Consultancy Pool: Child Rights and Business (CRB) Req. # 562944

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, LOVE

Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Consultancy Pool: Child Rights and Business (CRB)

Section/Division/Duty Station: Business Engagement and Child Rights (BECR), PGLT

Duration: 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026 – Remote/Home based.

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. Over 75 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

BACKGROUND

Given recent developments across the responsible business landscape, dedicated efforts to ensure that children’s rights are adequately embedded at all levels of government regulation and business frameworks are vital. Mutually compounding crises and the reversal of key child rights gains reinforce the need to mainstream the Child Rights and Business (CRB) agenda and deepen strategic engagements with governments and the private sector.

To his effect, UNICEF’s Business Engagement and Child Rights (BECR) team is seeking to build a roster of individual consultants to support the CRB agenda with research, content generation, knowledge management, guidance development, communication and outreach.

Working closely with different team members, the consultant(s) will provide support on key deliverables in the following areas:

• Child rights and business in the digital environment: as the boundary between children’s ‘online’ and ‘offline’ lives grows increasingly faint, there is an urgent need to ensure that online systems and tools are designed with respect for children’s rights built in from their inception. Core issues include children’s data protection and privacy; responsible digital marketing and advertising; child online safety; and broader approaches to embedding child rights in human right due diligence processes in relation to the digital environment.
• Gender-sensitive and inclusive family-friendly policies: employment policies regulating conditions of work not only affect workers but also their families. Enabling work environments that support the ability of caregivers to reconcile work and family responsibilities are critical, with profound impacts on social protection, gender and early childhood development, including nutrition, health and early learning.
• Responsible business approaches to child labour and systems strengthening: all businesses and employers, nationally and internationally, have a responsibility to respect children’s rights. This includes preventing and eliminating child labour they may cause, contribute to or be otherwise linked to. Addressing adverse human rights impacts which may contribute to child labour, such as lack of decent work and living wages for adults, is essential to discharging this responsibility.
• Just transitions: ‘Just transitions’ has become an increasingly visible framework for action by governments and business on climate change. Integrating children’s rights is essential if the objective of ensuring the transition from carbon-intensive production and consumption into a sustainable economy is to be ‘just’, leaving no one behind.
• Influencing laws, regulations and standards: shaping the systems that influence business behaviour – including legislation, governments policies and strategies, industry standards and investor practices – are essential levers that can drive business respect for child rights and address child rights deprivations.
• Finance and investors: investors play a potentially immense role in shaping and influencing corporate actions related to children’s rights. In an investor landscape of proliferating human rights and sustainability initiatives, however, children currently have too little prominence on the agenda.

Scope of Work:

The purpose of this announcement is to establish a pre-screened pool of expert consultants on Child Rights and Business (CRB). Experts screened from this solicitation process will be engaged for specific assignments linked to the following work areas:

Workstream 1: research, analysis, writing and coordination support (minimum 3 years’ experience)

• Prepare background research and written outputs such as background papers, concept notes, reports, qualitative evaluations, and case studies
• Design and conduct research for internal and external publication in relation to priority works streams (see above)
• Provide technical support for guidance and policy development, including the review and analysis of issues and trends, and keep track of emerging policy issues, including linkages to UNICEF programme priorities
• Lead on the development and authoring of tools and guidance for internal and external audiences in relation to priority works streams (see above)
• Provide technical support to headquarters, regional and country offices to strengthen cohesion and consistency in the application of CRB know-how and integration into programmes
• Provide substantive support to the organization of (and participation in) meetings and events at global, regional and country levels through research, content development and organizational support
• Lead on the development of concept notes and funding proposals

Workstream 2: outreach, engagement and advocacy (minimum 5 years’ experience)

• Provide support for the development of external advocacy messaging and material
• Provide support for the identification of advocacy opportunities at the global, regional and national levels and for the development of relevant advocacy strategies.
• Support engagement with key stakeholders (businesses, investors, industry platforms) to support the mainstreaming of child rights in relevant standards and frameworks (e.g., industry-specific, reporting, benchmarking)

Workstream 3: communication and knowledge management (minimum 3 years’ experience)

• Coordinate and support the development/expansion of knowledge management strategies, methodologies, and products.
• Support the development and independently manage the finalization of key deliverables (e.g., reports, multimedia assets) by liaising with internal stakeholders (e.g., headquarters, regional and country office, and National Committees) and external service providers
• Identify and synthesize ‘promising’ practices and lessons learned and contribute to their communication to technical, policy and lay audiences through a wide range of media.
• Support mapping and documenting promising practices at RO, CO and National Committee levels.
• Support the development and maintenance of CRB presence on internet and intranet sites, knowledge communities and working groups.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables/Deadlines

Milestones and deliverables indicated and elaborated above (Background and Scope of works) based on the need of the hiring offices.

By 30 June 2026

Qualifications

(1) Education

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in business administration, communication, international relations/political science, law, international development, human rights, or related field is required.
• Alternatively, a first level university degree (Bachelor’s) in combination with 2 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

*Minimum requirements to consider candidates for competitive process

(2) Work experience

• A minimum of 3-5 years of progressive experience (depending on work stream) on issues related to business and human rights, child rights, sustainability and/or the abovementioned key work areas is essential.

(3) Competencies

• Strong research, writing, communication and editing skills.
• Good understanding of UNICEF and/or UN system; familiarity with UNICEF is an asset.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.

*Listed requirements will be used for technical evaluation in the competitive process

Requirements:

–          Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11)

–          Upload copy of academic credentials

–          Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

–          At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

–          Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

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:  

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.