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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, Protection

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. As part of its efforts to provide all children with an equitable chance in life, UNICEF works to identify, monitor, and effectively address the underlying causes of child poverty and deprivation.

Since 2020, UNICEF has partnered with the European Commission to support the implementation of Phase III of the Child Guarantee programme in Italy. During this time, UNICEF has convened relevant national authorities committed to tackle child poverty and social exclusion and collaborated with them to undertake a state-of-the-art analysis of child-focused policies and programmes (Deep Dive), to design evidence-based measures with the National Action Plan (CGNAP) and to pilot innovative approaches to service delivery, effectively reaching out to vulnerable children and adolescents.

Thanks to its recognised role during the preparatory phase and solid partnerships with national and local institutions, UNICEF is well placed now to continue its social policy advocacy role and provide technical assistance for the actual implementation of the CGNAP. Amongst the priority actions, UNICEF will focus on the following:

• Evidence generation and advocacy for inclusion of most disadvantaged children and families in social, protection, education and health schemes ;
• Continued support to the CG Youth Advisory Board ;
• Replication and scale up of the models of services in select municipalities to better serve the identified categories of disadvantaged children and families, specifically strengthening service integration aspects.
• Social Protection system assessment, focusing on the level of inclusiveness of existing schemes and services for vulnerable families with children, such as those with migrant background.
• Technical assistance to select municipalities and regional governments for planning, monitoring and evaluation of the of the Child Guarantee at sub-national level.

How can you make a difference? 

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

• Advanced degree in law, economics, political science or other relevant social policy background
• A minimum of ten years of relevant professional work in social policy, including child poverty and social exclusion, and in the development of policy analyses, action plans and strategies
• Proven track record of engagement s and / or professional links/partnerships with relevant national and subnational bodies
• A deep understanding of the context, policy, and process for child poverty and social exclusion reduction at the national and sub national level in Italy.
• Experience working with UN/international organizations.
• Excellent planning and organizational skills;
• Excellent analytical and written skills
• Strong communication skills - both oral and written;
• Fluency in Italian and English
• Previous experience with UNICEF and or the UN is desired
• Previous engagement with and demonstrated understanding of the EU Child Guarantee development process

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. 

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/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:  

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.