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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 purpose of this activity is to engage an experienced Steering Group member in an advisory, mentoring, and coaching role to strengthen the effectiveness, continuity, and sustainability of the U-Report Steering Group and its Youth Leadership Network.

Under the supervision of the UNICEF Adolescent Development Manager, the mentor will provide guidance and structured mentoring support to Youth Consultants and Steering Group members, enhancing their capacity to design, implement, and lead U-Report activities.

The activity aims to reinforce youth leadership by offering strategic advice, facilitating knowledge sharing and reflection, and supporting coordination with UNICEF focal points, while ensuring that decision-making and ownership remain youth-led. It also seeks to improve the quality and impact of U-Report polls, campaigns, and engagement strategies through informed feedback and capacity building.

Overall, this role contributes to fostering inclusive and meaningful youth participation across all thematic areas, while providing continuity and institutional memory to sustain and strengthen the long-term impact of the U-Report initiative.

Scope of work

Under the supervision of UNICEF Adolescent Development Manager, the U-Report Steering Group Mentor will provide guidance and mentoring support to the Youth Consultants and members of the Steering Group.

The consultant will not serve as a peer youth representative but rather as a mentor, supporting the Steering Group with strategic advice, capacity building, and knowledge sharing, while ensuring that youth leadership and youth-led processes remain central to the initiative.

The mentor will:

• Provide mentoring and guidance to Youth Consultants in the implementation of U-Report activities.
• Support the development of youth leadership and participation capacities within the Steering Group.
• Provide strategic input and feedback on U-Report polls, campaigns, and engagement strategies.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing, reflection, and learning among Steering Group members.
• Support coordination between Youth Consultants and UNICEF focal points when needed.
• Encourage inclusive and meaningful youth participation across all thematic areas.

While Youth Consultants are expected to engage directly with young activists as peers (generally aged 24 years or younger), the Mentor role is designed to provide continuity, institutional memory, and mentorship, supporting the effectiveness and sustainability of the youth-led structure.

- Work location: Home-based in Italy.

- Payment schedule: The consultant will be paid based on satisfactory and timely submission of deliverables.

- Duration: 22.5 days from May 2026 to December 2026.

- Travel: The Consultant will be expected to travel within Italy.  The Consultant will be responsible for organizing their travel. Travel expenses (tickets, accommodation, public transport, meals) will be reimbursed. The maximum amount allocated for travel will be EUR 180.

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants/ Individual Contractors apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant is responsible for his/her for travel arrangements. The most economic and direct route is authorized.
• Travel costs will be reimbursed after the completion of mission upon submission of the invoice together with the supporting documentation.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSafe certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.
• Consultants are required to comply with locally applicable security measures, including obtaining security clearance from the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) prior to any official travel, including in instances, whereby travel is arranged by the consultant and no Travel Authorization is raised in system. If applicable, the consultant will also need to reserve accommodation in pre-approved hotels/guest houses only, as per local DSS security advisory.

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

• High school diploma.
• Over 5 years active participation in UNICEF activities.
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and drive for results skills.
• Good writing skills.
• Fluency in Italian essential (verbal and written).
• Must own a mobile phone with reliable access to bandwidth sufficient to hold video calls.
• Must live in Italy.
• Contextual understanding of community issues specifically issues among youth with a migratory background.

Desirable skills & experience (not mandatory)

• Basic background of working/volunteering in the community.

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 here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

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:  

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.