Consultancy: Technical support for Child Online Protection, UNICEF EAPRO, Bangkok, Thailand

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 fulfilling 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, a better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region.  This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

 

How can you make a difference?

The Child Protection Section, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Region Office (EAPRO) is seeking an individual consultant to provide technical guidance to the regional office and country offices. This includes technical support for the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of Children from all Forms of Online Exploitation and Abuse in ASEAN and the development and implementation of the accompanying regional plan of action and the development of the guidance and standards envisaged in the regional plan of action.

The consultant will provide the technical lead to convene and support a regional initiative on understanding and generating evidence on what works to increase protective behaviours and reduce risky behaviours amongst children and young people to enhance protection online. This will be carried out with a regional Think Tank on child online protection comprised of ICT actors, UN agencies, NGOs and academics. The Think Tank will also act as an incubator for ideas and initiatives to enhance online protection for children. In particular, the consultant will lead collaboration with the Think Tank on establishing good practice for the development and delivery of educational materials related to child online protection, piloting a ground-breaking evaluation framework and testing materials and apps, co-created with adolescents from the region. The consultant will also support the conceptualization and implementation of phase 2 of the Think Tank initiative.

As a member of the Cross Divisional Task Team on Child Online Protection, the consultant will also support the development and dissemination of a policy paper on transnational data governance.

 

Background:

In East Asia and the Pacific, children and adolescents are among the most active and influential users of technology, enthusiastically engaging with new technology as it evolves, including social media, live streaming apps, and virtual reality games. ICTs provide significant opportunities for children and adolescents to access information, learn, communicate, and for civic engagement opportunities, as well as entertainment. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) also pose unique threats to the safety and wellbeing of children and adolescents, such as online and offline sexual abuse and exploitation, threats of violence, bullying, and infringements of privacy.

 

In addition, the massive exposure and easy transit of children’s personal data and persistent identifiers – such as name, address, phone number, email address, biometrics, photos, videos, audio recordings of the child, IP addresses – that can be used to track a child’s locations and activities over time and across different websites and online services, pose threats to their physical, mental and sexual integrity, especially through non-authorized and malicious contact, amplifying the risk of offline abuse. Understanding international and national legal frameworks, identifying key gaps and highlighting positive standards is key to developing systems that protect children, as well as their data in the online world.

 

Work Assignment:

Under the direct supervision of UNICEF Regional Adviser Child Protection, the selected consultant will perform the following tasks:

1. Development and dissemination of policy paper on transnational data governance.
   • Draft a policy paper on transnational data governance outlining key dominant data governance legal frameworks from the US, EU, and China, and how these have been reflected in laws and policies middle income and low income countries outlining key gaps in policy. Paper to include recommendations for a global data governance framework for children and why this is necessary to promote interoperability, consistency, and a rights-based approach and an executive summary of the manifesto. This draft to include revisions based on feedback from the working group and external partners.

                     Timeline: By mid January 2021 (12 days)

• • Engage in consultation with external partners through 4-6 workshops/meetings, presenting the manifesto and its key messages. This includes co-hosting and organising the regional consultation in EAPR and supporting consultations with the private sector.
  • Provide overall inputs as well as inputs related to law and policy to review the final draft manifesto,

                     Timeline: by end of March 2021 (8 days)

• • Support the dissemination and the launch of the Manifesto through engagements in at least 3 events and internal dissemination. Support the development of outreach and monitoring matrix.

                     Timeline: by end of April 2021 (5 days)

2. Integration of country feedback into the final version of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Child Online Protection (1 days) – ongoing until 28^th February 2021
3. Think Tank Evaluation Framework – testing phase (5 days): Provide technical leadership for the process of testing the Evaluation Framework. Timeline: complete by 28^th February 2021
4. Think Tank Evaluation Framework – finalisation (6 days): Provide technical inputs for the finalisation of the Framework and lead consultation with the Think Tank and other key actors. Timeline: complete by 31^st March 2021
5. Think Tank Evaluation Framework – report and implementation tools (5 days): Provide the technical lead on the final report and lead presentation with the Think Tank and other key actors Timeline: complete by 30^th April 2021
6. Facilitating meetings and communications with the Think Tank and with the lead research institution (8 days) – ongoing until 31^st July 2021
7. Support the development and implementation of the second phase of the Facebook funded scale up of the Think Tank initiative for the roll out of the evaluation framework and generation of evidence (10 days) – ongoing until 31^st July 2021
8. Development of regional guidance envisaged under the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on child online protection (20 days) – ongoing until 31^st July 2021
9. Technical support on child online protection provided to country offices on the implementation of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action, including the development of national plans of action – (10 days) ongoing until July 31^st July 2021
10. Technical support to the regional office on child online protection (6 days) ongoing until July 31^st July 2021

 

For Work Schedule, please see attachment.

 VA2020-96 Consultancy – Technical support for child online protection.pdf

 

End Product:

• Draft of the policy paper on transnational data governance, recommendations for a global data governance framework for children, an updated data governance manifesto, and draft executive summary of the manifesto (15^th January 2021) (additional deliverable for January 2021)
• Consultations workshops on the data governance manifesto undertake in EAPR and with the private sector (4-6) (28^th February 2021)
• Testing of the evaluation framework (28^th February 2021)
• Technical inputs to finalise the data governance manifesto plus key inputs related to law and policy recommendations (31^st March 2021)
• Support provided for the dissemination and the launch of the Manifesto through engagements in at least 3 events and internal dissemination. Support the development of outreach and monitoring matrix (30^th April 2020)
• Final report on the Evaluation Framework (30^th April 2020)
• Write up of evaluation framework process developed for presentation to the WePROTECT Board (31^st May 2021)
• Concept note for scale up of the implementation of the evaluation framework and generation of evidence on what works (31^st May 2021)
• Support the development and implementation of the second phase of the Facebook funded scale up of the Think Tank initiative for the roll out of the evaluation framework and generation of evidence (31^st July 2021)
• Regional guidance on key child online protection standards under the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action developed (31^st July 2021)
• Technical support on child online protection provided to country offices, including on the implementation of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action, including the development of national plans of action (31^st July 2021)
• Technical support to the regional office on child online protection (31^st July 2021)

 

Estimated Duration of Contract:  102 working days during 11 January – 31 July 2021

 

Official Travel:  The consultant will work remotely from home.

 

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

• Master’s degree in law, social sciences, anthropology, evaluation or related field.
• 8 years of professional experience in a relevant field(s).
• Demonstrated expert and up to date knowledge of child online protection.
• Experience of working on child online protection in the East Asia and Pacific region.
• Experience of research and policy development on data governance and child rights.
• Understanding of the latest research on what works on behavior change amongst children for online protection.
• Experiencing of collaborating with ASEAN, including on the development of regional frameworks and guidance, is desirable.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Fluency in English is required. 

 

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV or P-11, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposed daily professional fee in USD by 16 December 2020.

 FORM P11.doc

 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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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:

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.

 

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.