Child Protection Specialist

Volunteering Crisis & Emergency Response

Overview

Strengthen child protection systems and emergency response.

You have:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in child protection or social services programming in humanitarian or development settings.
• Experience in child protection in emergencies.
• Knowledge of case management and referral systems.
• Experience working with government social service systems.
• Strong reporting and coordination skills.
• Familiarity with CPMS and humanitarian standards.

Contract

This is a UNV contract. More about UNV contracts.

Oromia Region continues to face conflict, displacement, climate shocks, and disease outbreaks, exposing children to heightened protection risks, including violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect, early marriage, and family separation. Access to safe services remains limited in several zones. The western part of the region, particularly Wollega, continues to face the most severe challenges due to ongoing conflict and large-scale displacement since 2018.

Delivering technical support to child protection partners at zonal and wereda levels requires strong, quality programming that addresses the root causes of child protection issues. Skilled professionals in child protection are therefore essential for effective communication, planning, implementation, and monitoring. Their role is critical in ensuring that programming at the field level is both impactful and sustainable. This demands consistent, evidence-based, and timely support, coupled with a regular presence in the field to guide ongoing initiatives.

To respond to these needs, UNICEF’s Oromia Field Office is seeking to recruit a Child Protection Specialist based in Nekemte. The UNV will enhance coordination, strengthen child protection services, and assist government and partners in implementing prevention and response mechanisms that align with national frameworks and international standards.

The primary objective of this assignment is to strengthen child protection systems and emergency response through coordination, technical assistance, monitoring, and capacity building.

The Child Protection Specialist will be responsible for the following:

A. Child Protection Coordination and Partnership • Participate and co-lead zonal-level Protection / Child Protection coordination forums. • Support collaboration with Women and Children Affairs Offices and implementing partners. • Promote inter-sectoral integration of child protection with Health, Education, Nutrition and WASH. • Provide inputs to humanitarian planning products (HNO, HRP, HAC).

B. Programme Implementation Support • Provide technical support to partners implementing child protection programmes. • Support case management services for vulnerable children. • Strengthen family tracing and reunification systems. • Support community-based child protection mechanisms. • Promote prevention of child marriage, GBV, and child labour.

C. Monitoring, Reporting and Analysis • Track child protection trends and service coverage. • Support routine partner reporting. • Contribute to situation reports and analytical briefs. • Monitor programme performance and identify service gaps.

D. Needs Assessment and Emergency Response • Support rapid child protection assessments. • Participate in field monitoring missions. • Support analysis of risks and vulnerabilities affecting children.

E. Capacity Building • Support training of social workers, teachers, health workers, and authorities. • Promote CPMS standards and best practices. • Strengthen referral pathways and inter-agency coordination.

F. Knowledge Management • Support documentation of lessons learned and good practices. • Maintain reporting files and programme records. • Promote information sharing and learning.

 •    Build and maintains partnerships
 •    Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
 •    Drive to achieve results for impact
 •    Innovates and embraces change
 •    Manages ambiguity and complexity
 •    Thinks and acts strategically
 •    Works collaboratively with others

• Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in child protection or social services programming in humanitarian or development settings.
• Experience in child protection in emergencies. • Knowledge of case management and referral systems. • Experience working with government social service systems. • Strong reporting and coordination skills. • Familiarity with CPMS and humanitarian standards.

The UNV will be based in Nekemte, capital of East Wollega Zone, with frequent travel to surrounding zones and woredas. Basic to good accommodation options are available. The town has access to health facilities, markets, and transport connections. Security conditions vary depending on zone-specific factors; the selected volunteer must follow UNDSS and UNICEF security protocols, including travel advisories and movement restrictions

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing, other living essentials and will already be fully conversant with the living conditions in Ethiopia.

You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.”

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Potential interview questions

Added 5 months ago - Updated 5 months ago - Source: unv.org