International Consultant to support strengthening foster care and establishing the first Foster Care and Adoption Centre in Montenegro

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, care.

Since ratification of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol in 2009, Montenegro has made progress in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. The Government of Montenegro has made significant efforts in the last 15 years to make a shift in the social and child protection system from an institutions-based to family-and community-based living for children and adults with disabilities. However, there are still significant gaps in services provision due to unavailability and uneven geographical distribution of services that exist. The social and child protection system still significantly relies on institution-based care e.g. children with disabilities are overrepresented in residential care accounting for more than 40% of total number of children placed in residential care. Preventive and support services for families and community-based living are still lacking. Foster care system is Montenegro is not yet adequately and sufficiently developed and needs strengthening. Specific forms of foster care i.e. foster care with intensive support, respite care, urgent foster care need to be developed, while support for foster families, case management of foster care, quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation need to be improved. In addition, the centres for social work have insufficient capacities to prevent child-family separation and reintegrate children with their biological families. Moreover, the centres for social work lack capacities to adequately assess and support foster carers.

In a two-year (2022-2024) joint UN programme “Accelerating Disability Inclusion for Children and Adults with Disabilities in Montenegro” funded by the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) and implemented by UNICEF, UNDP and UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), support has been provided to the Government of Montenegro in strengthening prevention of institutionalization and developing family and community-based services. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare[1]was supported in developing a Roadmap to accelerate strengthening of foster care with a focus on expanding emergency foster care (e.g. for babies and victims of violence) and foster care with intense support (for children with disabilities, children with complex needs, children with challenging behavior, children in conflict with the law, etc.) and establish a Centre for Foster Care and Adoption.

Therefore, UNICEF Montenegro is seeking for a consultant to support the Government of Montenegro i.e. the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography in strengthening the existing foster care system through support in implementing the Roadmap and establishing the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption in Montenegro.

[1] The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare was responsible for social and child protection by July 2024. As of July 2024, the social and child protection is under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography newly established as part of the 44th Government of Montenegro reconstruction.

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of the consultancy is to support establishing the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption in Montenegro and building capacities of professionals in the social and child protection to provide support to children at foster care and foster carers.

The objective of the consultancy is to provide support to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography in establishing and enabling full functioning of the first Centre for Foster Care and Adoption in Montenegro. This will include implementing the overall plan with a roadmap for the development of foster care developed to improve quality and availability of foster care. The plan is particularly focused on development of specialized and urgent foster care (for children with disabilities, children with complex needs, children who experienced trauma, children victims of violence etc).

The consultant is expected to provide support in implementing the plan and the roadmap primarily through building capacities of the social and child protection system professionals to implement contemporary standards of work with children without parental care and foster carers. The consultant will develop a range of training programs on different types of foster care and deliver trainings to professionals in the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption and Centres for Social Work. Particular attention will be given to strengthening capacities of the professionals working on foster care development, from assessment and recruitment of foster carers to support provided to children at foster care and foster carers, to foster care promotion and development.

The International Consultant is expected to perform tasks under the direct supervision of UNICEF Child Protection Officer.

Further details on the assignment are outlined in the section Activities and Tasks below. 

Work Assignment Overview Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline:

Desk review of all relevant documents (national strategic, legal and other documents (reports, analyses, data) relevant to foster care and deinstitutionalization including but not limited to: CRC, CRPD, Recommendations of the CRC Committee for Montenegro, EC Progress Reports for Montenegro, the 2025-2028 Strategy on Deinstitutionalization, Law on Social and Child Protection; Family Law; Analysis on the Foster Care System in Montenegro, 2021; Analysis of the cross-sector system support for children with disabilities in Montenegro, 2019, Analysis of the Work of Centres for Social Work in Montenegro, 2018, etc) and consultations with the key policy development professionals from: Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography, Institute for Social and Child Protection, relevant staff of the Centres for Social Work, Children’s Home “Mladost, Bijela, NGOs, other relevant stakeholders and professionals as needed

By Mid-February 2025

Design a training program for the staff of the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption on working with and supporting children in foster care and their carers;

Deliver the training to the staff of the Centre

Training program for the staff of the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption designed.

One training delivered to the staff of the Centre

By End March 2025

By End May 2025

Design 4 training programs on different types of foster care with focus on foster care for children with disabilities that will be submitted for accreditation to the Institute or Social and Child Protection

4 training program designed and submitted to ISCP for accreditation

End May 2025

Deliver 4 two-days trainings to professionals from the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption, centres for social work, MSWFCD, Institute for Social and Child Protection and OPDs and CSOs on accredited programs for different types of foster care

4 two-days trainings delivered 3 trainings delivered by July 2025

1 training delivered by end November 2025

Support in implementing the Roadmap to accelerate strengthening of foster care and establishing Centre for Foster Care and Adoption and in implementing the work plan and capacity development plan of the Centre including provision of inputs relevant for budgeting foster care to Ministry of Finance, promotion of Foster Care e.g. at high-level and multisectoral events and meetings

Support provided in developing and reviewing the rulebooks, procedures, work plan and capacity building plan as needed;

Support provided in promoting foster care, in particular at high-level and multisectoral events;

Support provided in preparing inputs on budgeting foster care to Ministry of Finance.

By end-November 2025

The final report with recommendations on further advancements and steps to expand and strengthen the work of the Centre for Foster Care and Adoption

Final report submitted and approved by UNICEF.

By mid-December 2025

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s) in social work, social policy, social sciences or other related field is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in social work, social policy, child rights or a related field and expertise in the area of child care system reform and deinstitutionalization, especially in relation to fostering;
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset;
• Experience in development of training material and delivery of capacity building trainings in child protection sphere;
• Familiarity with the context of Montenegro in particular with child rights, alternative/foster care, will be considered as an advantage;
• Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organization will be considered as an advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in Montenegrin is required; knowledge of English is an advantage.

Other:

• Excellent writing skills, presentation skills, strong strategic and analytical skills;
• Ability to work with different stakeholders;
• Demonstrates tact and high sense of responsibility and discretion;
• Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

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. 

Payments:

The payments will be made in two instalments upon successful completion of the deliverables and submission of invoices. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

Upon conducting the recruitment process and prior to the signing of the contract, the consultant will be required to complete the following online courses. All certificates should be presented as part of the contract.

1. Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF;

2. Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority (PSEAA);

3. Prevention of Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA);

4. BSAFE (English)

The above courses can be found on Agora through the following link: AGORA: Log in to the site (unicef.org).

Course completion certificates should be shared and retained with the human resources unit of the hiring office prior the contract signing.

Selection methodology:

All applicants will be screened against qualifications and requirements set above. Candidates fully meeting all the requirements will be further evaluated based on the criteria below. The proposal will be evaluated against the following criteria:

A) Technical criteria – Technical evaluation process / Maximum points: 70

1. Technical Criteria – please select:

• Desk review of submitted methodology and CVs -70 % of total evaluation – max. 70 points
• Education: (20 points)
• Previous experience, where a recent relevant piece of work needs to be provided by the applicant within the application: (25 points)
• Methodology with proposed workplan: (25 points)

In case it is assessed as needed to evaluate applications for the consultancy, selection will be done in two phases: 1) desk review of applications including submitted methodologies, 2) interviews with shortlisted candidates.

Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the technical part (who will score at least 49 points) will be qualified for considering for financial proposal evaluation.

2. Financial criteria – evaluation of financial proposal – Maximum points: 30

The applicants are requested to submit their lump sum financial proposal consisting of breakdown with professional fee, travel and other applicable costs. Financial scores will be calculated using the formula [lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 30].

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. 

Read Full Description