Regional Action Forum External Review Consultant, Global Programme Division, Child Protection & Migraiton, Remote - Req 591189

Consultancy Title: Regional Action Forum External Review Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Global Programme Division, Child Protection & Migration

Duration: 15 March 2026 to 15 May 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

About UNICEF –

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF Child Protection Global program on harmful practice is seeking an individual consultant to support the independent external review of the Regional AF is to (1) assess the relevance, effectiveness and impact of such a platform; (2) analyze its way of defining priorities and working in coordination with RAF members; (3) identify key challenges and lessons learned; and (4) determine a sustainable way forward for RAF as an independent platform led by its members, particularly in light of the UN humanitarian reset process and limited resources available.

Key reflections must also be held around how RAF can adopt more innovative approaches, engaging further with girls, women, and survivors of child marriage themselves, as well as the private sector, to enhance awareness on child marriage in the region. The RAF represents a collective commitment by development and humanitarian actors to coordinate efforts to end child marriage in the Arab world, in line with UN reform and global accountability frameworks. As child marriage remains firmly embedded within the global and regional development agenda, the RAF supports coordinated action, evidence‑to‑practice learning, and joint advocacy to address the drivers and impacts of child marriage.

Scope of Work:

Under the overall coordination of the UNICEF Child Protection Prevention of Harmful Practices for the MENA, the consultant will conduct an external review will analyze the RAF platform as a whole, but more specifically at the last three year period from 2023 to 2025 when RAF acquired a coordinator to manage the platform and liaise with its members more regularly.

The external review will delve into:

• RAF’s scope, relevance, and purpose
• RAF’s way of working
• Coordination with members
• Quality of work related to child marriage prevention and response
• Potential engagement with girls, women and survivors of child marriage
• Potential engagement with private sector
• Sustainability of RAF and way forward

The external review will be mostly of qualitative nature, through a combination of desk review and background research –  looking at existing RAF documents, reports, and other relevant resources such as webinar recordings, publications, and stories from the RAF website and beyond – as well as semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in RAF’s work such as its current and former UNICEF and UNFPA co-chairs, its coordinator, and its key members.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

 

Travel - N/A

Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters) in public relations, international development studies, social sciences,  public policy or a related field.

Work experience:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

• Demonstrated technical expertise in gender equality, prevention of harmful practices, child protection, and/or social norms change, with proven ability to translate evidence-based approaches into effective programme design and implementation.
• At least 5 years' experience conducting qualitative research, including stakeholder interviews and analytical reporting.
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills, with a track record of producing concise, high-quality evaluation reports.

• Fluency in English required; knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

 

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and