United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Since two years, countries in the ESA region have experienced an alarming increase in the number of new, or re-emerging humanitarian emergencies, including public health (including Ebola, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, wild poliovirus, and Cholera), armed conflicts and natural disasters emergencies.
UNICEF ESAR has prioritized the critical need to support countries to rapidly scale up capacity to prevent, mitigate, and manage ongoing and anticipated emergencies as well as to enhance capacity for preparedness and response to these emergencies.
Purpose
The purpose of this external announcement is to attract suitable Child Protection Specialist in Emergencies candidates interested in working in any of the countries within UNICEF’s East and Southern Africa region to respond to emergencies for the next 36 months. The countries within each region are listed on the following website: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html.
How can you make a difference?
The UNICEF Country Office is scaling up its Child Protection component in response to the emergencyand technical management is required. Oversight to ensure adherence to the CCCs for Humanitarian Action by the country office is a critical function during an emergency response.
- In consultation with other CP partners, and government if appropriate, provide leadership for the establishment of child protection coordination structures for the response to the emergency, including identification of a CP coordinator.
- Support conduct of a rapid child protection assessment, together with partners in the child protection sub-cluster and/or protection cluster using agreed inter-agency assessment tools. Where the cluster system is not activated, UNICEF should lead this assessment.
- Support strategies and mechanisms to scale up the child protection response to the emergency, including addressing as relevant: family separation, gender-based violence, child recruitment and use by armed forces or armed groups, trafficking, the mental health and well-being of children and their families, mine action, arbitrary/illegal arrest and detention of children, other protection concerns for children etc.
- Provide technical support and assistance to UNICEF child protection staff and partners, including government and NGOs, to scale up the child protection components of emergency response programmes, including development or amendment of projects and partnerships.
- Manage procurement and distribution of supplies related to child protection interventions.
- Identify opportunities to work with other sectors to strengthen overall protections for children and women by integrating protection activities within their emergency response programmes.
- Monitor the trends and emerging evidence of child protection concerns and the response by Government, and analyse this information to advise on the child protection response.
- Represent UNICEF Child Protection in humanitarian-related meetings, as required.
- Increase access to financial resources available for the child protection emergency response through established humanitarian funding mechanisms, and by pursuing new opportunities, as required.
- Support the CP Chief with oversight and management of funds for the CP emergency response.
- Raise awareness on child protection concerns and UNICEF’s response thereto through relevant humanitarian, media and communication outlets, as appropriate.
- Provide inputs on child protection concerns and UNICEF’s response thereto in all UNICEF, inter-agency and government planning and reporting processes.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education-
- Advanced university degree in social work, international relations, law, child psychology, or relevant field.
Work Experience-
- A minimum of 5-8 years of experience with UNICEF and/or other relevant actors, including experience with child protection programming in natural disaster and/or armed conflict contexts
- Knowledge of UNICEF’s core commitments to children in humanitarian action as well as the humanitarian cluster approach, particularly the child protection working group (sub-cluster), gender-based violence area of responsibility, and protection cluster
Language Requirement:-
- Fluency in verbal and written English and/or French (depending on the country office’s official language).
- Good written and spoken skills in the language of the humanitarian operation in country of assignment and knowledge of another UN language or a local language is an asset.