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For every child, the right to an advocate

In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children's rights in partnership with the government, civil society, children, and families.  UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally - click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/

Background:

The National Social Register (NSR) of Poor and Vulnerable Households (NSR-PVHHs) is a key pillar of Nigeria’s social protection system. Established in 2017 under the National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP) with the World Bank support and managed by the National Social Safety-Net Coordination Office (NASSCO) under the coordination of the National Social Investment Agency (NSIPA), NSR was first envisioned to support the operations of the National Cash Transfer Programme (NCTP). The NSR now is positioned as a unified database to identify potential beneficiaries for social protection programmes in Nigeria, and it plays a central role in Nigeria’s strategy to extend social protection to its poorest and most vulnerable populations.

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose Of the Assignment:

Coverage of the NSR has grown steadily in recent years. As of January 2026, it contains information on 71.48 million individuals, in 19.88 million households, across 312,273 communities in 772 of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria with some levels of exclusion (poor people not in the NSR) and inclusion (non-poor in the NSR) errors. This amounts to roughly 30 per cent of the total population (232,679,478 million in 2024 ). As data suggests, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for the rapid expansion of the NSR. In recent years, the focus has been the recertification of the existing data and NIN integration, to enable the continuation of NCTO operations, which has slowed the rhythm of new household registration.

Despite the progress achieved so far, strategic, operational and technical challenges limit the NSR’s potentials as a government-wide, agnostic tool for social protection. A critical obstacle at the moment is the crisis of trust in the credibility of NSR data. This stems largely from the transition between political administrations, with new officials viewing the NSR as a "legacy system" rather than a neutral government tool. Severe data obsolescence, caused by missed update cycles and system rigidity for new registration further compound the challenges. Moreover, a lack of automation for critical operational processes, including analytics, and limited scope for automated integration with other administrative datasets in the short term, add a layer of technical complexity.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will work in close coordination with UNICEF EU SUSI project team and implementing partners to advance the following objectives

• Position the NSR as the entry point to health, nutrition, education, and social services through structured referral linkages

• Increase the relevance and uptake of NSR data across government and development partners for targeting, programming, and sector planning.

More specifically, the consultant is expected to implement

• Conduct mapping of state social protection programs and essential social services for children in 4 target states implementing multidimensional model of the NSR

•Document eligibility and enrolment of child sensitive programs and services

•Identify referral pathways and linkages between the NSR/SSR enumeration activities and state social services for children without NIN/birth registration, out – of school children, and pregnant and lactating women and children aged 0-5 years

•Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) and tools for structured referrals of PVHHs registered in NSR

• Provide capacity building for state government stakeholders on service referrals

Work Assignment/Overview

Tasks/Milestone

1. Develop Inception and methodological framework

• Review key documents on NSR, SUSI project, and multidimensional expansion model.
• Hold online consultations with UNICEF, NASSCO and key stakeholders at state level.
• Develop methodology and work plan

Deliverables/Output:

• Inception Report including:
• Detailed methodology for service mapping and referral pathway analysis.
• Work plan and timeline for the assignment.
• Data collection tools and mapping framework

 

2.Conduct Mapping of social protection programmes and essential social services.

•  Conduct desk review and field consultations in Abia, Benue, Oyo, and Sokoto.
• Map social protection programmes and child-related services (health, education, nutrition, birth registration, social protection).
• Document programme objectives, eligibility criteria, enrolment processes, and institutional responsibilities.

Deliverables/Output:

State Social Service Mapping Report covering:
• Inventory of child-sensitive programmes and services in the four states
• Eligibility and enrolment procedures
• Institutional responsibilities and service coverage
• Service gaps affecting poor and vulnerable households

3. Identify referral pathways and service linkages

• Analyse opportunities to link NSR/SSR enumeration/data utilisation with key social services.
•  Identify referral pathways for priority groups:

-Children without birth registration/NIN

– Out-of-school children

– Pregnant and lactating women

– Children aged 0–23 months.

•  Develop standardized procedures for service referrals from NSR/SSR enumeration and for data utilisation.
• Design operational tools and templates for referral management and data utilization.

Deliverables/Outputs: 

• Referral Pathways Framework and SOPs including:
• Institutional roles and coordination mechanisms.
• Flowcharts for referral processes.
• Referral forms and operational templates.
• Guidance notes for government stakeholders

4.Conduct Capacity building and validation workshops

• Facilitate training sessions for relevant government stakeholders in the four target states on data utilization and referrals.
•  Support validation of referral tools and SOPs.

Deliverables/Outputs: 

• Training and Validation workshops:
• Training materials and presentations.
• 4 Workshops conducted for state stakeholders
• 4 Finalized referral SOPs incorporating feedback

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  ToR_Interntional_referrals and linkages Consultant Abuja Nigeria.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social Policy, Public Policy, Public Administration, Development Studies, Economics, Sociology, or a related field.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Minimum 8of relevant professional experience in social protection, child protection, social services, or social policy programming.

Strong understanding of social protection systems and child-sensitive social policy, including linkages with health, nutrition, education, and civil registration services.

Familiarity with social registry systems, household enumeration processes, and poverty targeting mechanisms.

Knowledge of interoperability and integration of administrative systems across social sectors.

Strong analytical skills for mapping programmes, identifying service gaps, and designing referral pathways.

Ability to translate technical analysis into practical operational tools and guidance for government implementation.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

UNICEF is also proud of a diverse workforce who are profoundly committed to supporting the full realization of children’s rights, and in uplifting a rights-based approach in all that we do.

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  

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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 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.

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.