Consultancy – Utilizing Photography and Images to Integrate Children's Perspectives in Developing Policies for Child-Friendly Cities, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO), Bangkok, Thailand

UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to provide support on utilizing Photography and Images to Integrate Children's Perspectives in Developing Policies for Child-Friendly Cities.

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 fulfilling 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 better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region.  This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to provide support on utilizing Photography and Images to Integrate Children's Perspectives in Developing Policies for Child-Friendly Cities.

Work Assignment: 

Guided by the Regional Adviser on Social Policy and Economic Analysis, and in collaboration with Social Policy Chiefs at Country Offices and other sectoral colleagues, this initiative aims to amplify the voices and participation of urban children in local decision-making processes. By engaging directly with children, the initiative seeks to understand their perspectives on urban improvement by asking them what changes they would implement if they were in positions of authority. This approach is designed to empower children, encouraging them to contribute their ideas and visions for making their cities better places to live, thereby ensuring their active involvement in shaping the urban environments around them.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks to fulfill the initiative's goals:

- Collaborate with EAP COs’ Social Policy teams (and/or other sections) for advice on how to present and approach the topics.

- Work closely with EAP COs to organize the workshops effectively.

- Ensure that all workshop participants are provided with cameras.

- Create an 'Adolescents Author Copyright Release Form,' translate it into the local languages, and have it signed by participants and their guardians. Scan and share these forms with the COs.

- Develop and prepare the content and activities for a 5-day workshop, which includes practical exercises. This also involves leading the training sessions and introducing the methodology.

- Assist the COs in pinpointing policy interventions that could be implemented, based on the solutions identified by children during the workshops.

- From the content generated at the workshops, design and produce an exhibition for each city. These exhibitions could be hosted in city halls or other suitable public venues.

- Handle the design and layout of booklets that accompany each city's photo exhibition.

- Curate photographs for inclusion in a regional booklet and exhibition showcasing the concept of child-friendly cities in East Asia and the Pacific. These will be displayed at regional and global forums.

- Provide printing specifications for the materials produced above, both for national exhibitions and for a regional exhibition (please include shipping expenses of printed materials to UNICEF EAPRO Regional Office).

The consultant is required to credit UNICEF with photo credit (photographer’s full name) and captions detailing the who, what, where, when, and why of each photo, adhering to UNICEF’s caption requirements. UNICEF retains all copyrights on materials related to this assignment, including photos, graphic designs, and other materials.

- The consultant must supply all photographic equipment and, upon request, provide rough edit selections of the best images with complete caption information.

- The formatting, transmission, and captioning of images should comply with the 'UNICEF Digital Format & Transmission Terms v.2014'.

- UNICEF will have first selection rights to all original images captured during this assignment, with non-exclusive, perpetual worldwide rights across all media.

- The consultant will be in charge of the design, layout, and providing specifications necessary for the printing of the listed products.

- The consultant must ensure all photographic content is accompanied by appropriate photo credits and captions that meet UNICEF’s requirements.

- The consultant must handle the digital formatting, transmission, and captioning of images in accordance with UNICEF’s guidelines, ensuring all original images are available for UNICEF’s use across all media.

- The consultant shall provide UNICEF with photo credit (photographer full name), caption (who, what, where, when, why of the photo as per UNICEF guidelines) and detailed text to accompany the picture. UNICEF reserves all copyrights on material related to this assignment, including photographs, graphic designs, and other materials.

Proposal

The consultant is expected to provide a detailed proposal outlining the structure of the workshops, including an estimated itemized cost breakdown per workshop reflecting the cost of professional fees and travel cost separately. This should cover all expenses related to the training with children, realization of photo, a final day on the identification of policy solutions, editing of photos, design and printing of city-specific booklets and exhibitions, as well as the edit, design, layout and printing of a regional booklet and exhibition.

Additionally, the proposal shall include an offer to include the printing of all photographs intended for the national and regional photo exhibitions, ensuring a comprehensive management of the visual displays from production to presentation.

Duration of Contract:  The estimate timeline of the contract is from 10 April – 31 July 2024. The assignment of the contract will require a working period of (tbc) working days in the field plus travel and additional days working from home for the preparation and completion of the exhibition materials. All workshops must take place in the three countries by July 2024, and exhibition materials must also be finalized by July 2024. 

Duty Travel:  The consultant is required to participate in person at the 5-day workshop organized in three cities in three countries to be agreed during the inception phase. Number of cities might increase depending on the interest of involved country offices.
 

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

- At least 15 years of professional photography experience, with a portfolio that demonstrates a strong visual storytelling ability and a diverse range of subjects, emphasizing work with children and urban environments.

- Demonstrated expertise in designing and facilitating interactive, educational workshops for children, with a focus on creative expression and empowerment through photography.

- Strong understanding of child rights and child protection principles, preferably with experience applying these in a workshop or educational setting.

- Previous collaboration with UNICEF or other international NGOs on communication projects or initiatives, indicating a familiarity with their missions and operational protocols.

- Extensive experience working in East Asia, with a nuanced understanding of the cultural, social, and urban dynamics of the region. Proficiency in one or more local languages of the target countries is an added advantage.

- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, capable of engaging effectively with children, communities, and stakeholders at various levels.

- A demonstrated ability to translate complex social issues into compelling visual narratives that can influence policy and public opinion.

- Previous experience in project management, including budgeting, logistics, and the coordination of events or exhibitions, ensuring the successful execution of workshops and the subsequent display of work.

- Capacity to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team, incorporating feedback and insights from children, UNICEF staff, and local partners into the project's development and execution.

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposal as mentioned above by 9 April 2024.

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.