National Consultant - Strengthening Child Protection Case Management & Referral Systems in Pakistan

Contract

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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, Protection!

Pakistan was the sixth country in the world to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child less than one year after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. However, children and adolescents living in Pakistan still face acute challenges.

UNICEF supports the Government of Pakistan to accelerate progress for children, work to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help children realize their rights under the Convention on the Rights of Children. This will be made through, among others things, strong partnerships with provincial authorities, teachers and health professionals, frontline workers and social mobilizers, communities, and families, and of course, the children and adolescents themselves.

In particular, UNICEF will work so that:

• Every child survives and thrives -- being in good health, immunized, protected from polio, and accessing nutritious food.
• Every child learns.
• Every child is protected from violence and exploitation and registered at birth.
• Every child lives in a safe and clean environment, with access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

To learn more about UNICEF’s work in Pakistan, please visit the country website www.unicef.org/pakistan and videos on YouTube and Vimeo

UNICEF is seeking a highly skilled Senior National Consultant to provide expert technical advice and support to the leadership of the various provincial child protection authorities in the effective implementation of their child protection mandate, specifically on responses to children at risk and survivors of child protection violations. The consultant will play a crucial role in supporting advocacy efforts and providing technical guidance to various stakeholders involved in child protection case management system, including government officials, deputy commissioners, police, health professionals, and judiciary etc.

You can make a difference by executing following tasks and deliverables:

Tasks

Develop an inception report and timeline for the tasks contained in the workplan

Sindh

• Lead the development of a roadmap/ action plan for operationalizing, strengthening and scaling up of case management services . This will include engaging with the police, health and other core collaborative departments as to enhance service delivery for child survivors, as per the Sindh CP Policy and case management package. This roadmap would be developed in consultation with Government and CSOs.
• Lead advocacy efforts to secure government commitment for strengthening and sustainability of district child protection units (as per the design manual) and fixed-post workforce in DCPUs, essential for the efficient functioning of CPU (Child Protection Unit). Develop a sustainability and scale up plan in consultation with the relevant government bodies including the CP TWG.
• Provide expert technical advice to the government at the provincial level on the implementation of the case management and referral system including inter departmental collaboration and coordination .

Punjab

• Lead the development of a roadmap I action plan for operationalizing, strengthening and scaling up of case management services. This will include engaging with the police, health and other core collaborative departments as to enhance service delivery for child survivors, as per the Punjab CP Policy and case management packag e. This roadmap would be developed in consultation with Government and CSOs.
• Lead advocacy efforts to secure government commitment for the strengthening the interdepartmental collaboration and develop a technical note on the role and function of the CP Technical working group
• Provide technical guidance to the government particularly the CPWB on the implementation of the case management and provide concrete recommendations to CPWB to improve case management practice, and sustainability of district child protection units (as per the design manual) and fixed-post workforce in DCPUs, essential for the efficient functioning of CPU (Child Protection Unit}. Develop a sustainability and scale up plan in consultation with the relevant government bodies.

Balochistan

• Lead advocacy efforts to secure government commitment for the strengthening of the interdepartmental collaboration, including notification of focal points in collaborative departments and develop SOPs for better collaboration and coordination
• Lead the development of a Social Service Workforce (SSWF) sustainability strategy and structure including working with the SWD to review the existing staff structures and their functions in the CPUs and SWD and map their roles on various supervisory functions and provide recommendations to strengthen supervision practices at various levels especially within the CPUs.
• Provide technical guidance to the government on the implementation of the case management and provide concrete recommendations to improve case management practice, and sustainability of district child protection units (as per the design manual} and fixed-post workforce in DCPUs, essential for the efficient functioning of CPU (Child Protection Unit).

ICT, AJK, GB

• Collaborate with the Ministry of Human Rights
• {ICT) to develop a comprehensive roadmap for strengthening the role of the implementing and collaborative departments.
• Collaborate with the relevant departments to develop a comprehensive capacity building plan
• for the Child Protection Case workers and other SSWF.
• Provide concrete recommendations to relevant departments to improve case management practice. Revise the existing technical package, as needed, to better reflect the needs of case workers and supervisors, aligned with the applicable minimum standards for child protection case management practice.

Deliverables

• Inception report and timeline for all provinces.
• 3 trips each to 3 provinces (Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab), 2 trips each to AJK/GB, local travel in ICT.

Deliverables for Sindh

• Multi-year roadmap/ action plan for strengthening and scale-up of CP CMRS including recommendations for Government, UNICEF and other key stakeholders.
• Facilitate consultation workshop with relevant government, CSO and other stakeholders for feedback on the roadmap.
• Advocacy plan and technical note on the sustainability of DCPUs.
• Draft Memorandum of Understanding
• Facilitate provincial Technical Working Group
• Technical note outlining findings and recommendations on the implementation of CP CMRS at provincial and district levels.
• Facilitate a lessons learnt workshop from the implementation practices.

Deliverables for Punjab

• Roadmap for strengthening case management services
• Facilitate a consultation workshop
• Advocacy and technical note on the roles and functions of the CP Technical working group
• Facilitate an orientation for the Technical Working Group
• Technical Guidance note on case management practice
• Consultation with government on sustainability and scale up plan
• Sustainability and scale up plan

Deliverables for Baluchistan

• SOPs for interdepartmental collaboration
• SSWF strategy
• Technical guidance and recommendations report

Deliverables for ICT/AJK/GB

• Roadmap on interdepartmental collaboration
• Capacity building plan
• Technical guidance and recommendations report

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

• Advanced degree (Master's or above) in social work, child protection, psychology, or a related field.
• *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional and extensive experience in the field of child protection, including direct involvement in program implementation and policy development.
• In-depth knowledge of child protection systems, laws, and policies, with a strong understanding of international best practices.
• Proven expertise in providing technical advice and support to government agencies, particularly in the areas of child protection and social welfare.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate and build relationships with diverse stakeholders.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with the capacity to develop strategic roadmaps and provide innovative solutions.

• Familiarity with the local context and challenges related to child protection governance.
• Ability Fluency in English and Urdu 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:

• Estimated Duration: 240 working days spread over period of 11 months
• Applicants must submit a financial quotation indicating a monthly fee as part of the application against the assignment (not inclusive of travel amount)
• Islamabad/ with in-country brief travel.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• 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.