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, protection.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

This consultancy will support UNICEF in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region in working with governments and their partners at national and local level to strengthen their child protection systems and case management including data analysis by promoting, guiding, and supporting the assessment and improvement of existing child protection information management systems in the ECA region and data analytics, as well as the launch and roll out of Primero/CPIMS+, particularly in countries where Primero/CPIMS+ has recently been launched and needs or continues to be rolled out.

Background

Significant escalation of the conflict in Ukraine has resulted in increased humanitarian needs and population displacement within and outside of the country. The protracted armed conflict, widespread displacement, and overstretched national systems and services have left thousands of children in need of humanitarian assistance. For the provision of quality child protection services including case management to children in the humanitarian context, functioning child protection systems are critical. Ukraine and refugee hosting countries needed to develop or strengthen their systems to meet the humanitarian needs of the children affected by the conflict.

As part of UNICEF’s response inside and outside of Ukraine since 2022, the Primero Child Protection Information Management System (Primero/CPIMS+) was launched in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Romania, and continues to be systematically rolled out in these countries. In 2024, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Child Rights Protection Centre urgently set up Primero to support the reintegration of displaced children. The needs of Primero/CPIMS+ continue to grow in 2024 as partners and governments from Belarus, Greece, Georgia, and from Central Asia have begun discussions for the assessment and planning of Primero/CPIMS+ and of other ways to improve their child protection and case management data. To this date, UNICEF Headquarters (HQ) has supported the launch and roll out of Primero/CPIMS+ in ECA region while ECARO has supported more broadly child protection and case management information system assessments and data improvement planning in the region.

To better meet the increasing regional demand and provide the required guidance and ongoing support to countries in the region, there is an urgent need for a regional consultant who can provide guidance and support to countries in ECA who want to assess the maturity of their child protection data systems and develop, cost and implement data improvement plans, and at the same time take on the role of system administrator with expertise in Primero/CPIMS+ to guide, coordinate and support the promotion, launch and continued rollout in the region, including data analytics.

Scope of Work

Under the guidance of the Child Protection Regional Advisor, under supervision of the CP specialist (Monitoring, Evaluation and Data) in UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) and with technical guidance from the Primero/CPIMS+ Lead and team at UNICEF Headquarters, as well as in close collaboration with the Primero/CPIMS+ focal points and partners in the countries covered by this consultancy, the regional consultant will be a focal point for Country Offices and Regional Response Offices, partners and governments in the ECA region in the assessment, planning, implementation and support of child protection information management and case management information systems including the launch and roll out of Primero/CPIMS+, as well as in data analytics.

In addition to providing technical support for Country Offices and Regional Response Offices in strengthening government information management systems for child protection and case management, the Specialist would:

• Provide technical support to the countries that are responding to the Ukraine and other conflicts in the region and displaced and refugee populations.
• Provide quality technical support and guidance for information management for child protection to Governments, Country Offices, Regional Response Offices, and other interagency actors including to those who are using or planning to use Primero/CPIMS+.
• Improve, adapt, and standardize the processes to make Primero/CPIMS+ deployments more streamlined.
• Provide input into strengthening responsible data practices and apply business analysis and technical implementation skills to understand system specifications and support the third-party software vendors in defining requirements, testing, and deploying instances.
• Coordinating translations and providing timely support to user case workers, managers, and system administrators.
• Plan and deliver training on Primero/CPIMS+ to case workers, managers and system administrators and ensure country offices, regional response offices, governments and partners have appropriate expertise in place for maintenance of Primero/CPIMS+.
• Provide input and practical recommendation on user-driven design processes for improved front-end usability.
• Contribute to knowledge management through analyzing, coordinating, and gathering lessons learned from across the region to guide/inform/develop best practices to provide a regional evidence base for improved programming for child protection and case management.
• Develop reusable open standards for data management, interoperability, data protection and privacy. Effectively translate technical information and requirements into language that can be understood by non-technical counterparts with the goal of reducing the dependency on ICT colleagues and third-party software vendors. This will involve regular engagement with stakeholders as well as UNICEF ICTD, and other key constituents.
• Liase with ICTD and legal colleagues on issues related to data regulations, cybersecurity and agreements.
• Support Country Offices, Regional Response Offices, and governments in preparing requirements and budgets for deployments of CPIMS+/Primero including human resource, training, hardware, software and maintenance and support costs.
• The Specialist will also support/contribute to the production of periodic reports and analysis as required using data from participating countries, develop a fact sheet for the region on child protection information management systems including Primero/CPIMS+, and develop a business case for child protection information management systems targeted at governments for use by Country Offices and Regional Response Offices.
• The Specialist will further support the promotion and roll out of UNICEF tools to assess the maturity of child protection data systems and child protection data improvement planning in collaboration with Country Offices, National Statistical Offices and line ministries building on the work done in this area by ECARO within the framework of different initiatives (e.g., TransMonEE).

Work Assignment Overview

All submissions should be electronic; all materials submitted to UNICEF should be delivered in English:

Estimated Duration of the Contract

96 working days between November 2024 and October 2025.

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be remote/home-based.

As part of this assignment, some international travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• 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.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 96 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as these will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s) in one of the following fields is required: Information Technology, Information Systems, Social Sciences, International Development, Humanitarian Action, or another relevant field.
• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in Technology for Development (T4D) and/or information system development, including mobile and web-based applications, with manifested capacity to manage and coordinate programmes involving many stakeholders from different sectors is required. Including at least two (2) years of proven experience in developing or rolling-out CPIMS, including direct experience with rolling-out CPIMS+/Primero and conducting CPIMS+/Primero training, is required.
• Experience working in an environment where systems strengthening approaches are used to respond to humanitarian and child protection responses is a distinct advantage.
• Experience of working on child protection related programmes and particularly on child protection case management, is considered an added advantage.
• Prior hands-on experience in middle and/or high-income contexts with upstream advocacy and programmes experience is desirable, as well as a good understanding of the child protection, humanitarian action, and development context in ECAR region.
• Relevant experience in working in an UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and deliver under pressure is a requisite.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in a diverse organization tailoring language, tone, style, and format to match audience.
• Ability and willingness to travel to emergencies and non-emergency countries as necessary.
• Proficiency in English, written and verbal, is required. Working knowledge of another official UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) and/or regional language as needed to perform the role is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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:

Please include a full CV and a Cover Letter in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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.