Child Protection Advocacy Consultant, Quetta, Pakistan

## Child Protection Advocacy Consultant, Quetta, Pakistan - Organization:UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund - Field location:Quetta - Office:UNICEF Quetta, Pakistan Child Protection Advocacy Consultant, Quetta,Pakistan, 3 Months, Remotely with travel (Open for Nationals of Pakistan Only) Req#595246 Position type:Consultant Division/Equivalent:Bangkok (EAPRO), Thailand Department/Office:Quetta, Pakistan Categories:Child Protection 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. 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. 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. 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