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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

The European Child Guarantee (ECG) is an EU-wide initiative designed to combat child poverty and social exclusion by ensuring that children in need have access to essential services. Established in 2021 through Council Recommendation 2021/1004, the ECG fundamentally guides key public policy and governance actions in the EU and across member states. The ECG aims to prevent and combat social exclusion of children in need by guaranteeing access to a set of key services, by combating child poverty, breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and fostering equal opportunities. The ECG focuses on children in vulnerable situations, such as those in poverty, with disabilities, with migrant or refugee backgrounds, in alternative, especially institutional, care and in precarious family situations. ECG focuses on five key areas for children’s well-being: early childhood education and care, education, healthcare, adequate nutrition, and housing. EU member states have advanced considerably since the adoption of the ECG.

The ECG is a transformative instrument, agreed across all EU member states and supported through an ESF+ earmark, that aims to reach the most marginalized and vulnerable children and equip them with interventions that will support them in becoming active, productive citizens. It is recommended that all Member States earmark an appropriate portion of their European Social Fund Plus allocation to address child poverty and social exclusion. Specifically, for those Member States where the rate of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion exceeds the EU average, this allocation should be no less than 5% of their national share of the European Social Fund Plus.

Between July 2020 and April 2023, the European Commission partnered with UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) to test how the ECG could be practically implemented and to provide recommendations for its successful design and execution across all EU member states. In collaboration with national and local governments in seven EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Spain) UNICEF demonstrated how the ECG could be operationalized to reach the most excluded and disadvantaged children.

UNICEF developed and tested a wide range of integrated and evidence-based and -informed models of services and interventions for the most disadvantaged groups of children within key CG services that can be scaled at national level and inform the national planning processes.

Throughout the pilot phase UNICEF carried out operational research (process evaluation) to learn from planning and programming experience in the 4 countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Italy), to generate key learning points. Research focused on seven key themes: planning, implementation, integrated working, monitoring and evaluation, participation, inclusion, and sustainability.

At the end of the pilot phase a final evaluation has been conducted to inform the next steps in supporting the ECG full implementation in EU member states. UNICEF continued to provide support to a number of countries in line with the recommendations of the final evaluation. UNICEF has played a pivotal role as a key partner in the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI). This instrument provides technical assistance to EU Member States to design and implement structural reforms. It succeeds the Structural Reform Support Programme (2017-2020) and is part of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and the Recovery Plan for Europe. The TSI enhances Member States’ administrative capacity to design, develop, and execute reforms. Through this initiative, UNICEF supports member states in critical areas such as child protection, child care, early childhood education, and mental health, among others.

The knowledge gained from working with national and local authorities is invaluable in advancing the ECG across the EU. The tools and models developed can be adapted to meet the unique contexts of each country, and the expertise garnered can ensure continued progress in ECG implementation.

UNICEF supports dissemination of ECG transformative power beyond the European Union by establishing the ECG Learning Hub. As the implementation of the ECG develops further, there has been a growing demand from pre-accession countries to understand the ECG and to explore what such a child guarantee might look like in their domestic environments. Countries such as Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Moldova and Türkiye are interested to pilot the ECG as a framework, not only to tackle child poverty but also to address the needs of the most vulnerable children and youth.

This work is directly linked to sector reforms these governments are committed to as part of their accession process. It is an important moment, therefore, to draw lessons from EU Member States, to improve policy implementation, promote knowledge transfer, and enhance a focus on child poverty and social exclusion in EU Member States and in pre-accession countries.

The UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (UNICEF ECARO) is proposing the creation of an ECG Learning Lab (ECG LL), which will serve as a centralized platform for knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, and cross-country collaboration. By facilitating learning, collaboration, and innovation, the ECG Learning Lab will play a pivotal role in ensuring the successful implementation of the ECG, not only in the EU but also in the Western Balkans, thereby promoting social inclusion and child well-being across the region. The ECG LL will offer both virtual and in-person support to help member states leverage regional expertise to achieve child-focused outcomes.

The ECG LL will:

• Systematize learning from local implementation efforts and integrated service reforms, focusing on inclusive education, early childhood education and care (ECEC), social services, and child protection.
• Review EU and national frameworks on integrated service delivery to inform regulatory improvements and practical guidelines.
• Document successful technical support partnerships in EU and accession countries.
• Expand partnerships with key stakeholders such as DG Employment, DG Reform, DG NEAR, EuroCities, and other networks.
• Strategically communicate ECG successes, challenges, and its role in addressing inequalities.
• Organize strategic meetings and roundtables to advance ECG implementation, focusing on inclusive education, early childhood development (ECD), and child protection, and to bridge agendas with pre-accession countries.
• Foster sustained policy dialogue and technical exchanges between Member States and Accession Countries.

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist and in collaboration with the focal point from the country offices and Croatia and Romania, the consultant will provide technical support to UNICEF ECARO in designing and implementing the ECG LL. The ECG LL aims to accelerate ECG implementation in 5 EU countries (Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Romania), advance preparations for ECG adoption in 7 accession countries (Albania, BiH, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Türkiye) and strengthen UNICEF positioning and technical leadership and convening role in relation to accompanying the governments in design, implementation and monitoring of the ECG National Action Plans.

Specific tasks for the consultancy will include:

1. Support ECARO and country offices (COs) in Croatia and Romania to design and put in place the ECG LL.
2. Support ECARO to document ECG implementation in EU and pre-accession countries.

Work Assignment Overview

Estimated Duration of the Contract

50 working days between February and December 2025.

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be home-based with no travels foreseen.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 50 working days to undertake this assignment.

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

• A relevant Master’s degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, social work, sociology, or another relevant social science field
• At least 5 years of experience in relevant fields
• Good knowledge of European Child Guarantee, and EU accession process
• Demonstrated experience of producing high-quality reports and other documents to specified deadlines
• Good analytical skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Fluency in English (oral and written)

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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:

Please include a full CV and a Cover Letter in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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.