Current vacancies

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, Results

UNICEF works to protect the rights of every child in Sri Lanka. Our goal is to ensure that all of our children survive, thrive and fulfill their vast potential. For more information about UNICEF Sri Lanka and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org/srilanka

 

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose and Background:

Under the supervision of the Chief of Child Protection, the Consultant will provide support to the Child Protection programme in the UNICEF Sri Lanka Country Office to strengthen the child rights monitoring bodies in Sri Lanka. The consultant will work with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka – Child Rights Unit (HRCSL) and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) – two entities with child rights monitoring functions. The overarching purpose of the consultancy is to work with the UNICEF team and relevant partners on principles, guidelines and practical operational procedures, enabling (a) the Child Rights Unit of HRCSL to monitor children’s rights within the mandate of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No. 21 of 1996 and (b) the NCPA to carry out its primary mandate of monitoring Violence against Children in a coordinated manner.

 

Specifically, the consultant will lead the following technical support areas:

-           Supporting HRCSL and NCPA for the identification of respective priorities for child rights and violence against children monitoring, in consultation with key stakeholders as necessary;  

-           Supporting HRCSL and NCPA develop monitoring frameworks, annual monitoring plans and enhance the quality of their reports;

-           Supporting HRCSL and NCPA coordinate their mandates and communicate on their respective monitoring plans;

-           Building capacity of HRCSL to monitor the violations of children’s rights and NCPA to monitor violence against children, care facilities and other relevant spaces; and

-           Supporting the UNICEF team to identify and legal gaps or systemic improvements that are necessary for the Child Rights Unit of HRCSL and NCPA and to deliver on their monitoring functions.

 

The consultancy will play a critical role in implementing UNICEF Sri Lanka’s ongoing initiatives, bringing high level technical expertise and knowledge to UNICEF’s engagement with these two independent authorities, government, children, communities, and CSOs. The consultancy will also support in bringing together various efforts of the Child Protection Section related to VAC monitoring and independent monitoring of children’s rights and will help with the identification of additional areas of potential programming. Thus, the consultancy will help the UNICEF Sri Lanka Child Protection team to expand its initiatives related to ‘engaging with human rights mechanisms to support the monitoring of and accountability for Child Protection related children’s rights violations in line with UNICEF’s CHILD PROTECTION STRATEGY (2021-2030).  The consultancy will support the implementation of the EU-funded JURE programme, and UNICEF’s overall child rights strengthening approaches.

 

Activities and Tasks: 

Scope of Work:

The purpose of the assignment is to provide high-level technical expertise in the following areas:

1.         Support HRCSL and NCPA for the identification of respective priorities for child rights and violence against children monitoring, in consultation with key stakeholders, as necessary

-           Provide technical assistance for HRCSL and NCPA to conduct a workshop to clarify roles of each agency towards monitoring of child rights.

-           Provide technical assistance for HRCSL and NCPA to develop their respective monitoring frameworks and annual monitoring plans.

-           Develop frameworks for HRCSL and NCPA to issue recommendations/summary reports on child rights violations and monitoring.

 

2.         Build capacity of HRCSL to monitor the violations of children’s rights and NCPA to monitor violence against children, care facilities and other relevant spaces.

-           Provide necessary technical guidance for HRCSL and its regional sub offices to develop a manual / SOPs to inquire and investigate issues related to violations of children's rights in a child-friendly manner. The consultant will create detailed guidelines (or suggest/adapt existing relevant guidelines) for conducting inquiries into violations of children's rights and ensure that protocols are designed to be child-friendly, minimizing re-traumatisation and stress for the children involved. Components may include steps for initial assessment, interviewing techniques, and documentation.

-           Conduct Training of HRCSL Officials (master trainers) on the Manual / SOPs and capacitate them to implement training of all officers using a TOT approach.

-           Support NCPA to develop a manual / SOPs to use in monitoring incidents of Violence against Children.

-           Conduct Training of NCPA Officials (master trainers) on the Manual / SOPs and capacitate them to implement training of all officers using a TOT approach.

-           Engage with HRCSL to develop a child-friendly complaints mechanism.

-           Work with the UNICEF’s team and Consultant on Disability-inclusive Child Protection to ensure that all tools and trainings developed under this assignment are gender and disability-sensitive.

 

3.         Supporting the UNICEF team to identify and legal gaps or systemic improvements that are necessary for the Child Rights Unit of the HRCSL and NCPA and to deliver on their monitoring functions.

-           Develop a short note with legal gaps and systematic improvements required to improve child rights violations monitoring.

-           Develop a concept note with key considerations for the establishment of a Children’s Advisory Council by HRCSL (e.g. mandate, composition, inclusion aspects), and steps required.

-           Support in identifying the feasibility and the need for child-friendly inquiry and investigation spaces under the HRCSL, and support with further conceptualisation as needed.

-           Support the HRCSL in strengthening the structure of the Child Rights Unit (recommendations on mandate, staffing, relationships with other units under the HRCSL), and work with UNICEF to identify relevant countries for online peer-to-peer discussion on the mandate and functioning of child rights units under independent human rights monitoring bodies.

 

Deliverables:

Task 1.    Support HRCSL and NCPA for the identification of respective priorities for child rights and  violence against children monitoring, on in consultation with key stakeholders, as necessary.

1. Provide technical assistance for HRCSL and NCPA to conduct a workshop to clarify roles of each agency towards monitoring of child rights.

2. Provide technical assistance for HRCSL and NCPA to develop their respective monitoring frameworks  and annual monitoring plans..

3. Develop frameworks for HRCSL and NCPA to issue recommendations/summary reports on child rights violations and monitoring.

1.1.        Participatory workshop for HRCSL and NCPA prepared (remote work)

1.2.        Technical workshop with HRCSL and NCPA to identify monitoring priorities and roles clarification facilitated (in-country work)

1.3.        Brief recommendations (two separate documents) for HRCSL and NCPA with recommendations on clarified roles of each agency towards monitoring of child rights prepared (remote work)

1.4.        Frameworks for HRCSL and NCPA to issue recommendations/summary reports on child rights violations and monitoring developed

1.5.        HRCL and NCPA have annual monitoring plans

 

Task 2.   Build capacity of HRCSL to monitor the violations of children’s rights and NCPA to monitor violence against children, care facilities and other relevant spaces.

 1. Provide necessary technical guidance for HRCSL and its regional sub offices to develop a manual / SOPs to inquire and investigate issues related to violations of children's rights in a child-friendly manner. The consultant will create detailed guidelines (or suggest/adapt existing relevant guidelines) for conducting inquiries into violations of children's rights and ensure that protocols are designed to be child-friendly, minimizing re-trauma and stress for the children involved. Components may include steps for initial assessment, interviewing techniques, and documentation.

2. Conduct Training of HRC Officials (master trainers) on the Manual / SOPs and capacitate them to implement training of all officers using a TOT approach.

3. Support NCPA to develop a manual / SOPs to use in monitoring incidents of Violence against Children.

4. Conduct Training of NCPA Officials (master trainers) on the Manual / SOPs and capacitate them to implement training of all officers using a TOT approach.

5. Engage with HRCSL to develop a child-friendly complaints mechanism.

6. Work with the UNICEF’s team and Consultant on Disability-inclusive Child Protection to ensure that all tools and trainings developed under this assignment are gender and disability-sensitive.

2.1. Diagnostic meetings or small workshop with HRC organised on child-friendly inquiry and investigations and complaints mechanism (in-country work)

2.2. Guidelines/checklists/frameworks for HRCSL on child rights violations monitoring developed (inclusive of gender and disability considerations) (remote work)

2.3. Guidelines/checklists/framework on monitoring violence against children; care facilities and other institutions by NCPA developed (inclusive of gender and disability considerations) (remote work)

2.4. Training of HRCSL and NCPA Officials (master trainers) on the Manual / SOPs under 2.2 and 2.3 conducted (inclusive of gender and disability considerations)  (in-country work)

2.5. Guidelines/checklist for child-friendly complaints mechanism developed (inclusive of gender and disability considerations)  (remote work)

 

Task 3.   Support the UNICEF team to identify and legal gaps or systemic improvements that are necessary for the Child Rights Unit of the HRCSL and NCPA and to deliver on their monitoring functions.

1. Develop a short note with legal gaps and systematic improvements required to improve child rights violations monitoring.

2. Develop a concept note with key actions required for the establishment of a Children’s Advisory Council by HRCSL.

3. Develop a concept note with key considerations for the establishment of a Children’s Advisory Council by HRCSL (e.g. mandate, composition, inclusion aspects), and steps required.

4. Support in identifying the feasibility and the need for child-friendly inquiry and investigation spaces under the HRCSL, and support with further conceptualisation as needed.

5. Support the HRCSL in strengthening the structure of the Child Rights Unit (recommendations on mandate, staffing, relationships with other units under the HRCSL), and work with UNICEF to identify relevant countries for online peer-to-peer discussion on the mandate and functioning of child rights units under independent human rights monitoring bodies. 

3.1. Short note with legal gaps and systematic improvements required to improve child rights violations monitoring developed (remote work)

3.2. Concept note with key features and actions required for the establishment of a Children’s Advisory Council by HRCSL developed (remote work)

3.3. A technical paper on the feasibility of child-friendly inquiry and investigation spaces and requires steps drafted (remote work)

3.4. A paper with recommendations on strengthening the Child Rights Unit of HRCRL

3.5. Selection of a relevant country/relevant countries for an online peer to peer exchange for HRCL and a one-pager with recommended action points following the exchange.

 

Working days, travel and timeline

The consultant is expected to work approximately 60 days from July 2025 to May 2026, providing remote expertise (~40 days) and in-country support (~20 days). The consultant needs to be available in July 2025, for an intensive remote support and one mission during the month of August/September 2025.  Overall, the consultant is expected to travel to Sri Lanka twice: for a 10-day mission in August/September 2025, and for another 10 days in February/March 2026 (dates and the duration of each visit can be negotiable and will be subject to discussion during the consultancy inception).  Please refer to above with tasks and deliverables for more details.

 

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

Masters - Advanced degree in law, human rights, child rights, development studies or other domain in social sciences and legal studies.

Experience/ Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Minimum 7- 10 years of relevant professional experience of working with National Human Rights Institutions and independent authorities on child rights. 

1.         Experience in providing technical assistance to National Human Rights Institutions and Independent Authorities, government and NGOs/CSOs internationally.

2.         Experience in strengthening child rights violations monitoring of NHRIs is an asset.

3.         Solid knowledge of NHRIs, their mandates, various models of set-up, and options for specialisation in chid rights monitoring.

4.         Proven experience of developing guidance documents and tools for strengthening child rights monitoring

5.         Proven experience in preparing and conducting capacity building sessions on child rights monitoring, including with TOT approaches.

6.         Prior work experience with UNICEF is an asset.

7.         Ability to work independently, good planning and coordination

8.         Effective oral and written communication in English

 

Duration of the consultancy:  July 2025 – May 2026

Duty station – Home based, Sri Lanka

 

How to apply:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a resume and other relevant documents

Please complete your profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system. https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html

Please indicate your ability, availability and fee/rate in LKR to undertake the terms of reference above. (Indicate an all-inclusive fee (including lump sum travel, IT accessories, Internet and subsistence costs, as applicable) to undertake the tasks in the Terms of reference. Office 365 license will be provided by UNICEF, as applicable) 

** Please note:

Remuneration of the consultant will be based on deliverables (see above deliverables). Consultant fees should be provided as a lumpsum, inclusive of all fees and costs associated with the consultancy, such as daily fees, travel to Sri Lanka (two trips), accommodation, and other related costs. UNICEF will directly cover consultant’s in-country travel from Colombo to other locations as relevant, therefore, such costs do not need to be included in the price proposal submitted by the candidate.

Applications submitted without a fee/rate will not be considered  

 

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. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:  

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. 

If you think this position might be for you, please take the time to review our Country Office Mutual Agreements before you apply.

If you believe you can be a team member that can uphold these everyday, then we look forward to receiving and reviewing your application.