Latest Vacancies at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 9th August, 2018
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - 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.
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.
We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:
Job Title: National Consultant on Health Sector Response to Violence Against Children
Job Number: 515314
Location: Abuja
Work Type: Consultancy
The duration of this consultancy: 6 months
Purpose of Assignment
- Under the overall guidance of the Child Protection Chief, the national consultant will contribute to the design and integration of child protection programme on ending violence against children in the Health setting to existing health Programmes, Polices and guideline to contribute to the prevention and response of violence against children in the health sector.
Background
Children have a right to be free from all forms of abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. In recent years, the global community has increasingly recognized that (i) the number of children experiencing abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect is significant, and is rising in some areas (ii) efforts to address child protection issues have been poorly coordinated and resourced, with a focus on stand-alone/single issue based projects (such as on sexual exploitation, child trafficking, street children, child labour etc. with limited sustainability; and (iii) children face multiple risks - abuse can be combined with exploitation and/or abandonment, for example, yet many programs are designed to address a single risk.
To corroborate this, the findings of the 2014 VAC Survey highlighted shocking statistics on the various forms of violence children face in Nigeria. Key highlights indicate that before the age of 18 years, 6 out 10 children experience some form of violence; 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys experience sexual violence and majority of the children reported multiple incidents.
The survey further reveals that children are not speaking out or seeking or receiving services. i.e. less than 6% of children who experience sexual or physical violence sought help and less that 5% of those who sought help receive help. These Statistics indicated that very few children knew where to seek help after suffering violence (15.6% of girls and 26.1% of boys who experienced sexual abuse in the last 12 months) and a low percentage of children reported their experiences (5.2% girls and 3.4 boys). It is also distressing to note that out of the few children that reported only 4.2% girls and 3.4% boys received any help. Violence Against Children including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, including sexual assault or rape of children and adolescents is a major global public health problem, a violation of human rights and has many health consequences in the short and long term.
The physical, sexual, reproductive health and mental health consequences of such abuse are wide ranging and need to be addressed. Data from several settings show that children are disproportionately represented among the cases of sexual abuse that are brought to the attention of health care providers. Health services in many instances are slow to recognize violence against children, lack staff trained on identifying and responding to violence against children, have limited resources and seldom consider violence against children as health problem, are reluctant to talk about it and may not know how to help.
The consultant will be responsible for the implementation of the following tasks:
- Conduct literature reviews of both qualitative and quantitative studies to identify values and preferences to inform good practices and guiding principles
- Stakeholders consultation to review existing health policies and inform policy recommendations for the integration of child protection issues and health sector response to VAC
- Develop and validate national guidelines and protocols for the health sector response child victim/survivors of violence, consistent with international human rights standards and WHO guidelines
- Develop, validate and finalize pocket books with messages on VAC, guiding principles for front line health care providers (general practitioners, nurses, paediatricians, gynaecologists etc.)
- Develop guidelines and implementation strategy for sustained capacity building of health care providers (1) training of health care providers on VAC and child friendly/sensitive health care (2) Integration of training on child protection in pre-and in -service curriculum for all health professionals
- Develop strategy for strengthening routine reporting and documentation of violence against children and final report
End Product
- Inception and literation review report documenting good practices and guiding principles for delivery of clinical care for child victims/survivors of violence
- National guidelines and protocols for health sector response to VAC and safe guarding policy
- Pocket books with messages on child protection and VAC including guiding principles for front line health care providers (general practitioners, nurses, paediatricians, gynaecologists etc.) and short messages on health sector response to VAC for different categories of health care providers
- Guideline and implementation strategy for sustained capacity building and training material /pre and in-service curriculum on CP and VAC for health care providers
- Mandatory reporting policy and protocol for health facilities and health care providers and a roadmap for operationalizing the protocol including tools and guidelines for reporting, tracking, referral and response on violence against children
Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required
- Advanced university degree in Medicine, Health promotion/child psychology or related field (masters or equivalent)
- A minimum of eight years of relevant professional work experience with projects related to child protection in the education section
- Experience in the field child psychology and clinical care of children
- Experience in the field of child protection system strengthening is an asset
- Excellent planning and organizational skills
- Strong communication skills - both oral and written
- Experience with UNICEF is desirable
- Fluency in written and spoken English
- Experience working with government desirable
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply
Job Title: National Consultant - Justice for Children
Job Number: 515302
Locations: Abuja? Nigeria
Work Type: Consultancy
Duration: 6 months
Purpose of Assignment
- Under the guidance of Chief of Child Protection and direct supervision of the End Violence Against Children/System Strengthening manager, the consultant will contribute to the implementation of UNICEF Nigeria Justice for Children programme and 2018-2019 Rolling Work Plan.
Tasks
- Provide technical assistance for the development of Family Court Rules at Federal and state levels (Cross River, Lagos and Plateau)
- Provide technical assistance to strengthen capacity of prosecutors at Federal and state levels (Cross River, Gombe, Lagos and Plateau)
- Provide technical assistance to strengthen capacity of legal aid providers at Federal and state levels (Cross River, Gombe, Lagos and Plateau)
- Provide technical assistance to strengthen capacity of the judiciary
- Provide technical support to amend the CRL and for the enactment of secondary legislation to the CRL for Lagos, Cross River and Plateau
- Advocate for the adoption of police guidelines and SOPs at Federal and state levels (Cross River, Gombe, Lagos and Plateau)
- Provide technical assistance and advocacy for the development of prosecution guidelines Federal and state level (Cross River, Lagos and Plateau)
- Provide technical assistance for the development of legal aid guidelines for children in contact with the law at Federal and state levels (Cross River, Lagos and Plateau)
Deliverables
First month deliverables:
- Consultancy work plan and August plan developed
- Signature of institutional contract for the strengthening of legal frameworks
- High level advocacy conducted with Police Inspector General for adoption of SOP and harmonized guidelines
- NPF bidding process for renovation of police units finalized
- TOR developed and DCT processed for Lagos legal aid programme
- Advocacy conducted for adoption of prosecution guidelines conducted in 1 state
- Monitoring visit report submitted
- Monthly report submitted and September work plan
Second month deliverables:
- ToT on legal aid completed in Abuja
- Family court personnel trained on adjudication of children's cases in Plateau
- Monitoring visit report submitted
- Monthly report submitted and October work plan
- Advocacy conducted for adoption of legal aid guidelines in 1 state
- NPF renovation of police units work monitored by UNICEF quality assurance team
- Consultations on Child Protection regulations conducted in Lagos and Cross River
- Consultations on family court rules held in Lagos and Cross River
Third month deliverables:
- Working tools printed and delivered to focus states
- Training on legal aid conducted in Lagos and Cross River
- Draft family court rules submitted to chief judge for approval in 1 state
- Monitoring visit report submitted
- Monthly report submitted and November work plan
Forth month deliverables:
- Consultations on Child Protection regulations held in Plateau
- Family court personnel trained on adjudication of children's cases in Cross River
- Monitoring visit report submitted
- Monthly report submitted and December work plan
Fifth month deliverables:
- Training for prosecutors in Lagos and Plateau conducted
- Training for legal aid providers in Gombe and Plateau conducted
- Documentation of diversion programme initiated
- Monitoring visit report submitted
Sixth month deliverable:
- Family court personnel trained on adjudication of children's cases in Lagos
- Assessment report on pilot of police SOPs and harmonized guidelines for specialized units and recommendations by January 2018
- Final consultancy report by January 2018
Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required
- University degree in Law (Masters or equivalent level)
- Five years experience of relevant professional work experience on child rights, child protection and justice for children
- Familiarity with the systems strengthening approach to child protection
- Experience working with UNICEF is considered and asset
- Good knowledge of international standards related to justice for children
- Experience of project management
- experience supporting government to apply international standards in the justice sector
- Excellent planning and organizational skills
- Excellent communication and advocacy skills - both oral and written
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply
Application Deadline 23rd August, 2018.
Note
- Applicants should quote an all inclusive fee
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.