International Indvidual Consultant to Develop Guidelines for Frontline Workers, Community-Based Organizations, and NGOs on Conducting Community Consultations for Safeguarding During Emergencies, Gaza, SOP

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 

UNICEF in the State of Palestine works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential. We are working for every child and young person in the State of Palestine. 

There are almost 2.5 million children[1] living in the West Bank who face significant challenges due to the ongoing political, social, and economic instability in the region. This environment contributes to a range of child protection concerns, including exposure to violence, displacement, children in contact with the law, lack of access to essential services, child labor, child marriage and other forms of exploitation. Vulnerable populations in particular, for example children with disabilities; children in Bedouin, herder and remote communities; and children in East Jerusalem, H2/Hebron, the Seam Zones and Area C, face heightened risks due to limited resources and services tailored to their needs

1. In the context of escalating emergencies and crises, ensuring the safety and protection of vulnerable communities is paramount. Effective safeguarding during emergencies requires well-structured guidelines for frontline workers, community-based organizations (CBOs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These guidelines should facilitate community consultations that are sensitive, inclusive, and effective in addressing safeguarding and PSEA concerns and risks in a way that decolonize the intervention and share power effected populations. This TOR outlines the scope of work for a consultant tasked with developing these essential guidelines in the lenses of child safeguarding and protection of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (PSEA).

How can you make a difference? 

This consultancy is open for individual who have physical access to Gaza and will aim to develop a guideline on community consultation for Safeguarding that can support technical interventions during and post the crises. Its worth noting that this consultancy will not cover community engagement for community consultation through MEAL lenses.

Scope of Work:

1.Assessment and Research: 

• Conduct a thorough review of existing guidelines, researches, frameworks, and best practices related to safeguarding, do no harm and PSEA in emergency settings.

2. Identify gaps and challenges faced by frontline workers, CBOs, and NGOs in conducting community consultations for SEA/ safeguarding during emergencies and suggest mitigation actions 

3. Stakeholder Consultation across Gaza and west Bank

• Engage with key stakeholders including frontline workers, CBOs, NGOs, and community members to gather insights and input on the challenges and needs related to SEA/ safeguarding consultations.
• With the support of the PSEA Network, facilitate focus group discussions and interviews to understand practical issues and gather diverse perspectives and possible solutions as per the community.
• Engaged with PSEA network members in the Westbank together inputs and challenges in Westbank contexts.

4. Guideline Development:

comprehensive guidelines covering:

• Based on stakeholders’ consultations and desk review develop best practices and techniques for engaging with communities during emergencies.
• Procedures for identifying and addressing safeguarding/ SEA issues.
• Techniques for inclusive and culturally sensitive consultations.
• Identify SEA/ Safeguarding risks and community members concerns when come into contact with NGOs for community consultation activities. This may include data protection risks, privacy and breach of confidentiality.
• Develop supplementary tools and resources such as checklists, templates, questions.
• Develop a training tool to be used to train front line workers on conducting community consultation sessions
• KBIs to support CBOs and NGOs track their success in community consultation

5. Review and Validation:

• Present the draft guidelines to a panel of stakeholders for review and feedback.
• conduct field testing.
• Revise the guidelines based on feedback to ensure they are practical, applicable, and effective.

6. Finalization and Dissemination:

• Finalize the guidelines and prepare a dissemination plan.
• All materials will be handled in English and translated to Arabic by UNICEF
• The consultant is expected to revise the translation and provide an English and Arabic version fully edited.
• Create a dissemination strategy to ensure that the guidelines reach and are understood by all relevant stakeholders.
• Provide training sessions or workshops, if required, to support the implementation of the guidelines

For more details on the Methodology and Implementation Phases, Expected Deliverables – to view the TOR click here

OXFAM TOR UNICEF NR 06.02.25_add.pdf

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

• Masters on Social Sciences, human rights, education, social and behavioral change, gender, development, or related field.
• At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in education development guidelines for frontline workers, community-based organization (CBos) and Safeguarding.
• Fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic.

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. 

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