UN DESA Fellowship: Child Protection, Mexico City, Mexico. (12 months)

Internship Programme & Policy

Overview

Support child protection coordination and emergency preparedness in Mexico.

You have:

• Advanced university degree in relevant social science field.
• One year of relevant professional experience in a related field is desirable.
• Experience in child protection will be considered an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in Spanish and English is required.

Contract

This is a Internship contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about Internship 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, protection

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.

Mexico is a country of origin, transit, and destination for migrant children from the countries of northern Central America, seeking safety and opportunity in Mexico or the United States. These are children fleeing from gang-related and gender-based violence, organized crime, extortion, poverty and limited access to education and social services. They have been repeatedly exposed to threats, intimidation, and insecurity in a lawless environment in their places of origin as well as in transit. It is estimated that between 60% to 80% of girls and women experience sexual violence in their migratory routes, along with 5% of men and 50% of LGTBIQ communities.

According to the National Migration Institute, from January 2022 to May 2022, 21,063 children on the move were identified transiting through Mexico, which represents an increase of 30% compared to the same period last year. Of these, 5,692 (27%) were unaccompanied. Moreover, the Mexican government continues reporting high number of asylum applications. During the first bimester of 2022, 3,949 children and adolescentes applied for refugee status. It is also estimated that between 60% and 70% of migrants in shelters across the northern border were displaced due to violence in their communities in Mexico, so the actual number of children on the move in Mexico is much higher. In this sense, estimates point at least 345,000 internally displaced people, which is believed to be a very low estimate as hard data is not available.

On the other hand, due to its location between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, Mexico is susceptible to the effects of natural phenomena such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, intense rains, and landslides, among others.

Despite the issues highlighted and the striking humanitarian needs of displaced and migrant populations and refugee and asylum seekers, no interagency child protection emergency coordination platform has been established in the country as such. Under the leadership of UNHCR and within the UN system in Mexico, and supported by UNICEF, a Child Protection Interagency Sub Group in Migration was established in 2020. Nonetheless, this coordination group does not cover preparedness and emergency response. Additionally, the group has not been fully operationalized as a mechanism to avoid duplications and coordinate efforts as it does not count yet with a work plan or comprehensive interventions mapping.

Considering Mexico´s proneness to natural disasters and the humanitarian needs attached to migratory and displacement flows and violence, UNICEF has been requested to step up its efforts to lead such a coordination group. Understanding the needs to professionally operationalize such an interagency group and systematize the interagency work on child protection emergency preparedness and humanitarian action, UNICEF Mexico is seeking support through a fellow to support UNICEF Mexico´s coordination of Child Protection Interagency Sub Group as well as support emergency preparedness efforts in the field of child protection.

How can you make a difference?

Within the framework of the Fellowships Programme for Technical Cooperation Capacity Building and Human Resources Development, the candidate will perform the following duties:

1. Support the Chief of Section with the coordination of the Child Protection Interagency Sub Group. This work includes managing membership of the group, monthly meetings, leading activities of its work plan, update its work plan among others.

2. Support the Chief of Section and emergency specialist in strengthening the national emergency preparedness levels in the field of child protection through the development of capacity building plans and its implementation through the organization of trainings. The incumbent will also support the emergency specialist in establishing and maintaining partnerships with relevant government agencies and civil society organizations.

3. Support the Section´s monitoring and evaluation wort in regards to the migration and emergency programs including field visits.

4. Support the Chief of Section drafting progress reports and donor proposals.

5. Support child protection officers in charge of the migration program to manage 1 or 2 programme cooperation agreements with civil society organizations.

At the end of the assignment, the following skills will have been strengthened:

- Understanding of humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

- Interagency coordination skills.

- Understanding of child protection context in Mexico related to violence against children and migration influx and children on the move programmatic needs.

- Assist monitoring and evaluation officer in monitoring programme implementation.

- Report and donor proposals writing.

- Assist in program implementation assisting child protection officers in managing programme cooperation agreements with civil society organization.

- Better understanding of cooperation framework with the national, state and local government, assisting with the implementation of activities.

- Understanding of emergency preparedness work and UNICEF´s cluster responsabilities.

- Understanding UNICEF programme cycle.

- Direct experience working in a team and with field teams.

- Understanding of UNICEF programme implementation modalities.

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

• Advanced university degree in one of the following fields: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field.
• One year of relevant professional experience is desirable in a related field: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field. Experience in child protection will be considered an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in Spanish and English is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org