Social Protection Officer

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

Social Protection—a set of policies and programmes aimed at preventing and protecting all people against poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, throughout their life cycle—is a key area of work of the UNICEF Angola Country Office (ACO), under the Social Policy section. ACO has engaged in proof of concept, evidence generation, capacity building and strong advocacy around social protection and particularly a cash plus system for children 0-5 years old and municipalization of social action, through the APROSOC project.

The APROSOC project, which came to a close in 2022, proved to be an opportunity for UNICEF ACO, through the solid technical assistance for implementation of the first-ever cash transfer programme in the country, to demonstrate its expertise and leadership capacity in the area of social protection. The solid work since 2014, but in particular since 2019, has led to a much more significant understanding of child-sensitive social protection by government officials, demand for an improved social protection system by local academics and CSOs, and a stronger public discourse around inclusive social protection. It has also led to an expanded workplan in terms of support to government, generating and disseminating evidence, building partnerships, engagement with CSO, Parliamentarians, etc.

Having strong in-house social protection capacity is crucial to build on ACO’s investments in building government capacity on social protection and, in the process, forming trusting relationships; engaging multiple stakeholders; generating credible evidence; and undertaking strategic advocacy. UNICEF is also the co-chair of the Development Partners’ Group on Social Protection, which brings UN agencies and other Development Partners together to share information, discuss priorities and joint programming to support efforts to build an effective and efficient social protection system.

This UNV will support the work of the Social Policy section of UNICEF ACO related to social protection, as well as its interrelations to child poverty and vulnerability, and adequate financing, monitoring and evaluation. It will support coordination of efforts, linkage with the other sections of the ACO and UN agencies, capacity building on inclusive, child-sensitive social protection, and support to evidence generation and policy proposals through data analyses.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Social Policy, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Support the section in its engagement in development of social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children. Help identify, generate and present evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners; • Support strengthening of the social protection system, promoting capacity building and providing technical support to partners to improve the design of social protection programmes and improve linkages with other social protection interventions as well as complementary services and interventions related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, child protection and emergencies; • Support coordination between UN agencies on social protection (through the Social Protection Development Partners Group), and the monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes; • Support the identification of policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions; • Assist the section in its collaboration with the central and local authorities to strengthen capacity on analysis for policy development, planning, implementation of essential social services, with emphasis interventions for reduction of poverty and vulnerability; • Support correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child-focused services – in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Accountability Commitment and Motivation Communication Creativity Ethics and Values Planning and Organizing Professionalism Self-Management Working in Teams

Excellent writing and editing skills (required); Strong communications, public speaking and presentation skills (required); Proven research, data analysis and analytical skills (desirable); Solid grasp of the socio-economic situation of Angola, including understanding of the social protection system (required); Training and experience with statistical analysis software (Stata, SPSS, E-views, RStudio) (desirable and major advantage); Experience organizing/coordinating capacity building programmes (desirable); Experience with data dissemination and engagement through social media (desirable). Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;

Angola is classified as a “B“ Duty Station. This is a scale that assesses the difficulty of working and living conditions, with A being the least and E, the most difficult. Categories are arrived at through an assessment of the overall quality of life. In determining the degree of hardship, consideration is given to local conditions of safety and security, health care, housing, climate, isolation and level of amenities/conveniences of life. https://www.unv.org/