Child Protection Officer in Emergencies (NO-A), Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 6 months

Contract

This is a NO-1 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-1 contracts.

The following post is open only for Nationals of Honduras

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, protection

In Honduras, UNICEF supports the creation and development of national programs and policies for children.

The promotion and fulfillment of these rights are related to women´s rights, which is why UNICEF also works to promote their equality, free from all types of discrimination.

UNICEF works with the State, civil society organizations, the private sector, churches, and the media, among others, to promote national and international commitments that the principles enunciated in the Convention become a reality.

UNICEF's budget depends entirely on voluntary funds. States provide two-thirds of the resources; foundations, the private sector, other private entities and some six million individual donors provide the rest.

UNICEF was created in 1946 by the United Nations to help the children of Europe who suffered the severe consequences of World War II.

For information of the work of our organization in Honduras, please visit our website: UNICEF Honduras

How can you make a difference?

The Child Protection Officer reports to the Child Protection Specialist for close guidance and supervision, as well as the Emergency Specialist for CP AoR component of the role.

The Child Protection Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the child protection programmes/projects through the application of theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing, and presenting technical programme information while learning organizational rules, regulations and procedures to support the development and formulation of the Child Protection Programme within the Country Programme.

The Child Protection Area of Responsibility (sub-Cluster) component is intended to provide leadership in coordinating the activities as they pertain to the Child Protection sub-cluster, oversee and ensure a coherent, efficient and coordinated response in line with humanitarian principles and standards within the Humanitarian Network and the UN Country Team in Honduras. The post is intended to mobilise key UN and NGO stakeholders, as well as relevant government counterparts to ensure the best result and standards for children in Honduras. The incumbent will be required to frequently engage and liaise with government, humanitarian actors and IASC counterparts.

1. Support to programme development and planning

• Research and analyze regional and national political, protection, social and economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify, and synthesize information to facilitate programme development, design and preparation.
• Prepare technical reports and inputs for programme preparation and documentation, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and relevancy of information.
• Facilitate the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of child protection programmes and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programmeming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results.
• Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.
• Support strategies and mechanisms to scale up the child protection response in emergencies, including addressing as relevant: the well-being of children and their families, family separation, gender-based violence, other protection concerns for children etc.
• Support strategies and mechanisms to scale up the child protection response to the emergency, including cross-sectoral protection services and other protection concerns for children and adolescents.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues, suggest solutions on routine programme implementation and to submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record 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 the government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocation, goals, organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, and standards of accountability and integrity.
• Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Contribute to the review, analysis, systematization and dissemination of information on the situation of children and adolescents in humanitarian contexts, including information from UNICEF partners on protection activities for families in human mobility, preparing situation and donor reports as required.
• Prepare inputs for Programme and donor reporting.

3. Technical and operational support to Programme implementation

• Undertake field visits and surveys and collect and share reports with partners and stakeholders.
• Assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution.
• Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• 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 including humanitarian settings.
• Support the strengthening of protection mechanisms in communities and shelters for the identification of child protection and risk of violence and GBV for appropriate referral in coordination with partners and authorities.
• Support Child Protection in emergencies Cluster coordination mechanisms promoting and facilitating active participation from key actors, including but not limited to thegovernment offices, the humanitarian network, the Office of the Resident Coordinator, OCHA and Cluster members.

4. Networking and partnership building

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ensure adequete coordination of cluster members and partners to ensure results in Child Protection interventions and progress in consideration of strategies and action plans, including an analytical interpretation of result-based information.

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, benchmark and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

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 1 year of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas is required.
• Experience related with child protection in emergencies in natural disaster, migration and/or armed violence contexts will be an asset.
• Experience in leading or coordinate clusters and other coordination mechanisms in humanitarian context will be an asset.
• Knowledge of UNICEF’s core commitments to children in humanitarian action as well as the humanitarian cluster approach, particularly the child protection working group (sub-cluster), gender-based violence area of responsibility, and protection cluster.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in Spanish and Proficient English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) 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: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

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 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.

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 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:

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either: a role with direct contact with children, works directly with child, is a safeguarding response role or has been assessed as an elevated risk role for child safeguarding. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

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.