Individual Consultant (International) – Senior Gender and Immunization (Polio), UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, Kathmandu, Nepal and remote (2 months)
JOB DETAIL
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, a future
Purpose of Activity/Assignment:
Despite extensive efforts to eradicate polio globally, both Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to face challenges in eliminating the disease due to various factors including the deeply entrenched gender, socio-cultural norms, ongoing conflict, insecurity, religious beliefs, difficult terrain, porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and limited access to healthcare in some areas. While female healthcare workers are deemed essential in the polio workforce, existing unequal power structures exposes female healthcare workers to exploitation and disempowers them from speaking up making it difficult for them to fulfill their duties. In some areas, health workers face threats and attacks, which hamper their ability to provide children with access to vaccines. This has resulted in periodic outbreaks and pockets of under-immunized children, thus increasing the risk of Polio transmission in certain regions.
In order to address these bottlenecks and barriers and empower the female healthcare workforce the Regional Office will work closely with both country offices on an Acceleration Plan to eradicate polio between September 1st– December 31st. While there are multiple activities in this plan, the Regional Office will bring one Gender & Immunization consultant on board to focus on gender integration in polio programming. The consultant will develop an accountability framework for both the Pakistan and Afghanistan female healthcare workforce to address gender barriers, ensure family friendly policies are in place, stakeholders are consulted, and a strategic roadmap is developed.
How can you make a difference?
Scope of Work:
The Gender & Immunization Consultant will be responsible for developing a strategic roadmap which will include professional development programs to increase female polio frontline workers skillset and an advocacy action plan for effective female workforce engagement. The roadmap will aim to widen female candidates from under-represented groups especially for leadership roles.
The roadmap will also outline strategies for establishing and implementing mechanisms to effectively address safeguarding and protection concerns for female frontline workers. This will involve enhancing systems for prevention, reporting, and victim assistance, as well as ensuring accountability to survivors through prompt and safe investigations of allegations related to sexual harassment and other forms of abuse against female frontline workers.
Main Deliverables:
- Conduct a desk review on already existing accountability framework- related documents; required number of days – 10.
- The consultant will design a one-day online consultation with ACO and PCO colleagues.. The consultant will also facilitate an online discussion to determine key documents that can be referenced to develop strategic roadmap & agreement of key objectives and goals. The consultant will produce a report on consultation and key documents collected; required number of days – 4.
- The consultant will facilitate a one day consultation with female frontline workforce in Afghanistan and Pakistan and engage key stakeholders such as healthcare workers, gender specialists, and leadership to identify specific needs and challenges. During this session a needs assessment will be conducted to analyze the current landscape, focusing on the skill gaps, workforce distribution, and safeguarding and protection concerns faced by female healthcare workers within the workplace and in project implementation sites; required number of days – 10.
- The consultant will work with country offices to develop a strategic roadmap for female healthcare workforce. The consultant will also work closely with country teams to design tailored training programs that address key skill gaps and foster leadership development through mentorship opportunities. Additionally, it involves helping country offices map out key stakeholders and design advocacy campaigns that highlight the importance of female leadership in healthcare, drawing on data and success stories from Afghanistan and Pakistan to build momentum and support; required number of days – 10.
Note: Please submit your application with the financial proposal, without which the applications will not be entertained.
Remarks: This consultancy is done by hybrid method of working remotely and office based.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education:
Master’s degree in Public health, Gender and development, Social Sciences, Behavioural Science, Development Planning and Management or related fields.
2 additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of a Master’s Degree.
Experience:
Language:
For every Child, you demonstrate…
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required
- Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills
- Experience in organising consultations/workshops/network meetings
- Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing;
- Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; familiarity with tools and approaches of communications for development;
- Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel;
- Analytical, negotiating, communication and advocacy skills;
- Experience of managing multi-faceted projects operating between several level of implementation (Global, regional, country level), preparing and managing project timelines and plans.
- Ability to demonstrate drive, initiative and be pro-active. Demonstrate strong attention to detail and to problem solve;
- Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment;
- Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines;
- Sound security awareness
- Have affinity with or interest in promoting children’ rights to survival, protection and development, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.
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.
