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.

Scope of Work:

UNICEF launched its second global pulse survey on workplace culture in October 2023. This survey supports offices as they check in on the progress of their Global Staff Survey (GSS) 2022 Action Plan. Offices were encouraged to review and update their GSS 2022 Action Plan on the results of the current 2023 Pulse Survey’s Results. The Guinea-Bissau Office had the opportunity to discuss the results at the CMT and with all-staff that subsequently identified two main areas for improvement such as Sustainability and Mental Health. While the response rate was at 75% compared to 2022 Q2 pulse survey at 85.4%, the overall score rests stable at 75.7% with significant improvement in most of areas identified in 2022 Q2.

However, the disaggregated data by gender showed women displaying a less positive stance on all the 11 statements assessed on the Workplace Place Culture than men. The gaps ranged from -11.8% to -23.6%. On sustainability, 64.7% respondents affirmed that the Office considered the environmental impact of their work while women were less satisfied than men with a gap scoring -11,8%. The Pulse Check on Mental Health is overall unsatisfactory on the five aspects scoring from 35% to 64% with substantial gaps highlighting women unsatisfied than men.

In addition, the Office welcomed new staff members, and it will be important to continuously build cohesion and that all staff are aware of UNICEF core values and support the development of a cohesive and supportive team that strives to protect rights for children and achieve results.

To address these issues, the Office is aiming at organizing a 3-day staff retreat in April 2023 by recruiting an international consultant to facilitate the retreat.

Under the supervision of the Human Resources Officer, Head of Unit the consultant will be required to successfully deliver on the following activities. The scope of the work will be to prepare and facilitate a two- and half-day team building exercise and to compile a report outlining the workshop’s proceedings, including practical recommendations and operational tools which can be used by the team in the future.

Expected outputs:

1. Preparation of a team building retreat workshop (2 days):
• Discussion with management and workshop organizers to agree on an agenda and methodology of the training.

• Teambuilding exercises
• Findings of the 2023 Pulse Survey, specifically exploring ways to improve on the following:
  o Sustainability and environmental impact of our work.
  o Mental Health, career advancement and available supports
  o Appreciation and Recognition
  o Performance management
• Bringing new UNICEF staff into the family.
• Reflection and Learning

• A customized training and team building plan that clearly articulating the objectives of the team building exercise.
• Interactive and flexible facilitation tools and materials prepared prior to the workshop.

2. Facilitation of a team building retreat workshop (3 days):
• The team building exercise should be creatively organized to include sessions aimed at clarifying staff on the key areas of sustainability and mental health, enhancing their understanding and role-modeling these dimensions in their individual daily behaviors and office-wide awareness.
• It should also include practical exercises and sessions on the following modules: teamwork effectiveness, sustainability, mental health, appreciation, and recognition.

3. The output of the retreat workshop should be a brief report outlining:
• Workshop’s proceedings
• Practical recommendations and operational tools which can be used by the team in the future.

The consultant is expected to design this process and to assign time frames to it. S/he will receive the assistance of UNICEF with regards to logistical arrangements towards the holding of this retreat.

Review Time Required:
The report submitted by the consultant will be reviewed by UNICEF within seven working days, after which the consultant will be granted one additional day to finalize the report in question.

Payment Terms:
UNICEF will pay the full amount as per the contract upon satisfactory facilitation of the retreat and subject to the finalization and approval of the retreat report.

The consultant is expected to dedicate two days to the preparation of the retreat. S/he will be expected to consult with the UNICEF team to design the workshop programme. The retreat will run over a three-day period.

Two days are allocated to formulate the first version of the report. One additional day’s work will be required to refine the report following feedback from UNICEF. In total, the consultant will be contracted for six (6) days’ work – starting from 2 days prior to the set date for the workshop.

Additional costs incurred by the consultant during the course of his/her contract (additional materials for the team building exercises) will be refunded, provided the costs were agreed upon by UNICEF in advance. Payments will be made following the submission of the deliverable, as per the table below.

The consultant is required to submit his/her methodological note and all-inclusive financial offer (including fees, travel and related costs as applicable…). Final rate shall follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.

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

• Master’s degree in social sciences, Management, or a closely related field.
• 5-10 years of relevant professional experience
• Proven track record of facilitating team building and knowledge sharing workshops and consultancy experience.
• Excellent analytical, research, writing and communication skills.
• Full computer literacy and fluency in both French and English – both written and spoken – are required.

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 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 (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.