Job no: 594140
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Maseru
Level: Consultancy
Location: Lesotho
Categories: Child Protection
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.
How can you make a difference?
BACKGROUND: The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) contains specific provisions that address gender-based violence, harmful practices, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Article 21 explicitly prohibits harmful social and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity, and normal growth of the child, including child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Articles 16 and 27 address protection from abuse, neglect, and sexual exploitation, respectively. Despite this robust normative framework, significant implementation gaps persist. A considerable proportion of AU member states have not submitted periodic reports, and among those who have, the quality and depth of reporting on Violence Against Girls (VAG), harmful practices, and SRHR remains inconsistent. Many states lack the technical capacity to translate ACERWC’s Concluding Recommendations into concrete legislative and policy reforms. This persistent gap between normative commitment and domestic implementation constitutes the central challenge that this consultancy seeks to address.
ACERWC as a key regional accountability mechanism whose normative authority and treaty body mandate can be leveraged to accelerate legislative and policy reform at the national level has partnered with UNICEF to implement (a) Pillar1: Laws and Policies – Ensuring that national legal and policy frameworks are aligned with international and regional human rights standards on VAG, and (b) Pillar 2: Institutions – Strengthening the capacity of government institutions and regional bodies to prevent and respond to violence.
Purpose of Assignment: Develop practical, state-facing tools (which include a Disaggregated Data Compilation Checklist and a Concluding Recommendations Implementation Matrix) to operationalize ACERWC’s reporting checklist, ensuring alignment with the thematic priorities and data needs of the Special Rapporteurs on Violence Against Children (SR-VAC) and on Harmful Practices (SR-HP).
• To design and deliver a targeted technical workshop on quality periodic and complementary reporting, and implementation of ACERWC’s recommendations on VAG, HP, and SRHR, incorporating guidance on engagement by the SR-VAC and SR-HP.
• To sensitise policymakers, including the Committee, on emerging forms of VAG in the digital space, drawing on the normative frameworks developed by the SR-VAC and SR-HP, and generate advocacy materials that highlight nuanced issues of girls’ welfare and SRHR through an intersectional lens.
• To produce evidence-based advocacy material examining survival-driven transactional sex among pregnant and parenting adolescent girls as a form of VAG and an SRHR violation, strengthening both ACERWC’s and the Special Rapporteurs’ monitoring frameworks on this issue.
If you would like to know more about this consultancy scope of work and expected deliverables, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: TMC0003091 ToR.pdf
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:
Minimum requirements:
- Education: Advanced university degree (LL.M or equivalent) in human rights law, international law, gender studies, or a closely related field
- Work Experience:
- A minimum of 5 years of progressive professional experience in human rights, child rights, gender justice, or related fields
- Knowledge of child rights
- Demonstrated expertise in African regional human rights mechanisms, particularly the African Union human rights system, and relevant AU normative frameworks
- Familiarity with gender equality and disability inclusion principles
- Knowledge of SRHR policy frameworks and their intersection with child rights, including a gender-transformative and intersectional analytical approach to girls’ rights
- Proven experience in research, legal analysis, policy development, or treaty body engagement
- Experience in legislative analysis, comparative law research, or law reform processes in the African context
- Language requirement: Fluency in English is required
- Skills:
- Ability to write clearly and concisely technical and non-technical information material with a clear understanding of child rights protection, VAC/VAWG, under the framework of Gender Based violence and harmful practices
- Strong written communication skills in English
- Ability to work collaboratively on a multi-disciplinary team and ability to work in a multi-cultural environment
- Demonstrated skills in diplomacy, collaboration, and interpersonal communication
- Ability to work with sensitive data and information in an ethical, confidential, and trustworthy manner
Desirables:
- Proficiency in French is an asset
- Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.
Deadline: 14 Jul 2026 South Africa Standard Time