UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to education

TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

UNICEF is committed to ensuring that adolescents and youth have the skills, opportunities and support to thrive, participate meaningfully and contribute to more peaceful, cohesive and resilient societies. This is particularly critical in contexts affected by conflict, displacement and humanitarian crises, where young people face heightened barriers but are also essential partners in humanitarian action, disaster risk reduction, peacebuilding and recovery. Across humanitarian, development and peacebuilding contexts, UNICEF strengthens young people’s skills, leadership and agency, while advancing their meaningful participation and equal partnership in shaping the programmes, policies and decisions that affect their lives and communities.

A growing body of global and inter-agency frameworks and practical resources provides a foundation for this work. These include the IASC Guidelines on Working with and for Young People in Humanitarian and Protracted Crises (IASC Youth Guidelines), the Young Humanitarians Handbook, and the UN Security Council resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security. UNICEF has an important role in translating these global frameworks into practical approaches at country level and connecting them with skills development and adolescent and youth programming. This includes strengthening the capacities of UNICEF teams, education and humanitarian actors, partners and youth-led organizations to apply these frameworks and ensuring that young people have the skills, knowledge, resources and opportunities to meaningfully participate in humanitarian action, peacebuilding and decision-making.

In response to growing demand, this consultancy will strengthen UNICEF’s support for adolescent and youth programming across humanitarian action, peacebuilding, social cohesion, disaster risk reduction and recovery, particularly in crisis-affected and fragile contexts. It will provide technical assistance and capacity strengthening to UNICEF country and regional offices, youth-led organizations and partners to operationalize the IASC Youth Guidelines and Young Humanitarians Handbook, advance the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, and meaningful youth engagement into humanitarian, resilience and peacebuilding programming. The consultancy will also support UNICEF’s leadership and coordination within key inter-agency mechanisms, including its co-leadership of the Capacity Strengthening Working Group of the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action and its engagement with the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security, connecting UNICEF’s work and learning with wider global policy, advocacy and coordination efforts.

Knowledge management, research and reporting will be a core area of the assignment. The consultancy will support ongoing annual, donor, inter-agency and high-level UN reporting on UNICEF’s work with adolescents and youth across humanitarian action, peacebuilding and resilience. It will also contribute to research, case studies, analysis and other knowledge products that document results and lessons, and inform programming, learning and advocacy. This will include leading annual donor reporting and knowledge management for the Adolescent Kit for Expression and Innovation, including documenting and disseminating implementation progress, results and learning. The consultancy will support the dissemination and exchange of this knowledge, including by managing and updating content around young people on humanitarian, peace and resilience through Drupal for UNICEF’s Youth-Led Action and Adolescent Kit websites, supporting the development of the PROSPECTS website. Particular attention will be given to supporting PROSPECTS countries in implementing the IASC Youth Guidelines, National Action Plans on Youth, Peace and Security, and Peacebuilding Fund-supported programmes, while strengthening cross-country and regional learning through trainings, webinars and learning dialogues.

Overall, the consultancy will support three mutually reinforcing areas of work: (1) technical assistance and capacity strengthening, supporting UNICEF offices, youth-led organizations and partners to operationalize the IASC Youth Guidelines and Young Humanitarians Handbook, advance the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, and strengthen young people’s skills, leadership and meaningful participation across humanitarian action, peacebuilding, social cohesion, disaster risk reduction and resilience; (2) inter-agency coordination and partnership, supporting UNICEF’s leadership and engagement with the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action, and the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security; and (3) knowledge management, research and reporting, including annual, donor, inter-agency and high-level UN reporting, knowledge products and digital platforms, and the documentation and exchange of learning across countries and regions. Across these areas, the consultancy will connect global frameworks and inter-agency priorities with country-level implementation, including in PROSPECTS and other crisis-affected and fragile contexts, while strengthening UNICEF’s evidence, learning and capacity to work with and for young people across humanitarian action, peacebuilding and resilience.

How can you make a difference?

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the Terms of Reference here: TOR Young People in Humanitarian Peacebuilding TMS Text.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Education:

Advanced university degree – Master’s degree - PhD International relations, peace and conflict studies, community development, humanitarian emergencies; DRR; youth development.

Work Experience:

Ten or more years of relevant professional experience in adolescent and youth programming across humanitarian action, peacebuilding, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience and/or fragile and conflict-affected contexts is required. Demonstrated experience providing technical assistance and capacity strengthening, including developing or delivering trainings, workshops and other learning initiatives, is required.
Demonstrated experience in inter-agency coordination and partnerships, particularly with the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action and the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security, is required.
Demonstrated research and analytical expertise, including experience developing high-level and high-quality donor, institutional and/or UN reports, including the analysis and synthesis of country and programme results, evidence and lessons learned, is required.
Demonstrated experience in knowledge management and the development and dissemination of digital content and knowledge products for internal and external audiences is required.

Language Requirements: English

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:

Comprehensive knowledge of policies, frameworks and guidance related to adolescents and youth across humanitarian action, peacebuilding and DRR, including the IASC Youth Guidelines, Young Humanitarians Handbook, Youth, Peace and Security agenda, UNICEF Core Commitments for Children (CCCs), and Sendai Framework for DRR.
Strong knowledge of current research and evidence on young people’s meaningful participation and leadership across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, including the interlinkages between humanitarian action, peacebuilding, social cohesion, DRR, climate resilience and fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
Advanced research and analytical skills, including research on and with young people, and the ability to analyze and synthesize evidence into high-quality UN and donor reports, technical guidance, policy and programme recommendations, and other knowledge products.
Strong facilitation and capacity-strengthening skills, including the ability to contextualize global frameworks and guidance and translate them into practical tools, trainings and learning approaches for country and regional contexts.
Strong digital skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office, Drupal, Zoom and other relevant knowledge management, collaboration and communication platforms.
A master’s degree in a relevant field is required. A PhD is highly desirable, particularly given the assignment's advanced research and analysis requirements.

Fluency in English is required.

Desirables: Second language

For every Child, you demonstrate Care

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 (Talent Management System):

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal Financial proposal Consultancy - TMS.docx

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.

Consultancy - Young People in Humanitarian-Peacebuilding Consultant, Global Education Practice, Nairobi, Kenya, 12.5 Months (Remote)