Project Coordinator- Child Friendly City Initiative

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

Batticaloa is one of the cities in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka that has been severely affected by three decades of civil war and by the destructive Tsunami in 2004. Its development indicators are stark, and it is considered the third poorest district in the country.

Understanding the potential of cities in relation to providing more supports and bringing positive impacts for children in Sri Lanka, the Batticaloa Municipal Council and UNICEF Sri Lanka have begun the journey to transform the Batticaloa Municipality into a Child-Friendly City. The current Mayor and his team are strongly committed to improving the lives of children in its jurisdiction. However, despite the shared passion and commitment, there are challenges ahead at the local level, particularly on lack of exposure to and experiences of model CFCs or/and CFC-relevant initiatives and how the relevant knowledge and experiences can be contextualized and adopted. The evidence-based and participatory planning, implementation, and monitoring for CFCI in Batticaloa Municipality also requires extra support. It is a pioneering initiative between UNICEF and the Batticaloa MC to establish the country's first Child-Friendly Municipality. Therefore, the volunteer will support both the UNICEF field office as well as the municipality with sound technical knowledge on the CRC and CFCI. Additionally, if the volunteer has relevant work experience or living experience in a child-friendly city or municipality, it will be an added benefit to this initiative.

Under the direct supervision of Chief of Batticaloa Field Office, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Support implementation of the ongoing child-friendly initiatives/tasks including coordination and communication with the implementing partners including government officials, CSO partners, etc.; • Support regular monitoring of the CFC activities (both hardware and software intervention) in Batticaloa Municipality in collaboration with implementing partner and UNICEF Batticaloa Field Office; • Support evidence generation of the CFCI initiative in Batticaloa Municipality through data collection, data entering and cleaning, and relevant analysis of qualitative and quantitative data as per the needs; • Support to review and adopt the legal framework of the Municipal Council to reflect the child-friendly city principles; • Support preparation for scaling up of the CFC initiative in Eastern province in collaboration with Commissioner of Local Government (CLG) Office; • Support children's situation analysis in the municipalities selected for scale-up; • Support writing fundraising proposals; and • Develop and/or maintain partnerships with local, regional and international organizations, local and national government, professional and peer networks.

☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Leadership ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Working in Teams

• The International Development sector. • Experience in implementing development projects; • Experience in multi-stakeholder coordination related to child development ; • Analytical skill particularly for processing quantitative and qualitative data; • Experience in reviewing policy and legal documents; and • Experience in writing project proposals

Batticaloa is one of the famous coastal towns in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is one of the country's multicultural cities, located 7 hour-drive from Colombo, the capital. As per the latest census report, there are 90,000 people, out of which 28,179 are children. 90% of the population belongs to the Tamil community and the rest are Burghers and Muslims. As per the latest security assessment of the UNDSS, the Eastern province is rated at security level 1 with no terrorist activities, minimal crime and moderate district with the COVID-19 cases. It is very safe to drive or walk in the street during day and night. There are plenty of UN-recommended hotels, restaurants and other entertainment places such as parks, movie theatres, etc. The city has the beauty of landmasses separated from the mainland by the brackish lagoon with small islands lying in, which invites many tourists from May to August yearly.
The city is connected with all major towns and Colombo by bus and train; however, due to the pandemic, UNICEF advises to avoid crowded public transport for commuting and support all official missions with UNICEF vehicle.

There are several mobile networks available with 4G connectivity. People socialize well, and there is no severe taboos or norms to be vigilant. All four major religious worship places such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are available with the town.

Throughout the year, the city experiences warm weather with northeast monsoon rainy season from late September to early January; however, it is also prone to natural disasters like tsunami, flood, drought, and epidemic outbreaks like dengue. The city has a tertiary health care facility, the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, operated by the government. Besides, there are several private nursing homes and hospitals that work within the city limit.