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For every child, a future
How can you make a difference?
Purpose of Activity/Assignment:
UNICEF is dedicated to promoting gender equality and empowering adolescent girls across all sectors. In 2021, UNICEF adopted its most progressive strategic plan, Gender Policy, and Gender Action Plan 2022-2025. These initiatives aim to drive transformative changes towards a gender-equal world, empowering adolescent girls to realize their full potential.
Progress on gender equality in South Asia has been uneven. Recent crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate breakdowns, humanitarian crises, and shifting economic opportunities, have further hindered gender-equitable growth. Adolescents, especially girls, face significant barriers to accessing the information, services, and support they need to achieve their agency, voice, and full potential.
South Asia is home to the largest share of adolescent girls globally, with over 170 million girls. Unfortunately, their prospects are often limited by persistent gender inequality, which poses multiple challenges during adolescence, negatively shaping their lives and limiting their opportunities. To maximize this demographic dividend, intentional investments in large-scale initiatives are crucial to empower these girls and facilitate South Asia's transition to a prosperous region.
The regional framework for adolescent girls focuses on multisectoral, girl-driven, and rights-based programming, developed through a data-driven process. Girls' voices and leadership are central to interventions. A regional action agenda and advocacy strategy for adolescent girls, focusing on three transformative shifts, is in place.
The UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) seeks a consultant to support the Gender team. The consultant will collaborate with Child Protection and Health team in implementing the gender component of the Global Programme on Ending Child Marriage and advocate for equitable health systems and a strengthened female health workforce under the Community Health and Nutrition Agenda. Additionally, the consultant will support evidence-building initiatives and knowledge management within these streams.
Scope of Work:
Working directly under the supervision of the Regional Gender Advisor and in close collaboration with the overall ROSA Gender, Chil Protection and Health teams, the consultant will be responsible for the following specific tasks:
Child marriage and adolescent pregnancy related initiatives
- Developed a strategy and plan of action for integrating gender components into RO and GPECM III countries action plan for 2025.
- COs supported in advancing the engagement plan with GNB and CO level girls network
- Quality assurance of the Study of pregnant and parenting adolescents data collection and report writing
- The Technical working group (TWG) of SAARC and ROSA Multi sectoral team on adolescent pregnancy and care, to oversee implementation of the Regional Action plan on Adolescent pregnancies and care- formed and at least 2 meetings supported.
- Designed capacity building on Gender inclusive approaches in ending harmful practices programming in GP-ECM COs and supported its roll out.
Adolescent responsive health services
- Developed a costed plan of action and proposal linked to adolescent responsive health services including HPV+ for adolescent girls in 4 COs.
- Documented good practices on HPV+ programming for Girls
- Contributed to the gender component in MHPSS initiatives for adolescent girls. - in close coordination with Health and CP.
- Tracked and monitored HPV+ programming through quarterly catch-up calls
Knowledge management
- Developed Adolescent girls related reports/ knowledge products (3)
- Documentation of good practices/lessons learnt on various gender thematic areas. (2 documents)
- Identify, document and design gender inclusive approaches in child marriage and adolescent pregnancy programming
Key Deliverables - for detailed overview, please see attached 
Work Assignments Overview.docx
Note: This is a remote based consultancy. The consultant will travel to Kathmandu- twice during this period- in May and In Sept (approximately) for 2 weeks each to coordinate with gender team and COs on some of the deliverables. Please submit your application with the financial proposal.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education: A master’s degree with a focus on gender studies, development studies, social sciences, international development, health policy and/or management, or other related fields is required.
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:
- Minimum 6 years of experience in gender work with significant focus on adolescents/adolescent girls
- Demonstrable experience in adolescent thematic areas- Child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, Adolescent health
- Proven track record of conducting gender-related literature /desk reviews, syntheses, and critical appraisal of literature.
- Familiarity of working in South Asia region
- Demonstrated experience in working with UN agencies and governments would be an asset.
- Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
- Experience in reporting on qualitative and quantitative analytics
- Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.
- Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
- Required Education, Skills and Experiences include: gender studies, Adolescent development, International development or related fields.
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.
