Consultancy: Communication and Advocacy Content Developer - CPS, PD - NYHQ, Requisition# 510009

UNICEF is looking for a consultant to assist in coordinating, planning, and developing advocacy and communication materials on CRVS in close consultation with partners to ensure that the importance of birth registration and civil registration systems in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is communicated at the highest level. This work will be in support of Every Woman Every Child and UNICEF's 2018-2021 Strategic Plan mission and objectives, highlighting UNICEF’s leading role in children’s rights and enhancing both EWEC and UNICEF credibility and branding. This work will also be in collaboration with the child protection advocacy consultant to ensure the work is in line with the broader child protection section advocacy work.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

Background & Rationale

The right for every child to be registered at birth and to acquire a nationality as prescribed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child underpins UNICEF’s work around birth registration and legal identity. Increasing the rate of birth registration – and reaching even the most marginalized and excluded children – is a strategic priority for UNICEF and embedded as one of the three core child protection impact indicators of the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. In 2016 UNICEF reported multi-sector work on birth registration in over 50 countries and 25 countries reported on efforts to increase registration access among vulnerable populations such as refugees, ethnic minorities, newborns, adolescents and children with disabilities.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, UNICEF’s theory of change to harness capacity and resources in a multi-sector approach is incorporated into global, regional and national plans. Launched during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in September 2010, Every Woman Every Child is an unprecedented global movement that mobilizes and intensifies international and national action by governments, multilaterals, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women, children and adolescents around the world. The movement puts in action the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.

SDG target 16.9: Legal Identity for all, including birth registration

Birth registration is the first step in establishing legal recognition of a person’s existence and a birth certificate is often a person’s first form of legal ID. There are nearly 1.1 billion people who lack a legal identity, over half of whom are children. As of 2015, the World Bank estimates that there are a total of 650 million children who did not have their births registered (between ages 0-14). This “identification gap” is a serious obstacle to participation in political, economic and social wellbeing. Birth registration provides legal documentation needed to protect against child marriage, which is often correlated with early pregnancies and childbearing, resulting adverse health outcomes and limited future socioeconomic prospects for adolescent girls and their children.

SDG target 3.2: End preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age.

Children whose births and deaths are not registered are not included in the CRVS system, leading to under-estimations of newborn and child mortality. The Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health is a roadmap to take forward the SDGs, which strive to promote better health for all women, children and adolescents. CRVS systems are the primary data source of 11/60 of the indicators in the accountability framework for the EWEC Global Strategy. UNICEF supports the Every Newborn Action Plan adopted in 2014, one of the Every Woman Every Child supporting initiatives, which sets out a clear vision of how to improve newborn health and prevent fetal deaths, and includes a specific objective by 2020 to ‘count every birth and death for women and babies including stillbirths, invest in CRVS, and innovate to improve and ensure the poorest are counted.”

Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems are the preferred source of demographic data for more than 1/3 (67 of the 230) of the indicators outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals targets and indicators. However, over 110 low and middle income countries lack adequate CRVS systems and every day children are being born and are dying- unregistered and uncounted. Insufficient data on hard to reach and marginalized populations pose additional challenges in planning or providing services as well as monitoring the effectiveness of interventions. Governments and humanitarian organizations depend on data pertaining to current displacement situations to plan the required services and provide the necessary resources. Migration largely is not linked to CRVS systems, so challenges around migration and cross-border displacement and identity can only be adequately addressed with comprehensive, shared, secure and reliable data.

Both supply and demand barriers have hindered strengthening civil registration systems, resulting in the creation of parallel systems which further divert resources towards functional CRVS systems. The World Bank has supported about 120 ID-related investment projects in 70 countries, with a total financing nearing $5 billion. However, on average, less than 5% of this investment has been directed towards building birth registration and legal identification. Despite recognition of the importance of CRVS systems for women and children’s health, they represent only 3% of the commitments under the Every Woman Every Child movement.

One of the biggest barriers to achieving universal birth registration and civil registration is the limited understanding of the importance of registration not only from families, but also from governments. Yet, currently there is a lack of communications or advocacy materials on global and regional CRVS initiatives websites. To address this, UNICEF will lead, in close collaboration with EWEC, the development of communication and advocacy materials to increase the awareness about and galvanize support for CRVS systems.

Purpose

UNICEF is looking for a consultant to assist in coordinating, planning, and developing advocacy and communication materials on CRVS in close consultation with partners to ensure that the importance of birth registration and civil registration systems in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is communicated at the highest level.  This work will be in support of Every Woman Every Child and UNICEF's 2018-2021 Strategic Plan mission and objectives, highlighting UNICEF’s leading role in children’s rights and enhancing both EWEC and UNICEF credibility and branding. This work will also be in collaboration with the child protection advocacy consultant to ensure the work is in line with the broader child protection section advocacy work.

Expected results:

Duty Station

NYHQ

Timeframe

Start date:  Jan 25, 2018

End date:         May 25, 2018         

Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline

• Bachelor degree in communications, design, marketing, graphic design, art or another related field is required.
• At least 2 years of work experience required in the relevant field. This consultancy is at the junior level.
• Familiarity with UNICEF and EWEC mandates, including knowledge of the EWEC Global Strategy and SDGs.
• English required, French is an asset.
• Must be able to provide examples from previous work.

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

Remarks

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.   
At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.