[Hiring] Child Rights and Counter-terrorism consultant @AGORA

Role Description

The proposed consultancy is expected to support the Child Protection in Humanitarian Action team when it comes to engaging with governments on counter terrorism and bring external in-depth technical expertise in order to support design of UNICEF strategies, programs and advocacy. This role is necessary to maintain consistent engagement with UN Member States, the UN Secretariat, and agencies whose policy priorities increasingly emphasize counterterrorism at the expense of child rights. Continued technical leadership is necessary to ensure that global policy processes remain anchored in established child rights frameworks and do not contribute to their erosion.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical advice and guidance on child rights and counterterrorism issues across UNICEF programmes and policy initiatives.
• Support UNICEF’s engagement with governments, UN entities, and other partners to promote child rights-based approaches.
• Contribute to the development of strategies, advocacy messages, policy positions, and technical guidance.
• Support UNICEF obligations related to the Third Country Nationals Task Force (TCN TF) concerning children affected by conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
• Provide technical support for UNICEF’s participation in UN counterterrorism coordination mechanisms and related global policy processes.
• Advise country offices and headquarters teams on child rights and counterterrorism matters.
• Monitor and analyze policy developments, emerging trends, and legal frameworks affecting children linked to armed groups.
• Help ensure that global and national policies remain aligned with international child rights standards and protection principles.
• Contribute to knowledge products, reports, briefings, and capacity-building activities related to child rights and counterterrorism.

Qualifications

• Master’s in International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law.

Requirements

• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in child protection, law, humanitarian programme management, human rights, and or security/counterterrorism; experience in operations in the field is an advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to work in matrixed organization across various units.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with senior leadership on highly sensitive materials.
• Experience with leading coalitions and with relationship management.
• Strong communication skills, organizational, inter-personal and leadership skills.
• Ability to be flexible and work well under pressure in a fast-paced environment, with complex projects and deadlines from different stakeholders.
• Demonstrable ability to work independently, take initiative, and identify new opportunities and approaches.
• Fluency in English; knowledge of French would be an asset.

Benefits

• UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it.
• UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does.
• UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence.
• Reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities throughout the recruitment process.