Accountability to Affected Population Specialist, (P-3), Beirut, Lebanon, #125373, Fixed Term Appointment

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.

 For every child, dedication

UNICEF started to work in Lebanon in 1948 and established its office in 1950. For more than 70 years we’ve been working closely with the Government of Lebanon, other UN agencies, international and local NGOs, universities, and more than 100 partners to meet the needs of disadvantaged children in Lebanon. Responding to life-saving needs and ensuring equal access to quality public services, the impact of our work is felt in every aspect and every sphere of society. To learn more about our work, please refer to: https://www.unicef.org/lebanon/what-we-do

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the Representative/Deputy Representative and in collaboration with Chiefs of UNICEF Sections, the Accountability to Affected Populations/Community Engagement (AAP/CE) Specialist is responsible for providing technical and operational support in the management, coordination and implementation of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) interventions, ensuring views, preferences and priorities of affected populations are incorporated into all stages of the Country Office programme cycle and effectively inform the humanitarian response plans.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. –      Coordinate the design and implementation of strategies and action plans to scale up AAP and CE interventions and processes in the Country Programme:

• Facilitate the development of a Country Office strategy and plans of action for scaling up AAP that has clear deliverables, indicators, and time frames to enable timely marked improvement in AAP/CCE performance, with a focus on closing the loop (by taking action and providing feedback to the community about how their views and inputs were addressed), based on operational modalities, community preferences and global best practice.
• Coordinate integration of AAP in Country Office annual work plans and processes, ensuring that each programme (and operation) section have specific AAP outputs, activity, and budgets for effective implementation.
• Ensure strategies and action plans provide particular strategic emphasis on vulnerable groups – including adolescent girls, children living with disabilities, minority groups etc.
• Convene an internal cross-sector group of focal points to share AAP/CCE experiences, develop and use common tools and approaches, and agree internal referral pathways for feedback management and resolution.
• Ensure feedback, concerns and priorities from affected populations are consistently and systematically well highlighted during internal meetings and planning processes, especially but not limited to AMPs, CMT/PMTs, MYR/EYR.
• Facilitate development and use of harmonized tools and standards for staff and third-party monitoring and reporting of AAP/CCE activities, in accordance with agreed work plans and ensuring corrective actions are taken as required.
• Monitor the use of resources as planned and verify compliance with organizational guidelines, rules, and regulations and standards of ethics and transparency.
• Identify additional resources (human, financial, technical, etc.) needed to implement the AAP/CCE strategy and explore options to mobilize these.

2. –       Advocacy, networking, and capacity building for AAP:

• Evaluate capacity building needs in AAP and facilitate training, monitoring, and reporting efforts at national and subnational levels.
• Design and implement a capacity building strategy to build the knowledge of, and commitment to AAP/CCE approaches for UNICEF and partner staff.
• Develop context-specific capacity building materials by contextualizing global and national tools.
• Identify opportunities to integrate AAP/CCE into existing training and tailor content to specific audiences.
• Collaborate with internal, national, regional, and global partners to update, harmonize, link and coordinate activities, tools and processes designed to enhance communication and community engagement in humanitarian response, including use of communication platforms.
• Maintain and strengthen partnerships and stakeholder engagement through networking and proactive collaboration and engagement with strategic partners, including NGOs, local authorities, community, and religious leaders and relevant stakeholders, to promote AAP.
• Regularly monitor changes and emerging trends, including public perceptions that could impact access and acceptance of UNICEF and the programmes it supports, and recommend appropriate response measures.
• Provide advice and guidance to UNICEF partners on AAP/CCE issues and approaches.

3. –       Represent and coordinate collective AAP approaches and initiatives in the humanitarian response:

• Serve as the primary focal point within the Country Office on AAP/CCE and regularly update on current AAP/CE practices within the Country programme cycle.
• Represent UNICEF at inter-agency Working Groups, clusters and other relevant groups or networks, formulating and articulating CCE/AAP plans and outcomes and disseminating key results, good practices and lessons learnt.

4. –      Evidence generation, innovation, and knowledge management:

• In the absence of relevant secondary data, conduct a community engagement and accountability needs assessment to understand community information needs, communications preferences, community dynamics, social norms, cultural beliefs, and other anthropological factors that could impact programmes – particularly for the most vulnerable (including those children with disabilities, adolescent girls etc.).
• Ensure systematic collection and data analysis of feedback from affected populations through integration of AAP questions in cluster assessments, surveys and other data collection tools and activities, and their inclusion in IMEP.
• Manage the conduct, analysis, and dissemination of results of community perception surveys (perception of UNICEF and quality supported programmes), especially in the context of a humanitarian response.
• Support the establishment and management of internal AAP/CCE information management functions through a common system to share, aggregate and analyse feedback to identify trends, priority issues and track actions based on feedback from affected populations.
• Facilitate the implementation and documentation of innovative practices, approaches, and latest technology on media and digital platforms and networks that are appropriate/available for the humanitarian context and audience (e.g., U-Report).
• Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge products with global/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of partners and disseminate these products to key audiences including donors and national and global partners.

For further information on the JD please click here  AAP Programme Specialist_P3.pdf

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

Education: Advanced University Degree in social and behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, communication, public relations or other related field is required.

Experience:

• 5 years’ experience in the humanitarian sector with significant field experience working on AAP/CCE interventions in technical and/or leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing evidence-based community engagement strategies in humanitarian contexts.
• Experience in designing and facilitating participatory sensitization and capacity building sessions at different levels with diverse, multicultural teams.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team in a challenging and highly fluid environment, flexibility, and ability to handle constant change.
• Proven ability to live and work in challenging physical conditions is an asset.
• Relevant experience in related areas in a UN agency or international organization is an asset.

 Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required, knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability (CRITA) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

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.

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.

Remarks

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

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. 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 may also be 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 any fee during any stage of the recruitment process.