International Consultancy - technical expert - Safe to Learn Programme in Sri Lanka, 8 months (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, Results

UNICEF works to protect the rights of every child in Sri Lanka. Our goal is to ensure that all of our children survive, thrive and fulfill their vast potential.

In a world that is rapidly changing, children are faced with complex challenges and unprecedented opportunities. UNICEF’s programs are designed to reach and benefit all children so that they can withstand these challenges, leverage these opportunities and be the drivers of their own destiny.

UNICEF is committed to creating a country in which every child is free to learn, play and grow. Our programs work towards providing all children in Sri Lanka with shelter, nutrition, protection and education, wherever they may be. We strive to create communities in which children can live with dignity and hope, free from discrimination, violence and fear.

We make every effort to create and maintain environments that will enable and empower children to be the very best that they can be.

In this way, all children will not only benefit from economic and social growth but will become the driving force behind sustainable national development.

For over 50 years, with the help of our vast network of partners, UNICEF has made significant strides in raising health, education and protection standards for children in Sri Lanka. From achieving Universal Child Immunization (1989) to establishing The National Child Protection Authority (1998) to providing decades of crucial relief in the wake of devastating conflict and natural disaster, UNICEF has played a pivotal role in creating an environment in which children have the best chance to survive and thrive.

Yet, many challenges still exist, especially for the most vulnerable. Some national and regional bodies require resources and reinvigoration. Individuals and institutions need to be strengthened, coordinated and aligned with global standards so that children enjoy support in their schools, communities and homes to help them overcome challenges and unleash their full potential into the world.

Due to our long-standing reputation as an experienced, neutral and collaborative partner, UNICEF is ideally suited to drive these efforts. Our history of success in Sri Lanka is built on our ability to tap into a wide network of national and international partners which, in turn, is bolstered by our own far-reaching presence in the field. In working closely with these government, non-government and private entities, UNICEF takes a leadership role, drawing on our technical expertise to accurately assess existing challenges and develop, execute and coordinate solutions that are relevant and scalable on the ground.  For more information about UNICEF Sri Lanka and its work visit: http://www.unicef.org/srilanka

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Violence in schools remains a pressing concern in Sri Lanka, with recent media reports highlighting its devastating psychological effects, including suicidal attempts among students. This underscores the urgent need for collective action to safeguard children and address the pervasive issue of violence in and around schools. The Government of Sri Lanka has reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating all forms of violence in and around schools through the national pledges made at the First Global Inter-Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in November 2024 held in Colombia. This Government Commitment has led to Sri Lanka being recognized to receive the Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) grant for Safe Learning Technical Assistance Initiative that would support the Government in moving towards this agenda.

Safe to Learn (StL) is a global initiative launched in 2019 to catalyse commitments and evidence-based action to end violence in, around and through schools by 2030. The StL approach joins perspectives from education, child protection, health, gender, child participation and social and behaviour change to develop ecosystems for at-scale change and embed violence prevention in education systems at the country level to ensure that every child can learn safely. With a vision of eliminating all forms of violence against all children in schools, StL is guided by a five-point “Call to Action”,

which sets out in high level terms what needs to happen to end violence in school. This also sets the programmatic and advocacy objectives of StL:

1. Implement policy and legislation: National, regional and local governments develop, fund and enforce laws and policies that protect children from all forms of violence in and around schools, including online violence.

2. Strengthen prevention and response at the school level: School staff, students, and management committees provide safe and gender-sensitive learning environments for all children that promote positive discipline, childcentred teaching and protect and improve children’s physical and mental wellbeing.

3. Shift social norms and gender norms and behaviour change: Parents, teachers, children,

local government and community leaders recognize the devastating impact of violence in schools and take action to promote positive social norms and gender equality to ensure schools are safe spaces for learning.

4. Invest resources effectively: Increased and better use of investments targeted at ending violence in schools.

5. Generate and use evidence: Countries and the international community generate and use evidence on how to effectively end violence in schools.

There is an initial acknowledgement of the available different plans/policies and initiatives implemented related to school safety, violence, substance use, and mental health; and the need to consolidate existing interventions within the StL approach to implement coordinated and measurable outcomes to make the school environment safe, inclusive and gender-sensitive for learning. As a first step, this would require developing benchmarks aligned with the Call to Action against global standards through a set of indicators, which would also help in assessing the progress towards ensuring safe and enabling learning environments. Subsequently, a system wide assessment needs to be conducted using the StL diagnostic tool that would help the government to assess how well they are preventing and responding to violence in and around schools at national, local, and school levels.

Against this background, UNICEF Sri Lanka is seeking for an international consultant with the expertise in children’s safety and well-being with an enhanced focus on the role of education systems and personnel to work in in coordination with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to: 1) provide technical expertise and advice to guide the conducting a diagnostic assessment of the basic education system to identify the strengths and gaps in addressing Violence Against Children through conceptualization of tailored tools, 2) developing a programme that outlines the key strategies and interventions for promoting safe learning environments in schools based on good practices, and 3) support in strengthening the capacity through sharing other country experiences, adapting the culture of ‘learning by doing’ through knowledge exchange

Overall objective:

Scope of Work:

 

Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Education, the consultant will work with and report to the Education Officer on the following activities:

 

Task 1: Provide lead technical expertise for development of Safe to Learn Diagnostic Assessment Report

• Advise on preparatory efforts for validation workshop of the benchmarking exercise and diagnostic assessment workshop, including consultation to contextualize/adapt StL diagnostic assessment tools (interview tools for MoE, Provinces/Districts, principals and teachers) to the Sri Lankan context.
• provide guidance on the tools and designing the methodology to the team that would lead the consultations with students.
• Review a draft benchmarking matrix/a draft summary table of the benchmark assessment and provide technical inputs for its finalization and validation workshop of the benchmarking exercise
• Co-facilitate the validation workshop of the benchmarking exercise. *Travel to Sri Lanka is required.
• Develop the methodology for diagnostic assessment consultation workshop, referring to the published STL Diagnostic Tool and the methodology section in the Regional Synthesis of Learning in close partnership with the MoE, UNICEF, StL Secretariat, other LEG partners and national consultant
• Design, lead and facilitate the consultation workshop on diagnostic analysis with education and other relevant stakeholders, including with national and local officials, principals and teachers. The aim of the diagnostic workshop is to analyse the education system against benchmarks aligned with the StL Call to Action in terms of preventing and addressing violence, including identifying gaps and challenges to better understand and anticipate implementation constraints to inform the development of a programme document/workplan. *Travel to Sri Lanka is required.
• Finalize the literature review/desk review report prepared by the national consultant, incorporating any new information shared during the diagnostic workshop
• Draft a comprehensive diagnostic assessment report, overview of the national education context, overview of violence against children in and around schools in country, detailed findings for each call-to-action area, and recommendations for the government to meet each benchmark, with annexes of summaries of national/local/school-level findings
• Develop, validate and finalize the StL programme document/workplan, in close collaboration with the national consultant and the Ministry of Education, outlining the key strategies and programme interventions, including estimated cost and a monitoring framework along with monitoring tools based on the findings from the above consultation workshop to implement the ‘Safe to Learn’ Technical Assistance Initiative for the MoE.

 

Task 2: Technical expertise on implementation of Safe Learning workplan and capacity development

• Support for curation of available guidance, manuals and resources related to StL that would support in its implementation.
• Guidance to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Education through adapting the culture of ‘learning by doing through knowledge exchange and good practices.

 

Duration of the consultancy: April 2026 – December 2026

Duty station – Colombo (Home based)

 

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

Masters - An advanced university degree in social sciences, preferably Education. Two years of additional relevant work experience that was gained after obtaining a bachelor’s degree may be

accepted in lieu of advanced university degree.

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in providing technical and advisory support on issues related to violence against children, including in and through schools.
• Experience of education and child protection/violence prevention policy and programming, with strong understanding of gender and inclusiveness, preferably in Asian contexts is an asset.
• Communication and interpersonal skills to steer and facilitate discussions with the government.
• Familiarity with ethical safeguards and values for teachers.
• Relevant experience in an UN system agency or organization, ideally UNICEF, is an asset.
• Ability to draft high quality advocacy and related materials.

Language: Excellent language skills in English.

 

How to apply:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a resume and other relevant documents

Please complete your profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system.

Please indicate your ability, availability and fee/rate in USD to undertake the terms of reference above. (Indicate an all-inclusive fee (  IT accessories, Internet and subsistence costs, as applicable) to undertake the tasks in the Terms of reference.

Applications submitted without a fee/rate will not be considered 

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:  

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable  candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

If you think this position might be for you, please take the time to review our Country Office Mutual Agreements before you apply.

If you believe you can be a team member that can uphold these everyday, then we look forward to receiving and reviewing your application.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.