Contract type: Temporary Appointment, Consultant
Level: P-3
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 Specialist – Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (CAAFAG) 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?
Ensure interventions are in place to prevent and address child recruitment and use, and to promote community-based approaches in coordination with partners, in line with CCC-7.
Key activities & duties
- Monitor the trends and emerging evidence of child recruitment and use, and the response by Government, and analyze this information to advise on the child protection response. Contribute to the overall development of a child protection monitoring system, including violations of recruitment and use of children by armed forces or armed groups.
- Review and analyze capacities of existing programmes and support services for identification, screening, verification and separation of CAAFAG; interim care, psychosocial support and rehabilitation; family tracing and reunification; and community reintegration with a view to their strengthening and scale-up.
- Initiate and/or support dialogue with parties to armed conflict who recruit and use children with a view to developing an action plan with them to end the recruitment and use of children, and to set up a process for the screening and release of all associated children.
- Advise on and provide technical assistance to the design, preparation, scale-up, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a protection programme for the release and reintegration of CAAFAG, including appropriate systems for information management., supporting capacity-building initiatives, including training of partners.
- Produce monthly summary reports (with data) on child recruitment and use in the affected areas, and programme progress (results) for CAAFAG.
- Identify opportunities to work with other sectors to strengthen overall protections for CAAFAG by integrating protection activities within their emergency response programmes.
- Advise on and enable opportunities for UNICEF and partners to engage in advocacy with parties to armed conflict on issues pertaining to child recruitment and use, including adherence to global standards.
- Assist in the development of appropriate communication and information-sharing on issues pertaining to child recruitment and use as part of an overall communications and advocacy strategy for child protection.
- Undertake field visits to monitor programmes on the release, interim care and reintegration of CAAFAG, and conduct periodic programme reviews with partners.
- Support procurement and distribution of supplies to support CAAFAG.
- Represent UNICEF CP in inter-agency working groups on child recruitment, release and reintegration and provide inputs in relevant inter-agency and government planning and reporting processes.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education-
- Advanced university degree in social work, international relations, law, child psychology, or other relevant field.
Work Experience-
- A minimum of 5 years of experience with UN and/or other relevant actors, including experience with child protection programming for the release and reintegration of CAAFAG in situations of armed conflict.
- Background and familiarity with international human rights and humanitarian law, monitoring and reporting on grave violations against children including experience in humanitarian negotiation and coordination, highly desirable.
- Knowledge of UNICEF’s CCC’s in humanitarian action, key international standards and guidelines related to children associated with armed forces or armed groups, as well as the humanitarian cluster approach.
Language Requirement:-
- Fluency in verbal and written English and/or French (depending on the country office’s official language).
- Good written and spoken skills in the language of the humanitarian operation in country of assignment and knowledge of another UN language or a local language is an asset.
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