Vacancy Announcement - Social Policy Specialist, NOC, Bhubaneswar, India, South Asia Region (SAR), Post Number 00121542 (This post is open only to Indian Nationals)

Contract

This is a NO-3 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-3 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.

The Social Policy Specialist (NOC) TA is responsible for providing technical support to the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all stages of social policy programing and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results under the Strategic Plan Goal Area 5 and UNICEF India Country Programme. 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. This encompasses both direct programme work with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to teams working on education, health, nutrition, child protection, water and sanitation and other cross-sectoral programmes.

Major duties and responsibilities:

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

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 effects 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.
• Promotes strengthening of integrated shock-responsive 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 health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, child protection and other cross-cutting programmes.
• Undertakes 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 such as child budgets, SDG budgets, sectoral budgets analyses 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 and in line with national and state localization of SDGs initiatives.
• 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.

6. UNICEF Programme Management

• Manages and coordinates technical support around child poverty, social protection, public finance and governance ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery. Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments.
• Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme. Ensures that the social planning project enhances policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.

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

Education:

• An advanced 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 five years of relevant professional work experience is required.
• Experience 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 required. Knowledge of Hindi or other local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

Core Values (Required)

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

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)

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

• Specific Technical Knowledge Required.
  • Knowledge and concepts on social protection, public financial management (PFM) and local governance for policy analysis and formulation; especially as they pertain to children, adolescents and women.
• Common Technical Knowledge Required.

• Knowledge and expertise in social and economic policy and development issues to support UNICEF programme; with strong analytical skills and the ability to advise on high quality research.

• General knowledge of:

  • UNICEF programming (survival, growth and development, protection etc.).
  • Human rights based approach to programming
  • Results based planning, management and reporting
  • Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) principles and concepts
  • Risk informed programming; emergency preparedness and response planning and implementation

• Technical Knowledge to be Acquired/Enhanced

• Advanced knowledge and concepts on child poverty analyses, social protection including humanitarian cash transfers (HCT), PFM and local governance for formulation and influencing policy issues concerning children and adolescents involving core domain of UNICEF programming (survival, growth and development, protection etc.).

View our competency framework here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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. 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 Bhubaneswar (India).
• 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/.
• UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

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

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