbean with a minimum of ten years working in the social sectors of international development.

- Languages: Fluency in Spanish and English is required. Knowledge of Portuguese will be considered an asset.

- Technical knowledge: • Proven experience in development of guidelines, reports or protocols. • Experience working with girls, boys and families on the move. • Experience with transitory and alternative care, including research on the same. • A good understanding of migration and migration responses in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Others Skills and Attributes: • Demonstrated excellent skills for research and systematization of information for reports. • Demonstrated ability to work virtually and establish virtual working relationships with many partners. • Able to work effectively in a multicultural environment. • Ability to clearly define objectives and plan activities. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Spanish and English. • Ability to use ICT tools such as email, Teams, Skype, Zoom.

Supervision: The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the UNICEF LAC Regional Office Child Protection Specialist [Migration], in collaboration with the Regional Adviser, Child Protection.

Workplace: This is a remote, home-based consultancy.

Duration: The estimated duration of this consultancy is 58 working days within 6 months, with an expected start date of 2 September 2022.

How to Apply: The Application should be submitted online and should include: Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. Qualified candidates are requested to submit daily and monthly fees in their financial proposal.

For every Child, you demonstrate… UNICEF values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) and the following core competencies: Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness, Works Collaboratively with others, Builds and Maintains Partnerships, Innovates and Embraces Change, Thinks and Acts Strategically, Drive to achieve impactful results, and Manages ambiguity and complexity.

To view our values and competency framework please visit the following links: Our Values and Our Competencies.

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.

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.

UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

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.