Programme Officer Child Rights and Business, NO2, Fixed Term, Manila

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.

For every child, a fair chance

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have worked in the Philippines continuously since 1948.

UNICEF’s vision for every child in the Philippines is intimately linked to the realization of several Sustainable Development Goals and the promise to leave no one behind. By 2030, we want to see that no child in the Philippines suffers from hunger; that every child has access to good health services, quality education opportunities, clean water and toilets; and children grow up protected and develop in an inclusive, just and peaceful society.

Since its establishment, UNICEF has been helping the Philippine government to strengthen national policies, programmes and services to ensure that all Filipino children enjoy their rights. UNICEF supports the Government to extend the coverage and implementation of policies and legislation that benefit children and the most disadvantaged; to support the implementation of positive budget reforms and leverage the considerable fiscal space; to innovate and adapt national programmes to support inclusivity and relevance in diverse remote rural areas, impoverished urban areas, hazard and conflict-prone areas; and to strengthen national capacity to monitor change for children.

As an impartial partner, we are mandated to work with both state and non-state actors to protect the rights and promote the wellbeing of every child. We have successfully worked through many Government reforms in the Philippines, and we continue to work with the national government, its different agencies, and departments, and with local government units and authorities, including the Bangsamoro Transition Authority in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

UNICEF’s capacity, technical skills and structure allow us to work effectively with policy and decision-makers and be among the first responders to humanitarian crisis. It allows us to assess and respond quickly to the priorities and needs of communities in the most remote and underserved areas of the country.

Visit this link for more information on UNICEF in the Philippines https://www.unicef.org/philippines/

The Programme Officer (CRB) is responsible for working on the business regulatory, policy and investment environment to drive sustainable change at scale, mobilizing businesses, regulators, industries, and business stakeholders to take-action in the workplace, the marketplace, the community and the environment in line with the Children’s Rights and Business Principles and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The role is expected to strategically position child rights in corporate sustainability, and UNICEF as a technical expert in the area of Child Rights in the context of Business and Human Rights and responsible business conduct in the Philippines.

Under the supervision of the Chief of Social Policy, the post shall undertake the following tasks:

1. Increasing the evidence base on where and how the world of business is relevant to children to inform priorities for action on children’s rights through UNICEF policy, programme, and partnership action.

• Supports research efforts, including the collection, analysis, and user-friendly presentation of data, on the status of children’s rights and business, including existing gaps in UNGPs implementation with respect to children in the Philippines, to inform the development of national business landscape analysis, national baseline assessments, regulatory research, and UNICEF baseline reviews, as well as advocacy strategies expected to increase action addressing business impacts on child rights.

• Provides timely, regular evidence-based analysis and recommendations for effective prioritization in UNICEF planning, programming, and partnerships strategies.

• Engage with academia and research institutions to drive country ownership at national and subnational levels, in the production of evidence and knowledge on the impacts of business on child rights in the Philippines.

2. Driving UNICEF’s work with the world of business moving towards embracing a systems approach, strengthening engagement with private and public institutions, building relationships within its partnership models, integrating public policy, investors, businesses, regulators and multi-stakeholder platforms and initiatives.

• Strategically lead internal UNICEF programmatic engagement to assess where and how business is relevant to children that support acceleration of results for respective programme sections and/or cross-sectoral.

• Support within UNICEF objective setting and theory of change that integrate business into strategic plans at national and subnational levels.

• With the support of global and regional tools and guidance, promote and scale practical and evidence-based solutions to prevent and mitigate business adverse impact on children, including on priority issues identified in UNICEF SitAn and other relevant analysis conducted in the Philippines.

• Influence and engage with governments to adopt relevant legislative and regulatory frameworks and standards for relevant industries including creating mechanisms for supply chain due diligence.

• Advocate for robust children’s rights ESG monitoring and reporting measures to leverage the power of institutional investors.

• Work with business platforms, commissions, and standard setting bodies to integrate measures to prevent adverse impact on children into business management and practices.

• Collaborate with stakeholders towards building commitment of the national business sector to respect children’s rights and creating a technical support infrastructure for companies to undertake child rights due diligence and action in line with the CRBPs.

• Ensure the voice and perspectives of children are considered in existing policy and regulatory frameworks shaping business conduct in the Philippines, as well as initiatives driven by civil society organizations and the UN system.

• Support the review of periodic reports submitted by the Philippines to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child through the provision of complementary information affecting children in the ground, including related to business activities.

• Develop, implement, monitor, evaluate and update UNICEF Philippines CRB strategy and approaches best to translate the strategy into action in support of programmatic results across the sections. This may include strategy paper (or inputs to programme strategy notes) and annual work plans are timely executed and followed-up to support country programme development cycles, as well as regional and global milestones.

• Liaise with UNICEF country, regional and global offices to ensure coordination and alignment and to share lessons learned and promote South-South exchanges in CRB programming.

3. Bringing action by the business world to address adverse impact together with UNICEF planning, programming, and partnerships to support in-house capacity building on the application of the CRB as main change strategy for sustained realization of children’s rights.

• Continuously equip UNICEF teams to become fit for purpose to engage with business through technical guidance and capacity building on integrating business into planning and programming. This includes:

1. taking benefit of existing guidance on Rights and Results-Based Management (RRBM), UNICEF’s principles for engagement with business, strategic decision making, and procedures on how to engage with business.
2. integrating child rights and business considerations in research evidence generation and knowledge products developed by planning, programme, and evaluation sections, and;
3. providing technical support to programme and corporate partnership sections in identifying sectoral needs for potential corporate engagement initiatives and innovations as programme strategies.

• Integrate strategies to address adverse business impact on children in specific UNICEF Programme agendas contributing to outcomes in nutrition (including Family-Friendly Policies and healthy food environments for children, including food retailers), ECD (including Family-Friendly Policies and Parenting), child protection (including Digital CRB, work to address child labor, and protection from violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse), social policy and social protection (including Family-Friendly Policies and public finance management), cross-sectoral approaches to address gender inequalities (including Family-Friendly Policies) and climate change and environment (including Business and Community Resilience and humanitarian action).

• Contribute with technical expertise on child rights and business to UNICEF’s public and

private partnership strategies, including innovative finance, private sector partnerships and engagement with multilateral institutions.

• Support the different phases of the UNICEF Philippines country programme cycle, including rolling planning, monitoring, and reporting on existing change strategies related to business engagement and child rights.

• Provide technical knowledge and direction to develop UNICEF programme management documents to reflect the CRB approach, into but not limited to annual work plans, periodic updates reports and other documentation.

*A complete Job description may be found in this link 041823 JD NO-B Corporate Alliance Officer (Child Rights and Business) PH124001.pdf

How to apply

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/ by 11 December 2023 Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal under 567546 will be considered.

By applying through our Talent Management System (TMS) you agree to our privacy statement which is in line with the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act. You are strongly advised to read carefully through the privacy statement before submitting your application.

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

• A Bachelor’s degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Social Policy, Social Sciences, Law Science, International Relations, Political Science, Business Administration, or another relevant technical field.
• Two (2) years of professional experience in relevant field required.
• Five (5) years of progressive work experience in Child Rights, Business and Human Rights or Corporate sustainability preferred.
• Experience in integrating human (or child) rights, including their gender dimensions in programs, and with institutional mandates of human rights organizations, prevailing policies, procedures, and mechanisms is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in research and advocacy in the fields of responsible business conduct, corporate
• sustainability and human rights and work with policy and regulatory frameworks would be an asset. Knowledge of
• different business industries and its regulatory function will be an asset.
• Work experience in business at the national and/or transnational levels would be an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Solid knowledge and experience in corporate partnership management is a plus.
• Fluency in oral and written English and Pilipino is required.

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 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.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable male candidates are encouraged to apply.

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). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will 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.

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.