UNICEF International Consultant - SITAN and support to MTR at United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

The Situation Analysis of children’s rights and wellbeing is a UNICEF flagship product designed to inform policy dialogue, partnerships and interventions to improve the lives of children. It is an assessment and analysis of the country situation, with respect to children's rights and critical issues affecting their realization. The Situation Analysis is a crucial part of the Child Rights Monitoring (CRM) framework and represents a key UNICEF programmatic output that helps focus on knowledge gaps related to inequities and child deprivations or vulnerability. By promoting the broad engagement of all stakeholders, the Situation Analysis is expected to inform policy dialogue in the country and child-focused policy advocacy to make an important contribution to accelerating the achievement of child-related goals with equity.

Role

The Situation Analysis reflects UNICEF’s role to urge all levels of governments and all key stakeholders to use the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a guiding mechanism in policy making and legislation to

• Develop a comprehensive national agenda;
• Develop permanent bodies or mechanisms to promote coordination, monitoring and evaluation of activities throughout all sectors of government;
• Ensure that all legislation is fully compatible with the Convention and, if applicable the Optional Protocols, by incorporating the provisions into domestic law or ensuring that they take precedence in cases of conflict with national legislation;
• Make children visible in policy development processes throughout government by introducing child impact assessments;
• Analyse government spending to determine the portion of public funds spent on children and to ensure that these resources are being used effectively;
• Ensure that sufficient data are collected and used to improve the situation of all children in each jurisdiction;
• Raise awareness and disseminate information on the Convention and the Optional Protocols by providing training to all those involved in government policy-making and working with or for children;
• Involve civil society – including children themselves – in the process of implementing and raising awareness of child rights.