Social Protection Specialist

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UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Tuesday 16 Nov 2021 at 00:00 UTC

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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.

UNICEF's country programme is in line with the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy through the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and contributes to sustainable economic development and food security; social protection and disaster reduction and management; access to equitable basic social services; HIV and AIDS prevention; care and treatment; and good governance. It has also integrated the four cross-cutting areas of the UNDAF: human rights, gender, disaster risk reduction and capacity development for programme implementation.

Through UNICEF’s work on social policy, we aim to ensure that the Government has an integrated child sensitive social protection system targeting the most vulnerable households. The Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) is our flagship social protection intervention. Since 2006, when the SCTP began, UNICEF has supported the Government through extensive technical assistance in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the program. The SCTP is currently operational in all the 28 districts in the country reaching about 290,000 households of whom over 600,000 are children.

In Malawi, given widespread chronic poverty and high vulnerabilities, even predictable, recurrent lean seasons and minor weather variations develop into multi-dimensional emergencies. UNICEF is therefore supporting the Government to better align humanitarian action and social protection. During the 2017/2018 lean season, for example, UNICEF supported the first Vertical Expansion of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Programme, granting emergency food assistance to more than 2,500 households living in drought affected areas through Social Protection programmes. Since then UNICEF is working closely with partners to increase the flexibility of the Malawi National Social Support Programme II.

Under the direct supervision of the Social Protection Specialist, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: Provision of technical support to the MoGCDSW for implementation of the SCTP.

Provide technical and operational support to the scale up of social protection programmes in response to crises, including the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and climatic shocks

Provision of technical support to generate knowledge and evidence on social protection through impact evaluation, process evaluation and other research that informs design and processes of the SCTP and other social protection interventions

Participation in the Development Partners Coordination Group on Social Protection and other key national coordination and policy fora

Identify opportunities to improve UNICEF Malawi social protection activity monitoring, specifically focusing on shock-responsive social protection

Contribute to the analysis of data collected through a call centre, following up on the Government’s Covid-19 urban cash response

Support shock-responsive social protection work related to government management information systems, and/or the unified beneficiary registry

Support in monitoring of use and timely reconciliation of UNICEF funds provided to partners for SCTP /SRSP activities

Develop internal monitoring tools and keep them maintained

Prepare donor reports, funding proposals, and inputs for other reports in relation to social protection/social cash transfers

Other work as directed by Chief of Social Policy.

Accountability Adaptability and Flexibility Commitment and Motivation Integrity Professionalism Self-Management Technological Awareness Working in Teams

Minimum of 3 years of progressively responsible professional work experience in programme management, data handling and analysis. Practical experience in sup-porting operationally and generating evidence for social protection programmes is an asset;

Proven experience in identifying scope for evidence generation, opportunities for learning, policy information;

Proven experience in engaging effectively with DPs, government central level officials, district staff and NGOs in the Social Protection landscape of development contexts, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa;

Awareness of international social protection programs, policy trends related to shock-responsive social protection, and ability to identify opportunities for policy re-forms in Malawi;

Experience in programme monitoring;

Strong interpersonal and communication skills needed, ability to generate clear and concise reports and communicate content effectively orally.

Malawi continues to enjoy a stable and democratic government and has no major security problem. The population of Malawi is about 18 million and the major languages are English and Chichewa. Living conditions in all the major cities are modest with all basic supplies available. Appropriate health services and International schools are available in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba. Malaria is prevalent throughout the country. Social infrastructure can be found in all the major cities. The UN Volunteer will be based in the capital of the country, Lilongwe. Conditions in Lilongwe are good and has appropriate health services. Housing in Lilongwe varies, and it is possible to rent apartments in safe areas from $600 upwards. The UNV Field Unit books temporary accommodation for the first nights at a lodge, while assisting in getting permanent accommodation. The UNV will identify their own accommodation in consultation with UNDSS on which areas are recommended for UN Volunteers. The Department of housing has made available government houses to UN and when available, the UN Volunteer is allocated one.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unv.org