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, an advocate

UNICEF in the State of Palestine works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through 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. We are working for every child and young person in the State of Palestine.

The magnitude of the escalation of hostilities between Israel and armed groups in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023 has led to grave humanitarian consequences. As of 31 October, according to the Ministry of Health, at least 8,525 Palestinians have been killed, 67% are women and children, and 21,543 Palestinians have been injured. About 1,800 people, including at least 940 children, have been reported missing and may be trapped or dead under the rubble, awaiting rescue or recovery. At the same time throughout the West Bank there has been a dramatic increase of violent incidents and military operations.

There is a need to step up the coordination of partners of the CP AoR at the subnational level in Gaza to ensure coordinated, timely and effective delivery of child protection services and support to children in the Gaza Strip. A well-run AoR/ Sector/ Working Group coordination team is a formal deliverable of the Cluster Lead Agency and forms a part of the agency’s work.

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall direction and guidance of the CP AoR National Coordinator and the Chief Child Protection, the Child Protection Specialist AoR Coordinator will provide leadership and representation of the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group in the Gaza strip. They will facilitate the processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, strategic, adequate, coherent, and effective response by participants in the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group that is accountable to those who are affected by the emergency. In their effort to provide an efficient and effective response to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip, the Child Protection AoR sub-national coordinator is responsible for building relationships with stakeholders, for securing the overall coordination of sectoral responses and for ensuring inter-sectoral collaboration at the national level and for ensuring adequate coordination with the national level.

The Child Protection AoR sub- national coordinator will also be responsible for supporting UNICEF as a cluster lead agency to perform and strengthen its role as the last resort provider for the Child Protection sector to ensure an adequate and appropriate response.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

The post holder is responsible for providing predictable, timely and strategic leadership and representation for the Child Protection AoR/ Sector/ Working Group in the Gaza Strip to ensure a timely and effective AoR/ Sector/ Working Group response. The post holder is responsible for leading a range of stakeholders, beyond their immediate direct reports, to work collectively towards the realization of a shared goal based on evidence.

The post holder’s main tasks and responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

Coordination, representation and leadership

• Establish/strengthen and maintain a coordination mechanism that facilitates the effective achievement of the cluster functions (as outlined by the IASC Reference Module) and the requirements of the HPC (HNO, HRP and CCPM) and which builds on pre-existing coordination structures where appropriate and furthers the development of current or future national and subnational capacities,
• Coordinate with UNICEF Child Protection Programme section and the CP AoR at the national level, ensuring alignment of work and priorities, effective communication, reporting and engagement, and overall coherence in light of UNICEF’s role as AOR Lead Agency
• Coordinate with the Protection Cluster and other AoRs (GBV, MA, Legal taskforce) at the sub-national level to ensure mainstreaming of key child protection issues and collaboration on cross-cutting protection concerns, as well as alignment of work and priorities, effective communication, reporting and engagement,
• Supervise the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group coordination team in the Gaza strip,
• Ensure appropriate coordination and build partnerships with all relevant sector stakeholders including local authorities, local, national, and international organizations, other AoRs/ Clusters/Sectors/ Working Groups, inter-cluster-coordination fora, and affected populations as appropriate,
• Build complementarity of partner actions within AoR/ Sector/ Working Group, pro-actively negotiating with partners to avoid and resolve duplication and gaps,

Needs assessment and analysis

• Lead the planning and implementation of child protection needs assessment and analysis, including representing the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group in multi-sectoral needs assessments and joint analysis of need, at subnational level.
• Analyse needs assessment data and work collaboratively with the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group partners to create analytical products, including an evidence based HNO.

Strategic response planning

• Lead and coordinate strategic planning, response prioritization, and the development of the sectoral response plan that is based on the HNO and aligned with national priorities, policies and plans, and updated regularly according to emerging needs.
• Ensure all programme delivery modalities (in-kind, cash, voucher, and services) are given equal consideration in the strategic response planning and establish and implement systematic measures for supporting their consideration and use,
• Provide relevant technical expertise and advice to AoR/ Sector/ Working Group partners to ensure activities are aligned with sub-national and national priorities and communities’ needs,
• Ensure that sub-national AoR/ Sector/ Working Group response planning is updated regularly according to evolving needs and that it establishes indicators by which performance of the sub-national AoR/ Sector/ Working Group can be measured,
• Engage with OCHA and other AoRs/ Clusters/ Sectors/ Working Groups to contribute to the development of the HRP, advocating for a response that reflects and addresses the concerns of the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group.

Resource mobilization and advocacy

• Support and coordinate the mobilization of adequate resources to ensure effective functioning of the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group at the dub-national level and its response as well as the HDP nexus and system strengthening components, and subsequent handing over and establishment of medium to long term capacities when the cluster approach is deactivated,
• Monitor, analyse and communicate information about  AoR/ Sector/ Working Group’s financial situation and resource mobilization and identify appropriate actions to address gaps or constraints,
• Advocate for improved sectoral outcomes, network with advocacy allies and influence stakeholders’ decision-making.

Implementation and monitoring

• Monitor, evaluate and report on the coverage, equity, quality and progress of the response against the sub-national  AoR/ Sector/ Working Group strategy, priorities and agreed results, including system strengthening and HDP nexus.
• Plan and support gap and coverage analysis to identify spatial and temporal gaps, overlaps and coverage of the AoR/ Sector/ Working Group humanitarian response,
• Monitor the sub-national AoR/ Sector/ Working Group’s adherence to IASC cluster approach principles, relevant humanitarian and sectoral agreements, standards, initiatives and guidelines and encourage partners to make improvements.

Accountability to affected populations

• Be accountable to the affected population by promoting inclusive and consultative feedback mechanisms and encouraging the involvement of affected population in the response,
• Ensure the inclusion of cross cutting issues (age, disability, gender, gender-based violence (GBV) mitigation and response and HIV & AIDS) in the sub-national  AoR/ Sector/ Working Group activities throughout the HPC,
• Encourage partners to demonstrate a positive and systematic approach to inclusion and diversity,
• Adhere to child safeguarding and PSEA policies including procedures for challenging and reporting incidents and ensure other members of the coordination team comply.

Strengthen national and local capacity

• Encourage participation of local and sub-national national actors in AoR/ Sector/ Working Group activities and strategic decision-making, removing barriers to access,
• Lead the development of a capacity assessment and capacity strengthening strategy for sub-national AoR/ Sector/ Working Group members and oversee implementation and harmonization of initiatives,
• Be responsible for Supporting UNICEF as a cluster lead agency to perform and strengthen its role as the last resort provider for the cluster to ensure an adequate and appropriate response in the Gaza strip.

For more information on the specific technical expertise needed, kindly visit the below JD:

Child Protection (Area of Responsibility) Coordinator- L3- Gaza #127125.pdf

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

Education

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

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in child protection planning and management is required. Relevant experience in programme management in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.
• Experience of working in the humanitarian coordination system and protection or child protection coordination is required.
• Experience in effective management of human resources/teams in high stress/risk environments is an advantage.
• Experience in humanitarian contexts is required with experience in development contexts an added advantage.
• Experience in the region as well as in CPAOR coordination is an asset.

Language requirements

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language, preferably Arabic, is considered an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

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

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.

Remarks:

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’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.

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 are also 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 cancelled.

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.

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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Eligible UNICEF International Professional (IP) Staff Members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent contracts applying to a Temporary Appointment, which is dedicated to L3 (or L2) Response, may be able to retain a lien and their fixed-term entitlements. The conditions of the temporary assignment will vary depending on the status of their post and their current tour of duty, and relocation entitlements may be limited as per the relevant policies.