International Consultant for Unaccompanied and Separated Children at UNICEF

The emergency in the northeast of Nigeria has led to large scale displacement of civilians with the Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) estimating 1.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the six states of the Northeast. The increasing number of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), including children orphaned in the ongoing hostilities, is a growing issue of concern. There is a pressing need for the Child Protection Programme to scale up its interventions in North East to meet the needs of UASC, and in particular to support alternative care for UASC and the establishment and implementation of family tracing and reunification mechanisms.

Purpose of the consultancy:

• The purpose of the consultancy is to urgently strengthen the capacity of UNICEF and local actors to respond to the needs of UASC.

Major Tasks to be accomplished:

• Assess the situation/magnitude of family separation in four States in northeastern Nigeria (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Plateau);
• Assess the existing capacities and gaps in terms of programmatic prevention and response to family separation in these four States (Government, local NGOs, international NGO);
• Develop an action plan for prevention and response to family separation with an accompanying timeframe in order to build a UASC sustainable program; and
• Support rapid capacity-building initiatives, including trainings of partners to carry out identification, documentation, interim care, psychosocial support, family tracing, reunification and follow-up of unaccompanied and separated children, as well as prevention of family separation (primary and secondary).

Minimum qualification:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, human rights, conflict studies or international relations.
• Minimum five years experience with child protection programming for unaccompanied and separated children in natural disaster and/or armed conflict contexts and field experience in emergency contexts is essential. Previous experience with child protection in emergencies assessments and trainings is required.
• Excellent planning and organizational skills
• Strong communication skills - both oral and written
• This consultancy is partially funded by the European Union under the UN Women led Women, Peace and Security programme.