Contract Duration- 8 Months

Working arrangement: Home Based

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNICEF’s Child Protection and Migration Programme is seeking an experienced individual consultant to develop a landmark global resource: a Practical Handbook for Governments on Developing, Financing, and Implementing a National Action Plan (NAP) to End Child Marriage. Designed as a global public good, the handbook will provide governments with practical, evidence-informed guidance to strengthen national leadership, planning, financing, implementation and accountability for ending child marriage.

Despite decades of global investment in ending child marriage, 640 million women and girls alive today were married as children and at current rates of progress it would take 300 years to end the practice (UNICEF, 2023). The economic cost of inaction is estimated at USD 175 billion annually (Columbia University Institute of Global Politics, 2026). While governments hold strong political commitments under SDG 5.3, they frequently lack practical, step-by-step guidance on the full National Action Plan to end Child marriage lifecycle — from political commitment through to financed, implemented, and monitored action.

This consultancy will fill that critical gap. The handbook will be a government-facing, practical resource structured around the five phases of the NAP cycle: Develop, Negotiate, Finance, Implement, and Monitor & Renew. It will be grounded in global evidence, built with practitioners through a process of consultations and iterative drafting, piloted with governments in three regions (MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Africa), and published as a global public good — openly accessible to all governments and implementing partners worldwide.

National Action Plans are the primary policy instrument through which governments translate their commitment to ending child marriage into structured, time-bound, and financed action. A well-designed NAP establishes clear roles across ministries, allocates domestic and external resources, sets measurable targets, and provides an accountability mechanism for progress. Yet evidence from across high-prevalence countries consistently shows that many NAPs to end child marriage remain inadequately costed, poorly coordinated across sectors, and disconnected from implementation realities at sub-national level. Many countries have yet to develop dedicated action plans to end child marriage, while others require practical support to strengthen existing plans and improve implementation.

Governments frequently report that they lack access to practical, step-by-step operational guidance that speaks directly to the decisions they face at each stage of the NAP cycle.

This handbook directly addresses that gap — providing the structured, actionable support that governments need to move from political commitment to measurable impact in preventing and responding to child marriage, at scale.

Scope of Work:

Under the overall supervision of the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (Prevention of Harmful Practices in ECAMENA), with dotted-line technical oversight from a UNICEF Innocenti research specialist, the consultant will be responsible for delivering the following areas of work:

1. Evidence Synthesis and Analytical Foundation of Toolkit

▪ Conduct a systematic review of good practice country national action plans to end child marriage across regions, applying quality criteria to identify the most instructive examples.

▪ Map the global landscape of National Action Plans to end child marriage, including prevalence, scope, and financing approaches

▪ Review relevant academic and grey literature on NAP design, implementation, financing, and monitoring for child marriage and analogous sectors (e.g gender-based violence, violence against children, FGM, nutrition, social protection).

▪ Conduct Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with government NAP leads, UNICEF and UNFPA country office staff, donor representatives, and civil society organisations to gather practitioner insights and identify common challenges.

▪ Produce an evidence synthesis technical note summarising the findings from the literature and policy review and stakeholder consultations, highlighting key evidence lessons, gaps and practical implications to guide the development of the handbook

2. Technical Development of Handbook

• Develop a first full draft of the handbook (~120 pages, English), structured around the full NAP lifecycle phases: Develop, Negotiate, Finance, Implement, and Monitor & Renew.

• Ensure each chapter provides:

▪ evidence-informed conceptual framing

▪ practical step-by-step operational guidance

▪ common implementation pitfalls and how to address them

▪ illustrative country examples and case studies

▪ financing and governance considerations

▪ implementation checklists

▪ links to relevant global guidance and normative frameworks

▪ and cross-references to accompanying tools and templates.

• Incorporate feedback from the Reference Group in iterative review cycles, producing a revised draft before piloting.

3. Tools and Templates Development

• Develop a package of nine practical annexed tools including: a NAP situation diagnostic, a stakeholder mapping template, a NAP structure template covering the key sections and content requirements of a well-designed national action plan, a NAP drafting framework, an indicator menu, Terms of Reference templates for key coordination roles, and a risk log.

• Develop an Excel-based NAP costing companion tool designed for adaptation by ministry of finance and planning teams.

4. Validation and Piloting

• Support the planning and design of three regional government workshops to validate the handbook in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and MENA.

• Responsibilities include:

o Workshop methodology

o Facilitation materials

o Technical presentations

o Integration of findings into the revised handbook

5. Finalisation and Knowledge Dissemination

Produce the final publication-ready handbook and supporting products including:

• Executive summary

• Policy brief

• Implementation tools

• Publication

• Workshop Materials

All deliverables will be developed in close coordination with the child Protection Specialist Prevention of Harmful practices ECAMENA focal point and Research Specialist and the Reference Group, and aligned with agreed timelines as detailed in the Work Assignment Overview below.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: Terms of Reference TMC0004275.pdf

Minimum requirements:

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in public policy, public administration, international development, social sciences, gender studies, law, public health, or a closely related field.

Work Experience:

A minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible professional experience in child protection, ending child marriage, harmful practices, gender equality, or related social policy areas.

Demonstrated experience leading global guidance documents, operational handbooks, implementation toolkits, or policy resources for governments or multilateral organisations.

Proven experience supporting governments to develop, strengthen, or implement national action plan (NAP) or comparable national strategy processes — across design, costing, financing, implementation, and monitoring..

Direct experience with public finance for children (PF4C) — including budget analysis, costing, domestic resource mobilisation, and the integration of child-focused priorities into national and sectoral budgets — is strongly required, as the financing dimension is central to this assignment.

Familiarity with qualitative methodologies including key informant interviews.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English (written and spoken) is required, including demonstrated ability to produce high-quality, publication-ready written outputs in English. Working knowledge of French or Arabic is a strong asset given the three-region piloting (MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Africa)

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:

• Strong thematic expertise in child marriage prevention— including policy engagement, multisectoral coordination, costing and financing, implementation, and monitoring — for child marriage or analogous social sectors.

• Demonstrated expertise in public finance for children, including costing methodologies, budget formulation and execution, domestic resource mobilisation, value-for-money analysis, and the integration of child-focused and gender-responsive priorities into national and sub-national budgets.

• Practical experience engaging the full range of government ministries involved in ending child marriage — with the Ministry of Social Affairs (or equivalent) often serving as the lead, alongside ministries of finance and planning, health, education, justice, gender/women's affairs, and interior — and an understanding of how multisectoral commitments are coordinated across government and translated into financed, budgeted, and sustainably resourced action.

• Proven ability to conduct systematic evidence reviews and key informant interviews, and to synthesise evidence into clear, actionable practitioner guidance.

• Excellent technical writing and editing skills, with a track record of producing published policy guidance, handbooks, or toolkits for senior government audiences.

• Demonstrated experience designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder workshops with government counterparts across diverse regional and cultural contexts.

• Ability to manage multiple simultaneous deliverables and work independently to tight deadlines over a sustained (10–12 month) engagement.

Desirables:

• Expertise in NAP development processes — including political commitment, multisectoral coordination, costing and financing, implementation, and monitoring — for child marriage or analogous social sectors.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

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 reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. 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.

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

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template) Financial proposal TMC0004275.docx
A detailed technical proposal - Candidates are required to submit: (i) a technical proposal (maximum 4 pages) setting out the proposed approach and methodology for developing and piloting the handbook, including the evidence review, drafting, tools development, and the three region piloting; and (ii) at least two writing samples evidencing prior authorship of published handbooks, toolkits, or policy guidance for government audiences

Remarks:

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.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Individual Consultant to Develop the Practical Handbook for Governments on National Action Plans to End Child Marriage, Amman, Jordan, 9 Months (Remotely), Req#594453