Child Protection Advocacy Consultant, Quetta,Pakistan, 3 Months, Remotely with travel (Open for Nationals of Pakistan Only) Req#595246

Contract Duration:  3 Months

Working arrangement: Home Based

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.

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For every child, the right to Education

How can you make a difference?

Pakistan, as a State Party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening national and sub-national child protection systems to uphold the rights of all children. Following the recent review, the Government of Pakistan has received the Concluding Observations (2026) from the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which provide a comprehensive set of recommendations to address persistent child rights challenges, including violence against children, child labour, child marriage, birth registration, justice for children, and alternative care. These observations present an important opportunity to translate international commitments into actionable and context-specific policy and programmatic responses, supported by coordinated advocacy and increased public investment in child protection systems.

Balochistan presents a unique and complex child protection context due to its vast geography, dispersed rural population, high levels of deprivation, cross-border population movements, climate-related vulnerabilities, and limited access to essential services in many districts. Children, adolescents and families in the province face multiple and overlapping protection risks, including child marriage, child labour, violence, neglect, exploitation, psychosocial distress, low birth registration, weak referral pathways, and limited access to child-friendly protection and justice services. These risks are particularly acute among children living in remote communities, Afghan refugee and host communities, children on the move, children with disabilities, and children affected by poverty, displacement and emergencies.

The Government of Balochistan has demonstrated commitment to strengthening the child protection system through the Balochistan Child Protection Act, the establishment and operationalization of child protection structures, expansion of case management and referral services, and ongoing efforts to improve birth registration and child protection data systems. However, implementation gaps remain, including limited institutional capacity, weak coordination across sectors, insufficient financing, limited public awareness of reporting and referral mechanisms, and the need for stronger policy advocacy and systems-level engagement with provincial departments, local government, social welfare, labour, health, education, law and justice actors, civil society and development partners.

Scope of Work:

Under the overall supervision of UNICEF and in close coordination with the Government of Balochistan, the Social Welfare Department, Balochistan Child Protection Commission, Local Government and Rural Development Department, Labour and Manpower Department, Health Department, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, and other relevant provincial stakeholders, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Key Tasks and Deliverables

A. Development of a Balochistan Child Protection Advocacy Framework

• Stakeholder mapping to inform advocacy pathways. For example, identify key Parliamentarians and other influencers/decision makers for budgeting, policies, etc.
• Develop a concise and user-friendly Child Protection advocacy plan for Balochistan, including clear priorities, messaging, and actionable recommendations to guide UNICEF’s internal engagement, coordination, and cross-sectoral actions.
• Draft a provincial Child Protection (CP) advocacy framework to support child protection system strengthening in Balochistan, with a focus on key priority areas including violence against children, child marriage, child labour, birth registration, justice for children, and alternative care.
• Analyse legal, policy, and implementation gaps across priority child protection areas, with a specific focus on advocacy-relevant bottlenecks such as legislative gaps (particularly on child marriage), institutional mandates, financing, and service delivery coordination.
• Develop clear, evidence-based advocacy messages and reform priorities, including preparation of practical guidance that translates existing legal and policy provisions into actionable steps, with defined institutional roles, responsibilities, and resource implications.
• Validate the provincial advocacy framework through a multi-stakeholder consultative process involving relevant provincial departments, child protection stakeholders, and partners.
• Finalize the advocacy framework with clear roles and responsibilities, along with a resource mobilization and monitoring approach to support coordinated implementation.

B. Targeted Advocacy for Legal and Policy Reform

• Prepare high-quality advocacy and briefing materials to support the Balochistan Child Protection Commission in advancing legal, policy and systems reform for child protection in the province.
• Develop policy briefs, talking points, and justification notes highlighting the risks associated with the continued reliance on the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2026, and the need for updated legislation aligned with current child protection standards.
• Support strategic policy engagement and advocacy dialogues with key provincial stakeholders to build consensus and political will for legislative reform on child marriage.

C. Strengthening Local Government Ownership and Interoperable Systems

• Develop advocacy materials and technical briefing notes to support engagement with local government authorities for strengthened ownership and accountability in child protection service delivery.
• Provide technical inputs to promote an interoperable model between health systems and birth registration mechanisms, with a focus on improving birth registration coverage through integration with health facilities and local government systems.
• Identify practical entry points and advocacy messages to strengthen coordination between health, local government, and child protection actors for improved service delivery and data systems.

D. Advocacy Engagement and Coordination

• Facilitate and support strategic consultations, policy dialogues, and advocacy engagements with key provincial stakeholders, including line departments, the Balochistan Child Protection Commission, and partners.
• Provide ongoing technical and advocacy inputs to relevant coordination platforms to support informed decision-making and consensus-building.
• Develop briefing notes, presentations, and advocacy materials tailored for senior government officials and policy forums, as required throughout the consultancy.

Note: Briefing notes, presentations and advocacy materials will be developed and used for advocacy purposes in relevant child protection coordination platforms, technical working groups, advisory forums, policy dialogues and government engagement meetings throughout the consultancy, as and when required.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  Terms of Reference TMC0004656.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education:

Advanced degree in Law, Child Rights / Human Rights ,Public Policy, Public Administration, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Social Work, Gender Studies

• Work Experience:

Minimum 8–10 years of relevant professional experience in policy development, legislative reform, advocacy, or child protection work.

Demonstrated experience in child protection systems strengthening, child marriage prevention, child labour response, birth registration, justice for children, alternative care, or provincial-level advocacy in Pakistan; experience in Balochistan will be a strong asset.

Proven track record in conducting legal/policy gap analysis, developing advocacy frameworks/strategies, and facilitating high-level stakeholder consultations with government departments, commissions, and parliamentarians.

Previous experience working with UNICEF, UN agencies, or international development partners is highly desirable.

• Skills

In-depth knowledge of child protection issues in Pakistan, particularly child marriage, child labour, birth registration, violence against children, children on the move, justice for children, alternative care, provincial child protection systems and Balochistan’s legal, policy and institutional context.

Strong expertise in policy and legislative advocacy, including conducting legal/policy gap analysis, developing advocacy strategies, policy briefs, talking points, and facilitating high-level stakeholder consultations.

Excellent analytical, writing, communication, and facilitation skills, with the ability to work independently under tight deadlines and integrate gender, equity, and inclusion perspectives.

• Language Requirements:

English and Urdu. Knowledge of Pashto, Balochi or Brahui will be an asset

Desirables

Prior working experience with UNICEF or other UN agencies, preferably in Balochistan or comparable provincial contexts.

Specific experience in child protection, child marriage prevention, child labour response, birth registration, justice for children or alternative care-related work in Balochistan will be an asset.

Policy-level working experience in child protection programs, including development of policy documents, strategies, and advocacy materials.

Proven contribution to child marriage law reform, child labour response, birth registration strengthening, public finance advocacy or similar legislative and systems-strengthening processes.

Experience in developing and validating provincial advocacy frameworks in Balochistan or comparable low-resource, humanitarian-development or geographically dispersed contexts.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template)  Financial proposal TMC0004656.xlsx