Consultant Recruitment: Youth employability private sector outreach, Prague, Czech Republic (87 days March- June 2024)

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. 

The Czech Republic is amongst the countries with the highest share of Ukraine refugees per capita welcoming over half a million refugees since the onset of the refugee crisis. According to the re-registration process, around 370,000 refugees from Ukraine remain in the Czech Republic. This includes over 70,000 youth between the ages of 15 and 24, including just over 22,000 between 15-17. Approximately 5,000 minors are in the Czech Republic alone or with someone who is not their parent. Overall, this is an increase of 12,107 new refugees with temporary protection since August 2023, or an average of 1,730 new arrivals per week during the same period. Ukrainian refugees are living in every single municipality of the Czech Republic with the highest number of refugees in Plzeň (8,803) and Prague (8,479). According to the preliminary multisectoral needs analysis (MSNA) results, 16 % of adolescent refugees are

“NEET”: not in education, employment, or training.

In this context, refugee youths are considered particularly vulnerable because they are not engaging with the services that are designed for them, and thus are “invisible” within the social service networks that are meant to protect them. For example, in the last school year, just over 3,000 youth were enrolled in Czech secondary schools. UNICEF’s youth- led consultations highlighted that many youth in displacement face financial pressures that is leading to a trade-off between meeting their basic needs now and continuing on an education or skills-building pathway.

From other contexts, we know that disruptions in a skills-building journey now will have consequences on education attainment and earning potential that lasts decades. In addition, the consultations revealed that many youths are engaging in labor that is not only low-skilled but also exploitative, with many youths working without contracts in the “gray economy.”

Youth who are experiencing this disruption will have trouble integrating into the Czech Republic, and they will also be less equipped to support a post-conflict economy in Ukraine. Conversely, programmes which empower these youth with skills now will create a double advantage: first, to fill critical labor gaps in the Czech Republic, and second, to equip the next generation currently displaced due to the war with the skills and experience need to support the post-conflict economy.

In this context, UNICEF has launched CESTY Initiative, a multi-stakeholder partnership designed to support youth to engage in one of three skills-building pathways: (1) paid internships and apprenticeships; (2) low-skilled labor which supports access to professional development opportunities and language acquisition; or (3) scholarships which cover basic needs while youth study full time.

At the heart of the CESTY Initiative is the CESTY Pledge to encourage the private sector to commit to providing opportunities for youth that meet these goals. Private sector companies joining the pledge must commit to provide opportunities for at least 50 youth. The pledge is designed to be very flexible so that companies can develop opportunities that fit within their existing employment modalities. To support this, UNICEF is currently seeking a consultant with strong private sector experience to engage with companies to join the pledge, with a goal of creating 1,500 opportunities within a year.

For every child, Inclusion

The purpose of this assignment is to develop and implement UNICEF’s engagement strategy with companies operating in the Czech Republic, to secure commitments from companies to hire refugee youth in positions that will support their professional development and skills-building as part of the CESTY youth flagship programme.

How can you make a difference? 

Under the overall supervision of the Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Specialist the consultant will

engage in the following key activities:

1. Working with ADAP Specialist and the Communication Specialist, develop a communications and outreach strategy to inform companies about the pledge and give them concrete ways to engage.

2. Support development and update of communication related materials and website update, as well as communication modalities, including but not limited to digital communications, presenting at the industry.

events that will enable scaled outreach and hosting a series of “roundtables” with companies to explain the pledge and explore ways to engage.

3. Engagement with entities that have wide reach among companies, including government ministries, Embassies and trade commissions, industry associations, and recruiting agencies to encourage them to support the pledge.

4. Direct engagement with companies which are interested in pledging to answer any questions and help shape their pledge commitments.

5. Engage with UNICEF operation teams to ensure due diligence is done on all companies engaging with UNICEF and partners.

6. Ensure all activities are done in collaboration with key partners and can be handed over to partners at conclusion of consultancy.

 Work Assignment Overview

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

• Bachelor’s degree in business or social science- related field is required; master’s degree strongly preferred.
• A minimum of [3 years] of relevant professional experience working with private sector hiring practices, either in human resources, in active labor market policy, or similar.
• Experience working in a role to support a wide range of private sector entities through industry networks, HR support companies, or through government is strongly preferred.
• Commitment to social impact.
•  Experience working to drive change as part of a team is required.
• Fluent in English and Czech is required. Proficiency in Ukrainian/Russian is an asset.

What to submit (kindly note that your application will not be considered if the below are not included with your application):

• CV
• Cover letter
• Financial offer

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

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.