Child Protection Junior Officer- Child labour

In Ghana, 28% of children aged 5-17 years are engaged in child labour, with 21% of children in hazardous working conditions. Ghana is the second largest cocoa exporter in the world, after Ivory Coast. About 770,000 children in Ghana are engaged in child labour in cocoa.

However, Ghana faces challenges due to the consistently inadequate budget allocation and expenditure to deliver social services at the decentralized level. There are also critical gaps in human resources in the social sector. The assessment of the National Plan of Action (NPA) for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2022-2026 found that often private sector-supported interventions so far were not aligned with the government vision, therefore, increasing the need to strengthen collaboration.

In line with the Ghana Accelerated Action Plan Against Child Labour 2023-2027, UNICEF has spearheaded the development of a multistakeholder and multisectoral public-private partnership (PPP) to tackle the root causes of child labour, with partnerships with various Government organizations, development partners, private sectors and civil society organizations (CSOs). The PPP is implemented from 2024 to 2025 in four districts (Bibiani, Assin South, Ayensuano, and Asunafo North) where child labour is prevalent in various sectors, including cocoa but also agriculture and mining. The PPP builds on the existing transformative approaches and tools in Ghana, such as the Integrated Social Services (ISS), Social Welfare Information Management System (SWIMS), Child Protection Community Facilitation Toolkits, Community of Excellence (CoE), and more.

Under the direct supervision of Child Protection Specialist (P3), the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Support internal coordination across sectors involved in the child labour PPP, includ-ing Child Protection, Social Policy and Inclusion, Adolescents, Gender and Youth, Ed-ucation, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Partnerships, and Communication for the regular follow up on the implementation, monitoring, report writing and knowledge management; 2. Support conducting research and implementing recommendations to identify innova-tive ways to tackling the root causes of child labour in agriculture sectors and beyond (i.e. mining and markets), including looking at effective gender-sensitive youth solu-tions (i.e. youth empowerment, advocacy and employment) in collaboration with the Adolescents, Gender and Youth colleagues and climate solutions (i.e. climate change, deforestation and alternative income generation for cocoa farmers); 3. Support organizing and participating in meetings, workshops and events related to child labour, child protection, youth empowerment, climate change, and document the meeting results; 4. Support the UNICEF team in conducting field visits and join them to capture trans-formative human interest stories, develop knowledge management materials, docu-ment programme success, areas of improvement and key lessons learned; 5. Support reporting and fundraising efforts related to child labour and child protection; 6. Support liaising with KOICA to strengthen the collaboration in the area of child labour, child protection and youth empowerment in support of implementing the Govern-ment’s Ghana Accelerated Action Plan Against Child Labour 2023-2027; and 7. Support any other tasks assigned by the supervisor

For every child, you demonstrate UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). • 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) • Drives to achieve impactful results (1) • Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

or demonstrated interest in supporting and implementing development projects related to child rights, community development, youth empowerment and family strengthening;   

• Fluent oral and written skills in English, including drafting, reviewing, editing and re-porting skills (speeches, press releases, programme briefs, factsheets, donor reports, social media, etc.) • Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including a multicultural team of international and national personnel, grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; • Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, among others), email, and internet; familiarity with database management; office technology equipment; and social media and other communicational applications; • Experience working in the UN or other international development organizations, including INGOs, is highly desirable; • Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines; and • Have affinity with or interest in child rights, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN system.

Ghana is a very peaceful and beautiful country with an affable citizenry. The living condition in Accra, where the assignment is based, is a family duty station and relatively good. The UNV will be responsible for arranging his or her own housing and other living essentials such as food, water, electricity, etc. The UNICEF Ghana orientation package will be shared with the successful UN volunteer once confirmed. Transport, medical, education and other services are at a high level compared to other countries in the region. At sea level, the climate of the country is tropical-hot and humid with average yearly temperatures of about 27oC (80oF) and little daily variation. At the interior's higher altitudes, the average yearly temperature is 20oC (68oF), and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies from 500 centimetres (200 in.) on the southwestern slopes to 100 centimetres (40 in.) in the northern lowlands. The rainy season runs from October to May. The total population of Ghana is about 33,000,000. Ghana is a Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) country. Regarding accommodation and food, houses and apartments can be rented from 200$ to 1000$ per month and meals at the restaurant cost between 10$ and 60$. Food, household commodities and clothing can be found in shops and local markets at reasonable prices. An entry visa is required for all travellers and must be obtained prior to arrival from an embassy. The Cedi is the local currency and according to the UN exchange rate system, a USD 1 is equivalent to 13.45 GHS in April 2024. Some commercial banks are operating in the country and Visa cards are accepted in very limited hotels.

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Added 9 days ago - Updated 1 hour ago - Source: unv.org