UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region.  This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to provide support on child poverty and social policy analysis to contribute to ESCAP Social Outlook on poverty and UNICEF Regional Background Paper.

Work assignment (remote/home-based modality, not office-based), Expected deliverables and Delivery schedule:

 Purpose of the assignment

 To provide analytical and drafting support to UNICEF in:

1. Preparing high-quality inputs on child poverty, trends, drivers, and policy responses for ESCAP’s Social Outlook on Poverty (by mid-February 2026).
2. Developing a comprehensive background paper on child poverty and social policy in Asia and the Pacific (by June 2026), building on and expanding the work completed for the Social Outlook.

The consultant will deliver up to 4 months of work over a 6-month period, allowing flexibility for iterative drafts, internal consultations, and the production of the final background paper.

Scope of work and key tasks

 Phase 1: Inputs to ESCAP Social Outlook (Dec 2025 – mid-Feb 2026)

(Approx. 25 working days)

1. Review and mapping

• Review ESCAP’s annotated outline, preliminary chapter structures, and key messages.
• Identify the most relevant entry points for a child lens across chapters on trends, drivers, and policy responses.

2. Analytical work

• Analyse available data on monetary and multidimensional poverty, disaggregations by household composition (e.g., households with young children), and poverty thresholds.
• Examine structural drivers affecting households with children, including labour markets, informality, unpaid care, and social protection coverage gaps.

3. Drafting of UNICEF inputs

• Draft text contributions and proposed boxes/spotlights for:

• Poverty trends (monetary and multidimensional)
• Drivers of child and household poverty
• Human capital and social sector policies
• Social protection and climate-related vulnerabilities

• Prepare supporting tables, charts, and annotated notes.

4. Internal and external coordination

• Liaise with UNICEF regional colleagues (Education, PF4C, Social Protection, Climate/DRM).
• Revise drafts based on UNICEF and ESCAP feedback.

Output of Phase 1:
A complete package of UNICEF contributions to the Social Outlook, submitted by 15 February 2026.

Phase 2: UNICEF Background Paper (Feb – June 2026)

(Approx. 35 working days)

5. Outline and structure

• Prepare a detailed outline for a 25–40 page background paper, including conceptual framing and proposed case studies.

6. Deepened analysis

• Expand regional analysis on child poverty trends, drivers, lifecycles, household composition, poverty thresholds, and vulnerabilities.
• Develop a structured review of policy responses, including examples from education, health/OOP financing, nutrition, social protection, and climate adaptation.

7. Draft background paper

• Produce the first full draft of the paper, including tables, charts, and references.

8. Finalisation

• Integrate feedback from UNICEF and revise to produce a final background paper by June 2026.

Deliverable and Timeline:

Deliverable	Deadline
Inception note and workplan	Within 2 weeks of contract start
Draft UNICEF inputs to ESCAP Social Outlook	31 January 2026
Final UNICEF inputs (after revision)	15 February 2026
Detailed outline for background paper	30 April 2026
Full first draft of background paper	30 May 2026
Final background paper	30 June 2026

 Reporting and coordination

• The consultant will be supervised by the Regional Advisor on Social Policy at UNICEF EAPRO and the Data Specialist in the Regional Office.
• Coordination with ESCAP will occur through UNICEF.
• Deliverables will be submitted electronically in editable formats (Word, Excel/Stata outputs).

Duration of Contract:   60 working days

Estimated Start Date: 15 December 2025                                           End Date: 30 June 2026

Duty Travel: Remote work.

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

• • Advanced degree in Economics, Public Policy, Social Policy, Development Studies or related field.     
  • At least 10 years of professional experience in poverty analysis, social policy, child poverty, or social protection.                                                                                                     
  • Demonstrated experience with monetary and multidimensional poverty measurement (World Bank poverty lines, MPI, MODA).                                                                  
  • Strong analytical, writing, and synthesis skills.                                                 
  • Experience drafting policy-oriented reports or background papers.              
  • Familiarity with East Asia and the Pacific regional context is an advantage.
  • Experience working with UN agencies or international development partners is desirable.        

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposed daily professional fee in USD by 9 December 2025.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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:  

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. 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. 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.