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In response to the high prevalence rates of violence against children, there has been a surge of global interest in evidence-based violence prevention and the promotion of nurturing relationships between parents/​caregivers and their children. A growing body of scientific literature has shown that social-learning-theory-based parenting programmes can effectively diminish rates of violence against children and improve a range of related outcomes, such as positive parenting skills, developmentally responsive care and affection, and parental mental health.

One such programme is Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children (PLH for Young Children), a group-based parenting programme that aims to establish and sustain nurturing relationships between parents and caregivers and their children ages 2-9 years and thereby prevent and reduce the risk of violence against children and maltreatment at home and in the community. Grounded in social learning theory and behavioural change techniques, it aims to strengthen parenting skills and behaviours that help parents and caregivers provide adequate support and care to their children. By building positive relations and promoting alternatives to violent discipline, the programme also contributes to the prevention and treatment of disruptive child behaviours, and the reduction of parental stress and depression. PLH for Young Children is part of a suite of open access, non-commercialised parenting programmes to prevent violence in low-resource settings. These programmes have been developed and rigorously tested through a collaboration between WHO, Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the universities of Oxford, Bangor and Reading in the United Kingdom, and UNICEF.

Since late 2017, the Government of Montenegro (the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare) and UNICEF with the support of the EU have made considerable progress in implementing PLH for Young Children in Montenegro, under the local brand Caring Families. A total of 135 facilitators, ten supervisors and two national trainers have been trained. Facilitators deliver the programme within the context of their existing work as psychologists, pedagogues, nurses, preschool teachers and social workers at primary healthcare centres, kindergartens, primary schools, NGOs and other relevant institutions.

Fourteen cycles of programme delivery were undertaken between 2018 and late 2024 and the fifteenth cycle is ongoing, with around 2500 parents recruited across seventeen municipalities so far.

As part of the UNICEF and Government of Montenegro plans to scale up and diversify the programme to meet the needs of specific subgroups, and based on parental demand, a programme targeting parents of children with disabilities aged 3 to 9 has been drafted. It is designed for parents of mild to moderate speech and language delays and disabilities as well as difficulties and disabilities in the area of social interaction. The first cycle of this adapted programme is being delivered in Montenegro from March to June 2025. Capturing learning and evidence from pilot programme implementation (formative research) is required to assess feasibility of the new programme, evaluate family outcomes (pre/post), and examine facilitators’ and parental experience with the programme.

The purpose of the assignment is to enable all families and children in Montenegro to benefit from parenting support on an equal basis with all parents, and for parents of children with disabilities to receive support tailored to their needs.

The objective of this assignment is to learn and gather evidence from pilot implementation of the adapted Caring Families programme in order to improve the programme for future delivery, by assessing its feasibility and examining facilitators’ and parental experience with the programme.  This formative research will help to improve the programme going forward and to facilitate its scaling up.

Methodology:  

The main objectives of this formative research are to: i) assess recruitment, retention, and engagement of parents/caregivers of children with disabilities; ii) assess programme implementation including fidelity; iii) assess programme acceptability and satisfaction with facilitators and parents/caregivers; iv) explore the impact of attendance on measures of child behaviour, parenting practices, and parental mental wellbeing.

The total sample is 9 facilitators and 44 parents/caregivers of children aged 3-9 who were recruited into the programme by services delivering the programme – three primary health care centres (Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje), one kindergarten (Bijelo Polje) and, finally, two resource centres which are delivering the programme jointly (Podgorica).

As regards research design, this is a feasibility study using a mixed methods design. Questionnaires, interviews and focus groups will be used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Data collection will be conducted mostly in the setting where the intervention is being delivered.

Questionnaires with parents/caregivers are collected pre- and post-intervention using an online survey. The pre-intervention survey has already been collected by the programme facilitators (in total 44 parents) whilst the post-intervention survey will be collected by the independent researcher to be hired for this consultancy. The survey has been previously used in other parenting research in Montenegro. Furthermore, parents will be asked to complete a short satisfaction questionnaire. This will be administered online at the same time as the post-intervention survey.

In total 10 parents from Podgorica, Bijelo Polje, Berane and Bar will be interviewed. The sampling method should take into account location (4 from Bijelo Polje, 2 from Podgorica, 2 from Berane and 2 from Bar), level of attendance of the programme (some with low attendance, medium attendance and high attendance out of in total 12 programme sessions). All programme participants are females so no males can be included in the study. Interviews should take about 30-45 minutes. The interview protocol has been previously used in other parenting research in Montenegro. Questions will cover topics including experiences during the programme and how it has impacted on the family, enablers and barriers to attendance and engagement, views on programme delivery and content.

Focus group discussions with programme facilitators will be conducted to explore their experiences with and challenges in implementing the programme. The focus group protocol has been previously used in other parenting research in Montenegro. There will be a total of nine facilitators therefore two focus groups of four to and five facilitators will be scheduled. These will be conducted online and should last approximately 1 hour.

The analysis should look into facilitators’ and parental experience during the programme noting any differences between the participants, attendance including barriers/difficulties and enablers for attendance noting any differences between the participants, views on programme structure and content noting any differences between the participants, impact of the programme on caregivers and their families, noting any differences between the participants. A report on previously implemented research in Montenegro on the Caring Families programme will be shared with the consultant. Consultant can also access UNICEF’s report on scaling up the parenting programme (Caring Families (Parenting for Lifelong Health for Young Children) | UNICEF).

The report including statistical data related to responses and attendance levels should be no more than 50 pages long including abstract but excluding annexes. The report should be written in Montenegrin.

The interviews will employ the principle of the ‘best interests of the child’, in which the welfare and best interests of the participants will be the primary consideration in methodology design and statistical data collection. The consultant should ensure that the research process is in line with the UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, and Data Collection and Analysis. The consultant must have proof that they have undertaken a course in ethics in research with children and adults. Specific considerations for research related to children and/or sensitive issues (such as violence against women and girls) will be included. Additional sources of guidelines and standards are to be taken in consideration (e.g. UNICEF's guidance on children in research https://www.unicef.org/media/54796/file, WHO's guidance on violence research https://www.who.int/gender/documents/OMS_Ethics&Safety10Aug07.pdf).

Informed consent must be requested from all participants of the evaluation. Participants must be informed before giving consent that in case a specific breach of human right is raised during the interviews (for example: violence against children or adults), that this will need to be shared with relevant authorities, in accordance with UNICEF's standards and existing legislation in Montenegro. After this notification, participants can decide if they will participate in the interviews. All other information given during the interviews will be kept confidential.

Venues for interviews should be in line with the rules of privacy protection and respectful, comfortable setting, where participants cannot be overheard. Particular care will be taken to ensure that questions are asked sensitively, appropriate to the age, gender, ethnicity and social background of the participants.  Clear language will be used which avoids victimization, blame and judgement. Where it is clear that the interview is having a negative effect on a participant, the interview will be stopped. Culture of all participants will be respected. Physical safety and well-being of researcher and participants must be always ensured.

All data will be securely stored during the research. One month after the research all data will be erased from computers/laptops and hard copies destroyed. The consultant is required to clearly identify and address any ethical issues and approaches. The consultant will work under direct supervision of UNICEF’s ECD Officer. 

Further details on the assignment are outlined in the section Work Assignment Overview below.

Work assignment overview
Tasks/Milestone:	Deliverables/Outputs:
Inputting attendance into dababase and based on the sampling strategy, conduct in-depth interviews with parents (10 parents in total, 4 in Bijelo Polje, 2 in Podgorica, 2 in Berane and 2 in Bar). Focus groups with facilitators (9 facilitators in total divided into 2 groups, to be held online, one group gathering new facilitators - 4 and one gathering more experienced facilitators - 5). Support filling out the post-programme survey by parents (5 parent groups in total, 2 in Bijelo Polje, 1 in Podgorica, 1 in Berane and 1 in Bar). Data cleaning, data analysis and preparation of the first draft of the report on survey responses, interviews and focus groups with recommendations for future programme adaptation.	First draft of the report on survey responses, interviews and focus groups with recommendations for future programme adaptation.	By 20 July 2025
Based on feedback by UNICEF and partners, report on survey responses, interviews and focus groups with recommendations for future programme adaptation.	Final report on survey responses, interviews and focus groups with recommendations for future programme adaptation.	By 30 August 2025

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

Education:

Master’s degree in Psychology, Sociology, Social Sciences or a related technical field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of experience in conducting social research;
• Familiarity with latest methodologies for collecting and analyzing statistical data;
• At least three years of work experience with caregivers of or children with developmental delays and disabilities.
• Familiarity with the programme Caring Families.
• Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organization will be considered as an advantage;

Language:

• Excellent command of the local language (both spoken and written);
• Knowledge of English language will be considered as an asset.

Other:

• Attention to detail;
• Demonstrates tact and high sense of responsibility and discretion;
• Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Payment schedule:

The payment will be made in one instalment upon successful completion of the deliverables and submission of invoice.

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

Mandatory e-learning:

Upon conducting the recruitment process and prior to the signing of the contract, the consultant will be required to complete the following online courses. All certificates should be presented as part of the contract.

1. Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF

2. Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority (PSEAA)

3. Prevention of Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA)

4. A course in ethics in research with children and adults

Before commencement of any travel on behalf of UNICEF, the Consultants and Individual Contractors must complete course on General Information Security Awareness Course.

The above courses can be found on Agora through the following link: AGORA: Log in to the site (unicef.org).

Course completion certificates should be shared and retained with the human resources unit of the hiring office.

All applicants will be screened against qualifications and requirements set above. Candidates fully meeting all the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below. The proposal will be evaluated against the following criteria:

 A) Technical criteria – Technical evaluation process / Maximum points: 70.

1.   Technical Criteria – please select:

 Interview  and a sample research report Desk review of CVs, motivation letter and a sample research report -70 % of total evaluation– max. 70 points

•    Education: 10

•    Previous experience: 20

•    A sample research report: 30

•    Other 10

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the technical part (who will score at least 49 points) will be qualified for considering for financial proposal evaluation

B) Financial criteria – evaluation of financial proposal - Maximum points: 30.

• The financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

The applicants are requested to submit:

• CV along with Cover/Motivation Letter;
• Lump sum financial proposal consisting of a daily professional fee, and proposed travel costs for Podgorica, Bijelo Polje, Berane and Bar.
• Proof /certificate of completed course in ethics research with children and adults.
• A sample research report

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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. 

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.