Individual National Consultant to provide professional technical and implementation support to child protection programme and measures to strengthen child justice

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 

Turkmenistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1994, committing itself to protecting children’s rights under international human rights law. The government has approved the National Action Plan on Children’s Rights for 2023–2028, which contains the main priorities of state policy aimed at further improving the situation of children, upholding their rights and ensuring their well-being.

Over the past decade, Turkmenistan has made significant changes to its legislative framework regarding child protection, prevention and response to violence, and children’s interaction with the justice system and is poised for further system improvements.

At the same time, the implementation of the legislation requires effective governance structures for coordination across government sectors and agencies, across different levels of government, and between the government and other partners, including CSOs. The Functional Assessment of the Child Protection System in Turkmenistan, conducted in 2021 by UNICEF jointly with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Turkmenistan, found that the current structural and institutional architecture for child protection is fragmented. Components of the child protection system exist across several ministries; however, they require stronger mechanisms for encouraging the different parts to operate smoothly in a unified system with mandatory instruments for coordination and collaboration.

At the operational level child protection statutory bodies coordinate across sectors and collaborate according to their distinct function – the Medical Pedagogical Commission (MPC), the Guardianship and Trusteeship Body (G&T), and the Commission on Minors Affairs (CoMs). However, the statutes of referral bodies such as the CoMs and Regulations of the G&T are outdated, as they have not been changed for more than 50 years, including the part concerning the placement of children in residential care institutions.

The Government emphasizes the importance of family-based care for children who cannot live with their parents for various reasons. At the same time, despite legislative obligations to provide family-based care for children, there is a steady increase in the number of children living in residential institutions, by about 4-5% annually. In this regard, and also referring to the CRC Concluding Observations to Turkmenistan (2015 and 2024), UNICEF supports the Government in advancing a family care policy for children and advocates for the need to strengthen the child protection system in the country and revise the outdated legal framework of gatekeeping and referral bodies in line with international standards.

The Government continues to develop the social services system. In 2021, the country introduced the profession of social work and social services for the most marginalized groups of the population. At the same time, social work is not widespread throughout the country, and the functions of providing social services, as well as their relationship with statutory child protection bodies, especially guardianship and trusteeship authorities and the commission on minors, are not fully defined. In this regard, UNICEF continues high-level strategic advocacy for a nationwide expansion of social services for every community.

Although data on children in the justice system is not published, the government reports that the number of children who commit serious crimes and go through the juvenile justice system in the country is low. The Government continue advancing the justice for children agenda by strengthening child-friendly procedures for the protection of child victims and witnesses and initiating diversion modelling.

The legal system provides some elements of a justice system for children in line with international standards, including a commendably high minimum age of criminal responsibility (14 or 16 years depending on the type of crime), broadly defined fair trial rights, restrictive criteria for the use of pre-trial detention, and the availability of alternatives to trial and imprisonment.

UNICEF supports the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population to undertake the necessary steps for improving the practice of diversion with a restorative justice model. Together the Guidelines on Application of Diversion with Restorative Justice Approach in Turkmenistan was developed in pursuance of the National Action Plan for the implementation of children’s rights of Turkmenistan for 2023-2028, to further strengthen diversion measures for minors from the formal justice system and restorative justice approaches in accordance with the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to Turkmenistan (2015) and in order to implement Turkmenistan’s obligations under the UN Convention on rights of the child. Child-friendly interrogation rooms have been established in two police departments and a methodology for interviewing child victims and witnesses of crimes has been developed.

Despite these efforts, some gaps remain, as detailed in the CRC Concluding Observations, including the lack of specialized children’s courts and judges; lack of inclusion of diversion or disposition mechanisms in national legislation; limited availability of community-based social services for adolescents at risk of contact with the criminal justice system; limited number and availability of rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for these children.

To advance child protection issues, including the latest CRC recommendations to Turkmenistan (October 2024), the Country Office seeks a technical specialist (consultant) with national experience to support implementation of critical workstreams of the child protection programme.  

How can you make a difference? 

The National Consultant is expected to perform the below specific tasks in collaboration with the UNICEF team and international experts:

1.   Provide technical guidance and support to the national partners in strengthening child protection in the country:

• Support in developing the Child Protection system architecture, inter-agency coordination mechanism, and referral and service delivery mechanism at all levels in line with the UNCRC Recommendations – 20 working days;
• Support in strengthening the gatekeeping mechanism of the statutory referral bodies (Commission on Minors, Guardianship and Trusteeship bodies, Medical-pedagogical Commission) in collaboration with UNICEF international consultants– 15 working days;
• Support in strengthening family-based alternative care for children. Support UNICEF international experts in reviewing current adoption and guardianship practices and examining the reasons for placing children in all types of residential institutions– 15 working days;
• Support in further strengthening special measures to protect children in contact with the law, including participation in advocacy for the introduction of special courses for police investigators and prosecutors on a child-friendly approach into the curriculum and in-service training– 10 working days;
• Support in piloting diversion measures in the Kopetdag district of Ashgabat, including monitoring visits and support for the UNICEF international expert in developing recommendations based on the results of the pilot– 15 working days;

2.    Provide technical guidance and implementation support to the UNICEF TCO Child Protection section:

• Support in collecting, analyzing, verifying and synthesizing information to support programming, designing and preparing child protection programmes– 15 working days.
• Technical and implementation support throughout all stages of the programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentation, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning– 20 working days.
• Support in organizing and conducting meetings, workshops, trainings and round tables to implement planned programmes. Prepare the necessary documentation for this purpose– 20 working days.
• Assistance in organizing study tours on international best practices in the field of child protection– 10 working days;
• Undertake field visits and organise events in the regions, including with the involvement of local communities– 5 working days.
• Participation in raising awareness among bodies implementing policies to provide state support to children in difficult life situations. Participation in the development of information printed materials for consultations– 15 working days.
• Work closely and collaboratively with UNICEF colleagues and UN sister agencies on the implementation of child protection programmes. Submit proposals to inform relevant stakeholders on interventions and/or solutions– 15 working days.
• Participate in review, monitoring and evaluation activities of ongoing programmes with national partners and prepare minutes/results reports for follow-up by UNICEF management and other stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues in programme implementation and propose solutions– 15 working days.
• Prepare inputs for programme reporting– 10 working days.

Please read the attached Terms of Reference for all details. TOR_National Consultant to support CP programming – for advertisement.pdf

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

• University Degree in international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, social sciences, law, economics, or other related fields. Advanced University degree in Social Sciences will be an asset.
• At least two years of professional experience in the area of social development, law, planning and management in child protection-related areas.
• Fluency in Russian and Turkmen is required; working knowledge in English language is asset

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility jobs-near-me.org UNICEF.

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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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.