Programme Officer (Humanitarian Cash Transfer) -Amhara, Ethiopia (For Ethiopian Nationals Only)

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, Commitment

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

Watch our Year in Review.

How can you make a difference?

Summary of key functions and accountabilities.

 Cash-based assistance, design and implementation

• Provide support and technical assistance on humanitarian cash transfer initiatives at the respective Amhara Regional Bureau of Women, Children and Social Affairs (BoWCSA), from design to production of concrete results, and in line with the regional context.
• Provide support and technical assistance on development cash transfer initiatives, including nutrition-sensitive social protection programs, to the Amhara Regional Bureau of Women, Children, and Social Affairs (BoWCSA), from design to implementation, monitoring, and production of concrete results, and in line with the regional context.
• Conduct regular operational analysis of the implementation of HCT and other SP programmes, identify potential modalities of payment and delivery.
• Provide technical support and training to the government to implement HCT to respond drought in the region.
• Provide technical support and training to the government to implement other social protection cash grants to support expansion of development social protection initiatives.
• Provide quality assurance and identify solutions
• Advise on UNICEF strategic positioning on cash in emergencies, based on best practices in your region.
• Participate and contribute to the discussions of the Regional Cash Working Group (CWG)
• Undertake cash feasibility assessments, where relevant, to inform UNICEF cash programmes in the region, and/or contribute to partners design efforts to ensure that HCT programmes are child-centered
• Integrate cash feasibility into existing sectorial and multisector assessments
• Integrate and introduce HCT in UNICEF Emergency programming by designing new relevant sector specific and multisector response
• Conduct risk assessments and propose risk mitigation measures for the use of cash in emergencies in the specific context of the region.
• Ensure Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) is streamlined across the programme implementation cycle with attention to information sharing to beneficiaries, community inclusion in programme implementation, complaints and response mechanism and continuous learning, and propose innovative solutions for inaccessible communities
• Ensure analysis of complaints and feedback received through different communication channels and ensure follow up by implementing partners
• Participate in market monitoring and contribute to the development and update of the area cash profile
• Support BoWCSA to facilitate the engagement of households participating in the cash transfer program in income generation activities (IGAs) through linkages with financial institutions.
• Work closely with relevant sections, as needed, including on activities of linkages of cash transfer programs with child protection and other services

Partnership, Coordination and Collaboration for cash transfer programme

• Establish effective partnerships with the Government, NGOs, civil society and other UN agencies to support implementation of PSNP including the shock-responsive component and complementary social protection programming
• Support the Amhara Sub National Cash Working Group by organizing regular meetings and fostering coordination among stakeholders
• Participate and contribute in Amhara Inter-Cluster Coordination Group meetings, representing UNICEF and the Cash Working Group
• Coordinate and harmonize UNICEF supported humanitarian cash transfer initiatives. This includes both direct support to government partners as well as support to UNICEF teams working on child protection, nutrition, education and WASH
• Integrate cash feasibility into existing sectorial and multisector assessments
• Provide support to strengthening strategic partnerships around UNICEF supported humanitarian and development cash transfer initiatives
• Work as a UNICEF resource person with cluster partners on the development of thinking on enhancing HCT and engaging in opportunities in HCT programming
• Provide recommendations and advice for potential partnerships and collaboration with partners, including UN agencies and national partners
• Conducting partnership capacity assessments and developing partner agreements as needed
• Actively participate and represent UNICEF in regional coordination forums such as the Regional Cash Working Group, and any other relevant interagency group which might be established

UNICEF Programme Management:

• Risk Analysis and Mitigation: The Officer support in risk analysis and mitigation measures into the overall management of support. This includes identifying potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate them.
• Planning, Coordination, and Monitoring: Support effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of the shock responsive program

Strengthening capacity of government to plan, budget, monitor and implement child-focused cashplus and shock responsive cash transfers intervention

• Support BoWCSA in the effective implementation of social protection system with focus on shock-responsive and other cash transfer and cash plus interventions
• Support BoWCSA to effectively deliver and monitor shock-responsive and other cash transfers in-line with government and UNCIEF protocols
• Coordinate with government and UNICEF field offices and programme sections to ensure workplan deliverables are on-track
• Support the annual work plan development with relevant government partners (e.g., MoWSA) at Federal and Regional levels
• Facilitate capacity-building activities for staff and partners involved in the cash transfer programs.
• Support government through programme visits and other joint monitoring process to strengthen implementation and accountability
• Support the learning and advocacy efforts for scale-up of HCT and other social protection programmes

Operational oversight, monitoring including post distribution monitoring (PDM), and risk management

• In close collaboration with the Monitoring and Planning focal points, ensure the establishment and implementation of a sound monitoring system for the HCT and other social protection programmes
• Coordinate and contribute to conducting effective post-distribution monitoring (PDM)
• Undertake field visits to monitor and assess programme implementation and decide on required corrective action
• Produce knowledge management products for the cash transfer programme through data collection and analysis, complete and accurate reporting as well as generating and documenting lessons learned
• Conduct verification of payments in close collaboration with the P and E focal points unit
• Ensure all applicable HACT risk management measures for HCT and other social protection cash transfers are implemented
• Prepare programme reports required for management, donors, budget reviews, programme analysis, annual reports, etc

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

• A first university degree in Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, Social Policy, Development, or another relevant technical field
• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in providing programmatic and operational support to cash transfer programs, preferably in both humanitarian and social protection contexts.
• Experience with shock-responsive social protection is desirable.Background and/or familiarity with emergency is considered as a strong asset.
• Proven track record of building and maintaining strong relationships with partners.Resourcefulness, flexibility, and the ability to prioritize and manage a significant workload under pressureStrong analytical, communication, and presentation skills.
• Experience in working within government-led programmes.
• UN work experience is an advantage.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability and
• Sustainability

(CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (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.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will 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.

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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.