Consultancy Title: Regional Action Forum External Review Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Global Programme Division, Child Protection & Migration

Duration: 15 March 2026 to 15 May 2026

Home/ Office Based: 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. 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

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF Child Protection Global program on harmful practice is seeking an individual consultant to support the independent external review of the Regional AF is to (1) assess the relevance, effectiveness and impact of such a platform; (2) analyze its way of defining priorities and working in coordination with RAF members; (3) identify key challenges and lessons learned; and (4) determine a sustainable way forward for RAF as an independent platform led by its members, particularly in light of the UN humanitarian reset process and limited resources available.

Key reflections must also be held around how RAF can adopt more innovative approaches, engaging further with girls, women, and survivors of child marriage themselves, as well as the private sector, to enhance awareness on child marriage in the region. The RAF represents a collective commitment by development and humanitarian actors to coordinate efforts to end child marriage in the Arab world, in line with UN reform and global accountability frameworks. As child marriage remains firmly embedded within the global and regional development agenda, the RAF supports coordinated action, evidence‑to‑practice learning, and joint advocacy to address the drivers and impacts of child marriage.

Scope of Work:

Under the overall coordination of the UNICEF Child Protection Prevention of Harmful Practices for the MENA, the consultant will conduct an external review will analyze the RAF platform as a whole, but more specifically at the last three year period from 2023 to 2025 when RAF acquired a coordinator to manage the platform and liaise with its members more regularly.

The external review will delve into:

• RAF’s scope, relevance, and purpose
• RAF’s way of working
• Coordination with members
• Quality of work related to child marriage prevention and response
• Potential engagement with girls, women and survivors of child marriage
• Potential engagement with private sector
• Sustainability of RAF and way forward

The external review will be mostly of qualitative nature, through a combination of desk review and background research –  looking at existing RAF documents, reports, and other relevant resources such as webinar recordings, publications, and stories from the RAF website and beyond – as well as semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in RAF’s work such as its current and former UNICEF and UNFPA co-chairs, its coordinator, and its key members.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Travel - N/A

Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters) in public relations, international development studies, social sciences,  public policy or a related field.

Work experience:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

• Demonstrated technical expertise in gender equality, prevention of harmful practices, child protection, and/or social norms change, with proven ability to translate evidence-based approaches into effective programme design and implementation.
• At least 5 years' experience conducting qualitative research, including stakeholder interviews and analytical reporting.
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills, with a track record of producing concise, high-quality evaluation reports.

• Fluency in English required; knowledge of Arabic is 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. 

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.