Six (6) Consultancies - Case Managers for ECARO, Italy (For Locations: Crotone, Catania, Ragusa, Trapani, Agrigento and Taranto)

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

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Support frontline local Prefectures to handle properly cases of children, families and women at risk of GBV, in line with international and national standards.

A UNICEF Migrant and Refugee Response is operational in Italy since 2016 through an Outposted UNICEF ECARO team, based on official agreements with National Authorities aimed at providing technical support for the protection and social inclusion of refugee and migrant children, families and women, including the more recent Ukraine refugee population. UNICEF is also implementing the third phase of the EU Child Guarantee, a European measure to counter child poverty and social exclusion of the most at-risk groups of children, including migrant and refugee children.

A two-pronged approach combines humanitarian service delivery with capacity building, policy reform and technical assistance in cooperation with governmental counterparts and civil society.

Child Protection is one of the core pillars of the Response and is focused on: 1) promoting minimum child protection standards at border and transit areas, as well as across the national reception system; 2) strengthening the capacity to provide quality mental health and psycho-social support to migrant and refugee children and youth as well as caregivers; 3) promoting family and community-based solutions for unaccompanied and separated children; 4) strengthen the guardianship system for unaccompanied and separated children.

In the context of migration and asylum, Italy continues to be a frontline Country for arrivals both by sea from the Central Mediterranean route and by land from the Western Balkan route and Ukraine. The Country is considered both a destination and a transit Country for all those migrants and refugees who are trying to reach Northern European Countries.

Refugees and migrants, and in particular children and women travelling alone, continue to undertake dangerous journeys to reach Europe, facing specific protection risks, including GBV ones. Additionally, children fleeing Ukraine travel sometimes accompanied by one or both their parents, sometimes with other relatives or other accompanying adults, other times as part of the evacuation of Ukrainian institutions or autonomously, unaccompanied.

In 2022, 105,140 people arrived by sea, including 12.687 unaccompanied children. It’s a dramatic increase if compared to 2020 (34.154) and 2021 (67.477). According to the data of Italy’s Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, as of November 2022, there were 20.032 unaccompanied and separated children in Italy, of whom 17,045 (85.1%) were males and 2,987 (14.9%) females. The majority of UASC are adolescents, specifically, 44.2% are aged 17 and 23.8% are aged 16. Among UASC girls, 15.7% of them are aged 17 and 14.2% are aged 16, while 49.0% are aged between 7 and 14. It has to be noted that the arrivals from Ukraine have heavily impacted statistics concerning UASC in Italy, increasing the number of female UASC, which are approximately 50% of UASC arriving from Ukraine but only approximately 3% of UASC of other nationalities and lowering the average age, which as of December 2021 was for 90% of cases between 15 and 17 years. In terms of nationalities of UASC, Ukraine is the first country of origin with 34.6% of arrivals, followed by Egypt (16%), Albania (8.3%), Bangladesh (7.9%) and Tunisia (7.3%).

The levels of absconding of unaccompanied and separated children are extremely concerning, with 5.273 leaving the reception system in 2021 and 2.416 as of 30 June 2022. Two southern regions, Sicily and Calabria, bear the brunt of the reception of UASC, with 30% being hosted in those regions. Moreover, recent data from the National Ombudsperson indicate that only 3.469 guardians are officially registered in the lists of Children Courts across the country, which is not nearly enough to cover the needs of over 15,500 UASC. Notably, only 4% of UASC are placed in alternative care, while 96% are in reception facilities.

The protection system for people arriving from the Mediterranean route is under pressure due to a mix of factors: increase in arrivals, limited capacity to timely identify people in vulnerable and at risks condition, including unaccompanied children, lack of a structured referral mechanism for vulnerable cases, lack of monitoring system for minimum standards applicable in the reception system, including prevention of abuse and exploitation, insufficient number of legal guardians, limited opportunities for family-based arrangements – among others. As result, the needs of the most vulnerable children, those transitioning to adulthood and women are not always met. A concerning 22.2% of UASC are hosted in first-line reception centers. This data shows an over-reliance on the reception system, which is under pressure, particularly the second-line reception system which is saturated. Two southern regions, Sicily and Calabria, bear the brunt of the reception of UASC, with 40% being hosted in those regions. First reception facilities continue to present safety concerns for women and girls, due to lack of privacy, overcrowding, lack of separate spaces for men and women, and poor access to critical services – all of which create additional GBV risks and exacerbate its consequences.

Against this background and under the framework of the EU Union Action Programme, UNICEF aims at strengthening the capacity of the Italian protection and reception system from arrival to all the subsequent reception phases, to ensure protection and care for the most vulnerable refugee and migrant children, including those transitioning to adulthood, UASC, families, and women survived/at risk of gender-based violence. This people of concern (PoC) will have access to emergency protection interventions, alternative care solutions, and lifesaving information.

Under the supervision of the Case Management Coordinator and the Child Protection Specialist - and in close coordination with other relevant EU and UN Agencies - the Case Manager will support Prefectures to properly manage cases of unaccompanied children, those transitioning to adulthood and women at risks of GBV. The case manager will facilitate the identification of the most suitable reception facilities and coordination with health, justice and social authorities of related areas of intervention.

Scope of Work:

The scope of the work is to strengthen the capacity of local authorities (Prefectures) in responding to the specific protection needs of above- mentioned people of concern (PoC) through case managers to be deployed in selected locations in Sicily, Apulia and Calabria. They will support Prefectures to properly manage the most vulnerable cases identified among UASC, families, and women survived/at risk of GBV and will facilitate coordination between prefectures and local health, justice and social authorities, including Juvenile Courts, Social Services, local Health Services, Regional Ombudspersons for Childhood and Adolescence, Managing Bodies of reception facilities, Anti- Violence centers and Civil Society Organizations.

Specifically, the Case Manager will support local Prefectures in performing their legally duties as concerns the most vulnerable cases among UASC, families and women survived/at risk of gender-based violence, in line with international and national standards. This includes:

1. Technical advice and guidance to support prompt and appropriate transfer/allocation in adequate reception facilities and foster care options when available
2. Implementation of a comprehensive Child Protection Case Management (CP CM) based on international standards throughout the following steps: best interest assessment, action planning, implementation, follow up and case closure;
3. Mapping of available protection services
4. Facilitation of the set up/consolidation of referral mechanisms between Prefectures, Juvenile Courts, Health and Social Services, Guardians, Ombudspersons, Reception facilities, Anti-violence Centers and all the other relevant players/services

The Case Manager will support the identification of protection needs with regular participatory assessments including:

5. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with PoC on protection needs

6. Conduction of Safety Audits with PoC in hostspot and/or first line facilities

Deliverables

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Time Frame

1. Support local Prefectures in performing their legally duties as concerns the most vulnerable cases among UASC, families and women survived to/at risk of gender-based violence, in line with international and national standards

12 monthly reports on the continuous support (technical advice and guidance) provided to Prefectures and local authorities

24 WDs- Months 1-11

Daily case management support for UASC, families and women survived to/at risk of GBV

137 WDs- Months 1-1

1 mapping of protection services available per location – including social, health and justice services

20 WDs- Month 3

1 Referral Mechanism Vademecum per location

15. WDs – Month 6

16. Support the identification of protection needs with regular participatory assessments

5 FGDs conducted with PoC

15 WDs – Month 2 – Month -4 – Month 6 – Month 8 – Month 10

2 Safety Audits conducted with PoC in hotspot and/or first line facilities

6 WDs – Month 2 – Month -4 – Month 6 – Month 8 – Month 10

3 Needs Analysis Reports

9 WDs – Month 3 – Month 6 – Month 9

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

• Bachelor's in Social Sciences, Psychology Law, Political Sciences or other related disciplines.
• At least 5 years of professional experience with refugees and migrants or vulnerable children along with extensive experience in the field of child protection and gender-based violence is required.
• Proven experience of work with local institutional authorities in the field of protection and reception of migrants and refugees is an asset.
• Proven knowledge of the national context with regards to asylum, migration and protection system.
• Ability to work through networking and partnership.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.
• Fluency in Italian and English is required.

Administrative details:

Supervision

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist.

Workplace

This is a consultancy home-based. Candidates are required to have internet connection, IT and communication equipment.

Travel

This consultancy involves duty travels to assigned locations.

Duration

The estimate duration of this consultancy is from February 2023 until January 2024 (226 working days).

How to Apply

Application should be submitted online and should include: Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

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.