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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 protection. 

Child protection | UNICEF South Africa- committed to ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for every child.

The Child Protection section, together with the government of South Africa and the civil society organizations, are working together to  address high levels of violence in the country, especially violence against children. Children in SA are facing high levels of violence in their homes, schools and at the community level. South African school violence remains alarmingly high.

In 2019, the General Household Survey found that 8 percent of children aged 5-17 experienced some form of violence at school. School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) includes acts or threats of sexual, physical, or psychological violence occurring in and around school, perpetrated because of gender norms and stereotypes, and enforced by unequal power dynamics. Girls are disproportionately affected by SRGBV, both by students and adults – in school, on the way to school, and online. Media continues to highlight the
high level of sexual misconduct between teachers and learners, where the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) reported close to 170 cases between 2022 and 2024. According to the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP), girls were more likely to experience forced and penetrative sexual abuse, and other forms of sexual abuse that involve contact with the abuser. As part of SACO, the Child Protection Section received funding from 75% Set Aside and has identified several organisations in the field to implement programmes to reduce high levels of violence in the hot spot schools, but also to work with communities and homes of learners to ensure a seamless approach in addressing violence against children and GBV.

The proposed consultancy is aligned to Outcome 3 Output 2 'Adolescent girls and boys are equipped with knowledge and skills for life to effectively transition to adulthood’ under the current Country Programme Document 2020-2025, providing technical support to the multi-sectoral programme to achieve the Programme Outcome of ‘Adolescent girls have increased opportunities to learn, access health services, and are protected with enhanced legal, cultural, and social norms’. The consultant will support specific output of the programme focusing on ‘Social welfare, social justice and education systems, together with communities, have strengthened capacities to provide care, support, and protection services to adolescent girls’ and boys’.

For every child, protection. 

How can you make a difference? 

Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist, Child Protection Section, the consultant will provide technical support and monitor the multiple implementing partners in the provinces through on-site, real-time activity guidance and technical support to ensure that activities are well harmonised and implemented to achieve the planned targets and results under the same result framework.
The consultancy will monitor and provide support to implementing partners on the ground (in the field) and provide the necessary technical guidance but also attend meetings with implementing partners in the field in schools and communities.

The consultant will also serve as a broker, engaging with key gatekeepers and creating alignment on the work of different agencies operating in schools and those in communities.

The consultancy will assist in fast tracking the interventions in rural areas and to ensure that the school community including educators, learners as well the School Governing Bodies (SGB) representing the parents and community to ensure that the whole ecosystem is fully involved in addressing levels of violence in and around schools.

Activities:

a) Provide technical assistance and ensure harmonization of the activities of implementing partners and other stakeholders to align the activities on addressing violence in respective districts.
b) Provide technical guidance for the planning, implementation and monitoring of project activities in collaboration with partners within the districts, ensuring the harmonized approach to the common programme goal. This will include continuous assessment of the local context and project activities and make recommendations for changes in approaches to ensure delivery of planned activities.
c) Draft progress notes, review stakeholder reports and present to the Child Protection Specialist for further alignment and identifying opportunities for evidence generation and best practices across districts.
d) Provide support to strengthen systems for continuity and coordination: The consultant will be expected to provide technical and analytical support to the implementing partners by strengthening existing district-level intersectoral coordination structures.
e) Contribute to wider local initiatives of GBV prevention and integrate UNICEF programmatic work into existing school-based and government-led violence prevention initiatives. As and when required, the consultant is expected to contribute to knowledge sharing and exchange as well as strategy development, among other required tasks.
f) Document lessons learnt and good practices: The consultant will also lead the process of documenting lessons learnt, stories of human interest and good practices. This may include collating existing partner material and showcasing the UNICEF-led contributions to government and communities. This will contribute to the handover of such projects to schools for sustainability and to the government for
endorsement.

The consultant will work closely with CSO partners implementing programme funded by girls’ Education Set Aside Fund. Through this initiative, the stakeholders with whom the consultant will engage include school children/ learners, educators, SGBs, school principals, parents, community members and community leaders.

Tasks and deliverables: 

1. Engage in literature and Programme Documents review on planned milestones (5 days)
   • Inception report
2. Planning the engagement with stakeholders depending on their master plans (3 weeks)
   • Technical support plan
   • Schedules
   • Engagement reports
3. Attendance of meetings with implementing partners - minimum of 4 (2 weeks)
   • Implementation report including meetings records
   • Stakeholder engagements records
4. Engagement with schools and communities for activity monitoring - 5 per province (11 days)
   • Feedback/mission reports and minutes
5. Activity reporting for engagements with boys and girls in schools Engagements with community members (12 days)
   • Dialogue reports with stakeholders (children and community)
   • Monitoring reports for respective provinces
6. Develop process notes for implementation across all projects (1 month)
   • Project and activity process notes
7. Compilation of reports with data reflecting the reach (15 days)
   • Comprehensive reports and final presentation to UNICEF

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: A Master's degree in Humanities, Social Services, Public Health, Social Policy, Development Studies and/or Social Sciences
• Work Experience:
  • At least 5 years of experience working within the children’s rights, public policy and development environment
  • Demonstrated experience in working with government stakeholders at the district, provincial and national levels
  • Outstanding research and analytical skills, including strong ability to analyse, integrate and summarise information from a wide range of sources 
  • Good computer skills, including familiarity with search engines and academic databases 
  • Ability to work independently and to ensure high-quality deliverables
  • Demonstrated capacity to carry out the assignment within the allocated timeframe 
  • Excellent writing skills in English, including a demonstrated ability to draft clear and concise reports 
  • An added advantage of having working experience in the GBV, SRHR, HIV and/or VAC programming
• Skills:
  • Project management 
  • Partnership development
  • Proficiency in Xhosa is an advantage

• Language Requirements: Written and spoken English is a requirement

Please indicate your ability and availability; and attach a technical proposal and financial proposal in ZAR to undertake the terms of reference above (including admin cost if applicable). Proposals submitted without a detailed financial proposal aligned to the assignment will not be considered.

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 Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:  

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable [Insert candidates from targeted underrepresented groups] are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

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