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, support. 

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, an area comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria.  

All 14 Pacific Island countries and territories have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations. Explore the different areas of our work in the link provided here www.unicef.org/pacificislands.  

Background:  

UNICEF seeks to support local government actors and civil society to establish a sustainable multi-disciplinary and community-based Family Protection Programme in Pohnpei. UNICEF is proposing to tackle this issue through an evidence-based holistic family approach – one that works to break intergenerational cycles of violence and recognizes Pacific kinship and extended family care systems.

UNICEF is hiring a suitable Child Protection Gender Based Violence Specialist candidate to work in the UNICEF Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Office. The Consultant will be responsible for technical oversight and development of the new Micronesia Family Protection programme – which has an initial focus on Pohnpei. The new four-year funded programme will incorporate both prevention and responsive actions to family violence including service delivery and the creation of a Family Service Hub which facilitates survivors’ access to comprehensive support services. This programme will be established through UNICEF’s partnership with Pohnpei Women’s Council and the Department of Health and Social Affairs. The service hub will link survivors and families to services including health, legal, police domestic violence unit, justice, protection, and offer quality psychosocial support and counselling services. This service provision model will integrate GBV/CP crisis response and incorporate holistic solutions such as Family conferencing options.

A number of components of the program will take a multi-state / federal approach, these include Justice for children’s work and online safety activities. Where needed, technical expertise for such areas can be provided through the broader UNICEF team, with the consultant playing a coordination role.

OBJECTIVES/SCOPE OF WORK

The GBV and Child Protection Consultant will be responsible for providing high quality technical guidance to enhance GBV and Child Protection prevention and response in Pohnpei. The Consultant will work closely with civil society, the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, North Pacific, the FSM Department of Health and Social Affairs, the Pohnpei Department of Health and Social Services and UNFPA to ensure the Programme aligns with the implementation of the Pohnpei state Action Plan on Ending Violence against Women. This will include a preliminary contextual needs assessment. The consultant should be an experienced trainer and facilitator of GBV/Social work capacity building, multi sectoral frontline service delivery and GBV/CP referral pathways. The Consultant will work collaboratively with Pohnpei Department Health and Social Services, police, justice services, as well as key frontline service providers and CSOs, NGOs and faith-based organizations.

1. Provide technical support to strengthen family and domestic abuse service multi stakeholder provision to meet the needs of women and children.

• Contribute to the development, adaptation, review and rollout of training materials, guidelines, standard operating procedures, and other documents pertaining to GBV and CPiE in the local context.
• Support the provision of capacity-building for GBV/CP frontline workers and healthcare staff on GBV-related activities including case management, family conferencing approach, GBV minimum standards.
• Support the establishment and training of a parasocial work system for social welfare and health ministries in Pohnpei.
• Contribute to knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) assessment on social norms and beliefs towards women and girls in affected communities.
• Support partners and faith-based organisations to design and implement appropriate community-based interventions- including awareness sessions and trainings to address the harmful social norms that perpetuate GBV;
• Participate in and contribute to community engagement and mobilization activities against GBV.
• Work with existing coordination mechanisms to strengthen referrals between health, GBV and Child Protection providers in Pohnpei.
• Provide supervision for the case workers and identify a national social worker for shadowing and transferring supervision knowledge.

2. Support innovation and knowledge management through systematic collection of country programme experience, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

• Promote the inclusion of GBV, CPiE and PSEA into resource mobilization efforts, reports, proposals, ToRs, humanitarian appeal processes, advocacy materials and other relevant documents, as required.
• Provide technical support and guidance on the development and/or implementation of relevant UNICEF programming strategy documents, policy documents and advocacy to address need of women and children within the UNICEF Micronesia office.
• Prepare required programme materials and reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
• Coordinate technical support and interagency processes to establish minimum information management systems to track cases and enable case management.

3. Strengthen coordination, networking and partnership building on GBV and CP internally and at the inter-agency level.

• Facilitate GBV/CP technical program discussions and coordination meetings, planning with stakeholders, partners, Government counterparts and UN entities in Pohnpei.
• Represent UNICEF in coordination forums at Pacific, national and state level, including Protection & CP/ GBV sub-cluster, UN PSEA Network, and other relevant interagency meetings.
• Coordinate closely with the UNICEF Pacific PSEA & GBV Specialist and UNICEF Micronesia PSEA Focal Point on monitoring SEA reports of UN programmes/partners and the strengthening of safe and accessible reporting channels in Micronesia. Including integrating PSEA awareness in regular GBV prevention and response activities and capacity building opportunities.
• Liaise with UNICEF Child Protection section and other sections such as WASH, Health, Education, Nutrition, to ensure GBV prevention and response is increasingly addressed as a cross-cutting issue, in line with the IASC GBV Guidelines, and is monitored accordingly.
• Support UNICEF Micronesia Office in building and sustaining close working partnerships with government counterparts at state and national level, through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation.

Please refer to the ToR ( TOR - GBV-Child Protection Consultant -FSM.pdf) for further information on the deliverables and the timelines. 

GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS   

Please submit a separate financial offer along with your application. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables and should show a break down for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference above.
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment and field mission travel
• Living allowance where travel is required.
• Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.

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

EDUCATION 

• Advanced university degree or equivalent Social Work, Gender, Psychology, social sciences, community development or other relevant field related to GBV.
• A first-level university degree with relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree plus an additional 10 years of experience.

EXPERIENCE

• A minimum of 8 years of experience in Social Work, case management, GBV programming, child protection and service delivery, family violence/domestic abuse service provision. experience with either the UN and/or NGO in GBV is an asset.
• A background that includes direct experience in providing services to women, children and families will be highly regarded.
• Strong understanding of GBV, child protection, case management systems, social welfare systems, family conferencing approach, alternative care solutions, counselling, GBV Service provision, One Stop Centre (OSC) model
• Strong understanding of approaches, practices and applications of GBViE Minimum Standards and IASC GBV guidelines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to effectively liaise with people in a wide range of functions in a multi-cultural environment.
• Proven experience of planning and facilitating trainings, workshops and other capacity building modalities.
• Ability to work independently and productively, with multiple stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work productively in a team environment and independently, and to handle requests or issues as they arise.
• Ability to collect, collate and analyze data in an effective manner and strong writing skills.
• Work experience in the Pacific or small island developing states is an advantage.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES 

• Analytical skills
• Facilitation/training
• Ability to persuade, influence, negotiate, advocate
• Inter-personal skills, relating with people, team work, networking, group work skills.
• Adaptability, flexibility, cultural sensitivity, tact, diplomacy, patience, respectful attitude
• Communication skills, both speaking and writing; in particular, ability to communicate technical concepts.
• knowledge and skills in a clear, simple and jargon-free language; ability to present information in a well-structured, logical manner.

LANGUAGE

• Excellent analytical, communication, writing and editorial skills in English

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 

Remarks:   

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.  

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.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.