Alliance Strategy Review consultant (Remote/Work from home) - Ref#577772

The purpose of the assignment is to support the Alliance in conducting a progress review of its 2021-2025 strategy to inform the refresh of the strategy for 2026-2030.

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, hope.

Consultancy Title: Alliance Strategy Review consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Child Protection, Programme Group, UNICEF NYHQ

Duration: 15 January 2025 to 30 June 2025

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ / Remote

About UNICEF

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. 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. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (the Alliance) is a global network of operational agencies, academic institutions, policymakers, donors and practitioners that facilitates inter-agency technical collaboration on child protection in all humanitarian contexts. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) co-leads the Alliance with rotating NGOs, currently World Vision International and Hurras Network /Child Guardians. 

The Alliance sets standards and produces technical guidance for use by various stakeholders, particularly field practitioners. Its mission is to support humanitarian actors to achieve high-quality and effective child protection interventions in humanitarian contexts, in both refugee and non-refugee settings. In 2021, the Alliance launched a five-year strategy, Clarion Call, which outlined an overarching goal to ensure that the centrality of children and their protection is recognized and prioritized as essential and lifesaving across the humanitarian system. Since then, all the Alliance’s technical work, advocacy, collaboration, and partnerships contribute to achieving this goal through action and progress on the seven core areas of the strategy, including the four strategic priorities: (1) Accountability to Children, (2) Localization, (3) Multi-sector and Integrated Programming and Collaboration, (4) Prevention and (5) Climate Change as a looking forward area, (6) Goal of the strategy, and (7) Learning and Development –as an elevated core function. The Alliance has launched its Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework to track the progress of the Alliance Strategy and initiated a mid-term review of strategy implementation in October 2023, which included a piloting of the M&E Framework and conducting an outcome harvesting exercise. 

The purpose of the assignment is to support the Alliance in conducting a progress review of its 2021-2025 strategy to inform the refresh of the strategy for 2026-2030. To this end, the consultant will complete three, complementary but distinct tasks: 

1. Part A: examine the process and all material that has come out from the mid-term review that was launched in October 2023, as well as the consultation that took place in October 2024 with Steering Committee members and the leads of technical groups (all material will be made available in an organized fashion).
2. Part B: Plan and conduct a review to understand the plans made, resources leveraged, and intended and unintended outcomes of the actions taken to achieve the goal and priorities of the Alliance strategy (by April 2025). This includes, the goal, four priorities, climate crisis component, and learning and development (as an elevated core function). 
3. Part C (parallel to part B): Solicit inputs regarding improvements that can be made within the current core components of the strategy to make it fit for purpose for the next strategic period (2026-2030).

Scope of Work:

Working in close collaboration with the Alliance secretariat, Strategy Refresh Task Team, and the Assessment, Measurement, and Evidence Working Group (AME WG), the consultant will conduct a review of the Alliance’s 5-Year Strategy. The overarching goal is to capture the progress, achievements, and impact of the Alliance and to identify gaps and challenges to inform the update/refresh of the strategy for the next strategic cycle (2026-2030).

• Task 1: Produce an inception report outlining the steps that will be taken to collect and collate necessary information on the three parts mentioned above.
• Task 2: Produce a strategy progress report, including specific sections on each of the seven core components of the strategy
• Task 3: Draft a set of recommendations for the update/refresh of the Alliance strategy, including breakdown linked to the seven core components of the strategy.

Adequate time should be built-in to ensure time for consultation with Strategy Refresh Task Team, Alliance secretariat, steering committee and technical group leads between the drafts and final reports. For task 1, only the secretariat and the strategy task team will review the inception plan. For tasks 2 and 3, the steering committee and the leads of Alliance technical groups will also be consulted and given a chance to input to the outputs.

Recommended methods of inquiry:

• Desk based review, including data from relevant websites  
• Conduct limited key informant interviews and/or FGDs with key stakeholders on child protection in humanitarian action
• A survey to receive contributions from all key stakeholders, including all members of the SC, WG/TF/Initiative leads, and some key donors/partners.*

* The survey is meant to ensure wider consultation with key stakeholders that were not included in the key informant interview or FGDs. It also allows for anonymity; in case it helps some of the actors in providing candid reflections.

Note: The maturity of the progress differs across strategic priorities, therefore, the review might have to take on a differential approach to the different components of the strategy. This differential approach should be determined in consultation with those agencies co-leading the advisory or advisory / working groups for each priority / core function to ensure that it is fit for purpose, within what is possible within the scope of the consultancy.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Task 1. Produce an inception report outlining the steps that will be taken to collect and collate necessary information on the three parts mentioned above.

• 1 inception report submitted (14 Feb 2025)

Task 2. Produce a strategy progress report, including specific sections on each of the seven core components of the Alliance Strategy.

• 1 draft strategy progress report submitted (30 April 2025)
• 1 participatory reflection meeting organized (15 May 2025)
• 1final report submitted (16 June 2025)

Task 3. Draft a set of recommendations for the update/refresh of the Alliance Strategy.

• 1 draft recommendations submitted (30 June 2025)

Qualifications

Education: 

Advanced university degree (Masters) in the area of social sciences, public policy, statistics, human rights/humanitarian law, or in research methods is required.

Work experience:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *: 

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in monitoring and evaluation
• Strong knowledge and experience in child protection and/or humanitarian action or relevant field
• Experience of leading evaluations of behavior change interventions required
• Demonstrable expertise in designing and conducting qualitative and quantitative evaluations and impact assessments.
• Experience with outcome harvesting
• Excellent and demonstrable skill in participatory monitoring and evaluation methodologies and approaches.
• Proficiency in a range of PC/web applications, including but not limited to: MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Outlook
• Fluent in oral and written English.
• Excellent report writing skill in English
• Excellent critical thinking and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to solve problems and adapt.
• A commitment to and aptitude for attention to details
• Ability to work well and punctually under pressure
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to successfully interact with a diverse group of people and build consensus;
• Flexible work attitude, with the ability to follow direction and work independently across a virtual work environment;
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to independently track and follow-up on various tasks;
• Collaborative work style, with strong team-player attitude and ability to identify gaps and to take initiative to fill them;
• Ability to operate remotely and across multiple time-zones.

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

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:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.