Contract type: Temporary Appointment, Consultant
Level: P-4
Location: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles
Categories: Child Protection, Emergency
Seeking external candidates only
Contract Type: Temporary Appointment (TA) or Consultancy
Duration: 3 months to 364 days
Location: Countries based in Eastern and Southern Africa
Job Description
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, hope
Since two years, countries in the ESA region have experienced an alarming increase in the number of new, or re-emerging humanitarian emergencies, including public health (including Ebola, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, wild poliovirus, and Cholera), armed conflicts and natural disasters emergencies.
UNICEF ESAR has prioritized the critical need to support countries to rapidly scale up capacity to prevent, mitigate, and manage ongoing and anticipated emergencies as well as to enhance capacity for preparedness and response to these emergencies.
Purpose
The purpose of this external announcement is to attract suitable Child Protection Coordinator candidates interested in working in any of the countries within UNICEF’s East and Southern Africa region to respond to emergencies for the next 36 months. The countries within each region are listed on the following website: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html.
How can you make a difference?
As part of UNICEF’s Core Commitment for Children in Humanitarian Action, the Child Protection Coordinator) is expected to provide leadership and support to the sub-regional and national child protection coordination structures within the Humanitarian Cluster Approach. To fulfill this function, a Child Protection Coordinator is needed to secure the overall cluster coordination of child protection responses at the national level. in their efforts to respond to the current crisis.
Key activities & duties
- Lead and/or support child protection coordination mechanisms promoting and facilitating active participation from key actors, including, where relevant, government.
- Work with the Protection Cluster(s) and/or other key actors to: identify opportunities to integrate child protection into other protection and other sector activities and to avoid duplication; prevent unintentional harm to children as a result of inappropriate humanitarian assistance.
- Work with child protection actors to assess the needs, coordinate and oversee inter-agency needs assessment about child protection issues to map out priority protection gaps and identify key resources and assets, including existing child protection systems (both formal and informal).
- Facilitate the development of an agreed interagency child protection response strategy.
- Facilitate the creation of processes to monitor achievement of agreed interagency goals.
- Promote and support adherence to agreed, interagency Child Protection standards
- Undertake advocacy on behalf of the interagency group as required
- Collaborate with the Protection Cluster lead and OCHA to ensure that key child protection concerns are reflected in all documents and humanitarian initiatives.
- Work with the Gender-based Violence and MHPSS working groups to ensure that CP and GBV actors work together to meet the comprehensive GBV-related needs of children.
- Establish results-oriented, two-way communication channels between regional level, national level and sub-national Child Protection coordinator groups (as relevant), to promote, upgrade and strengthen a more standardized child protection response across all affected areas.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education-
- Advanced university degree, or equivalent experience, in social work or child psychology, or other relevant field.
Work Experience-
- A minimum of 5-8 years’ experience with either the UN and/or NGO, especially in emergency settings.
- Excellent commination and interpersonal skills, and proven success in facilitating interagency processes to achieve a common goal,
Language Requirement:-
- Fluency in verbal and written English and/or French (depending on the country office’s official language). Knowledge of another UN language or a local language is an asset.
- Good written and spoken skills in the language of the humanitarian operation in country of assignment.
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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues
UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)
Works Collaboratively with others (1)
Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children.
The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
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 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.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions.
Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.
Deadline: E. Africa Standard Time