Re-advert: National consultant to support strengthening the Social Service Workforce in Tajikistan, 48 w/ds, Tajikistan (for Tajik nationals only)

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For every child, the right to protection,

In Tajikistan, child protection services are minimal and poorly linked to basic social services. The statutory child protection workforce is virtually absent, with existing social workers focused mainly on social payments and elderly care, leaving children in vulnerable situations without specialized support.

Recently, the Government has begun modernizing the social protection system to better meet population needs. The adoption of the Social Protection Strategy 2040 and the State Programme on Social Workforce Development up to 2030 highlights this as a national priority. Central to these reforms is building a strong, well trained social service workforce with a clear mandate to identify, prevent, and respond to risks. Without such a workforce, essential services cannot reach vulnerable children, families, and individuals, regardless of other system improvements.

UNICEF Tajikistan has been working closely with the leading agency—the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population—and international financial institutions, including the World Bank, to strengthen the social service workforce. This has been achieved through policy advocacy, the development of mechanisms and tools, the creation of competencies and modules, capacity-building for social workers, and awareness-raising interventions to address the protection needs of children.

These interventions require further support to ensure that UNICEF’s contributions are sustained and that social workers are available at community level to meet protection needs of children. Such support includes liaising with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to ensure that the necessary evidence is generated, that relevant policies are developed in line with the Tajikistan context, and that training modules and curricula on child protection, case management, and family support are created and incorporated into government re-training institutions. It also involves building effective linkages between social services, health, education, and justice sectors, and fostering dialogue between ministries, civil society, and international partners to build consensus on workforce reform.

Hence, Child Protection Section is seeking to hire the National Consultant to complement to the work of the section and the team to promote strengthening social service workforce that shall work to address protection needs of children.

How can you make a difference?

The National Consultant will be engaged in the following:

- Provide technical support to the drafting and review of legislation, bylaws, and related policy and implementation frameworks on social workers to support vulnerable children and their caregivers at community level.
- Provide input to the Inter-Agency Working Group of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population related to coordination, legislation bylaws and implementation mechanisms.
- Work closely with relevant ministries (MOHSPP, MOES, MOLME) and academia to support the Association of Caritas Germany in Tajikistan in generating evidence on the social work profession for qualification of the National Qualifications Framework, contribute to the development of competency standards and education modules, facilitate and participate in strengthening the material, technical, and human resource training capacities of selected educational institutions, and support awareness-raising campaigns on the importance and role of the social work profession to enhance its image.
- Provide technical inputs related to capacity-building interventions on case management, in collaboration with the World Bank, with a focus on the prevention of and response to cases of violence against children.
- Support the organisation of the National Forum of the Social Service Workforce, aimed at enhancing professional recognition and status, facilitating knowledge exchange and best practices, advocating for policy development and reform, and strengthening networking and collaboration.
- Provide technical support to UNICEF and relevant government counterparts in the adaptation and development of child protection case management forms, ensuring their alignment with national standards and requirement and their effective integration into the CPIMS+/Primero system.
- Prepare, contribute and deliver presentations at high level events and platforms to promote social work to address protection needs of children, with focus on prevention and response of cases of violence against children, children without family care, children in conflict with the law and children with disabilities.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete TOR here: TOR SSWF Nat Conslt r2.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Education (revised):

• University degree (bachelor's level or higher) on social work, child protection, public policy, or a related field relevant to child rights.

Work Experience:

•A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in area of social work, child protection and other development areas, or closely related areas.
•An experience on development of the training package for the social workers and capacity building interventions in close consultation and cooperation of the government counterparts and CSO expertise.
•Experience working in the government structures in the social services or social direction is a big asset, as well as having an in-depth understanding of the existing social services, social work structures and government policies is crucial.

Language Requirements:
Knowledge of Tajik is required; knowledge of English and Russian is an asset.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
-Proven track record in providing technical support on initiatives related to social work, including social work education and social work supporting families;
-Demonstrated experience in capacity building interventions, development of modules, tools and training programmes;
-Strong coordination, analytical, and conceptual skills, with the ability to support policy dialogue and curriculum reforms on social work;
-Demonstrated ability to design and deliver capacity-building activities, including trainings, workshops, and technical briefings for academic institutions, government and youth;
-Strong analytical skills to work on draft legislation, bylaws and implementation mechanisms.
-Proven organsiational skills for high-level events dedicated to promoting social service workforce;
-Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to produce high-quality technical documents and guidance notes;
-Ability to work independently under pressure, manage competing priorities, and deliver high-quality outputs within tight timelines

Desirables:

Good rapport with the government entities and working closely with CSOs promoting social services.

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

• Cover letter/CV
• A separate financial proposal using this template in Tajik Somoni Financial proposal SSWF Tajikistan.docx
• Technical proposal

Deadline for submission: 6 July 2026

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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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.

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