Consultant – Early Interventions for Children with Disabilities. Req# 571496

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Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Consultant – Early Interventions for Children with Disabilities

Section/Division/Duty Station: Health Section – PG – NYHQ

Duration: 16 May 2024 – 30 April 2024

Home/ office Based: REMOTE

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. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection, and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, 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. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Under the Health Specialist – Child Development and Disabilities, NCDs and Injuries, the consultant will document phase 2 of the early identification and early interventions project in three countries (Bulgaria, Uganda and Peru), focusing on the research-evaluation of the service delivery model and pathways of care being piloted. The consultant will develop knowledge products such as peer reviewed publications documenting the evaluation of the pilot, and technical briefs and guidance documents which can be used by other regions and countries to implement the program in new settings.

Scope of Work:

The project involves the implementation of a 3-Tiered program for early identification, inclusion, and intervention of children with developmental delay and disability. In the first phase the (2018 to 2022, the first two Tiers including screening and community-based intervention and a Communication and Advocacy program for Behavioral and Social Change has been developed and implemented. In the second phase (2023 to 2025), the guidelines for the third Tier will first be developed by 5 international expert groups, thereafter, adapted and implemented in the three countries. When all components are in place, the effect of the entire programme on children, family and community level outcomes will be evaluated.

The consultant will be providing high level technical advice on early identification and interventions for children with disabilities and will be responsible for documentation and development of knowledge products for dissemination of key findings and lessons from the evaluation of the service delivery model being piloted in three countries (Bulgaria, Uganda, and Peru).

Specifically, the consultant is expected to:

1. With the country teams and project leads, develop a progress reports documenting the implementation of phase 2 of the project, including progress on key activities being implemented in the pilot countries (Bulgaria, Uganda and Peru);
2. Provide technical advise and inputs in the preparation of the research protocol for the evaluation of the model in the three countries, and the related applications for institutional and ethical review board approvals;
3. Develop knowledge products such as peer reviewed publications, technical briefs and guidance documents which can be used by other regions and countries to implement the program in new settings.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

• Documentation Report 1 on progress of implementation of Phase 2 of the project. – By 1 November 2024
• Documentation Report 2. – By 30 April 2025
• Draft research/evaluation protocols for each of the three countries (Bulgaria, Uganda, Peru), total of 3 draft protocols. – By 30 August 2024.
• Draft of the scoping review of developmental screening tools (format for peer review publication). – By 30 July 2024.
• Technical brief describing Tier 3 level interventions for Cerebral Palsy and Autism (based on the training materials that had been developed and including notes on implementation considerations). – By 30 October 2024
• Updated implementation guidance draft document, including implementation considerations of the tier 3 level interventions. – By 30 April 2025

Qualifications

Education:

An advanced master’s degree level.

 Enter Disciplines: Medical Doctor, Developmental Pediatrics, Child Development, Early Interventions, Advanced Degree in Medical Sciences or related fields

Work experience:

• 8 years of relevant work experience in child development and early interventions for children with disabilities

Competencies/Knowledge:

• Demonstrated Capacity to write research protocols and scientific papers in the field of early interventions.
• Demonstrated capacity to write  guidance documents or similar knowledge products in English

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and

• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include/ reflect:
  • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability.
• 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 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. Consultants 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.