Re-advert: National Monitoring Specialist, at national professional NOC level on Temporary Appointment (TA), Tajikistan (364 days) (for Tajik nationals only)

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,

How can you make a difference?

Monitoring Specialist, NOC is expected to work under direct supervision of Chief, Health and Nutrition and in close collaboration with the Knowledge section, under the guidance of Chief, PME performing the following assignments:

1.To ensure that the UNICEF Country Office has useful, valid and reliable information on:

• the situation of children’s and women’s rights related, but not limited to health, nutrition, WASH areas;
• the performance of UNICEF-supported programmes, and the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) project in particular, including their relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, and in emergency contexts, their coverage, coordination and coherence.

2.To assist in the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation tools for the IPC project and its integration into the overall Tajikistan CO CPD results framework as well as planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms.

3.To assist in the development of national capacities for monitoring, evaluation and research, with special attention to the interest, concern and participation of government, community, and civil society stakeholders, within IPC project and beyond.

KEY END-RESULTS: 1. Monitoring & Research Planning. The Country Office and national partners have a well-prioritised and realistic plan of research, monitoring and evaluation activities, developed collaboratively that provides all the relevant and strategic information needed to manage the Country Programme. 2. Situation Monitoring and Assessment. A collectively Situation Monitoring and Assessment system owned by all key partners is in place, trough which the Country Office and national partners have timely and accurate measurements of change in conditions of children, women, and their families in the country or region; this information is available to facilitate planning and measure program impact.

3. Programme Performance Monitoring. The planning function of the Country Office has quality information collected and disseminated with the participation of all concerned partners to assess progress towards expected annual and multi-year results.

4. M&E Capacity Building. The monitoring and evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – enhanced with the contribution of UNICEF knowledge partners meet the expectations and requirements of their positions and responsibilities. 5. Coordination and Networking. The UNICEF office is linked to wider UNICEF M&E developments in ways that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective M&E management.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES and DUTIES & TASKS: Within the delegated authority and under the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primarily, shared, or contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following areas of major duties and key end-results. 1. Integrated Monitoring & Research Plan (IMEP) Ensure that the IPC project-related MER activities are fully integrated with the Tajikistan CO plan of research, monitoring and evaluation activities that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage the Country Programme, including tracking and assessing UNICEF’s distinct contribution. Duties & Tasks • Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning and establishing the major research and monitoring objectives, priorities, and activities in UNICEF’s multi-year and annual IMEPs, in consultation with child-rights and implementing partners, including, but not limited to, the IPC-related areas. • Identify the M&E objectives, priorities, and activities required for effective CO and partner Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans, as deemed necessary. • In humanitarian response situations, support the CO and Knowledge team in drafting a simple one-month data-collection plan within Early Years (EY) areas of work (and beyond if appropriate) to cover key data gaps as required for the initial emergency response, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners. • After the initial humanitarian response, support management of the medium-term response with a revised IMEP. 2. Situation Monitoring and Assessment Ensure that the Country Office and national partners have timely and accurate measurement of change in conditions in the country or region, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the country’s wider policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes or policies, including but not limited to the IPC project and EY areas of work. Duties & Tasks • In coordination with other stakeholders, support the collection of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and other key social development indicators (through MICS or other surveys) to improve national planning.

• Support partners in the establishment and management of national statistical databases, ensuring that key indicators are readily accessible by key stakeholders. Potential uses include the Situation Analysis, Common Country Assessment, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, and Mid-Term Reviews.

• Contribute to development of monitoring system owned by all key partners which supports the preparation of country level statistical and analytic reports on the status of children’s and women’s rights issues; and which allow, when opportunities emerge to influence developmental and social policies. To include technical support to global reporting obligations including national reports on progress toward the SDGs, and toward CRC and CEDAW fulfilment.

• In humanitarian response situations, provide professional support for one or more rapid assessments (inter-agency or independently if necessary) to be carried out within the first 48-72 hours, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners. 3. Programme Performance Monitoring Ensure that the Country Office has quality information to assess progress towards expected results established in annual work plans, including but not limited to the IPC project areas. Duties & Tasks • Provide technical support to ensure that a set of programme performance indicators, IPC project indicators and frameworks are identified and adjusted as necessary, with inputs of all concerned partners in the context of the multi-year and annual IMEPs, the Annual Management Plan and Work Plans, as outlined in the Programme Policy and Procedures Manual).

• Coordinate with partners to ensure that monitoring systems are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardised across programmes to feed into to programme performance monitoring, with special attention to humanitarian response. • Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key program performance and management indicators, including IPC project financial data, provide professional input to donor report, and CO management reports, including relevant sections of the annual report. • Ensure performance and activity monitoring of the IPC project is aligned with the financial data against key milestones of the project, in consultation with key programme staff involved in the project implementation. 4. M&E Capacity Building Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation capacities of Country Office staff and national partners – government and civil society – are strengthened enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes, including but not limited to the IPC project interventions.

Duties & Tasks

• Promote the awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of M& E function among all staff members through communication, training, learning and development activities organization-wide. • In close collaboration with partners, ensure that an M&E capacity building strategy for UNICEF/UN staff national partners and institutions exists in the context of the IMEP, or UNDAF M&E plan. Pay particular attention so the capacity needs of national partners such as professional evaluation associations will be strengthened by involvement in evaluation processes and possibly through specific capacity building initiatives. • Collaborate to implement capacity building strategies as a joint commitment with other developmental partners. Utilize a range of appropriate skills building strategies including self-learning, seminars and workshops and practical experience in order that UNICEF and UN staff have the basic knowledge and skills in understanding and applying new M&E policies, tools, methods to fulfil their responsibilities. Similarly, design and implement strategies suited to the skills needs of national partners. • Actively seek partnerships with knowledge institutions for the identification of capacity gaps and development of strategies to address them.

6. Coordination and Networking Ensure that the UNICEF office is effectively linked to wider UNICEF M&E developments in a way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective M&E management. Duties & Tasks

• Collaborate with the Regional Office colleagues for overall coordination of priority research, monitoring and evaluation activities and to ensure that current and accurate monitoring data and results are included in regional reports, multi-country studies, and knowledge sharing networks.

• Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful M&E practices and experience at the national level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate. Similarly, pay attention to M&E knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the CO and partners to improve their M&E function.

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

Education: Advanced university degree in social sciences, statistics, planning development, planning.

Work Experience: • Five years professional work experience in programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities; field work experience; • At least one instance of exposure to emergency programming, including preparedness planning. Active involvement in a humanitarian crisis response programme preferred.

Language Proficiency Fluency in English, Tajik/Russian is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

Core Competencies (Required) • Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1) • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2) • Works Collaboratively with others (2) • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2) • Innovates and Embraces Change (2) • Thinks and Acts Strategically (2) • Drives to achieve impactful results (2) • Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Functional Competencies (Required)

• Analyzing (2) • Applying Technical Expertise (2) • Planning and Organizing (3)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

Technical Knowledge: a) Specific Technical Knowledge & Competencies Required (for the job) (Technical knowledge requirements specific to the job can be added here as required.) • Knowledge of Project Evaluation. • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Evaluation Process Management, Follow-up on Recommendations and Dissemination of M&E results. • Emerging international good practice in monitoring and evaluation partnerships.

b) Common Technical Knowledge Required (for the job group) • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in demography, statistics, and data management. • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in methodology of M&E, including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation, and statistical inference methods. • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Activity Monitoring & Evaluation, Evaluation Design, data analysis, and reporting. • Gender equality and diversity awareness

c) Technical Knowledge to be Acquired/Enhanced (for the Job) • Professional/technical knowledge/expertise in Team Management, Coaching & Training. • Mastery of UNICEF’s M&E policies and procedures. • Latest programme monitoring and evaluation theory, methodology, technology and tools. • Understanding of UN Mission and system, current key UN topics; and International Code of Conduct. • Understanding of UNICEF Mission Statement and UNICEF Guiding Principles. • UNICEF strategic framework for partnerships and collaborative relationships.

Application: The candidates, who are interested to apply for the position, should follow the electronic application's instructions. It requires the applicant to upload the detailed CV and academic degrees/diplomas. UN candidates should upload at least two latest performance evaluation reports.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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