Re-advertisement : Representative, P-5, Minsk, Belarus

Contract

This is a P-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 166,747 USD and 208,972 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

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 fulfil 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, dedication.

The Representative serves as the accredited representative of UNICEF in the country and reports to the Regional Director for general direction and oversight. The Representative is responsible for establishing dialogue with the Government to develop the framework of cooperation in the country and for working closely and collaboratively with the Government and national institutions, stakeholders and partners, to develop the Government-UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation in active support of efforts to advance children’s rights as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, other international treaties/frameworks, the SDGs, and UN intergovernmental bodies.

As head of the Country Office, the Representative is responsible for providing leadership and vision to the UNICEF Country Office team in managing and leveraging resources for the achievement of results and realization of the rights of children. The Representative leads and oversees the various programme sectors and operations teams ensuring delivery of quality results in accordance with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework, ethics and integrity. The Representative is accountable for upholding UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability, and ensuring the establishment and maintenance of a non-discriminatory, inclusive and nurturing working environment for all staff and personnel, to enable them to effectively and efficiently deliver high-quality results for children.

Country Typology:

• Country Income Level: Belarus is an Upper Middle-Income country.
• Duty Station: Minsk is a “A”, family, and non-emergency duty station.
• Office Size: 21
• Overall annual budget: USD 4 Million
• Good for 1st Time Rep: Yes
• Schooling: No IB schools, one QSI International School (Quality Schools International) which is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and Commissions of Elementary Schools (MSA/CESS accredited). This school offers education in English language for elementary and secondary students.

Brief country context:

Belarus is an upper-middle-income country, with a population of 9.5 million people, 1.8 million of them children (51 per cent boys, 49 per cent girls). For many years Belarus invested in socially oriented policies and strategies, with the state maintaining a dominant role in the design and implementation of policies. In 2018, the human development value advanced to 0.817, retaining a low degree of income inequality. Child poverty decreased to 9.4 per cent in 2019 but remained significantly higher than the rate for the general population at 5 per cent.

Of the more than 175,000 children that live in absolute poverty, 80,000 are in households with three or more children. Every fifth child lives in a single parent household with greater risks of poverty, especially if the child has a complex disability. Birth rates decreased by 25.6 per cent from 2015 to 2019. The current working-age population is larger than the dependent one, resulting in higher budgets per capita. Family policy and assistance in early childhood are generally sufficient, and Belarus is improving interventions for children with developmental delays.

Belarus has actively participated in international agreements, being a party to seven out of nine major international treaties of the United Nations in the field of the human rights, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In January 2020, the Committee on the Rights of the Child called for Belarus to take urgent measures to address violence, including corporal punishment; sexual exploitation and abuse; family environment and children deprived thereof; children with disabilities; and the administration of child justice utilizing a child-rights approach in the elaboration of the budget and tracking allocation and use of resources for children, and further improving a system for collecting and analysing data on all areas of the Convention.

Belarus has also taken a pro-active role in the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. Specifically, the country established a comprehensive national machinery to support SDG achievements under the leadership of a senior National SDG Coordinator and the Council for Sustainable Development. The country has engaged in multiple national and international fora to advance the concept of sustainable development and set up a statistical SDG reporting platform to track progress.

The unprecedented social and political developments in 2020, with the global COVID-19 pandemic and growing polarization due to political instability, have underscored the relevance and need for the priorities defined in the CPD, and to redirect and stage strategies to address the shifting environment to achieve results for children.

How can you make a difference?

Person Profile:

• Political ‘savvy’ is paramount - diplomacy, negotiation and advanced networking skills are key.
• Proven record of successful engagement with political, social and cultural partners, public institutions and civil society organizations and a sensitive and politically charged environment
• Proven results on resource mobilization and fundraising.
• Ability to formulate UNICEF positions on key national challenges related to children and equity, engagement on major sector reforms and larger national policy stakeholders.
• A proven facility to explore, build and strengthen strategic partnerships and alliances for children; including building strategic partnerships with other UN agencies, and with EU and Russia.
• Excellent managerial and team building skills.
• Well-developed facility to think ‘outside the box’ and support innovation programmatically and vis a vis partnership.

The Representative’s key functions and accountabilities include:

• Developing and planning the Country Program
• Leading and managing the CO
• Monitoring and quality control of the Country Program
• Representation and external relations at global/national level
• Support to the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team
• Resource mobilization and partnerships
• Leading innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
• Safety, security and well-being of staff, programmes and organisational assets

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have…

Qualifications:

• An Advanced University Degree in social sciences, international relations, government and public relations, public or social policy, sociology, social or community development or other related fields, is required.
• A minimum of 10 years professional development experience that combines intellectual and managerial leadership in development cooperation at the international level, some of which served in developing countries is required. Relevant professional experience in any UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Fluency in English and intermediate Russian language skills are required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

Competencies

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others
• Nurtures, leads and manages people

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

This position is classified as “rotational” which means the incumbent is expected to rotate to another duty station upon completion of their tour of duty.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.