Child Protection Officer, NO-2, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Fixed-term (Only for Uzbekistan nationals)

Contract

This is a NO-2 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-2 contracts.

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.

Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Job organizational context:

The long-term vision for change in the area of child protection in Uzbekistan is to ensure that by 2025, the most vulnerable children, including children from disadvantaged and low-income families, children at early ages and those with disabilities benefit from a protective environment that prevents separation of children from families and deprivation of liberty, and effectively responds to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.

To achieve this outcome, UNICEF will support the Government to: (a) Ensure inter-sectoral coordination to prevent unnecessary family separation and shift from large institutional care to family and community-based care (supporting system strengthening, data collection, modelling family support and alternative care services, and the transformation of closed educational institutions); (b) Strengthen a dedicated social service workforce that applies a case management approach and practices social work functions (supporting the development of specialized services and social service workforce university programmes, and strengthening identification and referral of high-risk cases related to violence and other vulnerabilities, with efforts at national and community level to address harmful gender norms and practices that exacerbate violence, including child marriage); and (c) Apply child-friendly and gender-sensitive procedures, diversion and alternatives to deprivation of liberty (strengthening the current justice for children system and ensuring that boys and girls in contact with the law are better served and protected when involved in justice proceedings by introducing practices of alternatives to detention, such as diversion and probation, as well as a restorative justice approach).

Purpose for the job:

The Child Protection Officer reports to the Child Protection Specialist for supervision. The Child Protection Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for child protection programmes/projects within the Country Programme from development planning to delivery of results. H/She prepares, executes, manages, and implements a variety of technical and administrative programme tasks to facilitate programme development, implementation, programme progress monitoring, evaluating and reporting. The Child Protection Officer will assist the UNICEF Country Office, relevant governmental and non-governmental partners, and Academia in a) planning, developing and supporting the social work and social service workforce, including enhancing normative frameworks for the social work and social service workforce, improving pre- and in-service capacity-building programmes, and strengthening child protection case management procedures and practices, support services and referrals, and b) in advancing the childcare reform, with a focus on reducing the reliance of residential care by strengthening family- and community-based support services and alternative care options, including evidence generation, policy dialogue and advocacy, and technical guidance and support.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support to programme development and planning
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
4. Networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Support to programme development and planning

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Prepare required programme documentations, materials and data to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

1. Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys and 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.
2. 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.

Networking and partnership building

1. 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.
2. Participate in inter-agency meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNSDCF operational planning and preparation of child protection programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with UNSDCF development and planning processes.
3. Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.
4. Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for child protection programmes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
2. Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
3. Research and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.

4. Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

   Impact of Results

The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Child Protection Officer to programme preparation, planning and implementation, contributes to the achievement of sustainable results to create a protective environment for children against harm and all forms of violence, as well as the unnecessary separation of children from their families. Success in child protection programmes and projects in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to provide programme services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equality in the country.

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 and management in child protection related areas is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in programme development in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.
• Fluency in English, Uzbek and Russian.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

i) Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

Core Competencies

• 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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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