The purpose of this assignment is to provide support to UNICEF Serbia in strengthening its advocacy and policy efforts focused on inclusive education and child rights, particularly in the areas of non-discrimination, violence prevention psychosocial support, and social inclusion, ensuring that these fundamental rights are integrated into all initiatives. Additionally, the purpose is to contribute to the development of initiatives, reports, position papers and policy documents that align with UNICEF’s strategic priorities, as well as to support further development of the locally based support services for children, families and education institutions. The contractor will play a role in gathering and analysing data related to children’s rights, monitoring national and international policies and laws, and informing the development of different work products (adhering to the latest legal standards and UNICEF guidelines) to address key challenges in child protection and inclusion.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and gender parity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF’s office is accessible to a certain extent, and employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are needed for ensuring equitable working conditions.

Serbia has ratified eight of the main international human rights instruments and has signed the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICPRM). There is a National Council for monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations human rights mechanisms (NMHR), which includes representatives of government, civil society, business, and local authorities. The State has ratified the Child Rights Convention and its Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child pornography, and child prostitution. The country has yet to ratify the third Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, which would enable the submission of individual petitions direct to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (hereafter the CRC Committee).

Significant progress has been achieved in the implementation of inclusive education (IE) in Serbia since the introduction of major legal reforms in 2009. Under the leadership of the Ministry for Education (MoE), and with continuous UNICEF support over the past years, reform measures have been taken with focus on developing a comprehensive institutional and policy framework for inclusive education. This has included the introduction of non-conditional enrolment of children with disabilities in regular education.

However, further work is still needed to implement many of the Committee’s 2017 recommendations, such as introducing a child rights impact assessment procedure for all new legislation adopted at the national level. Moreover, data show that not all children benefit from inclusion in mainstream quality education in Serbia. Furthermore, there are differences in the proportion of children educated based on IEPs between developed and undeveloped municipalities, between regions, and between classes within schools (indicating differences in competences of teachers to work in diverse classrooms). Current data collected on IE do not correspond to the requirements based on international standards, nor do these allow adequate monitoring of the process of implementation.

Work Assignment Overview:

The purpose of this assignment is to provide support to UNICEF Serbia in strengthening its advocacy and policy efforts focused on inclusive education and child rights, particularly in the areas of non-discrimination, violence prevention psychosocial support, and social inclusion, ensuring that these fundamental rights are integrated into all initiatives. Additionally, the purpose is to contribute to the development of initiatives, reports, position papers and policy documents that align with UNICEF’s strategic priorities, as well as to support further development of the locally based support services for children, families and education institutions. The contractor will play a role in gathering and analysing data related to children’s rights, monitoring national and international policies and laws, and informing the development of different work products (adhering to the latest legal standards and UNICEF guidelines) to address key challenges in child protection and inclusion.

Duration of the assignment: January – December 2025 (full-time, office-based)

Included benefits: private health insurance, paid annual leave, paid sick leave.

Task description:

1. Support the Country Office in developing reports, legal opinions, position papers, policy documents, submissions to UN and EU bodies, SOPs and other documents, aligned with the international and national legal framework governing the rights of the child, gender equality and human rights and fundamental freedoms. Support the Country Office in internal and external communication regarding legal and child rights issues.
2. Support the Country Office in developing initiatives, reviewing reports, position papers, policy documents and other related to non-discrimination, violence prevention and social inclusion.
3. Provide comprehensive support in the development and dissemination of a variety of advocacy and communication materials aimed at the rights of children to access inclusive and equitable education.
4. Support, coordinate and monitor activities of resource centres (RCs) for inclusive education.
5. Support the implementation of communities of practice of teachers in IE.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• University degree in Law or other Humanities, and master’s degree in child’s rights/human rights, education, pedagogy, psychology, or sociology. Advanced degree will be an asset.
• At least 5 years of professional experience in education policy in Serbia in the area of inclusive education and/or in violence prevention.
• At least 5 years of professional experience in the advancing child’s rights (senior level).
• Excellent knowledge of Serbian legal system and international human rights law framework and instruments.
• Excellent knowledge of Serbian education system and Serbian education policies and legislation in the area of inclusive education, antidiscrimination, and prevention of violence.
• Experience in education research and surveys will be an asset.
• Established network of partners in the area of IE, anti-discrimination, and prevention of violence.
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving.
• Excellent oral and written Serbian and English skills are required.
• Knowledge of the UN/UNICEF mandate and UN rules/procedures is an asset.

How to apply:

The application must include a financial proposal in RSD as a separate document, providing the following information:

• Monthly fee (all costs included, e.g. monthly pension contribution, usage of mobile phone).

Important notes:

• Please do not forget to specify your name in the financial proposal file while saving (to be uploaded online under the “Financial Proposal” tab).  
• Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark “n/a” or “00” under the fee-related questions in the online application form.
• Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

For every child, you must demonstrate UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.