Foster Care Campaign Consultant

Consultant Programme & Policy

Overview

Design and implement foster-care recruitment campaigns for UNICEF.

You have:

• Master's degree in social sciences.
• Proven expertise in designing successful multimedia campaigns (at least two).
• At least five years of experience in campaigns related to humanitarian or social protection sector is desirable.
• Knowledge on the social-welfare/child protection system and solid understanding of key alternative-care guiding principles.
• Demonstrated training and coaching skills.
• Experience with proven records in producing thematic documents, reports, guides, articles.
• Good communication and writing skills.
• Fluency in Serbian and English.
• Experience in working with UNICEF, other international and non-profit organizations is an asset.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and gender parity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF’s office is accessible to a certain extent, and employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are needed for ensuring equitable working conditions.

Family is the best environment for growth and development of every child. However, when separation from the biological family is necessary to protect the safety and best interests of the child, placement in alternative family-base care (foster family) is a priority option as it is proven that residential institutions cannot provide a quality, stimulating and individualized response to the emotional and social needs of a child. UNICEF has been supporting the social welfare/childcare reforms and system’s advancements by focusing on deinstitutionalization, development of community-based and family-support services with the aim of preventing separation, while at the same time recognizing the relevance of system capacities to ensure timely access to quality alternative family-based alternatives for children in need. Support provided in that regards includes evidence-generation to inform policy improvements, technical assistance to upgrading regulatory changes and capacity building of key stakeholders (centres for foster care and centres for social work).

In close coordination with the Ministry of Family and Demography, UNICEF launched a dedicated programme response to address the most critical gaps in ensuring equal access to variety of quality foster-care options. The approach builds on institutional strengths, experiences and capacity building resources available with a view of its upgrading and further contribution to sustained improvements. The overall programme is focused on selected priority regions (up to 5) and includes capacity building of key stakeholders/professionals for (a) continued tailored local/regional level recruitment of foster carers and (b) for capacitating, monitoring and supervising foster carers. An integral component of the programme is also the support to delivering trainings to the newly recruited foster carers (general mandatory training) and existing foster carers (for specialized forms of care, such as for children with disabilities, urgent and intermittent foster care).

Work Assignment Overview:

The purpose of this assignment is to ensure that the system/key stakeholders’ capacities are built for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating foster-care recruitment campaigns. More specifically, it includes designing and delivering a capacity building programme to stakeholders from prioritized regions, individualized coaching towards the development of localized tailor-made campaigns, and designing a user-friendly guidebook for foster-care recruitment campaigns.

The scope of the work includes working in close coordination with the Ministry of Family and Demography (MoFD) and UNICEF in designing and delivering the capacity building programme, as well as producing a guidebook for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating foster-care recruitment campaigns. An important aspect of the assignment is flexibility in the interaction with the targeted stakeholders/ professionals so as to ensure that individualized coaching helps in designing the response which is tailored to specific local needs, capacities, gaps and potentials.

Duration of the assignment: July – November 2023 (part-time, remote)

Task description:

Task 1.

In consultations with UNICEF, MoFD and key informants/resource persons from Centers for foster care, and based on the common understanding of the foster care (recruitment) campaign key aims and principles, create a detailed workplan to specify the steps, timeline and type of support to be provided to the Centers (jointly and individually, online and in-person), including a list of focal points from the Centers and other team members from each Center who will take part in campaign planning.

Deliverable: A workplan which is reflecting the reviews/inputs provided by UNICEF and MoFD

Timeframe: End of July

Task 2.

Design and deliver a two-day introductory training for up to 15 persons on planning/designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating campaign results (include up to 5 regions in central, east, south and western Serbia). Prepare the training materials, including PPT, handouts, sign-in sheets and training evaluation template.

Deliverable: Training delivered, report with training evaluation submitted

Timeframe: Mid of September

Task 3.

Provision of tailored coaching and mentoring to up to 5 Centers for foster care to support the development and finalization of their individual (local/regional) foster care campaigns, so they are adjusted to specific contexts (needs, target groups, communication channels, etc.).

Deliverables: Report on coaching/mentoring of up to 5 Centres for foster care submitted, up to 5 plans (finalized by the centres) attached

Timeframe: Mid of October

Task 4.

Design and deliver a one-day final workshop for targeted Centres for foster care, to present all the individual campaign plans, provide feedback to each other and summarize the lessons learned from the process.

Deliverable: Final workshop delivered, Workshop report with lessons learned attached

Timeframe: End of October

Task 5.

Based on the trainings process and products (including evaluation and lessons learned) and experience from the tailored coaching process for individual centers, develop a Guidebook/digest on creating, delivering, monitoring and evaluating foster care (recruitment) campaigns. The guidebook should integrate a generic methodological framework and user-friendly practical tools, with good practices examples/ practical illustration (where possible).

Deliverable: Guidebook with tools (approved by UNICEF)

Timeframe: End of November

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• MA degree in social sciences,
• Proven expertise in designing successful multimedia campaigns (at least two),
• At least 5 years of experience in campaigns related to humanitarian or social protection sector is desirable,
• Knowledge on the social-welfare/child protection system and solid understanding of key alternative-care guiding principles,
• Demonstrated training and coaching skills,
• Experience with proven records in producing thematic documents, reports, guides, articles,
• Good communication and writing skills,
• Fluency in Serbian and English,
• Experience in working with UNICEF, other international and non-profit organisation is an asset.

How to apply:

The application must include a financial proposal in RSD as a separate document, providing a separate fee for each of the above-mentioned deliverables:

• Deliverable 1,
• Deliverable 2,
• Deliverable 3,
• Deliverable 4,
• Deliverable 5.

Important notes:

• Please do not forget to specify your name in the financial proposal file while saving (to be uploaded online under the “Financial Proposal” tab).
• Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/a” or “00" under the fee-related questions in the online application form.
• Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

For every child, you must demonstrate UNICEF's core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability.

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.

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org