Purpose of Assignment
Under the overall supervision of the Child Protection Specialist, the proposed consultancy has been designed to provide expert technical advice, operational support and technical oversight to the implementation of the UNICEF programme states and at the National level. It will also include support to programme planning and communication with key partners.
There is a need for further understanding of alternative care and the practices to implement child care reform. There are important government reform initiatives and a range of guidelines are being adopted but different states are at different levels of implementation and there is a lack of information about what is being done and what is working and where - there is a need for greater knowledge sharing and coordination nationally. Further, prevention of unnecessary separation and appropriate alternate care responses need to be promoted. Stakeholders are looking for guidance on how to operationalize the various policies and guidelines. There is an absence of expertise across government machinery working on child rights and protection issues. Therefore, there is a felt need for sharing of information and national coordination.
The current Country Programme includes a priority area of strengthening family based care and promoting alternative care with a focus on non-institutional care. There is a need to strengthen systems and build capacities in this area of work.
Objectives
- The consultant will support UNICEF India, Child Protection’s priority area of programming in the Country Programme around strengthening family-based care and alternative care especially non-institutional alternatives.
- Support the key partnerships on alternative care through oversight and technical expertise
- Prepare policy briefs/advocacy notes on various aspects of alternative care in India and share these across various platforms
- Document and disseminate the work on non-institutional alternative care
- Support the setting up of the knowledge sharing programme in coordination with Better Care network and India Alternative Care Network
Application deadline is 14 April 2020.