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For every child, the right to protection,

In Tajikistan, child protection services are minimal and poorly linked to basic social services. The statutory child protection workforce is virtually absent, with existing social workers focused mainly on social payments and elderly care, leaving children in vulnerable situations without specialized support.

Recently, the Government has begun modernizing the social protection system to better meet population needs. The adoption of the Social Protection Strategy 2040 and the State Programme on Social Workforce Development up to 2030 highlights this as a national priority. Central to these reforms is building a strong, well trained social service workforce with a clear mandate to identify, prevent, and respond to risks. Without such a workforce, essential services cannot reach vulnerable children, families, and individuals, regardless of other system improvements.

UNICEF Tajikistan has been working closely with the leading agency—the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population—and international financial institutions, including the World Bank, to strengthen the social service workforce. This has been achieved through policy advocacy, the development of mechanisms and tools, the creation of competencies and modules, capacity-building for social workers, and awareness-raising interventions to address the protection needs of children.

These interventions require further support to ensure that UNICEF’s contributions are sustained and that social workers are available at community level to meet protection needs of children. Such support includes liaising with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to ensure that the necessary evidence is generated, that relevant policies are developed in line with the Tajikistan context, and that training modules and curricula on child protection, case management, and family support are created and incorporated into government re-training institutions. It also involves building effective linkages between social services, health, education, and justice sectors, and fostering dialogue between ministries, civil society, and international partners to build consensus on workforce reform.

Hence, Child Protection Section is seeking to hire the National Consultant to complement to the work of the section and the team to promote strengthening social service workforce that shall work to address protection needs of children.

How can you make a difference?

The National Consultant will be engaged in the following:

- Provide technical support to the drafting and review of legislation, bylaws, and related policy and implementation frameworks on social workers to support vulnerable children and their caregivers at community level.
- Provide input to the Inter-Agency Working Group of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population related to coordination, legislation bylaws and implementation mechanisms.
- Work closely with relevant ministries (MOHSPP, MOES, MOLME) and academia to support the Association of Caritas Germany in Tajikistan in generating evidence on the social work profession for qualification of the National Qualifications Framework, contribute to the development of competency standards and education modules, facilitate and participate in strengthening the material, technical, and human resource training capacities of selected educational institutions, and support awareness-raising campaigns on the importance and role of the social work profession to enhance its image.
- Provide technical inputs related to capacity-building interventions on case management, in collaboration with the World Bank, with a focus on the prevention of and response to cases of violence against children.
- Support the organisation of the National Forum of the Social Service Workforce, aimed at enhancing professional recognition and status, facilitating knowledge exchange and best practices, advocating for policy development and reform, and strengthening networking and collaboration.
- Provide technical support to UNICEF and relevant government counterparts in the adaptation and development of child protection case management forms, ensuring their alignment with national standards and requirement and their effective integration into the CPIMS+/Primero system.
- Prepare, contribute and deliver presentations at high level events and platforms to promote social work to address protection needs of children, with focus on prevention and response of cases of violence against children, children without family care, children in conflict with the law and children with disabilities.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete TOR here: TOR SSWF Nat Conslt r2.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Education (revised):

University degree (bachelor's level or higher) on social work, child protection, public policy, or a related field relevant to child rights.

Work Experience:

•A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in area of social work, child protection and other development areas, or closely related areas.
•An experience on development of the training package for the social workers and capacity building interventions in close consultation and cooperation of the government counterparts and CSO expertise.
•Experience working in the government structures in the social services or social direction is a big asset, as well as having an in-depth understanding of the existing social services, social work structures and government policies is crucial.

Language Requirements:
Knowledge of Tajik is required; knowledge of English and Russian is an asset.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
-Proven track record in providing technical support on initiatives related to social work, including social work education and social work supporting families;
-Demonstrated experience in capacity building interventions, development of modules, tools and training programmes;
-Strong coordination, analytical, and conceptual skills, with the ability to support policy dialogue and curriculum reforms on social work;
-Demonstrated ability to design and deliver capacity-building activities, including trainings, workshops, and technical briefings for academic institutions, government and youth;
-Strong analytical skills to work on draft legislation, bylaws and implementation mechanisms.
-Proven organsiational skills for high-level events dedicated to promoting social service workforce;
-Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to produce high-quality technical documents and guidance notes;
-Ability to work independently under pressure, manage competing priorities, and deliver high-quality outputs within tight timelines

Desirables:

Good rapport with the government entities and working closely with CSOs promoting social services.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

Cover letter/CV
A separate financial proposal using this template in Tajik Somoni Financial proposal SSWF Tajikistan.docx
Technical proposal

Deadline for submission: 6 July 2026

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Re-advert: National consultant to support strengthening the Social Service Workforce in Tajikistan, 48 w/ds, Tajikistan (for Tajik nationals only)