Consultancy – Roadmap on Armed and Urban Violence in LAC – LACRO, Panama City (40 days), Requisition 545761

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?

Background

The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018-2021 details UNICEF’s future direction and strategic priorities over the coming four years. It provides a vehicle to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and responds to its call to ‘leave no one behind’. UNICEF has identified three outputs, strongly anchored in a rights-based approach to programming to contribute towards the achievement of Goal Area3 outcome, ‘Every child is protected from violence and exploitation’, one of which is ‘countries have strengthened child protection systems for prevention and response services to address violence against children.

The protection of children from all forms of violence is a fundamental right enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The inclusion of a specific target (SDG 16.2) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end all forms of violence against children gives renewed impetus towards the realization of the right of every child to live free from fear, neglect, abuse and exploitation. Several other SDG targets address specific forms of violence and harm towards children, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation (target 5.3) and the eradication of child labour, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers (target 8.7).

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the most violent region in the world and violence is somehow normalized, however the response is not proportional to the problem. A few figures can illustrate this:

• 42 out of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in LAC (measured by homicide rates), including the top 12 of the list.
• 14 of the 25 countries with the highest femicide rates are in Latin America.
• LAC is the only region that has seen an increase in homicide rates among adolescents aged 10 to 19 since 2007. Slightly less than 10% of the world’s adolescents live in the region, but nearly half of all homicides among adolescents in 2015 occurred here.
• The 5 countries with the highest homicide rates among adolescents are all located in Latin America (Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador and Brazil).

Violence against children is a complex, multi-faceted and multi-causal phenomenon. Inequality is intimately linked to violence and LAC is the most unequal region in the world5. Authoritarian social norms, weak governance systems, corruption, organized crime, narco-economies, urban marginalization, history of conflict, presence of small arms… also fuel violence against children in many parts of the region. Political and social turbulences over the last few years are part of a landscape in which security policies call for tougher penalties and lower ages of criminal responsibility.

As the numbers show, violence against children is one of the top issues affecting children in LAC. At the same time, violent cities, many of them in the LAC region have become like “armed conflicts” in non-armed conflict countries especially in certain areas of the cities. These high levels of violence directly affect children and adolescents compromising their present and their future. Many UNICEF LAC country offices have been working on armed violence in the last years and some have started also to work more recently on urban violence. The Regional Office supported a subregional programme from 2015 to 2019 on armed violence for Central American countries and Jamaica all with a focus on children and adolescents but the challenges are still many. Also, alliances for specific issues such as small arms in schools have been developed with key regional actors such as UNLIREC… or on youth and armed violence with UNDP or with UNHCHR on human security…

The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices. The UNICEF offices in the region have prioritised the ending of violence against children, recognising this as critical for the fulfillment of all child rights. UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work in 190 countries and territories to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices.
UNICEF works to put the rights and well-being of the most disadvantaged children at the heart of the social, political, and economic agenda, in line with our equity focus, working across our organization and with our partners in government, civil society and the private sector to support shifts in public policy, fuel social engagement, and increase investment for children.

For more information about UNICEF and its work. (www.unicef.org/lac).

 

Purpose of the Assignment

This study will strengthen the knowledge base and knowledge solution by developing a product that will inform child protection programming regarding armed violence and urban violence. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a paper focus on armed and urban violence regarding children and adolescents in LAC and identify best practices and promising practices from the region and outside the region and the key regional and national partners; and finally, to design an advocacy paper.

Specific Tasks

The products requested will seek to answer:

• What is urban violence? What it is the relation between urban and armed violence in relation to children? Are there any characteristics of these two types of violence that are specific to the Latin America and Caribbean region?
• How are urban and armed violence data captured now, particularly as it affects children? How can it be better measured? What data is required to have a clearer picture of the armed violence, and urban violence as relates to armed violence?
• What is the nature and magnitude of armed violence in urban violence in the Latin America and Caribbean region? What are the programmes and strategies that have or are demonstrating better results to end urban and armed violence? Do these programmes have an impact on reducing violence against children, particularly armed or urban violence? Can any of these programmes can be adapted to focus on the impact on children?
• Who are the current and potential partners regarding urban and armed violence? What do they bring to the table and what are their objectives? Please include an international, regional and national partners mapping.
• How to advocate to put an end to armed and urban violence affecting children in LAC?

This review will consider country, sub-regional and regional programmes, projects, policies… addressing armed and urban violence with a children and adolescent.

UNICEF LACRO will provide data and information and also key contacts.

 

Expected Results [measurable]

Products expected:

• Methodology and schedule
• Paper on armed and urban violence in LAC (evidence-based report, fully referenced and of publishable quality)
• Advocacy paper (maximum 10 pages)
• Based on the results, develop a short PowerPoint presentation and participate in one webinar.

All outputs will be in both English and Spanish.

 

 

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

Minimum Requirements and Qualifications

• A post-graduate qualification in social sciences or related disciplines. An MA is essential, and a PhD is desirable.
• Work Experience At least 10 years of relevant professional experience by the lead researcher
• Excellent written and spoken English and Spanish; Portuguese and French knowledge also desirable.
• Proven knowledge in the area of armed violence and/or urban violence; and also, on violence against children and/or child protection research
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of Latin American and Caribbean context.
• Knowledge of and experience working in Latin American and Caribbean desirable.
• Demonstrated excellent skills in Fluency with ICT tools such as email and Skype

Administrative details

Supervision

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Child Protection Regional Adviser and in close collaboration with the Child Protection Specialist.

Workplace

This is a Home-based consultancy.

Duration

This consultancy will have a duration of 40 days.

Travel

Travel is not foreseen in this consultancy.

How to Apply

Application should be submitted online and should include: Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. Qualified candidates are requested to submit daily and monthly fees in their financial proposal.

 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

 

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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.