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For every child, the right to clean air!
UNICEF’s current five-year country programme of cooperation in Iran (2023-2027) is aimed at ensuring that all children and adolescents, especially the most vulnerable, benefit from an integrated social protection system, which meets their needs for health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and overall protection and well-being of children in both development and humanitarian settings. The programme also aims to ensure that children’s participation and inclusion in their communities are fully realised, allowing them to reach their full potential.
How can you make a difference?
Background:
Child maltreatment is a global public health problem with serious life-long consequences for mental and physical health, academic performance, and social life. Beyond the health, social and educational consequences of child maltreatment, there is an economic impact, including costs of hospitalization, mental health treatment, child welfare, and longer-term health costs.
Child maltreatment is preventable. Evidence indicates that preventive interventions are highly cost-effective in reducing both the short- and long-term social and health burdens associated with child maltreatment. Globally, seven strategies are known to be effective in preventing child maltreatment (INSPIRE); enforcing laws that prohibit child abuse; transforming harmful social norms that perpetuate abuse; creating safe environments in homes and communities; supporting and empowering parents and caregivers; strengthening family income and economic stability; providing timely response and psychosocial support services; and promoting inclusive education and life skills for children. Although these strategies focus on various sectors and target groups, a coordinated and multisectoral implementation approach is required to effectively address the complex and multifaceted root causes of child maltreatment.
Health social workers play a pivotal role in preventing child maltreatment by addressing social factors contributing to this issue. They also play a role in strengthening protective factors which contribute to creating a safe environment for children. Due to the multidimensional nature of the social work profession, social workers are also uniquely positioned to facilitate intersectoral coordination and connect children and their families with essential services across health, education, justice, and social protection systems.
UNICEF, in collaboration with the health system, is promoting community-level social work interventions to prevent child maltreatment by developing an evidence-based model targeting children in marginalized areas with high populations of non-Iranian and host communities. Grounded in the seven strategies of the INSPIRE framework, the model seeks to deliver a comprehensive and practical model that can be integrated into the health system.
This model seeks to address two interrelated priorities within the area of child maltreatment prevention. First, it aims to strengthen the positioning of prevention as the primary and globally endorsed strategy for reducing child maltreatment within the health system. The model promotes a proactive, systems-based approach that emphasizes on social work interventions for prevention of child maltreatment.
Second, the model seeks to enhance community engagement in establishing a protective environment for children, with particular attention to marginalized areas where non-Iranian and host communities live side by side.
In parallel, the model aims to foster stronger intersectoral collaboration among key stakeholders, including health, legal and social and protection system, civil society organizations, and community actors to ensure coordinated, efficient, and sustainable prevention, early identification, response and follow-up to child maltreatment.
Rationale and Statement of Problem:
Significant progress has been made in recent years in integrating social work interventions within the healthcare system, including the professionalization of social work services in hospitals and pilot establishment of Seraj centers (MoH’s Psychosocial Health Centres).
Despite these advancements, most interventions remain reactive. Social work engagement is typically initiated only after a child has already been exposed to harm. This limits the potential for primary prevention and protection from risk factors before harm occurs. Furthermore, the transitory nature of hospitalization limits the scope of social work practice within hospitals with often short-term, crisis-focused, and centre-based services. In high-risk cases, referrals are made to legal or social emergency services. However, these mechanisms again serve mostly as a response, aimed at mitigating harm rather than preventing its occurrence.
A comprehensive, community-based social work intervention model can contribute to creating a protective environment to prevent a child being exposed to abuse and its adverse longer-term impact on adulthood. It also reduces the number of referrals to health, protection, legal and social welfare services. Through creating a coordinated network among various existing service providers, this model contributes to the effectiveness of the current services and provides continuity of care for children and families.
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: 
TOR-Community Social Work Intervention for prevention of child maltreatment - VA.docx
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
The consultant should possess the following qualifications:
- Advanced degree in social work or other related disciplines;
- Proven working experience in community social work, with focus on development and field implementation of community social work models;
- Proven expertise in working with vulnerable communities, especially in the context of Iran’s health system.
- Proven experience in designing and conducting research.
Interested individuals should submit a proposal for conducting the consultancy which includes:
- An overview of researcher’s understanding of the subject;
- A detailed methodology to conduct the study towards the objectives;
- Research limitations and mitigation measures;
- Ethical requirements and protocols;
- An interim workplan including the work breakdown structure and timeline;
- A financial offer containing the fee for services to be based on the deliverables in the terms of reference.
- Wherever applicable, the itemized cost of the travel needs to be provided.
- The financial offer should be in Iranian Rials.
This consultancy is intended for an Iranian national (Farsi speaking).
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
TECHNICAL CRITERIA:
Advanced degree in social work or other related disciplines = 10 Points Max
Proven working experience in community social work, with focus on development and field implementation of community social work models = 20 Points Max
Proven expertise in working with vulnerable communities, especially in the context of Iran’s health system = 15 Points Max
Proven experience in developing models/designing research = 10 Points Max
Technical Proposal. Technical Proposal = 25 Points Max
TOTAL SCORE: 80 Points Max (Minimum score for the technical criteria: 65)
Financial offer (Must be in Iranian Rials ONLY) = 20 Points Max
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
[add the 8th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role].
Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.
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 People with disability 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.