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Viet Nam, as a lower middle-income country since 2010, is at critical juncture in its development journey, especially under the New Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework which provides a strengthened partnership platform for supporting Vietnam’s efforts towards achieving key national priorities. While child abuse and violence against girls and boys in Viet Nam are wide-spread, child protection system is still in its early development with very limited workforce and child protection services. UNICEF has been supporting the development of social work and child protection system, including via upstream advocacy and technical assistance to eliminate barriers and bottlenecks across sectors including in protection sector.

Emergency context

Since 6 September 2024, the Northen Mountain region of Viet Nam has been hit by the third storm number 3 - Typhoon Yagi. This is the strongest storm that hit Viet Nam in the last 30 years, which brought unprecedented heavy rains resulting in landslides and cascading floods. The Viet Nam Disaster Management Authority (VDMA) recorded that the Typhoon Yagi had killed 318 people, 26 people missing and destroyed hundred thousand of homes across north of country as of 28 September 2024. The Government of Viet Nam released a call for emergency relief and support.

On 16 September, the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) was activated by the Resident Coordinator, with an overall Protection sector (led by UN Women) inclusive of Child Protection Area of Responsibility (AoR) led by UNICEF and GBV AoR led by UNFPA. A Joint Response Plan was drawn up, inclusive of a Protection Sector plan targeting 146,000 people in need and identifying a set of priority responses across 2 phases: 1) 0-3 months immediate response activities and 2) up to 9 months – Transition to early recovery. 

The Child Protection in Emergency (CPIE) working group works towards supporting government (Ministry on Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Ministry of Education and Training, and affected provinces’ capacity to:

1)  provide efficient and timely humanitarian assistance for protection of girls and boys, and women from neglect, abuse, violence and exploitation, and promote children’s psychosocial well-being;  

2) ensure child protection and prevention of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) are included in all related sectors as an essential aspect of emergency response; 

3) identify needs and fill critical gaps; and

4) help improving child protection system to deliver quality and accountability of the collective response.

CPIE Working Group includes MOLISA, UNICEF, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, Child Fund, Plan International,  and World Vision.

UNICEF works to support, advise and advocate with all relevant agencies for timely and standardized and harmonized prevention and response activities to protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect, to establish links with and strengthen national Child Protection systems, and to promote actions that place children at the centre of the response.

In emergency relief and recovery efforts, building the capacity of local child protection workers is crucial to ensuring the effective protection of vulnerable children from the heightened risks of violence in the aftermath of the typhoon. These workers are on the front lines, directly engaging with children and families affected by crises, making it essential for them to be well-equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for gender-responsive child protection, case management, and referral processes. Building capacity for frontline workers on child protection, case management and referrals in emergency is an essential child protection intervention as part of the Joint Response Plan. It is also a key child protection intervention under the proposed UNICEF provincial emergencies Project Documents that are currently under-developed with the four provinces most affected by the typhoon, including Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Yen Bai, and Cao Bang.

Strengthening their capacity enables timely identification of child protection concerns, appropriate referrals to critical services, and comprehensive case management to support children’s recovery and resilience. Investing in the training and development of local workers ensures effective response as well as sustainability of child protection efforts and enhances the community’s ability to respond to future emergencies.

Child protection system strengthening

More broadly, Viet Nam is facing challenges in providing multi-sectoral child protection services and establishing professional workforce for child protection in welfare, education, and health sectors. There are no professional competency standards of child protection workers to provide and monitor the quality of service delivery. The sensitive and complicated issues of child abuse and violence are largely addressed by para-professional and untrained workers at the commune level. In addition, Viet Nam lacks an effective inter-sectoral mechanism to coordinate professionals in relevant sectors in handling a child protection case.

As part of the wider effort in strengthening the child protection system, UNICEF has advocated for and supported the government to strengthen the child protection workforce and promote the development of multi-sectoral child protection services, contributing to the implementation of National Programme on Prevention and Control of Violence Against Children, 2020-2025. UNICEF gives priority for improvement of child protection services and enhancing child protection workforce in the social welfare, health, and education sectors and mass organizations. The support is focused on the development of national policies, standards and inter-sectoral and sectoral mechanisms in handling VAC cases, and capacity development of social service workforce for child protection, and social work development to provide quality integrated child protection services both in and out of emergency contexts.

Within the above context, dedicated technical support is required to ensure effective coordination of child protection in emergency activities, enhanced capacity of local child protection workers to provide  case management and referrals of children to relevant services under the UN Joint Response Plan and UNICEF Response Plan, as well as to provide technical support to foster sustainable child protection systems. The consultancy is required for a period of 20 months, from November, 2024 to June 2026.

How can you make a difference? 

Task 1: Providing coordination support to ensure a coordinated quality CP response and timely service delivery, in alignment with the Joint Response Plan; coordinate CP situation and response monitoring, including ensuring CP updates are integrated in the Joint Response Plan regular Sitreps, and adequate mechanisms are in place for children and caregivers’ participation in identifying and reporting child protection needs and concerns; analyse capacity and gaps in CP preparedness, prevention and response and coordinate joint capacity building planning and roll-out on CPiE, mental health and psycho social support (MHPSS), Gender based violence (GBV) risk mitigation with a view to strengthen CP system.

Task 2: Development of training materials, delivering trainings on child protection and case management, and provide coaching for local social welfare staff/social workers, frontline child protection workers/social work collaborators  and Child Protection committees in provinces most affected by Typhoon Yagi, namely Cao bang, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, and Yen Bai.

 

Part 2. Child Protection System Strengthening

Technical support to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), Ministry of Education (MOET), Ministry of Health (MOH) and selected mass organizations/NGOs in strengthening the sectoral and inter-sectoral interventions and institutional capacity in providing child protection services and social work development.

Task 3. Provide technical advice and inputs to MOLISA and selected DOLISAs to develop national policy, guidelines, manuals, training materials, protocols, and enhance capacity in delivering integrated child protection services and child protection information management system.

Task 4. Provide technical advice and support to the Ministry of Education and Training to develop professional and service standards, technical guidelines, training materials and policies and sub-laws, for the implementation of child protection, counselling, and social work services in school systems.

Task 5.  Provide technical advice and support to the Ministry of Health, to develop service standards, technical guidelines, training materials, policies and sub-laws for the implementation of child protection and social work services in hospitals and health system.  Provide support to selected hospitals and international consultant(s) to develop the models of child protection unit/committees in hospitals, including technical advice and contributions for the development of the national guideline, training manuals, and development of proposals on establishment of child protection units/committees in selected hospitals in Viet Nam.

Task 6. Provide technical advice and support to the Viet Nam Women’s Union (VWU) to develop professional and service standards, technical guidelines, training materials and policies for providing child protection and social work services for women and children.

Task 7. Provide technical advice to line ministries in the development of relevant child protection policies, standards and guidelines for the implementation of the National Programme on Prevention and Control of VAC, 2021-2025, Child Protection related component in the National Plan of Action (NPA) for Children, 2021-2030 and related national policies.

Task 8.  Provide technical advice and inputs to MOLISA for the implementation of the National Programme on Social Work Development, 2021-2030, Decree on Social Work and related policies, including development of  the related circulars, guidelines and standards on social work profession and practice, and training programmes for the social service workforce.

The consultant is expected to work in the office at the One UN office for meetings, discussions, consultations as needed, and home-based basis in Ha Noi, with regular visit to conduct field trips to the project provinces, including but not limited to Cao Bang, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, and Yen Bai.

Methodology

The Consultant will be supervised by a Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF Viet Nam. The Chief of Child Protection will provide the overall leadership and guidance to the consultant. The Consultant will work on a regular basis with relevant UNICEF Sections, UN Agencies, as well partners in the Protection Sector and Child Protection Sector Working Group.

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

-  Advanced degree in social studies (including social work, child welfare/child protection, international development or a related field).

- Minimum of 10 years practical experience in child protection programming, and experience in leading/coordinating inter-agency processes.

- Solid experience in strengthening the child protection workforce, including case management capacity building.

- Experience in working with international NGOs/UN Agencies an asset (experience in effectively dealing with international staff, government officials and other NGOs staff and ability to work with a broad spectrum of people).

- Experience in child protection in emergency and setting up and maintaining information management systems an asset.

- Fluency in English and VietNamese.

The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview if needed.

Evaluation Criteria

A) Technical Evaluation (e.g. maximum 75 Points)               

- Educational background: 20

- Relevant work experience: 55

• Minimum of 10 years practical experience in child protection programming, and experience in leading/coordinating inter-agency processes . (15 points)
• Solid experience in strengthening the child protection workforce, including case management capacity building. (20 points)
• Experience in effectively working with international staff, government officials and other NGOs staff and ability to work with a broad spectrum of people). (10 points)
• Experience in child protection in emergency and setting up and maintaining information management systems an asset. (5 points)
• Fluency in English and VietNamese (5 points)

B) Financial Proposal (e.g. maximum of 25 Points)

The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened /evaluated and compared among technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 50-point score in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview if needed.

Details can be found here:  TOR-CPiE-coordination-CPSS 24 Oct FINAL.docx

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. 

Submission of applications

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to the assigned requisition in UNICEF Vacancies: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

1. Letter of interest and confirmation of availability;
2. Technical proposal which clearly explains the outline on how to deliver the tasks and deliverables (preferably less than 5 pages);
3. Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
4. Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including consultancy fee, travel and accommodation cost for this assignment as per work assignment.
5. CV

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

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.

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.