International Consultant - Social Innovation Fellow, Dili, Timor-Leste

Contract

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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.

Worldwide, UNICEF innovates to tackle the most pressing problems the most vulnerable children face. We systematically approach innovation, applying skills and energy across new tools and technologies, products, innovative financing, and new ways of working to boost our impact.

With the support of Innovation (Venture Fund), UNICEF Timor-Leste Country Office (TLCO) is recruiting a Social Innovation Fellow, which will help conduct the social innovation and start-up ecosystem mapping and analysis in Timor-Leste to address societal challenges and meet the social demands with a focus on children. Considering UNICEF’s long engagement around adolescent and youth-related issues in Timor-Leste, particularly around skilling, understanding the ecosystem's scale, scope, and characteristics will further help achieve the objective.

A brief review of available information indicates that despite growing interest in Timor-Leste's entrepreneurial landscape, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on the social innovation ecosystem from the adolescent and child rights perspective. Therefore, UNICEF intends to conduct a study to address this gap. With a specific focus on innovation for social impact, this initiative is crucial in understanding the local entrepreneurial and innovation landscape. Considering a new country and the fragile context, innovative solutions can suggest solutions to complex challenges in nutrition, education, health, WASH, and social protection services.

Reporting to the Chief of Social Policy, Monitoring, and Evaluation, Timor-Leste CO, the Fellow will work with the section leads, critical stakeholders in Timor-Leste, and the Office of Innovation, UNICEF, to conduct a social innovation and start-up ecosystem mapping and analysis. In addition, he/she will support the UNICEF TL Country Office in sourcing and mentoring promising local frontier tech start-ups that could apply to the Venture Fund, address problems on the ground, and support resource mobilisation with the Office of Innovation. By mapping the ecosystem, identifying stakeholders, and assessing strengths and weaknesses, UNICEF can foster a more robust and inclusive social innovation ecosystem, empowering local entrepreneurs and start-ups to drive positive change in Timor-Leste for advancing children’s rights.

The fellow will also facilitate the TL CO in developing their innovation strategy and process and help create the enabling environment to inject innovation into the programming processes within the UNICEF Country Office through coaching, handholding the youths, and developing future proposals.

For every child...innovate

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection where an organisation that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions. UNICEF's Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world's children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

• Connecting youth communities (or, more broadly -- anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers and each other to deliver informed, relevant, and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
• Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach -- in a traditionally risk-averse field -- to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
• Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private, and academic sectors to deliver fast and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st-century skills, urban technologies, new banking tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs – and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF’s mandate is to advance the rights and opportunities of every child. UNICEF has a unique position to bring an equity and child-centered lens into digital solutions and platforms of the future through the catalytic force of Digital Public Goods (DPGs). It is pivotal to engage those most impacted by rapidly changing technologies – the burgeoning youth population from the global South; and those making decisions about future digital public infrastructures – governments and policymakers.

Under the Direct Supervision of the Chief of Social Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation, TLCO, and advisory support from the Programme Specialist, Ventures, Office of Innovation, the Social Innovation Fellow will support the UNICEF TL country office mapping the innovation ecosystem, focusing on social impact. This initiative is crucial in understanding the local entrepreneurial and innovation landscape. It is especially important given the limited research on the social innovation ecosystem in Timor-Leste, despite significant attention by various stakeholders. Understanding the local entrepreneurial landscape will help identify innovative solutions to the gaps in the services for children, their families, and youth, potentially impacting children's well-being.

By aligning program objectives with the innovation landscape, UNICEF can leverage potential innovative solutions for targeted interventions in:

• Demography: Almost half of Timor-Leste’s population is under 18. 42 percent of Timor-Leste’s population lives below the poverty line. 70 percent of Timor-Leste’s population lives in rural areas, but services are concentrated in urban centers
• Nutrition: One in two children in Timor-Leste under five years of age are stunted — one of the highest rates of stunting in the world. 38 percent of children under five years of age are underweight.
• Health: One in 24 children in Timor-Leste do not live to see their fifth birthday. Half the women in Timor-Leste do not give birth in a health facility. 42 percent of deaths in women aged between 15 and 49 years are due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth.
• WASH: Children are deprived of improved WASH services. 50 percent of rural health posts in Timor-Leste have no access to water. 66 percent of basic education schools do not have functioning toilets. 40 percent of basic education schools do not have drinking water.
• Youth and adolescents: challenges related to low participation and higher unemployment rates. Nearly 37 percent of rural youth (15-24) are illiterate, compared to just six percent in urban areas.
• Education: Only 20 percent of preschool-aged children in Timor-Leste are enrolled in school. Approximately 70 percent of grade one students don’t meet basic learning outcomes.
• Domestic violence is common in Timor-Leste. Cases of violence against children at home and school are under-reported due to societal beliefs. Two out of three women between 15 and 19 in Timor-Leste report experiencing physical or sexual violence, but incidences of sexual abuse are also under-reported.
• The impact of climate change exposes children to Medium-High risk, impacting their wellbeing and health.

Please find attached full ToR and related information under TOR - Social Innovation Fellow - Timor-Leste

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in a relevant field (Entrepreneurship, macroeconomics, business or public policy or related areas) *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with five additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience in the local start-up/social innovation ecosystem engagement, mapping, entrepreneurship support programs, and working with and mentoring tech entrepreneurs.
• Experience running consultations and successful analytical studies, especially for the entrepreneurial landscape.
• Experience working with technology entrepreneurs and a strong network of contacts in the innovation ecosystem within Timor-Leste.
• Experience creating data/map visualisations or using relevant tools is ideal.
• Knowledge of frontier technology, open-source technology, and digital public goods are highly valued.
• Demonstrated strong project management, writing, and presentation skills
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency context is considered an asset.

Special considerations for the ecosystem mapping:

• In addition to the narrative report (and supportive documents), the fellow shall work with the OOI to develop a web-based visualized and dynamic report format.
• The fellow needs to work with the stakeholders and provide a plan to make the report a living document, where new startups can be added to the map and existing ones update their information.

For every Child, you demonstrate UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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:

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.