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, Protection

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

U-Report is UNICEF’s flagship digital engagement platform that aims to empower young people around the world to have their voices heard on issues that affect their lives. The platform actively fosters participation through polls, allowing users to share their opinions and experiences. Additionally, it provides lifesaving and protecting messages and relevant information across various topics, including education, mental health, climate change, among other issues.

U-Report welcomes members to join our steering group, bringing a new complement of 2 members. This term of reference covers a 9-month period commencing May 2026 and lasting until December 2026. The U-Report steering group serves to advance the achievement of the goals of U-Report, which is designed to empower youth to speak out on issues that impact their lives, encourage youth-led development, and create positive change.

 The steering group is to be sub-divided into five sub-groups, each representing one of five UNICEF ECARO outpost in Italy programs/main topics of interest:  

•  Protection  
•  Alternative care 
•  Intersectional Discrimination 
•  Quality Education (skills and job orientation) 

 Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing 

Scope of work

Under the supervision of UNICEF, Youth Consultants will advance the goals of U-Report, particularly in empowering youth to express their opinions on issues that affect their lives, promote youth-led development, and foster positive social change.

Overall, the steering group plays a role in shaping the platform’s activities to ensure it addresses youth priorities and fosters meaningful participation. As members of the steering group, the youth consultants will:

• Participate in monthly Steering Group meetings (online or face-to-face), actively contributing to discussions and ongoing activities.
• Engage regular check-ins with assigned UNICEF programme teams (e.g., Protection, Mental Health, Education) to stay updated, provide feedback, and contribute to programme development.
• Collaborate with UNICEF and Steering Group members to co-design U-Report polls, including identifying relevant topics and drafting questions aligned with youth priorities.
• Review U-Report poll results and contribute to discussions on key findings and potential programmatic recommendations.
• Support the development of digital content for social media platforms (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), including generating ideas and contributing to content creation.
• Promote U-Report within their networks and engage with youth groups and organizations to expand outreach, participation, and partnerships.
• Participate in relevant online and/or face-to-face events and fora, representing youth perspectives and contributing to discussions where appropriate.

- Work location: Home-based in Italy.

- Payment schedule: The consultant will be paid based on satisfactory and timely submission of deliverables.

- Duration: 26.6 days during 8 months from May 2026 to December 2026.

- Travel: The Consultant will be expected to travel within Italy.  The Consultant will be responsible for organizing their travel. Travel expenses (tickets, accommodation, public transport, meals) will be reimbursed. The maximum amount allocated for travel will be EUR 250.

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants/ Individual Contractors apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant is responsible for his/her for travel arrangements. The most economic and direct route is authorized.
• Travel costs will be reimbursed after the completion of mission upon submission of the invoice together with the supporting documentation.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSafe certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.
• Consultants are required to comply with locally applicable security measures, including obtaining security clearance from the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) prior to any official travel, including in instances, whereby travel is arranged by the consultant and no Travel Authorization is raised in system. If applicable, the consultant will also need to reserve accommodation in pre-approved hotels/guest houses only, as per local DSS security advisory.

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

• Secondary school certificate.
• Experience in collaborating with UNICEF ;
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and drive for results skills;
• Fluency in Italian essential (verbal and written);
• Own a mobile phone with reliable access to bandwidth sufficient to hold video calls;
• Between the age of 18-24;
• Resident of Italy;
• Contextual understanding of community issues specifically issues among youth with a migratory background.

Desirable skills & experience

• Basic background of working/volunteering in the community.

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.