Vacancy Announcement - Social Policy Officer, NO-2, Chennai, India, SAR Post Number 124659 (This post is open for Indian Nationals only)

Contract

This is a NO-2 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-2 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!

Click here to learn more about UNICEF: https://youtu.be/43aiG4w2q_M

For Every Child, AN ADVOCATE:

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 fulfil 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.

How can you make a difference?

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children in the world's thereby ensuring a better future for every child, this is the chance to make a difference.

Job organizational context:

Chennai Field Office is responsible for programming in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The combined population of Tamil Nadu (76 million) and Kerala (35 million) is around 110 million. As per the SDGs Ranking of 29 States in India, Kerala and TN occupy the first and second position in 2021. TN contribution to GDP of India is second highest at 8.6 percent. Per Capita income of Tamil Nadu is 3200 USD and Kerala at 3300 USD (2019) higher than national average of 2100 USD. There are number of children of migrant labor from other states and these face access barriers to social services. Lack of adequate enumeration of disabled persons, has resulted in depriving of them of basic rights. All these are further accentuated by the large coastline, frequent floods, climate change challenges and rapid urbanization (more than 50% population live in Urban areas) leading to urban slums. To move the social policy agenda, there is a need to strengthen the focus to reach the last mile, mainstream equity (including disability, and gender) concerns across plans and budgets at all levels.

The focus of the office will be on introducing upstream programming strategies which include the four pillars of the Social Policy Outcome, namely public finance for children, decentralization, Social protection and child friendly local governance as well as building of a social protection system to protect vulnerable families and their children. The incumbent will work with a wide range of partners linked to State and District governments, academia, private sector, community led organizations and Civil Society Organizations. Given the inter-sectoral nature of child protection, child survival and education, emphasis is put on the importance of the roles of other relevant social protection sectors cross cutting areas such as early childhood and adolescent development.

Purpose of the job:

Under the general guidance of the Chief Social Policy, the Social Policy officer is accountable for providing technical support and assistance in all stages of social policy programming and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results. This includes programmes aimed at improving (a) public policies to reduce child poverty; (b) social protection coverage and impact on children; (c) the transparency, adequacy, equity and efficiency of child-focused public investments and financial management; and (d) governance, decentralization, and accountability measures to increase public participation and the quality, equity and coverage of social services.

Major duties and responsibilities:

1. Improving data on child poverty & vulnerability for increased use for policy and programme action

• Supports the collection, analysis and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report and use data for policy decision- making.
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives to reduce child poverty.
• Analyzes the macroeconomic context and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children

2. Strengthening social protection coverage and impact for children

• Supports the development of social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, with special attention the most marginalized. Identifies, generates and presents evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners.
• Supports strengthening of integrated social protection systems, providing technical support to partners to improve the design of cash transfers and child grants and improve linkages with other social protection interventions such as health insurance, public works and social care services as well as complementary services and intervention related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, child protection and HIV.
• Supports improved monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes and use of data and research findings for strengthening programme results.

3. Improving use of public financial resources for children

• Undertakes budget analysis to inform UNICEF’s advocacy and technical assistance to Ministries of Finance, planning commissions and social sector ministries to improve equitable allocations for essential services for children. Works with sector colleagues to build capacity to undertake costing and cost effectiveness analysis on priority interventions to help inform policy decisions on child-focused investments.
• Supports the identification of policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions.
• Undertakes and builds capacity of partners for improved monitoring and tracking of public expenditure to support transparency, accountability and effective financial flows for essential service delivery, including through support to district level planning, budgeting and public financial management as well as facilitating community participation.

4. Strengthening capacity of local governments to plan, budget, consult on and monitor child focused social services.

• Where national decentralization processes are taking place, collaborates with central and local authorities to improve policies, planning, budgeting, consultation and accountability processes so that decisions and child- focused service delivery more closely respond to the needs of local communities.
• Collaborates with the central and local authorities to strengthen capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of essential social services, with emphasis on community participation and accountability.

5. Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive social policy

• Supports 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.
• Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.

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

Education:

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of two years of relevant professional experience is required.
• Experience of working in a developing country is considered as a strong asset.
• Background and/or familiarity with emergency is considered as a strong asset.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

Core Values (Required)

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

Competency Areas

• 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)

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. 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 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.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

Remarks:

• This position is based in Chennai(India).
• This position is open to Indian Nationals only.
• Selected applicant will have a 364 days Temporary Appointment contract.
• UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited / recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/.
• 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 are also 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.

• UNICEF does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process, including application, interview, meeting, traveling, processing, training, etc. UNICEF is a nonsmoking working environment.

  For more information about UNICEF India, please refer to the link below: - https://www.unicef.org/india/