Generic: Child Protection Officer (Justice for Children, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics) at UNICEF

The Child Protection Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for child protection programmes/projects within the Country Programme with a focus on justice for children and civil registration from development planning to delivery of results.

Support to programme development and planning

• Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of justice for children, civil registration and CP related programmes/projects. Research and report on development trends in the justice and civil registration sector and data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results
• Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, analysis and reporting of child protection, justice for children and civil registration and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical, programme, operational, and administrative transactions, preparing related materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating of results
• Prepare required programme documentations, materials and data to facilitate the programme review and approval process

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Work closely and collaboratively with UNICEF and other UN colleagues including UN Legal Identify Agenda (LIA) and National Council for Administration of Justice (NCAJ) partners to discuss implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level interventions and/or decisions. Keep records 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 government and other counterparts to assess programmes/projects, and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules regulations, procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on critical issues and findings to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution
• Prepare regular and mandated child protection, justice for children and civil registration programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys and exchange information with UN LIA and NCAJ Special Task Force on Children Matter partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support. Take appropriate action to resolve issues 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 justice for children, to support programme implementation

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain close working partnerships with UN LIA and NCAJ counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of justice, civil registration and child protection 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 UNSDCF operational planning and preparation of child protection/justice programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with UNSDCF development and planning processes
• Ensure leveraging of results for justice for children, civil registration and child protection from the inputs of other UN agencies and development partners
• 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 justice for children, civil registration and child protection programmes as part of the overall protection system

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders around justice for children and civil registration
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results
• Research and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems
• Participate as a resource person in justice for children and civil registration capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required:  international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, law, international law, or another relevant social science field
• A minimum of four years of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas are required. Experience working with the Justice and/or Civil Registration Sector and management in justice for children related areas and/or civil registration required
• Relevant experience in programme development in justice for children and civil registration related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage
• Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of a local language of the duty station is considered as an asset

Closing: 1st July 2022