Consultancy: Young People Participation and Engagement Consultant – ADAP Section, PD, NYHQ/Home based – Req # 538410

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Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

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For every child, hope.

 

 

Consultancy Title:                               Young People Participation and Engagement Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station:          ADAP / Programme / NYHQ

Duration:                                             70 days between 29 March 2020 and October 2021

 

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

In 2019, the Netherlands Ministry of the Foreign Affairs (NL MFA) has launched PROSPECTS, a hybrid project/partnership between five multilateral organizations, with the goal of furthering the transformation of the ongoing responses to protracted forced displacement in some of the most affected countries in the world.  PROSPECTS brings together organizations working across the humanitarian-development spectrum: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the World Bank (WB). 

UNICEF’s Adolescent Development and Participation Section (ADAP) contributes towards the PROSPECTS partnership by strengthening and mainstreaming meaningful engagement and participation of adolescents and youth in the PROSPECTS framework and programme, especially in Pillar 4: New Ways of Working. The focus on meaningful participation of adolescents and youth is key to deliver more coherent, effective and innovative solutions for and with forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) and host communities (HCs), and relevant regional and global stakeholders. Strategically engaging a collective of young people in a systematic way, such as via youth networks, ensures that their voices are heard and directly contribute to the PROSPECTS partnership.  

The overall objective of this assignment is to provide support to the ADAP Section and UNICEF regional offices in Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA)  and East and South Africa (ESA) in the development of an action plan for strengthening adolescent and youth engagement in the PROSPECTS partnership, complemented by capacity building of UNICEF and partners to deliver on the plan 

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

To ensure the meaningful participation and engagement of adolescents and youth (FDPs and HCs) across the PROSPECTS programme, and build the capacity of partners and young people in the 8 countries, the purpose of the consultancy is :  

1. Develop an action plan (per country), building on existing documents & frameworks, for adolescent and youth engagement and participation especially in the context of forced displacement, across the PROSPECTS Partnership, informed by consultations with partners, adolescents and young people.  
2. The action plans will be complemented with a 3-5 page strategic summary including a consolidated vision of approaches, strategies and principles that should underpin the PROSPECTS partnership to support systematic and safe engagement of young people.    
3. Provide a summary of existing collaborations with youth networks and youth-led organizations across sectors and provide suggested ways of working with those organizations by identifying potential areas of collaborations.   
4. Conduct a capacity assessment, across sectors and partners, in all PROSPECTS countries to assess capacity gaps and needs and identify areas/topics of support on adolescent and young people engagement. 
5. Based on the results of the capacity needs assessment, prepare a proposed learning programme/plan (including a menu of topics and sessions) to build capacity of UNICEF staff, partners including youth networks on adolescent and youth engagement and meaningful participation in the context of forced displacement 
6. Develop an Opportunity fund proposal on Adolescent and Youth Engagement  to support the implementation of the Action Plan and operationalize the Youth at Heart Principles, UNICEF’s key guidelines “Engaged and Heard” and the IASC Guidelines on working with and for young people in humanitarian and protracted crises, across all PROSPECTS countries.  
7. Support ADAP Development Management (Humanitarian and Peacebuilding) and the ADAP team on any other matters as necessary. 

The IC for this consultancy will work under the supervision of the ADAP Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Specialist. H/she will work in close collaboration with the regional offices (ESA and MENA) and adolescent focal points across the 8 PROSPECT countries. Upon completion of contract assignments, the supervisor will evaluate the consultant’s work, certify relevant documents and process/follow-up on the payments. Communication shall be done via email and online or virtual meetings.  

Qualifications

(1) Education

Bachelors Masters PhD Other

• Master’s degree (8 years of relevant experience) or equivalent in adolescent and youth programming, young people’s participation, humanitarian, peacebuilding and development.
• Or, at least 10 years of practical experience in the field of adolescents and youth participation and/or programming and a thorough understanding of adolescents and youth issues. Prior knowledge of UNICEF processes will be an advantage

2) Work experience

• An extensive experience in conducting participatory workshops with adolescents and youth. Prior knowledge and experience in the context of MENA and Africa will be an advantage.
• Candidates preferably based in European/middle east/Africa time zone 
• Experience in designing learning programmes (including capacity needs assessment) on youth engagement and participation  

3) Competencies

• Fluency in English is a requirement.  Working knowledge of Arabic and/or French will be an asset. 
• Strong and effective communication skills and a proven ability to negotiate and influence change. 
• Demonstrated ability to build capacity/train others. 
• Ability to work in a diverse, multi-cultural setting with sensitivity to the local context. 

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious and ethnic backgrounds 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.