Child Protection Specialist (AoR Coordinator), NO-3, Venezuela, Caracas, FT

Contract

This is a NO-3 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-3 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.

For every child, protection

UNICEF is implementing its new cooperation programme agreed with the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to contribute addressing national priorities and emerging needs faced by the most vulnerable children. This also entails UNICEF’s fullfillment of its Global responsibility as the lead Agency for the Child Protection (CP) Area of Responsibility (AoR), ensuring the six core functions of cluster coordination are applied to both preparedness and response with a humanitarian-development nexus approach within the framework of the Humanitarian Country Team of Venezuela.

Under the overall supervision of the Chief Field Operations, Emergency & DRR (Level 5), the Child Protection Officer (CP AoR Coordinator), with close technical guidance from the Chief of Child Protection (Level 4), promotes cluster goals and objectives by coordinating the national cluster stakeholders ensuring they deliver on their agreed minimum commitments (see IASC Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at the Country Level, November 2012) and Inter-cluster coordination bodies established by the HCT/UNOCHA.

The CP AoR was officially established in June 2019 under the HCT and the humanitarian coordination structure, working closely with the Protection Cluster and the GBV AoR. The CP AoR is the coordination platform through which CP specialized agencies, civil society organizations and, when necessary, government actors, can coordinate interventions, seek consensus on strategic issues, create alliances and links for better use of available resources and commit to minimum response standards. In this sense, the CP AoR goal is improving the comprehensiveness, quality and efficiency protection response to children and adolescents affected by emergencies.

How can you make a difference?

The CP AoR Coordinator provides leadership and facilitates the processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, adequate, coherent, effective and timely CP response. Thereby, the CP AoR Coordinator is responsible for leading the AoR coordination team at national level and supporting interagency coordination at subnational level. This includes, organizing and leading national regular meetings to coordinate the CP response and address common challenges, providing strategic leadership to the sub-national coordination fora, ensuring that AoR members contact list is regularly updated with the support of Information Management Officer.

The post holder is responsible forgiving technical support to CP actors to guarantee quality programming according to HRP priorities, promoting CP quality minimum standard responses, and encouraging coordination with the Child Protection system hence, the CP AoR coordinator is responsible for supporting HCT/HC decision making and advocacy efforts by providing relevant CP data and analysis, including information about CP risks and needs, response gaps and funding requirements.

Key Functions

1. Supporting coordination and quality service delivery
2. Strengthen national and local capacity
3. Informing strategic decision-making of the HC/HCT for the humanitarian response
4. Technical and operational support for prioritization and planning
5. Resource Mobilization
6. Knowledge management, Information management, Monitoring and evaluating performance
7. Networking and partnership building
8. Support robust and evidence-based advocacy
9. Emergency Preparedness
10. Accountability to affected populations
11. Cross-cutting themes

Please refer to the job profile for further detail on the functions, accountabilities and related duties: Specific JD CP AoR.pdf

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science, or another health-related science field. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience at the national and/or international levels in humanitarian response, programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, or administration is required.
• Fieldwork experience is required.
• Experience in emergency planning is highly desirable.
• Experience in a UN organization or similar is an asset.
• Proven ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders is required.
• Familiarity with children's rights and gender in the context of emergencies is desirable.
• Excellent analytical and writing skills, advocacy, and presentational skills.
• Fluency in Spanish is required. Working knowledge of 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 (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people) for supervisory role

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 here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

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.

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