National Consultant to provide technical assistance in enhancing access to social services for and reducing stigma and discrimination against children and adolescents living with HIV with UN

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.

Background:

Adolescents and young people represent a growing share of people living with HIV in Uzbekistan. In accordance with a recent assessment of the capacity and gap analysis of nine Day Care Centres (DCCs) for children and families affected by HIV, the main clients (94%) of DCCs are currently children, who have reached the age of adolescence. Adolescents often face problems such as difficulties to accept their HIV status, bad adherence to treatment and dispensary supervision by specialists, and stigma, including in the education system, which can exacerbate the material and psychological problems children already face in context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

There is an urgent need to empower children, adolescents and adults living with HIV through knowledge and life skills, enhance access to support services, and to reduce stigma and discrimination, in particular in the education system.

Purpose:

The purpose of the assignment is to support the Child Protection Programme in

1. strengthening of the capacity of civil society organizations and self-governing bodies in empowering networks of persons living with HIV through interpersonal communication, community engagement to influence and support individual and social change and access to social services,
2. equipping HIV-positive adolescents and their families and peer educators with necessary skills and knowledge that would contribute to improving the quality of their life and enhance their social integration, and
3. promoting stigma prevention and support for children and adolescents living with HIV in the education system.

Tasks & Deliverables

The consultancy will start on 1 June 2022 and will be completed on 30 November 2022. It is expected that the consultant will perform the following tasks and provide the following deliverables within the given timeframe:

1. Conduct 3 three-day national training on children's rights and interventions in working with children, adolescents, families, parents for Day Care Centres’ staff and psychologists from AIDS centers - 15 psychologists from AIDS centres and10 DCCs staff are trained - June to September 2022;

2. Conduct 3 three-day regional training on case management and HIV for Day Care Centres’ staff and regional partners from Surkhandarya region - 25 specialists are trained - October to November 2022;

3. Develop standards for psychosocial support for persons living with HIV including unified approaches to case management, action plan with specific goals, monitoring procedures for psychologists, social workers and peer educators - Standards for psychosocial support for PLHIV are developed - June to October 2022;

4. Design a professional development programme for psychologists from AIDS centers and NGO’s consultants including pre-service/counseling course and supervision course - Professional development programme in HIV/AIDS area developed - June to November 2022;

5. Provide technical support to staff in Day Care Centres so as to improve psychosocial support to children and adolescent living with HIV and their families - Report on the: - number of children and adolescent who received direct counselling services; - counselling result; - number of on-job trainings provided and personnel trained; -number and results of field visits in DCCs - June to November 2022;

6. Promote methodological recommendations for schools, social protection and healthcare organizations on stigma prevention and support for children and adolescents living with HIV and other chronic diseases, and support related advocacy and policy dialogue with line ministries and institutions - Increased commitment of relevant line ministries and partners to implement the methodological recommendations - June to November 2022;

7. Any other tasks related to enhancing the provision of psychosocial support to vulnerable children and families, and enhancing the protection and care of children living with HIV - Efficient technical guidance and support provided - June to November 2022.

Timeframe: From 1 June 2022 to 30 November 2022 (6 months)

Payment of Consultancy Fee: The consultant will be paid against tasks completed and deliverables in accordance with the payment schedule indicated below (refer to the above table of details of the tasks).

• 1st payment -30% (Deliverables №1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 )

• 2nd payment - 30% (Deliverables № 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

• 3rd payment - 40% (Deliverables №2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Payment for travel will be reimbursed based on actual expenses incurred. No Travel Authorization will be raised.

Management: The National consultant will work under the direct supervision of the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist.

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

• Bachelor or master’s degree in health/psychosocial sciences or related fields;
• At least 4 years of practical experience of working programmes related to HIV/AIDS;
• Experience in providing psychosocial support to children and adults living with HIV;
• Experience in empowering children, adolescents an adults living with HIV through knowledge and skills, aimed at improving their psychosocial wellbeing;
• Experience in conducting trainings on HIV/AIDS related topics;
• Good communication and networking skills;
• Good communication skills in Russian and Uzbek and good understanding of English

Procedures and working conditions:

This consultancy is home-based with frequent visits/meetings to the UNICEF Office. The consultant is expected to make use of his/her own facilities as may be required by the consultancy (phone, internet connection, etc.). The consultant will need to travel within Uzbekistan as required for the monitoring of project activities. The travel expenses will be paid in accordance with UNICEF’s ‘Duty Travel’ rules and regulations as follows: If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform his or her assignment, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract. In cases where travel costs have not been set out in the contract, provisions of UNICEF Procedures on Travel apply (see DFAM Policy 5). Travel paid for by UNICEF shall be based on economy class travel, regardless of the length of travel, subject to exceptional approval of business class travel by the Approving Authority (such approval may be granted normally for certified medical reasons).

Reservations:

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if deliverable(s) incomplete, not finalized or for failure to meet deadlines. UNICEF will reserve copyright of all developed materials and own primary data collected through this assignment. The materials cannot be published or disseminated without prior written permission of UNICEF. UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future. The contractor must respect the confidentiality of the information handled during the assignment. Documents and information provided must be used only for the tasks related to these terms of reference. The United Nations and UNICEF undertake no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract. No statement of earnings will be issued by the United Nations or UNICEF to the consultant. The national consultant is personally responsible for payment of all taxes related to consultancy.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

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 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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).