Child Marriage Consultant

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF’s office is accessible to a certain extent, and employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are needed for ensuring equitable working conditions.

UNICEF, in collaboration with the Serbian Government, CSOs and Roma communities, implemented a 3-year comprehensive programme and has continued intensifying action to bring an end to harmful traditional child marriage practices in Serbia by 2030, focusing efforts on communities living in Roma settlements. The program is part of the national efforts to strengthen responses to violence and combat violence against children and social exclusion of vulnerable children within the context of child protection system reforms and the EU’s social inclusion and fundamental rights agenda.

The programme ‘’Towards ending child marriage in Serbia’’ was implemented in the period from 2018-2020, aiming to respond to a diverse range of factors perpetuating child marriage practices within Roma settlement communities in Serbia and to the identified barriers preventing progress. The programme was implemented with a particular focus on developing an evidence-based model suitable for scaling-up in the forthcoming period.

UNICEF wishes to document the progress made, as well as innovative approaches, and use this material to advocate for continued commitment to eradication of child marriage until 2030. The material developed is to be of use to local self-governments and all other partners that play a role in child protection and violence prevention and wish to advocate for further progress to be made.

Work Assignment Overview:

The consultant will be required to develop a publication show-casing good practices, and a policy brief providing recommendations for advancements in the area of child marriage prevention. The publication would include documentation of promising practices through reflection on (a) relevant administrative data, (b) description of innovative approaches, (c) illustrative examples from a beneficiary and practitioner perspective, and (d) reflections on the outcomes documented through project evaluations.

The methodology should include reviews of a range of project documents (including the external evaluation report) and interviews/consultations with UNICEF staff throughout the process.

The steps are the following:

1. Review of the project documentation,
2. Meetings with UNICEF staff,
3. Development of a detailed structure of the publication – for review and approval by UNICEF,
4. Submission of draft publication (max 20 pages) and policy brief (max 2 pages) – for review and approval by UNICEF,
5. Finalization of the publication (max 20 pages) and policy brief (max 2 pages) – both with incorporated suggestions from UNICEF.

The consultant is expected to advise the designer (to be appointed by UNICEF) on suitable iconographies and design aspects that help emphasize the main messages of the publication.

Duration of the assignment: March – May 2021 (up to 20 workdays)

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• University degree in Social Policy, Human Development or other relevant discipline, e.g. Pedagogy, Psychology, Sociology;
• Experience in writing, editing and publication management;
• Experience with knowledge management and story documenting is an asset;
• Excellent drafting skills and ability to synthesise complex information and issues;
• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking;
• Experience in shaping the content of social welfare policy to fit the audience is an asset;
• Knowledge of the Serbian child protection system and related issues will be considered an asset;
• Work experience with UNICEF and/or other international organizations will be considered as an advantage;
• Fluency in both Serbian and English.

How to apply:

The application must include a financial proposal in RSD as a separate document, providing the following information:

1. Daily rate (all costs included, e.g. health insurance, pension, usage of mobile phone).

Important notes:

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

For every child, you must demonstrate UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.