International Child Protection and Social Policy Consultant, Accra, Ghana (Open to Non-Ghanaian nationals only)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, child protection

In Ghana, seven Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) collaborated to deliver the Integrated Social Services (ISS) approach in 160 out of 261 districts. Aimed at addressing multiple vulnerabilities and multi-dimensional poverty, ISS brings child protection, health and social protection services together through district system strengthening, public finance management, social service workforce strengthening, multisectoral case management and referrals and social and behaviour change. Since its launch in 2020, over 100,000 children have benefited from various essential social services through ISS, and over 2,500 social service workforce have been trained on referral pathways and standard operating procedures.

Integral to ISS is the Social Welfare Information Management System (SWIMS), which is a Primero-based digital case management system. Launched in 2021, SWIMS helps to securely collect, store, manage and share data on child protection case management, including cases of violence against children, child marriage, child labour, trafficking, children in contact with the law, alternative care, and more. Over 1.9 million people have been reached by various mass media and community-based reflective dialogues and messaging on the prevention of child abuse, exploitation and violence through the Child Protection Community Engagement Toolkits and the Ghanaians Against Child Abuse social drive campaign in 2022.

How can you make a difference?

The consultant will be responsible for supporting the UNICEF Child Protection (CP) and the Social Policy and Inclusion (SPI) teams in the implementation of the Integrated Social Services (ISS) and the Social Welfare Information Management System (SWIMS) across Ghana. The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Child Protection Specialist (P3) and in collaboration with other relevant staff members from the SPI team and PME team. Particularly, the consultant will provide IT and M&E technical support to:

(1) Develop a certified SWIMS training package

(2) Develop a guidance note on emergency case management data collection and management

(3) Develop a national child protection monitoring and evaluation framework

(4) Conduct a SWIMS data review exercise and simplification exercise

(5) Set up and test a care reform database leveraging SWIMS

(6) Strengthen system interoperability between SWIMS and the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS)

(7) Produce recommendation papers to improve SWIMS with other systems like the Single Window Citizen Engagement Service (SWEC)

(8) Conduct bi-annual ISS data analysis and review

(9) Train districts as a SWIMS training facilitators

(10) Develop at least four concept notes and two proposals on social protection

Deliverables (Find attached TOR for details on the assignment ToR International Child Protection and Social Policy Consultant_Final.pdf)

1. A certified social welfare information management system (SWIMS) training package prepared and submitted
2. A guidance note on emergency case management data collection and management for the district social service workforce in collaboration with IOM, UNHCR, and UNFPA on emergency case management data prepared and submitted
3. Submission of draft national child protection monitoring and evaluation framework document
4. SWIMS data review exercise is conducted and the report is prepared and submitted
5. SWIMS system simplification exercise is conducted and the report submitted
6. Care reform initiative database trial and testing through SWIMS registry set-up and report submitted
7. SOPs for system interoperability between SWIMS and the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS) are established and reports provided
8. Recommendation paper and consultation workshops with stakeholders prepared to strengthen the interoperability between the SWIMS and other information management systems and hotlines, i.e. the Single Window Citizen Engagement Service (SWEC)
9. Bi-annual ISS data analysis and review is conducted and recommendations are provided to the UNICEF ISS Team and MLGDRD
10. At least 2 SWIMS coaching visits (total 2 weeks) and 2 ISS training/monitoring visits (total 2 weeks) conducted as a facilitator and recommendation papers are generated and submitted, particularly on strengthening the role of regions and communities for identification, reporting, and referrals
11. Four concept notes developed and submitted based on themes to be agreed on with the team
12. Two fully developed priority proposals based on engagement with relevant sectors and teams.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in social work, social development, social sciences or relevant fields
• A minimum of five of relevant professional experience in child protection and social policy. Experiences should include social service workforce strengthening and child protection information management systems, such as Primero.
• Professional work experience in the management of programmes/projects, planning, monitoring, and evaluation, of which a significant share should be in developing countries.
• Proven experience in drafting analytical programme documents, reports and policy advocacy materials.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered 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 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.