Re-advertisement: Child Protection Specialist (gender-based violence and violence against children) NOC- Temporary Appointment 364 days in Warsaw, Poland (Only Polish nationals can apply)

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, Health

Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

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

As a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine, Poland is currently hosting some 3.5 million refugees, of which 95% are children and women, representing the largest refugee crisis that hit Europe since the World War II. Having in mind the profile of the refugee population (percentage of women and children, not speaking Polish, limited families’ resources over time and limited/unsecure employment opportunities, the overwhelming scale and high number of relatively unregulated responders (private individuals, small NGOs, newly arrived organizations), refugee women and girls face with numerous risks.

Gender-based violence as a fundamental violation of the basic inalienable human rights and freedoms remains prevalent in Ukraine – 67% of women experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 (OSCE 2019). Annually, 1.1 million Ukrainian women suffer from domestic and gender-based violence (UNFPA 2017), many of them arrived to Poland as refugees. In the complex humanitarian context GBV remains a considerable protection issue that threatens security, well-being and full exercise of human rights of the most vulnerable people. With the purposes to enhance the GBV response system in Poland and to help the survivors become more active agents of building a future with zero GBV there is a need to build national and sub-national capacities, ensure availability of services to GBV survivors and support humanitarian coordination with other relevant actors. To ensure appropriate action-oriented response and strategic level of coordination and partnership with other relevant actors, an experienced professional with the appropriate seniority, skills and competencies is required.

Job organizational context: The Child Protection Specialist (GBV and VAC) will support Refugee Emergency Response in Poland and will operate within the Child Protection Programme.

Purpose for the job: The Child Protection Specialist reports to the Chief of Child Protection who will provide guidance and general supervision. The Specialist will provide technical support and assistance on GBV and VAC prevention, mitigation and response interventions, as well as their implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation. The Child Protection Specialist provides technical guidance and management support in the area of GBV (including GBViE) and VAC throughout the programming processes. H/She facilitates the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable contributions to national and international efforts to create a protective environment for children and women against all harm, and to protect their rights to survival, development and well being as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and other international treaties/frameworks and UN intergovernmental bodies. The Specialist contributes to the achievement of results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), and UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Gender Based Violence and Violence Against Children programming and technical support
2. Child Protection in Emergencies and GBViEadvocacy, networking, and partnership building
3. Support to programme/project development and planning
4. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
5. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
6. Networking and partnership building

7. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

8. Gender Based Violence and Violence Against Children programming and technical support

• Participate to the development/strengthening of appropriate VAC and GBV-related policies, strategies and implementation frameworks to deliver a comprehensive package of GBV and VAC prevention and response services
• Consolidate the GBV situation analysis based on available information. Advise on what additional GBV-related information is needed through once-off data collection or strengthening of available GBV information systems, to guide the GBV response.
• Undertake field visits at field locations to assess GBV and VAC programme progress, identify major problems and constraints, and propose solutions and actions.
• Participate to the setting up and management of appropriate partnerships to implement GBV and VAC programmes.
• Lead the roll-out of the GBV mainstreaming guidelines in coordination with the regional office.
• Design and conduct training and technical support for UNICEF staff/consultants as well as implementing partners and counterparts in mitigation and response to improve the quality and consistency of GBV programming in Poland.
• Review services, engage service providers on the referral pathway so that their services meet set standards.
• Review and strengthen response capacity of partners on GBV/VAC case management including PSS and referrals.

2. Child Protection in Emergencies and Gender Based Violence in Emergencies advocacy, networking, and partnership building

• Participate in the development of joint policies and technical guidelines for appropriate provision of GBV response in emergencies, in coordination with national and sub-national authorities, other UN agencies, clusters and relevant NGOs and institutions through sector/cluster coordination mechanisms.
• Strengthen/providing guidance and tools for GBV risk assessments and mitigation in collaboration with other members of the programme team.
• Contribute to the GBV, PSEA and Child Protection Sub-working Group to ensure effective response to the emergency.
• Ensure effective collaboration with the relevant team members for strengthening the response priorities and implementation plans.

3. Support to programme/project development and planning

• Support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the child protection and related GBV and VAC programmes/projects to ensure that current and comprehensive data on GBV and VAC issues is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights and protection, and to set programme priorities, strategies, and design and implementation plans. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning of GBV and VAC programmes/projects. Formulate, design and prepare programme/project proposals for the sector, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s overall Strategic Plans and the Country Programme, as well as coherence and integration with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans for the sector using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities and competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

4. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Plan and collaborate with colleagues and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators, other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in child protection programmes.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management. Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programmes/projects through field visits, surveys and exchange of information with partners to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems. Take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, as well as standards of accountability and integrity. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

5. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners and donors on the interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, best practices, and approaches on child protection related issues to support programme management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Arrange and coordinate availability of technical experts with Regional Office/HQ to ensure timely and appropriate support throughout the programming process.
• Participate in child protection programme meetings, including programme development and contingency planning discussions on emergency preparedness in the country or other locations designated, to provide technical and operational information, advice and support.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration.

• Ensure UNICEF’s Core Commitments to Children in Emergencies and its related GBV benchmarks are applied and integrated in the programme implementation with results reported.

  6. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders, global partners, allies, donors, and academia - through active networking, advocacy and effective communication - to build capacity, exchange knowledge and expertise, and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results in child protection.

• Prepare communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances and to support fund raising for child protection programmes and emergency interventions.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency discussions and planning on GBV and VAC related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners. Ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the refugee response.

7. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders, and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best practices in GBV and VAC management and information systems. Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results in child protection and related programmes/projects.

Impact of Results

The strategic and effective advocacy, planning and formulation of child protection/GBV programmes/projects and the achievement of sustainable results, contributes to the achievement of goals and objectives to create a protective environment for children against harm, all forms of violence and ensures their survival, development and well being in society. Achievements in child protection/GBV programmes and projects in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to provide programme services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equality in the country.

Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

ii) Core Competencies

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Recruitment Qualifications

Education: An advanced university degree in international development, social science, or related technical field (e.g., public health, social work, political science, human rights, etc.) or equivalent work experience within the field of GBV and/or VAC.

Experience: A minimum of five years of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection and GBV related areas is required. Experience working in a developing country or emergency context is considered as an asset.

Relevant experience in programme development in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.

Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is considered as an added advantage.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Polish is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

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 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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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 may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). 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.