Consultancy Title: Children on the Move Case Management Coordinator (11.5 months)

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For every child, a Protection

BACKGROUND:

Mobility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a complex phenomenon including multiple migratory routes with many countries simultaneously being points of origin, transit, and destination. In addition, reasons for mobility in the MENA Region are diverse, and persons on the move include refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, international and internal migrants. When referring to Children on the Move (COM), UNICEF includes all boys and girls affected by migration and displacement, including refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons, international and internal migrants.^[1] Majority of UNICEF Country Offices in the MENA region implement dedicated children on the move programmes or include migrant and refugee children in their child protection, education, and other programmes.

Increasingly, in programming and advocacy, UNICEF MENARO has been taking a route-based approach in relation to tackling migration issues. This leads to promotion of stronger cross-country and cross regional linkages along main migratory routes cutting across the MENA region. Another important area of focus is consolidation and analysis of children on the move data and programmatic approaches across the humanitarian-development spectrum and across various sectors.

The present assignment is designed under the umbrella of the Prospects Partnership funded by the Government of the Netherlands – a multi-country, multi-partner initiative, addressing education, employment and protection of displaced populations. The partnership covers five countries in the MENA region (Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan), three countries in the East Africa region, and UNICEF and partners are engaging with country, regional and global level interventions.

The assignment is envisaged to address the issue of mixed movements of children across Sudan and Egypt, and supplement country-level operations with a cross-border element of work to tackle the ongoing nature of the mixed movement in this subregion. Towards this end, UNICEF MENARO Child Protection Section is engaging with the governments and stakeholders in Egypt and Sudan to support cross-border programming for children on the move, with associated technical assistance and policy advocacy interventions that need to be addressed.

How can you make a difference?

OBJECTIVE:

The consultant will coordinate and lead regional initiatives supporting development of cross-border case management models and move towards inclusive child protection systems for children on the move. The consultant will also support addressing the issue of detention of children on the move, by identifying regional and global good practice models, facilitating application of models in national systems and development of case studies for regional and global consumption. Towards these ends, the consultant will engage with UNICEF MENARO and UNICEF Country Offices in the MENA Region (with a particular attention to country offices implementing the Prospects programme) and will support addressing national, cross-border, sub-regional and regional dimensions of technical assistance and advocacy. The assignment will build on the work already undertaken by UNICEF MENARO in 2019-2020.

 

 

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist/Children on the Move focal point for UNICEF MENARO, the consultant will support the Regional Office with advancing three interconnected streams of work:

Stream 1. Support engagement with regional and cross-regional advocacy and policy platforms in the MENA region to promote child friendly migration policies

Stream 2. Facilitate regional coordination and technical assistance for UNICEF Country Offices (with a focus on Prospects partnerships countries) to ensure effective engagement with national, sub-national and regional actors to promote cross-border case management, information management, and continuum of care options.

Stream 3. Support development of good practice models towards ending immigration detention of children in the MENA region.

The assignment will have a geographical focus on Prospects partnership countries, especially Sudan and Egypt where UNICEF MENARO has already engaged supporting cross-border case management work. However, most deliverable of the assignment are meant for a wider regional consumption (such as models, case studies and webinars), and the technical scope of the work will require engagement with the entire MENA region, as well as with partners outside the region.   

The consultant is expected to closely work with and support the supervisor (Child Protection Specialist/Children on the Move Focal Point) to advance regional learning and peer exchange around the three streams of work, and the engagement with external partners (UN and other stakeholders) in relation to Stream 1. The consultant will be expected to be the primary contact person advancing collaboration with Egypt and Sudan country offices on the issues of case management for children on the move (Stream 2). In relation to Stream 3, the consultant is expected to engage with other UNICEF Regional Offices, and to identify and collaborate with external organizations and experts to deliver technical analysis, expertise and case studies on alternatives to immigration detention.

The consultant is expected to provide an ongoing support with the following tasks throughout the consultancy:

Deliverables:

• Technical support with development of case management tools and approaches;
• Design and delivery of trainings to UNICEF, government and other migration/child protection stakeholders;
• Technical support with opportunities for strengthening information management, data, research, reporting for COM at national level and upstream for the advocacy and resource support required for the protection of COM;
• Coordination with IOM and UNHCR at country and regional levels as needed;
• Technical support to MENARO on research initiatives and associated products;
• Technical support to MENARO country offices as needed on the GCM review at country and regional levels, and related advocacy initiatives nationally, regionally and cross-regionally;
• Coordination of monthly meetings between UNICEF Egypt and Sudan country teams.

Deliverables (with a reference to relevant streams of work)	Due Date
Coordination processes established, agenda, invitations, support materials organized for preparation of the bilateral inter-governmental workshop on cross-border child protection with Egypt and Sudan (Stream 2) Preparation and facilitation of the online stakeholder consultation on children and women in the context of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) supported (in collaboration with UN Women and Regional UN Migration Network) (Stream 1) Summary outcome document of the stakeholder consultation on children and GCM drafted (Stream 1)	20 February 2021
Facilitation of the Egypt-Sudan bilateral workshop supported remotely or in person (depending on travel possibilities in March 2021) (Stream 2) Following the workshop, detailed implementation/follow up plans developed in coordination with Sudan and Egypt Country Offices, including technical support, implementation and advocacy aspects (with regional/subregional mechanisms and nationally). (Stream 2)	20 March 2021
Following up calls with Egypt and Sudan COs to boost operationalization of the Sudan-Egypt COM Cross-Border Protection and Coordination Initiative at both local (border) and National levels; Technical support to Egypt and Sudan COs to prepare a cross-border preparatory workshop to strengthen and capacitate the respective National Children’s Councils to lead on COM within their mandate of national child protection and coordination (Stream 2)  Egypt and Sudan COs/National Children’s Councils/COM Taskforces to identify and develop appropriate national and cross-border coordination mechanisms for COM e.g. COM Cross-Border SOPs, COM National and Cross-Border Referral Mechanism, MOUs, COM Cross-Border Taskforce etc… (Stream 2)	20 April 2021
Egypt and Sudan COs supported to organise a cross-border preparatory workshop to strengthen and capacitate the respective National Children’s Councils to lead on COM within their mandate of national child protection and coordination (Stream 2) Initial consultation concluded with Sudan CO, regarding the objective and scope of cross-border case management normative framework. (Stream 2) Draft mapping report produced of existing practices of immigration detention in Egypt, Sudan and in other problematic MENA contexts (at least one other); technical partnerships with other UNICEF offices and external organisations identified and pursued in order to produce the mapping. (Stream 3)	20 May 2021
A regional webinar for UNICEF Country Offices and external partners in the MENA region prepared and organized on cross-border case management – presenting the Egypt-Sudan model and other good practices, challenges, and peer learning opportunities (Stream 2) Using the tool developed in 2019 for Aswan Governorate (Egypt), produce a mapping of child protection and children on the move human and physical resources, services and gaps along the North-East Africa Migratory Route in Eastern Sudan (Kassala, Gedaref), Northern State (Sudan) and Matroueh (Egypt border with Libya) (Stream 2)	20 June 2021
A regional webinar organised on alternatives to immigration detention for children on the move (based on prior analysis, identified regional and global good practices) (Stream 3)	20 July 2021
Draft cross-border case management normative framework (SOPs) produced in collaboration with Sudan CO and national stakeholders, and presented for discussion/feedback (Stream 2)	20 August 2021
Technical review meetings with Egypt and Sudan COs conducted in order to assess the progress towards ensuring inclusion of COM in national systems: case management systems/referral pathways/forms, strengthening a centralized national CP system and efforts towards eliminating parallel system for COM.  (Stream 2) A technical call among the Country Offices involved in implementation of the Prosects partnership supported and UNICEF HQ supported – in order to review various approaches of developing child protection systems inclusive of children on the move. (Stream 2)	20 September 2021
Sudan SOPs for cross-border case management finalized (Stream 2)   Technical support provided to Egypt and Sudan COs and National Councils to convene a Whole of COM Stakeholder Workshop on COM Cross-Border Protection and Coordination based on the Egypt-Sudan COM Cross-Border Initiative. (Stream 2)	20 October 2021
In collaboration with the MENA CP team and external technical experts, case studies on alternative care and alternatives to detention for displaced UASC in MENA produced, considering utilisation of alternative care models such as foster care and community-based services. (Stream 3) A webinar on alternatives to immigration detention for children organized (Stream 3)	20 November 2021
The Egypt-Sudan model of cross-border case management for children on the move documented, with the description of the process, enablers, elements of the model, links to child protection and migration management systems, potential and conditions for scale-up regionally.  (Stream 2) Final report summarizing key insights, achievements and constraints drafted (min. 5 pages)	30 December 2021

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

1. Education: Advanced university degree in social work, child rights/child protection, development studies, public policy or other social sciences with a relevant concentration/specialization on migration and displacement or case management
2. Work experience: Minimum ten years
3. Technical knowledge:

• Experience in designing child protection case management processes, systems and tools
• Practical case management experience with displaced or migrant children
• Good understanding of UNICEF’s work and programme frameworks relevant to migration and displacement
• Understanding of migration and mobility in Africa and the Middle East
• Previous work or collaborative experience with IOM and UNHCR will be considered an asset
• Experience of working with governments on national system design and strengthening will be a particular asset
• Experience designing cross-border cooperation models and tools for migrant children/populations will be a particular asset
• Experience in the relevant region (especially Sudan, Egypt, other countries in the Middle East) will be an advantage
• Excellent analysis and drafting skills
• Experience producing visibility materials, publications, reports and other documents will be a significant asset
• Good interpersonal skills and flexibility.

4. Language: English is mandatory, working knowledge of French or Arabic is an advantage

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.

 

The functional competencies required for this post are…

 

View our competency framework at

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

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.