Consultancy opportunity: Development of Guidelines for Chiefdoms Customary by-law on Protection of Children from Child Marriage and other Harmful Practices, Lusaka, Zambia

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, Results

The UNICEF Programme of Cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) is designed to address and mitigate the threat of poverty the country’s children face, while responding to the needs with interventions addressing the multiple causative factors.

To find out more about UNICEF’s work in Zambia, please visit UNICEF Zambia

How can you make a difference

UNICEF is seeking the services of an individual consultant to develop a guideline on development of Customary by-law for chiefdoms with the aim of strengthening the capacity of the chiefdoms to prevent violence against children, including child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and all other forms of cultural practices that are harmful to children.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review Term of Reference here: 

Consultant Development of By-Laws consultant TOR Advert.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

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

Educations: Master’s degree in law, Human Rights law, social work, public administration, or other social sciences related to child rights and child protection. 

Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in social work, law reform, development of policies and guidelines relating to child rights, child protection and prevention of violence against children.
• Extensive experience in analyzing child protections systems, policies and legislative frameworks including carrying out studies on child protection and evaluation of programmes that prevent violence against children.
• Good knowledge of international guidelines, standards and best practices related to prevention of violence against children, including child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and other harmful practices.
• Experience in developing policy briefs, policy guidelines or Customary by-law relevant to the consultancy area of focus will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrate understanding of the Chiefdom’s processes and engagement with their hierarchy to ensure consultations are successfully held.
• A good understanding of the drivers of violence against children, child marriage issues and other harmful practices
• Good knowledge of risk and protection factors affecting children, adolescents, and youths within the context of the child protection and violence prevention system.
• Demonstrated skills in building consensus among multiple partners around complex issues, and in identifying innovative solutions to complex and systemic challenges.
• Excellent interpersonal, facilitation and presentation skills.
• Fluency in English (Written & Oral) is required with excellent writing skills.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

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. 

Please remember to express your financial proposals (and/or professional consultancy fees) in Zambian Kwacha.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

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