Organization: UN Children"s Fund
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 07 Jul 2015
Background
UNICEF is working to achieve an AIDS-free Generation – which means that all children are born free of HIV infection, remain HIV-free from birth through adolescence, and that children and families living with and affected by HIV have access to timely and sustained treatment, care and support. Making smart investments based on sound evidence of what works, and a shared sense of responsibility to protect the rights of all children, can save millions of lives and achieve an AIDS-free generation. This is an ambitious, but reachable goal and a high-level result of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan for 2014-17 and is outlined in UNICEF’s Vision Paper on Achieving an AIDS-Free Generation.
To accelerate results for pregnant women, children, and adolescents, UNICEF will focus its efforts on two interrelated work streams, organized around the First and Second Decades of a child’s life. To improve prevention, treatment, care and support across both decades will require strong linkages and integration with social protection, child protection, nutrition, health, water sanitation and hygiene, education, gender and rights, adolescent development and participation, and emergencies.
UNICEF is co-convenor of the Social Protection, Care and Support (SPCS) working group within the UNAIDS division of labour. UNICEF’s responsibility in this role, together with the World Bank, is to convene global UN agencies, civil society, donors and academia to support a comprehensive approach to social protection, care and support with protective, preventive, promotive and transformative objectives that can help to both prevent susceptibility (an individual’s chance of becoming infected with HIV) and reduce vulnerability (the likelihood that HIV will have damaging effects on individuals, households and communities) and help to ensure that efforts to expand universal access will reach the most vulnerable and hard to reach populations.In this role, UNICEF and partners have already developed a number of key policy documents including Protection, Care and Support for an AIDS-Free Generation: A Call to Action for all Children*and *HIV-Sensitive Social Protection Policy Brief on how social protection programmes contribute to HIV prevention. The SPCS working group also developed guidance on HIV and social protection. The Call to Action sets out how to achieve an AIDS-Free generation through linking protection, care and support interventions with medical interventions to eliminate new HIV infections in children, keep children alive and thriving across the two decades.
UNICEF HQ is also playing a lead role in strengthening the evidence on protection, care and support of families and children affected by AIDS to demonstrate that a multi-sectoral approach, linking to other sectors such as child protection, has greater beneficial impact to both HIV and child protection outcomes. In January 2015, UNICEF HQ and World Vision published the document Prevent and protect: Linking the HIV and child protection response to keep children safe, healthy & resilient which documents models and practices that link both HIV and child protection services from three countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. UNICEF HQ has also been supporting the development of studies around children living with HIV in residential and alternative care in Uganda and Thailand, as well as how marginalized and HIV affected families have been supported in Ukraine. Findings from these studies and documentation will help to inform UNICEF’s country level work, but also inform the HIV and the child protection sectors on how best to maximise and strengthen synergies.
Scope of work
A short-term consultant is required for a period of up to 5.5 months to manage two critical portfolios within the protection, care and support agenda, as well as to provide more general technical support. Responsibilities will include:
- Provide support to the senior adviser to co-convene the social protection, care and support (SPCS) working group which includes bi-monthly calls, supporting the formulation of working groups, revising ToRs, planning for meetings and generally supporting the activities of the SPCS group.
- Strengthening the partnership between the HIV/AIDS Section and the Child Protection Section at the global and country levels. This includes following up on a number of prior activities that include both HIV and child protection, identifying specific entry points where Child Protection and HIV/AIDS Sections can work closer together.
Duty Station
The consultancy is full-time and will be office-based at UNICEF headquarters in New York.
Time frame
A consultant will be contracted for up to 5.5 months starting on or around 15 July 2015 to 31 December 2015.
Key competences, technical background, and experience required
· Relevant Master’s or higher degree including sociology, anthropology, development planning, political science, public health, development economics
· At least 8 years of Senior-level experience in international development working with a range of multilateral and bilateral donors, agencies, and/or international NGOs and civil society
· Country level field experience
· Experience managing partnerships and excellent interpersonal skills
· Experience in child protection, social policy, social protection, and HIV policy and programming, particularly within the UN joint programme on HIV and AIDS and/or services for vulnerable children
· Experience working on the social and economic determinants of health an advantage
· Excellent writing and communication skills
*Please see deliverables in attached chart.
How to apply:
How to Apply
Qualified individual candidates (not companies or NGOs) are requested to send their submissions to <**pdconsultants@unicef.org>** with subject line: “Protection, Care and Support of Children and Families Living with HIV, Consultancy” by 07 July 2015, 5PM EST.
Applications must include:
• One page cover letter
• Curriculum vitae (CV), (*including education, work experience, and the contact information for three references*)
• Signed P11 form(http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc )
· A relevant writing sample
· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement
An indication of ability, availability and a quote for daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above, (in US$).**Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.**
NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit
UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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