Safe to Learn benchmarking Consultant, Programme Group, Education Section, NYHQ, remote. Req# 588545
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Job no: 588545
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: New York
Level: Consultancy
Location: United States
Categories: Education
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 fordeveloping 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.
Consultancy: Safe to Learn benchmarking Consultant
Duty Station: Programme Group, Education Section
Duration: 1 February 2026 – 31 January 2027
Home/ Office Based: Remote
BACKGROUND
Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:
Safe to Learn is a global initiative hosted by UNICEF that unites governments, civil society, and international partners to end violence in and around schools so that every child is safe to learn. It supports countries to strengthen policies, systems, and practices that prevent and respond to all forms of violence—physical, sexual, psychological, and online—while promoting positive, inclusive, and gender-responsive learning environments. Through evidence generation, advocacy, and coordinated action across education and child protection sectors, Safe to Learn helps translate global commitments into tangible progress for children. The initiative is currently comprised of 17 global partners and 19 endorsed countries across South Asia, Africa and Latin America and Caribbean
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Global Affairs Canada, UNICEF and the Safe to Learn (STL) Coalition are jointly working to strengthen national capacity to prevent and respond to violence in, around, and through schools. Countries that have endorsed the Safe to Learn Call to Action can assess their progress through a benchmarking assessment. The findings of the benchmarking exercise can then be used by countries to inform wider sector planning and policy dialogue. To date, 17 countries have undertaken a benchmarking assessment covering the period 2019-2023. A consultant is required to support countries to update their benchmarking assessments for the period 2024-2025, as well as to undertake a first assessment for countries that have recently joined Safe to Learn. Short country briefs will summarize actionable insights for policy makers and partners. The consultant will work under the guidance of the STL Secretariat and in close collaboration with UNICEF Country Office and STL coalition partners.
Scope of Work:
The purpose of this consultancy is to undertake Safe to Learn benchmarking assessments in Safe to Learn endorsed countries.
STL Benchmarking Assessment
The STL benchmarking assessment will be structured around the Safe to Learn benchmarks under each of the five components of the Call to Action. This desk-based exercise will draw on materials, reports, websites, laws, and policies provided by UNICEF country offices and Safe to Learn partners. The draft will include both a short narrative (300 words max) under each of the 15 benchmarks and a suggested evidence-based ranking.
Each draft benchmarking assessment will be developed based on feedback received from UNICEF country offices and approval by the respective Ministries of Education. This document will then be used to inform a national dialogue led by the UNICEF CO, after which the assessment will be finalized and published (pending government approval). Examples of benchmarking assessments can be found on the Safe to Learn Coalition website.
For those 16 countries that undertook a benchmarking exercise in 2023, this will be an update. For the 5 newly endorsed countries it will be the first assessment. The level of effort of each will differ accordingly. To note that the reference documents for the 2023 assessment are available to the consultancy and the same methodology will be shared and followed.
Country Briefs
To complement the STL benchmarking briefs—which are primarily technical and not easily accessible to a general audience—summary country briefs of approximately 4 pages including visuals will be developed to summarize key updates and progress in a more reader-friendly format. The purpose will be to share actionable insights for use by policy makers and practitioners. They will also be used to communicate progress in a more accessible way for donor and other stakeholders. They will also include information on data on violence against children in schools, to set out the situation, as well as progress and recommendations. These will be developed based on the benchmarking assessment in discussion with UNICEF Country Offices.
These briefs will serve as public-facing documents that highlight changes in national efforts to protect children from violence in, around and through schools, based on the STL benchmarks. The briefs will draw from both the STL benchmarking assessments and any STL diagnostic assessments that may have previously been undertaken in the respective countries as well as from available country-level data on the situation of violence in school and its impact on education.
Lessons learned from the benchmarking assessments will be shared by the consultant, and country offices, through a global or regional level webinar (depending on the specific countries).
Whilst the consultant will develop the content, the design will be undertaken by STL/UNICEF.
A total of 3 consultants will be hired to perform the TOR deliverables with different counties focus.
Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:
Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline
1. Benchmarking assessments and country briefs (new)
- 4 new country benchmarking assessments
31 June 2026
2. Benchmarking assessments and country briefs 2024-2025 (updated)
- 5 updated country Benchmarking assessments
31 May 2026
3. Safe to Learn Country Briefs
- 9 Country Briefs developed
31 January 2027
4. Global lesson learning
- 1 global webinar held to share lessons learned from benchmarking
31 January 2027
Qualifications
Education:
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Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in child protection, education, social work, international development or other related discipline |
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:
Competencies
Requirements: Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and - Upload copy of academic credentials - Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
- 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. Remarks: 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. |
Advertised: Eastern Standard Time
Deadline: Eastern Standard Time