National consultant to support implementation of child protection-related activities in Tanah Papua

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For every child, result

Background:

Over the past decade, Indonesia has made significant strides in advancing child protection legislation. Key frameworks, including the Child Protection Law and the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), outline an ambitious agenda to ensure that all children have access to high-quality child protection services and to reduce violence against children. Recently, Indonesia enacted the Law on Sexual Violence Crimes, which underscores the critical role of local governments in providing accessible and quality services. Additionally, the existing Law on Local Government and the Law on Village create opportunities for decentralized child protection services.

The Child Protection Programme outcome of the Government of Indonesia (GOI) and UNICEF CPAP 2021–2025 states: “Girls and boys are increasingly empowered and protected from violence and harmful practices through effective, quality child protection systems and positive social norms at both national and subnational levels, including in humanitarian settings.” While significant progress has been made, there remains a need to accelerate efforts to strengthen integrated protection services for women and children, enhance birth registration, and ensure preparedness and response for child protection during emergencies.

Between 2020 and 2023, at least 1,511 cases of violence against children were reported in Tanah Papua, with sexual violence being the most prevalent. These cases were largely perpetrated by parents, peers, and close relatives, highlighting the urgent need for robust protection mechanisms and support services. In 2023, 9.52% of children in Papua were married before age 18, up 0.9% from 2022. Limited access to child protection services compounds these issues; of 42 districts/cities and 6 provinces, only 17 districts and 2 provinces have integrated services, leaving most children without adequate avenues for reporting or receiving support.

According to 2024 data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA), 27% of children aged 0-4 years in Tanah Papua lack birth certificates, preventing access to essential services like health insurance and social welfare. This lack of legal identification increases risks of exploitation and abuse and hampers government policy planning and resource allocation. Despite improved awareness through efforts by UNICEF, the Government of Indonesia (GOI), and partners, operational collaboration needs enhancement. Regular monitoring and technical support are crucial to strengthen regulations, improve planning, and increase budgeting. Establishing community-level mechanisms and referral pathways is essential for effective child protection.

Under the supervision of the Field Office, the consultant will provide technical support to strengthen collaboration with the provincial government in Papua Provinces to reinforce ongoing initiatives and support the development of strategies to sustain these efforts. The consultant will support the enabling environment strengthening by delivering high-quality outputs, such as child protection planning documents, data analysis, and policy review, etc. The individual contractor will be based in Jayapura.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of Work:

Under direct supervision from Chief Child Office Jayapura and technical guidance from Child Protection Officer, the consultant is expected to deliver the following tasks:

1. Provide technical assistance to strengthen integrated protection services for women and children, including capacity building for the social service workforce to implement sustainable and resilient victim centered interventions.
2. Provide technical assistance to develop mechanisms to strengthen community-based mechanisms for child protection, including referrals to civil registration services district and city levels (in accordance with the Ministry of Village Guidelines for community-based child protection)

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

• Bachelor’s degree in social work or related field.
• At least 5 years of working experience in service delivery relevant to social welfare child protection or related field. Practical experience on child protection case management, is an asset.
• Good technical and practical expertise on capacity building including module development and training facilitation; good communication
• Demonstrated understanding of government functions to social work reform and child protection and relevant legal framework.
• Demonstrated understanding of Papua context in program and regulations related to child protection and have experiences working in Papua Provinces
• Good analytical and writing skills in English is an asset.

Please refer to the Term of Reference attached for the detailed breakdowns of tasks, deliverables/outputs,  TOR for Jayapura FO Child Protection Consultant_TMS.pdf

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others

To view our competency framework, please visit  here.

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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors 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.

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: 

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 (if applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract.