Consultancy: Consultant for Advocacy Capacity Building for Safe Online Portfolio of Grantees - Req. #580408
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Job no: 580408
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: New York
Level: Consultancy
Location: United States
Categories: Fund Raising
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, HOPE!
Consultancy Title: Consultant for Advocacy Capacity Building for Safe Online Portfolio of Grantees
Section/Division/Duty Station: End Violence Against Children- Safe Online
Duration: May 1, 2025 to April 1, 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 over 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:
Since 2016, Safe Online has led efforts to combat online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA), investing overUS$100 million invested in +100 projects across +100 countries. It’s the only global investment vehicle dedicated to child online safety through evidence-based solutions, cutting-edge technologies, and cross-sectoral systems. Advocacy and Collective Action is one of Safe Online strategic goals along with Investing for Impact, Evidence and Knowledge and Measuring Change. Building on the successful mobilisation at the Global Ministerial Conference on Violence against Children in Colombia in November 2024, Safe Online is engaging with strategic partners in a new Advocacy for Financing effort to drive a global movement and secure attention and funding towards tackling online CSEA and ensuring children’s digital safety globally.
A key activity is strengthening grantees’ advocacy capacity and fostering a culture of learning and joint action. Based on a recent capacity needs assessment, Safe Online seeks to engage a consultant to support with the design and delivery of activities aiming at strengthening grantees’ capacity on advocacy, empowering them to jointly drive the global movement for digital safety and the well-being of children. Through a practical, outcome-driven approach, grantees will gain access to tailored tools, resources, and engagement opportunities that amplify their advocacy impact. This effort will empower grantees to drive systemic, forward-looking solutions and secure financial commitments that advance digital safety and protect children from online CSEA.
The objective is to strengthen grantees' capacity to advocate effectively for:
• Policy change, systemic solutions, and adequate financial commitments to address online CSEA in the context of other digital harms.
• Greater visibility of online CSEA and child online safety across global, regional, and national platforms and related agendas, including the financial and private sectors.
• Responsible language and data use, and increased attention to financing and innovation to address evolving digital risks with adaptive, cost-effective solutions.
• Strategic partnerships and collective action to drive advocacy impact.
Scope of Work:
The scope of work includes, but is not limited to, the following key outputs:
Advocacy capacity building framework and plan
• Develop a comprehensive Advocacy Capacity Building Framework and Plan informed by the latest approaches and best practices considering grantees’ needs and Safe Online’s mission.
• Identify key advocacy priorities, stakeholders, and engagement strategies to enhance grantees’ advocacy effectiveness and impact.
• As relevant to the plan implementation, support with facilitating engagement of programmatic experts, key advocates, policymakers, private sector.
Tailored capacity building and skills development
• Assist to organize and facilitate workshops, webinars, and peer-learning sessions for selected groups of grantees (e.g. new, experienced advocates) to support with identifying barriers, develop tactics and solutions, and design or improve advocacy strategies.
• Provide tailored technical support to a selected group of grantees, including methods to identify target stakeholders, advocacy messages, and entry points for influencing decisions.
• Compile an evidence-based advocacy toolkit featuring practical guidelines, instruments, and customizable resources, tailored to the diverse needs of Safe Online grantees. This would include practical resources to equip grantees with targeted strategies to advocate for financial commitments from priority funding streams. Explore options for a user-friendly, interactive, and sustainable format to enhance accessibility, engagement, and long-term usability.
Advocacy for financing
• Support the development and implementation of the Safe Online Advocacy for Financing plan and related convenings and events as applicable – e.g. G20 South Africa Nov 2025.
• Assist to integrate advocacy for financing concepts within the grantees’ advocacy capacity building activities and resources – including the new advocacy narrative and other resources produced as part of the advocacy for financing plan.
Strengthening collective action and partnerships
• Support to create spaces for learning, knowledge sharing and regular engagement across the portfolio of grantees, and strategic partners as relevant, to facilitate collaboration and a unified advocacy voice.
• Support the establishment of knowledge, collaborative networks around key advocacy areas of interest to the grantees including a dynamic, user-friendly knowledge-sharing tool to facilitate real-time engagement, insights exchange, and active coordination on advocacy opportunities.
• Identify, map and facilitate advocacy connections and opportunities for grantees (well-established or new advocates) to connect with key actors and align advocacy efforts.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
• Establish key indicators to measure the impact of advocacy capacity-building efforts.
• Gather feedback from grantees and adapt strategies accordingly.
Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:
Work Assignment Overview
Deliverables/ Outputs Delivery deadline
Review documentation and consult with Safe Online team, and key informants as relevant, to gather knowledge and develop comprehensive and detailed advocacy capacity building framework and plan outlining key priorities, strategies and tools to deliver on the key outputs, including production timeline, technical needs and related cost estimates, if any.
One comprehensive advocacy portfolio capacity building framework and workplan, outlining groups of selected grantees, tailored engagement activities, detailed timeline and, technical needs and estimated costs if any
20 days/
4 weeks
30 May 2025
Organise and facilitate at least three virtual sessions (workshops, webinars, peer-learning sessions) for selected groups of grantees.
At least 3 virtual sessions are delivered to high standards, with great engagement from grantees and within the agreed timeline.
40 days/
8 weeks
30 March 2026
Provide technical support to grantees as relevant.
Technical assistance to
Provide technical assistance to selected groups of grantees through at least _1 2 3 4 5... online sessions and review a minimum of 1 2 3 4 5... documentation packages . Support will focus on developing advocacy strategies, including identifying target stakeholders, crafting advocacy messages, and identifying key entry points for influencing decisions. Assistance must be delivered promptly and meet high-quality standards as defined by UNICEF guidelines 20 days/
4 weeks
30 March 2026
Compile advocacy toolkit featuring practical guidelines, instruments, and customizable resources, tailored to the diverse needs of grantees. Explore options for a user-friendly, interactive, and sustainable format to enhance accessibility, engagement, and long-term usability.
Customized 1 toolkit delivered within agreed timeline and to high-quality standards.
20 days/
4 weeks
30 March 2025
Support development and implementation of the Safe Online Advocacy for Financing plan, primarily coordination and event planning and management at the G20 in Nov 2025, and its integration in grantees’ capacity building plan, activities.
High-quality and prompt support by organising to organize one Safe Online G20-related event in Nov 2025, including the development of a documentation package on advocacy for financing concepts, narrative, key messages, and funding asks meaningfully integrated in capacity building activities, plan.
30 days/
6 weeks
30 March 2026
Support the establishment of knowledge, collaborative networks around key advocacy areas of interest to the grantees, and a dynamic, user-friendly knowledge-sharing tool to facilitate real-time engagement, insights exchange, and active coordination on advocacy opportunities.
Knowledge networks and sharing tool developed and delivered as per agreed timeline, to high-quality standards and with great engagement from grantees.
30 days/
6 weeks
30 March 2026
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning brief to outline progress and impact of capacity-building activities.
1 Brief outline delivered within timeline and high-quality standards. 15 days/
3 weeks
30 March 2026
Qualifications
Education:
Bachelor's degree in Social Science, Development Studies, International Affairs, Finance, Communication, or a related field.
Work experience:
Essential Skills and Competences:
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience and expertise in advocacy, capacity building, policy, community engagement, knowledge management and other relevant fields including financing, innovation and strategy.
• Demonstrable experience of developing and delivering evidence-based, innovative and impactful capacity building and advocacy initiatives, and ability to tailor them for a global and varied audience.
• Excellent track record of producing high quality products suitable for international and cross-sector audiences.
• Solid IT and media skills, including setting up and running virtual meetings and knowledge sharing tools.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to work on demand, adapt to changing circumstances, multi-task and deliver ahead of tight deadlines.
Desirable Skills and Competences:
• Experience in advocacy for financing is highly desirable.
• Expertise on digital safety and/or other thematic areas of digital rights and safety is highly desirable.
• Expertise in violence against children or other forms of violence is desirable.
• Relevant experience within the UN system, other multilateral organisations or Public-Private Partnerships.
• Experience working with civil society organizations, policymakers, and international institutions.
• Working knowledge of other UN languages such as French, Spanish, Arabic is desirable.
Requirements:
Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and
- Upload copy of academic credentials
- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
o the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
o travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
o Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
o Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
o 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 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.
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.
Advertised: Eastern Standard Time
Deadline: Eastern Daylight Time