Child Protection Officer, NO-A, Gaza, State of Palestine, Fixed Term (post no. 125381)

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built, we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, hope

UNICEF in the State of Palestine (SoP) works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential.

In the past years, UNICEF in the State of Palestine has achieved a high reach and engagement through its communication channels. UNICEF-SoP would like to build on this and continue engaging with our audience, who are not only seek information but are willing to have important conversations on crucial issues concerning children’s wellbeing and rights. 

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the Child Protection Specialist, the Child Protection Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the child protection programmes/projects through the application of theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing, and presenting technical programme information while learning organizational rules, regulations and procedures to support the development and formulation of the Child Protection Programme within the Country Programme. The Child Protection Officer will specifically provide technical support, oversight, and monitor UNICEF’s activities and partnerships aimed at preventing and responding to all forms of violence against children, to include gender-based violence.

Your key functions/accountabilities

1. Support to programme development and planning

– Research and analyze regional and national political, protection, social and economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify, and synthesize information to facilitate programme development, design and preparation.

– Prepare technical reports and inputs for programme preparation and documentation, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and relevancy of information.

– Facilitate the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of child protection programmes and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.

– Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programmeming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results.

– Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.

– Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues, suggest solutions on routine programme implementation and to submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.

– Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with the government and other counterparts, and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.

– Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocation, goals, organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, and standards of accountability and integrity.

– Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.

– Prepare inputs for programme and donor reporting.

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

– Undertake field visits and surveys, and collect and share reports with partners and stakeholders.

– Assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution.

– Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

– Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices in child protection, to support programme implementation.

4. Networking and partnership building

– Build and sustain close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on child protection.

– Participate in inter-agency meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of child protection programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with UNDAF development and planning processes.

– Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

– Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for child protection programmes.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

– Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.

– Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

– Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.

– Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

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

Education:

– A university degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field.

– A university degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Sciences, Humanities or Social Sciences, combined with relevant experience in child protection related areas, would be considered.

Experience:

– A minimum of one year of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas is required.

– Priority consideration will be given to candidates with experience working on issues related to gender-based violence prevention and mitigation, and engagement with communities to prevent and respond to violence against children.

– Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.

Language Requirement:

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

The 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 (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate. 

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 does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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 appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

This position is located in Gaza and any offer of appointment is subject to the candidate’s ability to take up the position at the duty station within a reasonable period.

In the current evolving emergency context, this position will be based in Gaza where medical facilities have been negatively affected and individual chronic and/or serious medical conditions cannot be adequately addressed.

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

This is required for all posts requiring a higher education degree. “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 notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

The VA is open to all (internal and external candidates)

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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 processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.