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. 

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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, advocacy.

For every child, inclusivity

Background: 

For more than 70 years, UNICEF has been operating in Türkiye, and we have witnessed remarkable progress, especially in the area of maternal and child health. Still, gaps and inequalities remain and UNICEF continues to support systemic reforms in education, social and child protection and justice, through the provision of technical assistance to improve access and quality of services as well as ‘modeling’ of service delivery at both central and local level, especially for the most vulnerable children and young people.

In light of the constrained and shrinking funding landscape, the efficient and effective management of donor-supported programmes is critical to be able to retain forged partnerships whilst also expanding new partnerships with the private sector.

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of this individual part-time national consultancy is to support the Partnership Unit coordinate with internal UNICEF colleagues and other key stakeholders to support the preparation for periodic donor meetings for a multi-sectoral donor funded programme as well as support the development of investment cases to further expand new partnerships. The tasks include: 1) support the preparation for the donor-organized programme meetings; 2) support the preparation and execution of the UNICEF-led Programme Steering Committees; and 3) support the private sector partnerships.

Tasks:

The individual part-time national consultancy will support Partnerships Unit in three areas:

1. Support the preparation for the donor-organized annual Programme meetings

The donor will organize two coordination meetings with key stakeholders (including the programme implementing partners, UNICEF, and other key government entities). For these meetings, the consultant will prepare one briefing note per meeting for the UNICEF participant/s, take one meeting minutes per meeting, and provide coordination support for one presentation per meeting.

2. Support the preparation and execution of the UNICEF-led Programme Steering Committee.

While UNICEF will be submitting the programme progress report every 6 months (June and December), UNICEF will be organizing a Steering Committee meeting every September and March to provide interim updates against the target through presentation. The steering committee will be attended by the donor, UNICEF and government partners including Presidency of Migration Management, Ministry of National Education (MoNE), Ministry of Family and Social Services (MoFSS), and Ministry of Health (MoH) to ensure all the key stakeholders are on the same page in terms of the achievements and the directions forward.

To this end, the consultant will:

• Prepare an agenda for each Steering Committee meeting.
• Prepare invitation letters to expected participants.
• Prepare a PPT presentation that summarizes the achievements of the programme in collaboration with sections.
• Deliver a written summary of key discussion points and decisions from the meetings, based on participation in the sessions.
• Document the action points agreed during the meeting, including responsible parties and indicative timelines, based on the meeting discussion
• Follow up on action points with the responsible persons and report back the progress to the Partnerships Specialist

To achieve this, UNICEF Türkiye seeks to engage a consultancy (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultancy Company”) to:

• Develop minimum standards for foster care system
• Develop self-assessment system for foster care system
• Develop monitoring handbook for foster care system including emergency foster care system
• Develop recommendations for MoFSS ABS data collection system.

3. Support the expansion of private sector partnerships

UNICEF Türkiye works with a wide range of private sector actors to mobilize resources and leverage their expertise to protect and promote children’s rights. To this end, UNCIEF Türkiye has established a Business Advisory Board (BAB) comprising key private companies and associations, to further accelerate the private sector partnerships. The BAB members gather every 6 months to discuss solutions to emerging social issues that pertain both the business world and children’s rights. The consultant will provide support to the Partnerships Unit in preparing for the next BAB meeting in September. The detailed tasks for the preparation include setting an agenda in consultation with programme sections and senior management, prepare talking points for senior management, and support programme sections in preparing presentations.

In addition, the consultant will develop 7 investment cases as well as 1 summary of all the investment cases as a ‘menu of options’ that highlight programme priorities in line with the new programme strategy starting from 2026. These investment cases will help Partnerships Unit reach out to new private sector partners with concrete investment areas that they can support.  

*Delivery dates are tentative. Detailed time plan is required together with the technical proposal.

Duty Station: This consultancy is home based in principle, but the consultant needs to be in Ankara for the key meetings with the donor mentioned in the above deliverables.

Supervisor: Partnerships Specialist, P3

Estimated Duration and Cost of Consultancy:

Duration: The contract shall commence on the date of signing and remain in effect until the successful submission of all deliverables. The consultancy is expected to require a total of 90 working days, which will be scheduled during the initial phase of the assignment. The consultancy period will span from 1 August 2025 to 30 April, 2026.

Estimated Cost of Consultancy:

a. Applications shall include a detailed financial proposal that elaborates on daily costs based on the completion of above-mentioned deliverables, including a total sum demanded. All costs, including travel, accommodation, administrative tools, communications, etc. shall be covered by the consultant in line with their daily fee.

b. The candidate is required to specify their daily rates and the total amount as per the number of anticipated working days for each deliverable in the financial proposal in TRY.

c. Payment: UNICEF will issue a contract in TRY. The payment will be done in instalments upon submission of the deliverables as per the above list and will be executed in TRY.

d. Payment Schedule: UNICEF will issue a contract in Turkish Lira (TRY). The payments will be made according to the payment schedule noted in the financial proposal template, upon UNICEF's approval of requested outputs as specified in the contract (please see financial proposal template).

Reservations:  UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract without a prior notice and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the project partners are not followed, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. 

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

Qualifications:  

• A university degree is required in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, international development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: programme management, resource mobilization, external relations, donor relations or other relevant areas.
• A minimum of three years of experience in working in the UN organizations.
• An experience and knowledge in refugee related projects or programmes are asset.
• Fluency in English and Turkish is required.

Skills and personal traits:  

• Diplomatic communication and negotiation skills to establish and maintain trusted partnerships for achievement of objectives and to develop close and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Current knowledge of development issues, strategies, as well as programming policies and procedures in international development cooperation.
• In-depth knowledge of partnership development, resource mobilization and budget monitoring
• Excellent communications skills, verbal and written in English and Turkish.
• In-depth familiarity with political and governmental processes is an asset.

Application and Selection Criteria

Please note that the assignment can only be held by an individual consultant. Applications should be submitted in English and should include: 

• Financial proposal using the Financial Proposal Template,  Financial Offer template_Partnerships Consultant (Project Coordination Support).docx
• Most recent CV

Financial proposals should be submitted in separate folders from the remaining documentation. After the technical evaluation, the financial proposals of qualified candidates will be evaluated. The technical evaluation will be completed based on the attached technical evaluation criteria.

The applications will be evaluated from the technical and financial point of view. Technical aspects will be evaluated using the criteria outlined in the below matrix: 

Technical evaluation:

The financial proposals will be open only for the candidates that reach or exceed forty-nine (49) points out of maximum seventy (70) points. Thirty (30) points will be awarded to the candidate that presented the lowest fee for the services requested. The remaining financial offers will receive proportional points ([lowest bid/bid] x 30 points).

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.