Child Protection Officer at UNICEF January, 2022

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, Advocate

The JPO Child Protection Officer (Violence Against Women and Children) will work under the direct supervision of the Child Protection Specialist heading up the unit that handles Prevention, with additional support and oversight provided by the Child Protection Section Chief. The Child Protection Officer (VAWC) will provide technical assistance to further strengthen and scale-up the child protection system. This position will work with Government in the education, social welfare and community development sectors to strengthen elements of the child protection system for which prevention interventions require strengthening, such as supporting schools to establish safe environments for children, supporting the capacity building of key prevention actors, and ensuring children are equipped with knowledge and skills on how to keep themselves safe.

The incumbent will be expected to work closely with UNICEF Tanzania’s Education, Communication, and Innovation sections. Some of the cross-sectoral work will include, but is not limited to: supporting the child protection section to strengthen the identification of cases of violence within schools and strengthen referral mechanisms between education and social welfare, supporting the roll out of school-based violence prevention programmes and integrating child protection into national teacher training packages and life-skills frameworks, developing appropriate inter-personal and media messages to raise awareness about violence among children and exploring innovative ways to improve safeguarding among young people

How can you make a difference?

1. 1. Support to programme development and planning
      • Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of child protection related programmes/projects. Research and report on development trends (e.g., economic, social, health) and data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results.
      • Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, analysis and reporting of child protection and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
      • Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical, programme, operational, and administrative transactions, preparing related materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating of results.
      • Prepare required programme documentations, materials, and data to facilitate the programme review and approval process.
   2. Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results
      • Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
      • Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level interventions and/or decisions. Keep records of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
      • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programmes/projects, and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management.
      • Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules, regulations, procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity.
      • Report on critical issues and findings to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution
      • Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/project reports for management, donors, and partners to keep them informed of programme progress
   3. Technical training and capacity building
      • Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders
      • Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices in child protection, to support programme implementation operations and delivery of results.
   4. Networking and partnership building 
      • Participate in inter-agency meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of child protection programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with UNDAF development and planning processes
      • Build and sustain close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on child protection.
      • Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes
      • Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for child protection programmes
   5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
      • Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders
      • Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
      • Research and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.

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

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field.
• A minimum of two years of professional experience in social development planning, implementation, and monitoring in child protection and/or other related areas at the international and/or in a developing country is required. Experience working with programmes related to gender-based violence and violence against children an asset. Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

The 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)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.This position is a Junior Professional Officer (JPO) and will be open to candidates coming from Program Countries only