If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.
For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
Purpose of the Position
The Social Policy Specialist is accountable for effective engagement in social policy dialogue with the Government for programme development, advocating for increased public resource allocation and budgeting towards the social sector and sustainable decentralization of social services and local capacity building in support of the goal of universal coverage of essential social services and the creation of a protective environment for children. Conducts data collection and analysis to fill information gaps and to strengthen capacity for advocacy for children's rights.
With the new CPD focusing on municipal and local levels, the staff member will be working closely with children and adolescents living in contexts of violence and communities facing realities similar to internal conflict. Having an international staff in charge of Social Policies will facilitate flexibility and evacuation in case of need.
Key Expected Results
Constructive dialogue and partnerships are established between international and local social policy stakeholders, to provide effective protective environment for the most vulnerable children, including progressive compliance of principal policy documents and legislation regarding all aspects of child rights.
Current information on state budget and spending patterns and decentralization status of social services are monitored and updated on an on-going basis to support advocacy for decentralization and universal coverage of essential services.
Decentralization of social services is made sustainable through adequate local support, keeping decentralized services both accessible and effective. Programme plans of action are developed for children at provincial and district/municipality levels; coordination between sectors are increased and links between different levels of government structures for policy implementation are strengthened.
Data-driven analysis is provided for effective prioritization, planning, development, and resultsbased management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific Social policy initiatives. Gender/sex disaggregated data and inputs provided, relevant to the Social Policy programme.
Advocacy efforts are effectively made to raise awareness on children's rights with both the general public and with policy makers, and to ensure local buy-in and continued relevance of UNICEF programming.
Effective partnerships with the Government and other agencies established to enable sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and the Millennium Development Goals for continuing worldwide progress of the UNICEF mission.
UNICEF social policy programme effectively planned, implemented and managed in support of the country programme.
Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks
1. Social policy dialogue and programme development
Participates in social policy dialogue and development with the Government, engages in andestablishes Constructive dialogue and partnerships between international and local stakeholders to support the development of social policies and programmes contributing to the progressive realization of children's rights and strengthening of implementation and monitoring mechanisms at all levels of society, and ensures that the services reach out in innovative, effective ways to those most vulnerable pockets of children and families that have been previously left out.
Promotes the advocacy for juvenile justice reform, supports child rights-based reviews of national, provincial and local legislation, in close consultation with community-level structures and supports the health and education sectors and the social welfare system for children.
2. Monitoring state budget resources
Monitors and updates current information on state budgeting and spending patterns for social programmes and decentralization status of social services on an on-going basis to support advocacy for greater public resources and budget allocation for social development, the prioritization of resource allocation for children, and universal coverage of essential services for children, to ensure that they reflect the best interest of children.
3. Sustainable decentralization and capacity building
Where the national decentralization process is taking place, collaborates with the central and local authorities to assist in planning, policy discussion and service delivery closely responding to the needs of local Communities.
Provides on-going support in making decentralization sustainable through adequate local support while keeping decentralized services both accessible and effective.
Collaborates with the central and local authorities to strengthen community-based capacity on quality data Collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of Social policy and programmes.
Develops programme plans of action for children at provincial and district/municipality levels; strengthens Coordination between sectors and between different levels of government structures for policy implementation.
4. Data collection, analysis and results-based approach
Collects systematically qualitative data for the sound and up-to-date assessment of the situation of children and Women to provide the base-lines for result-based decisions on interventions and evaluations. Develops information systems for monitoring child rights indicators, with emphasis on community and child participation.
Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives. Support maintenance of information system for monitoring genderlsex disaggregated data.
Analyzes the macroeconomic context of social policy programmes and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and Concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children
5. Advocacy and communication
Promotes and raises awareness on children's rights with both the general public and with policy makers, utilizing effective information dissemination, mass media campaign, special events, and other means, to ensure local buy-in, commitment, and continued relevance of UNICEF programming. Highlight interventions to attain social policy goals which are designed to reduce gender inequalities.
6. Partnerships
Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda.
Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.
7. UNICEF Programme Management
Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme.
Ensures that the social planning project enhances policy dialogue, planning, Supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.
Qualifications of Successful Candidate
An advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, International Finance, Economics, public relations, media, communication, or other relevant disciplines.
A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional work experience in social policy dialogue, government relations and advocacy is required.
Experience in economy science an asset.
Developing country work experience is required.
Background/familiarity with Emergency an asset.
Fluency in English and Spanish (written and verbal) is required.
Knowledge of an additional UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) is considered an asset.
Competencies of Successful Candidate
Core Values
Commitment
Diversity and Inclusion
Integrity
Core Competencies
Communication - Level II
Working with People - Level II
Drive for Results - Level II
Functional Competencies
Leading and Supervising - Level II
Formulating Strategies and Concepts - Level II
Analyzing - Level III
Relating and Networking - Level II
Persuading and influencing - Level II
Planning and Organizing - Level III
To view our competency framework, please clickhere.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
Post a Comment