The consultant will support UNICEF’s Social Policy and Governance section, in close collaboration with Child Protection, Education and related programme sections, in assessing the feasibility of leveraging social protection to end child marriage in selected provinces of Viet Nam. The work will include literature review, meetings and interviews with local authorities and key informants, field consultations with relevant stakeholders including women and adolescent girls, and technical support for model design and implementation guidance.
Contract Duration- 8.5 Months
Working arrangement: Home Based
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.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Child marriage and early union remain significant challenges in Viet Nam, particularly among ethnic minority girls, rural communities and poorer households. The prevalence increased from 10.6% in 2014 to 14.6% in 2021, affecting millions of girls. Child marriage is driven by a combination of poverty, school dropout, limited access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and services, and harmful gender and social norms. At the same time, it further exacerbates gender inequality, increases the risk of adolescent pregnancy, limits educational and economic opportunities, and contributes to the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
Although Viet Nam has laws prohibiting underage marriage, enforcement is inconsistent and harmful social norms continue to sustain the practice. UNICEF and UNFPA are conducting a profiling study in high-prevalence areas to better understand the drivers and impacts of child marriage.
In parallel, UNICEF’s Nutrition Cash Plus pilot in Gia Lai Province provided integrated cash and nutrition support to 245 children and pregnant women and generated evidence for expanding cash transfer approaches within government programmes. Analysis of pilot data showed that around 20% of women had married or given birth before age 18, highlighting the link between poverty, malnutrition and early marriage.
Building on the Nutrition Cash Plus pilot results and the upcoming profiling study on child marriage, UNICEF Viet Nam plans to assess the feasibility and design of a gender-responsive social protection model aimed at reducing child marriage risks and promoting women’s economic empowerment in Gia Lai and/or similar provinces.
UNICEF is engaging a national consultant to support the initial phase of the Gender-Responsive Cash Plus programme in selected provinces of Viet Nam. This includes conducting a rapid feasibility assessment to inform programme design, developing an operational manual to guide implementation of the identified model, and delivering training for relevant stakeholders.
Scope of Work:
The consultant will support UNICEF’s Social Policy and Governance section, in close collaboration with Child Protection, Education and related programme sections, in assessing the feasibility of leveraging social protection to end child marriage in selected provinces of Viet Nam.
The work will include literature review, meetings and interviews with local authorities and key informants, field consultations with relevant stakeholders including women and adolescent girls, and technical support for model design and implementation guidance.
This assignment includes:
• Review existing literature on gender-responsive social protection to prevent and respond to child marriage, including the UNICEF Toolkit: Leveraging Gender-Responsive Social Protection to End Child Marriage and a summary analysis on relevant examples for the Viet Nam context.
• Conduct a rapid feasibility assessment based on the Nutrition Cash Plus end-line assessment and initial findings of the child marriage study, including needs analysis, target group and geographic selection, proposed intervention components, and responses to the 5Ws: what, who, how, where and why.
• Develop a concept note for a Gender-Responsive Cash Plus model addressing child marriage risks and economic insecurity among adolescent girls (targeting those aged 10-18) and women in selected locations, including cash and complementary measures, including but not limited to livelihoods and social services, beneficiary targeting criteria, transfer value and frequency, duration, governance structure, and human resources required.
• Facilitate consultation meetings and validation workshops with relevant stakeholders to finalize the concept note and operational manual.
• Develop an operational manual with concrete guidance on key steps for rolling out the model.
• Conduct training for relevant stakeholders on implementation of the Gender-Responsive Cash Plus model in selected provinces of Viet Nam.
To carry out the consultancy, the consultant is expected to use the following methods:
• Review relevant materials, including the Nutrition Cash Plus end-line assessment, initial findings of the child marriage study, Towards Universal Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Indo-Pacific (TUSIP) documents, synthesis of what works to prevent and respond to child marriage, technical guidance on leveraging gender-responsive social protection to end child marriage, Gender-Responsive “Cash Plus” Programming: Lessons from Practice in LMICs, and examples of gender-responsive Cash Plus models from other countries.
• Conduct field missions to collect information and data through consultations, meetings and FGDs¹ with local stakeholders including women and adolescent girls, as well as women’s and girls’ (or youth) organizations, to inform programme design in selected provinces.
• Facilitate consultation workshops and meetings with relevant stakeholders to validate the concept note, operational manual and training materials.
• Hold regular meetings with UNICEF Viet Nam Country Office, particularly the Social Policy and Governance, Child Protection, Education and Global Advisors on Social Protection and Gender, to discuss technical issues related to cash transfers and gender-responsive interventions.
The consultant will engage with children and adolescents under 18 years old, including potentially vulnerable adolescent girls. The consultant must comply with the UNICEF Child Safeguarding Policy and relevant ethical standards, including obtaining appropriate informed consent, ensuring confidentiality, and applying child-friendly participatory approaches.
Reference: UNICEF Policy on Ethics involving People as Participants/Subjects in Evidence Activities:https://www.unicef.org/documents/policy-ethics-evidence-activities-involving-people-as-participants-subjects
If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: 
Terms of Reference TMC0004141.pdf
Minimum requirements:
Education:
• Master’s degree or advanced degree preferred.
• Advanced degree in public policy, social policy, development studies, economics, statistics, social work, or another relevant social science field.
• Affiliation with an academic or research institution is an asset.
Work Experience:
• At least 10 years of experience in social protection policy analysis, research and programme design, including work on livelihoods, gender-responsive and child-sensitive social protection.
• Proven experience conducting feasibility assessments and developing operational guidelines/manuals for cash transfer, Cash Plus, or integrated social protection programmes.
• Proven experience designing programs to address gender equity and inclusion issues, including on social and economic drivers of child marriage.
Language Requirements:
• Excellent report-writing and communication skills in English and Vietnamese.
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
• Demonstrated understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues, including application of gender-responsive approaches in social protection policies and programmes.
• Strong technical knowledge of cash transfer, Cash Plus, child-sensitive social protection, gender-responsive social protection, and shock-responsive social protection.
• Demonstrated knowledge of child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and their underlying drivers, with an understanding of evidence-based approaches for prevention and response.
• Strong knowledge of Viet Nam’s socio-economic context, social protection system and ongoing social protection reform processes.
• Excellent research and analytical skills.
Desirables:
• Knowledge of UNICEF’s approaches to universal social protection, child grants, Cash Plus, child-sensitive social protection, gender-responsive social protection and shock-responsive social protection is an asset.
• Affiliation with an academic or research institution is also an asset.
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
This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.
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 TMC0004141.xlsx
- A detailed technical proposal
Technical proposal outlining their understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, workplan, and relevant experience, as well as sample of similar assignments.
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.