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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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Consultancy Title: GBV / Nutrition Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station:, Child Protection Section, Programme Division / New York HQ

Duration: October 2024 to December 31, 2024

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ/ Remote

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. 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

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: 

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Related to this mission, UNICEF is directly involved in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in some of the world’s most intense and complex conflicts and disasters. GBV in its various forms constitutes a global crisis which undermines social and economic progress; as one of the world’s greatest human rights violations, GBV must be addressed to ensure universal rights and principles with regard to equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of human beings.   Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in emergencies (GBViE) is recognized as a life-saving measure and an essential component of humanitarian action. As a lead agency in addressing GBViE, UNICEF has expanded its on-the-ground programming in recent years and made prevention and risk mitigation of, and response to GBViE one of its targeted priorities in its new Strategic and Gender Action Plans (GAP) 2022-2025, as well as in the new Child Protection Strategy. GBViE contributes to the results under Goal Area 3 and is also now a cross-cutting priority across the new Strategic Plan-, making GBV risk mitigation one of UNICEF’s change strategies and a key contributor across all Goal Areas. GBViE risk mitigation is now also across all sectors and areas of work in UNICEF’s updated Core Commitments for Children. UNICEF is also a leading agency in the development of programming and tools related to GBViE, including supporting the development of the Call to Action Roadmap,1 rollout of the revised IASC GBV Guidelines (2015), implementation of the interagency GBV case management capacity building initiative, management of the GBV AoR helpdesk, as well as additional technical resources for the GBViE field within the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past five years, UNICEF has made significant progress on integration of GBV risk mitigation into Nutrition programming, including building the evidence base both at global level and through operational research in humanitarian contexts. The advancements in this field of work will be presented during the 2024 Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Forum in Cape Town (South Africa) from 21 to 25 October 2024. The SVRI is the largest global network on research on violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC), providing a space where global role players in the field connect with one another, share and promote their research, work to influence policies and improve the lives of those who have experienced GBV.

As part of these efforts, an innovative multi-year study conducted jointly in South Sudan by UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and Action Against Hunger, has examined in depth the effectiveness of GBV risk mitigation actions within humanitarian nutrition programming. During the 3-month period of the contract, the consultant will be responsible for key deliverables building on the results of the study.  

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of the GBViE Specialist, the consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables: 

1.   Develop and deliver poster presentation for the SVRI Forum presentation based on the results of the GBV and Nutrition Study carried out in South Sudan, as per requirements specified by the supervisor.

2.   Finalize a manuscript based on the results of the GBV and Nutrition Study carried out in South Sudan, as per requirements specified by the supervisor.

The consultancy will be home-based with one travel planned to the 2024 SVRI Forum in Cape Town, South Africa.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

• Develop and deliver a poster presentation for the SVRI Forum presentation based on the results of the GBV and Nutrition Study carried out in South Sudan, as per requirements specified by the supervisor.        
  • Poster submitted and approved  - 15 October 2024
  • Poster presentation delivered     - 25 October 2024
• Finalize a manuscript based on the results of the GBV and Nutrition Study carried out in South Sudan, as per requirements specified by the supervisor.
  • Draft manuscript submitted for review   - 30 November 2024
  • Manuscript finalized (comments from key stakeholders incorporated)      - 31 December 2024

Qualifications

(1) Education

• Master’s degree in Public health, social work, political science, human rights and international law or other related degree, or equivalent programming experience.

Language Proficiency:

• Fluency in English required, working proficiency of another official UN language an asset.

(2) Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

•      At least 8 years of humanitarian or related work experience in GBV programming in natural disasters and conflict-affected countries.

•      Extensive understanding of UNICEF’s approach on GBV risk mitigation, including the research/M&E components of the portfolio.

•      Knowledge and experience working in or with the Nutrition in Emergencies sector an advantage.

•      Solid understanding of GBV guiding principles and the survivor-centred approach.

•      Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people in a wide range of functions in a multi-cultural environment.

•      Experience in coordinating research, data analysis and/or submission of manuscripts to academic journals. 

•      Understanding of the South Sudan humanitarian context an asset.

Requirements: 

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
  • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (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 offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.