Programme Officer (Disability Inclusion), NO-1, Fixed Term, Tashkent - Uzbekistan, ECAR (Open to Uzbekistan nationals only)

Contract

This is a NO-1 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-1 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, inclusion!

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, 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.

The government of Uzbekistan has embarked on human rights-based approach to disability inclusion through ratification of the CRPD and adoption of the National Action Plan on the CRPD in 2021. UNICEF has been leading support to the Government and OPDs in development of the National Action Plan through provision of technical expertise and organization of multi-stakeholder consultations. In addition, one of key priorities of the UNSDCF for 2021-2025 is enhancing access of the most vulnerable to gender-sensitive quality public services.

In line with the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), UNICEF is expanding its inclusive programming across all programmatic sectors, including education, social protection, child protection, health, WASH, early childhood development and social behavioral change. UNICEF Uzbekistan works to strengthen partnerships for disability inclusion, building the capacity of the staff and counterparts in disability inclusive programming both in development and humanitarian settings, generate evidence about children and adolescents with disabilities, and strengthen visibility of disability inclusive programming and external communication. Curerntly, UNICEF jointly with UNDP, UNFPA and OHCHR is leading the implementation of the UN joint programme on the rights of people with disabilities funded by the UNPRPD.

The position will include cross sectoral work on disability inclusion and be supervised by the Deputy Representative, in close connection with the Gender & Inclusion Specialist, and peers from UNICEF’s sectorial programs responsible. UNICEF values candidates who have a lived experience of disability and will try its best to provide reasonable accommodation for candidates with disabilities interested in applying.

The Programme Officer (Disability Inclusion) will provide technical guidance and expertise to the UCO in implementation of the UNCT Disability Inclusion strategy (DIS), which was developed based on the findings if the recent UN Joint Situational Analysis on the rights of peopled with disabilities (2021). UNCT DIS is aligned with UNICEF’s global disability policy and strategy (DIPAS) and ensures that children and people with disabilities have access to services and have tailored interventions that address their specific needs in the current context of Uzbekistan.

Specifically, the role of the Disability Inclusion Officer is primarily technical and programmatic, with the normative advocacy and coordination roles serving an important secondary function. The Disability Inclusion Officer provides technical guidance/operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of results contributing to disability inclusion. S/he supports the development, implementation, and monitoring of high quality disability inclusion programming across sectors. S/he 1) supports programme colleagues in Social Policy, Education, Health, Child Protection, Communiction to advance results on disability inclusion; 2) supports cross-sectional collaboration on Gender, DRR & Climate Change, Youth programming, M&E on key programmatic results on disability inclusion, ensuring coherence, maximization of synergies and efficiency in utilization of resources and delivery of results; 3) works with programme colleagues so that disability inclusion results (both programmatic and policy advocacy) are effectively defined, measured, and reported, and high quality assessment, research, evidence generation and evaluation on disability inclusive programming is undertaken and utilized; 4) Supports the assessment and identification of disability inclusion needs for emergency preparedness and response, and provides disability inclusion relevant guidance and technical input on emergency programming. 5) S/he provides support and guidance to management and operations to improve the disability inclusion of the internal office environment of the UCO.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

1. Support to program/project development and planning 2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results 3. Advisory services and technical support 4. Advocacy, networking and partnership building 5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Support to program/project development and planning (including emergency contexts)

• Supporting implementation of the capacity building of organizations of persons with disabliteis (OPDs), through support in leading the overall implementation and supporting coordination, facilitating meetings, conducting training sessions to OPDs and organizing consultations.
• Supporting the development and planning of program/projects directed at children with disabilities with programme sections on sectorial areas related to education, health, social protection and child protection, including cross-sectorial areas of gender, disaster preparedness and youth participation.
• Providing technical inputs on disability inclusion into country programming phases, including strategic planning, SitAns, strategic moments of reflection, CPDs, CPMPs, midterm reviews, extended annual reviews and disability inclusion reviews.

2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results (including emergency contexts)

• Supporting indicator identification, measurement and performance tracking on disability priorities, including on programmes related disability inclusion, humanitarian response, emergencies and gender targeted programmes with focus on women and girls with disabilities.
• Supporting monitoring of the UNICEF programmes implemented by the programme and cross-sectorial colleagues.
• Participate in cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination on key programmatic results on disability, ensuring coherence, maximization of synergies and efficiency in utilization of resources and delivery of results.
• Participating in the strengthening of the quality of research and evidence building on disability inclusion related programming.

3. Advisory services and technical support

• Leading CO reasonable accommodation efforts to ensure accessibility of PWDs to the office and advising on accommodation efforts for UNICEF organized events implemented offsite.
• Contributing to CO fundraising efforts on disability inclusion and providing technical support and advocacy to reporting and follow-up on international and regional disability commitments made by the country, including on the monitoring of the CO Disability Inclusion Strategy, CO Action Plan on Disability Inclusion and UN Disability Scorecard.
• Promoting the engagement of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities in programme planning, monitoring, and implementation
• Supporting the development of adequate emergency preparedness measures that reflect disability inclusion needs and the development and conducting of training that incorporates disability inclusion issues is secotorial areas.

4. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Liaising and consulting with sections, government, and other external partners to support convergence and develop partnerships in disability programming, in areas related to health, education and social and child protection sectors.
• Supporting communication and advocacy events on disability inclusion and partnership building with national stakeholders including on emerging priorities such as disability assessment and determination
• Supporting building and maintenance of internal and external partnerships and networks in the development of harmonized, disability inclusive programme interventions.
• Supporting mapping of potential new partnerships and leverage existing partnerships to accelerate disability inclusive program implementation at the country level in determined priority areas, including partnership with OPDs and self-initiative parents groups.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Bringing best practices in disability programming and measurement though conducting learning sessions for UNICEF and its partners.
• Supporting documentation and sharing of the country-level experience in disability inclusive programming and lessons learned.
• Bringing best practices in disability inclusive programming and measurement to the attention of sectoral colleagues

• Supporting management and HR in the development of systems, tools and processes to enhance their understanding and adoption of disability inclusive behaviors and to support implementation of the global disability inclusion standards.

  Impact of Results

Sectoral and cross-sectoral programmes/projects on disability inclusion are effectively and efficiently supported and implemented through the timely and systematic provision of coordination and technical related expertise.

The performance of the related programmes are timely monitored, analysed and evaluated, and the findings of the measurement and research are integrated into the planning and reporting. Programmatic financial resources allocated to related programming and results are effectively planned and managed for cost-efficient utilisation.

Knowledge, information and best practices on effective disability inclusive programming is generated, managed and shared within internal networks and with external partners to support programmes in changing context.

Related needs for emergency preparedness are identified and integrated into the emergency programme planning and implementation.

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

• University degree in the social sciences (i.e. sociology, demography, psychology, political science, social policy or economics), public health, public policy, public administration, international development, or in an area relevant to UNICEF’s sectoral work (e.g. Health, Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection, Social Inclusion, HIV/AIDs, etc.).
• Lived experience of disability be it with the child or with self is an asset.
• Excellent understanding of CRPD principles and local context, and experience in programmes targeting persons with disabilities demonstrated by work experience.
• Experience working with OPDs and self-initiative parents groups of children with disabilities.
• Experience working in the UN system is an advantage.
• Proven successful experience in conducting trainings especially for OPDs.
• Good analytical and report writing skills.
• Fluency in Uzbek and Russian. Knowledge of English 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.

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.

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.