International Consultant - Harmful Practices, Senior Consultant, Seconded to African Union Commission (AUC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (260 working days for Non-Ethiopian Nationals only)

UNICE is looking for a professional consultant who can contribute to strengthening the technical support provided by the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development of the AUC to AU Member States towards effective implementation of ongoing AU initiatives to end harmful practices on children, adolescent girls, and women with focus on Child Marriage, FGM and Violence.

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. 

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Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

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Background:

Empowering girls and women, and ensuring girls and boys develop in a protected environment is at the core of UNICEF’s mission. Every year, an estimated 12 million girls are married in childhood. Africa is home to the second largest number of child brides after South-Asia. The practice of child marriage has continued to decline around the world during the past decade. SDG 5.3 commits countries to end child marriage by 2030. Despite a marked reduction in child marriage in the past decade, no region is on track to eliminate the practice by 2030. In Sub-Sahara Africa, child marriage has been declining at much slower rates where fertility rates have remained high. A substantial acceleration is needed because the current rate of decline in child marriage is insufficient to meet the ambitious SDG target. Child marriage is prevalent in all countries in Africa ranging from 2% in Algeria – 76% in Niger. The average prevalence of child marriage on the continent is 35%, which is higher than the global average.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the technical supervision of the Director for Social Development, the Harmful Practices, Senior Consultant shall carry out the following tasks:

• Lead the process of drafting strategic documents (Policies and strategic plans) of ongoing AU initiatives on Ending Harmful Practices notably around the issues of Child Marriage campaign and violence against children (VAC)
• Provide Technical support to AU Member States regarding planning and implementation of the End Child Marriage Campaign.
• Compile a compendium of legal frameworks and legislation as well as scalable good practices at national level on ending child marriage and Violence against children.
• Support to establish an accountability mechanism on AU Member States commitments to end harmful practices including among others: Progress reports, score cards and country monitoring visits.
• Support processes leading to dissemination, and domestication of AUC policies and programs aimed at eliminating harmful practices:  The African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage, the AU accountability framework on the elimination of harmful practices, the Joint General Comment of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) on ending child marriage, and the African Union Saleema Initiative on Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation.
• Support the African Union Commission and the AU Member States on the planning and implementation of the AU campaign on ending child marriage and FGM.
• Provide technical support towards building the capacity of AU Institutions and AU Members States on identification, reporting and response of cases of Harmful practices.
• Support the visibility of AUC activities around the elimination of harmful practices on the continent with quality activity reports, events briefs, and advocacy messages.
• Create linkages with different AU partners and stakeholders to strengthen support for AU ongoing initiatives to eliminated harmful practices.
• Provide technical support towards the organization of continental and global advocacy events on the elimination of harmful practices.
• Along with AUC Officials, represent the AU in continental and global event on issues of Harmful practices.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

1. A detailed annual workplan:
2. A draft strategic plan for the AU Campaign to the End Child Marriage (for review and input).
3. A final strategic plan for the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage.
4. A draft report on the mapping on laws and legislation existing at national level on ending child marriage in Central region of the AU member states.
5. A draft report on the mapping on laws and legislation existing at national level on ending child marriage/harmful practices in the east region of the AU member states.
6. A draft report on the mapping on laws and legislation existing at national level on ending child marriage/harmful practices in the North region of the AU member states.
7. A draft report on the mapping on laws and legislation existing at national level on ending child marriage/harmful practices in the south region of the AU member states.
8. A draft report on the mapping on laws and legislation existing at national level on ending child marriage/harmful practices in the west region of the AU member states.
9. A draft scorecard on AU Member States commitments on ending HP
10. A workshop for stakeholders in AU Member States on identification, reporting and response on HPs
11. Support continental AU advocacy events on prevention and ending HPs
12. Technical Support to AU Member States on domestication on AU policies and programs on HP

Deliverables/Outputs:

1. Endorsed annual workplan (21 days)
2. 1st draft of the SP on AU program on ending child marriage (22 days)
3. Revised SP incorporating input from AU member states. (21 Days)
4. Draft report on laws and legislation in Central region of the AU member states on ending child marriage. (21 Days)
5. Draft report on laws and legislation in the East region of the AU member states on ending child marriage/harmful practices (23 days)
6. Draft report on laws and legislation in the North region of the AU member state on ending child marriage/harmful practices (22 days)
7. Draft report on laws and legislation in the south region of the AU on ending child marriage/harmful practices (21 days)
8. Draft report on laws and legislation in the west region of the AU on child marriage/harmful practices (22 days)
9. Score cards on the commitments of AU MS on ending HPs (21 days)
10. Report on workshops for AU MS and stakeholders on response on HPs (22 days)
11. Report on continental advocacy forums organised on prevention and ending HPs (22 days)
12. Report (throughout the consultancy) 22 days

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

Education: Master’s Degree or equivalent in Law, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Gender studies, Human Rights and Development or other related discipline.

Qualification:

• At least 8 years (eight years) years of work experience on Child Protection and Harmful related programs at technical and managerial level
• Experience in the drafting of strategic program documents, technical reports and other thematic reports/articles is highly desirable.
• Experience in planning and delivery advocacy events for policy makers.
• Experience in providing technical advice and capacity building support to high level officials.
• Experience working in Africa and good knowledge of the African Union and its regional and related, national, regional, and continental mechanisms is a great asset. 
• Experience in social research and data analysis:  Skilled in conducting qualitative and quantitative research on harmful practices and using evidence-based insights to guide programmatic decisions.
• Policy and Legal Knowledge: Expertise in the legal, policy, and regulatory frameworks addressing harmful practices, particularly in African contexts, and an understanding of how national policies align with international standards.
• Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Frameworks: Knowledge of M&E tools and methods to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing harmful practices.
• Experience working in a fast-paced International Organization is highly desirable.

Language Proficiency:

Fluency in English and excellent writing skills; working knowledge of French, Arabic or Portuguese will be an asset. Knowledge of local languages is an added value.

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, OFFICE BASED.

Please note that applications submitted without a fee rate will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

Core Values:

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

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. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates and persons with disability are encouraged to apply.

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.