International Consultant: Develop Alternative Care Guidelines, Juba, South Sudan, 80 days (Hybrid Modality-Home Based/Office Based)

To develop comprehensive alternative care guidelines for kinship care, foster care, Guardianship, adoption, and residential care, based on relevant legislation and best practices to ensure the protection and well-being of children in South Sudan.

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 fulfill 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, Protection

The Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare (MGCSW) is responsible for the welfare and protection of children in South Sudan as Welfare Directorate which according to the MGCSW strategic plan 2024 has the overall responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children in South Sudan. The main functions of the Directorate of Child Welfare includes: the development of policies that promote children’s wellbeing; development of programmes that enhance the protection of orphans, children with disabilities and other vulnerable children; protection of children from abuse, harmful practices; capacity development of social workers; promotion of better childcare practices in the community; and the coordination of child protection working groups at National and at the 10 States and the three administrative areas of Abyei, Pibor and Ruweng. MGCSW has made significant progress in the development of the legislative framework for enhancing the wellbeing of children particularly in spear- heading the development of the Child Act and its enactment in 2008. The MGCSW recognizes the need for comprehensive guidelines for alternative family care of children in South Sudan. The prevalence of institutionalization and the lack of adequate family-based care options necessitate the development of clear guidelines to ensure the protection and well-being of children and encourage children to stay in a family environment.

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose of the Assignment 

To develop comprehensive alternative care guidelines for kinship care, foster care, Guardianship, adoption, and residential care, based on relevant legislation and best practices to ensure the protection and well-being of children in South Sudan.

Scope of Assignment 

The scope of the consultancy is to develop comprehensive guidelines applicable to all children under the age of 18 years living outside of parental care, at risk of being separated from their parents, or in need of alternative care. It also includes young people who are over 18 years of age and already in alternative care, requiring continuing support during the transitional period. The consultancy encompasses various forms of care, such as kinship, places of safety and temporary shelter, adoption, institutional care, care of children in emergency situations, and support for aftercare.

The final product of the assignment will define each of these practices, outline the roles of different duty-bearers, and provide a step-by-step guide on how to deliver specific alternative care services. Additionally, it will establish basic standards to be adhered to. The guidelines aim to recognize and formalize the African Kinship system, which has historically existed but has not been formally recognized by legislation. The tasks will focus on developing and promoting prevention measures to avoid the separation of children from their families, strengthening family tracing and reunification efforts, and providing various exit strategies for children in institutional care. South Sudan has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which has been incorporated into domestic law through The Children Act, 2008. Internationally, it is acknowledged that children thrive better within a family environment than in institutions. Institutionalization can hinder children's basic social, emotional, cognitive, and intellectual development.

Expected Tasks

1. Inception Report-Detailed methodology, work plan, and timeline for developing the alternative care guidelines. A comprehensive review of existing literature, international best practices, and analysis of relevant national legislation, including the Children Act, 2008, and any other pertinent laws and policies.
2. Support and provide analysis/guidance to the rapid assessment of institutions offering residential care for children conducted by the national consultant and collectively work on the final report.
3. Stakeholder Consultations- Summary of consultations with key stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, child protection experts, and community representatives.
4. Draft Alternative Care Guidelines- Comprehensive guidelines for kinship care, foster care, adoption, Guardianship, and residential care. The guidelines should include and not limited to definitions and principles for each type of care. Roles and responsibilities of different duty-bearers, Procedures for placement, monitoring, and review, Standards for care and protection (nutrition, health, education, care, recreation, etc.). Strategies for prevention of separation, family tracing, reunification, and exit strategies. UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, welcomed by the UN General Assembly in 2009, encourage efforts to maintain children with their families, where possible. When this is not in the child’s best interest, the State is responsible for protecting the rights of the child and ensuring appropriate alternative care: kinship care, foster care, other forms of family-based or family-like care, residential care or supervised independent living arrangements.
5. Validation Workshop- Organize and facilitate a validation workshop with key stakeholders to review and provide feedback on the draft guidelines. Incorporate feedback from the validation workshop and submit the final version of the alternative care guidelines.
6. Implementation Plan - Develop a detailed implementation plan for the roll-out and operationalization of the alternative care guidelines, including training and capacity-building recommendations. Develop training materials and tools to support the implementation of the alternative care guidelines and they should be simple easily utilized by the Government at all levels. Training manuals, PowerPoint presentations, handouts.
7. Regulatory Framework for Children in Institutional care- Develop strict and strong regulatory framework for children in institutional care noting the fact that recourse to alternative care should only be made when necessary, and in forms appropriate to promote the child’s wellbeing, aiming to find a stable and safe long-term response, including, where possible, reuniting the child with his or her family. Outline steps to appropriately administer a range of alternative care options, with priority to family and community-based care arrangements. Guarantee that institutional care is used only as a temporary measure and as a last resort, and only when appropriate and deemed in the best interests of the child as provided Child Act, 2008.
8. Final Report- comprehensive report detailing the entire process, findings, stakeholder engagement, and recommendations for future actions.

Expected Deliverables

• Final inception report on how the consultancy will be undertaken. Draft report available dully cleared by UNICEF and MGCSW. 
• The rapid assessment report of institutions offering residential care to children has been finalized, and that adequate technical support was provided to the national consultant throughout the process.
• Draft alternative care guidelines available, covering kinship care, foster care, adoption, guardianship, and residential care.
• A comprehensive regulatory framework document is developed to enable the Government to effectively manage and regulate institutional care for children.
• Validation workshop successfully organized, with key documents reviewed and validated through substantive inputs from stakeholders.
• Completed implementation plan for the alternative care guidelines, including training materials, and final consultancy report.

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

• Advanced degree in social studies, legal studies, human rights.
• At least ten (10) years of professional experience in the child protection sector including conducting assessments or
  studies relevant to this consultancy.
• Ability to work together with government officials and representatives of South Sudanese authorities as well as traditional
  leaders, community leaders or similar.
• Experiences in development of policies and guidelines that are based on domestic legal frameworks
• Knowledge of existing international, regional and national children’s rights frameworks;
• Ability to draft clearly and concisely ideas and concepts in written and oral form;
• Experience in working within UNICEF or other international organizations is considered an asset;
• Fluency in written and spoken English; any knowledge of relevant local languages is an asset and
• Familiarity with South Sudan (culture, politics, society etc.) is an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values (CRITAS) of;

• Care
• Respect,
• Integrity,
• Trust,
• Accountability, 
• Sustainability 

 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.