Child Protection Officer, (NO-1), FT, #110484, Ciudad Guayana – Venezuela, LACR

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, Protection

www.unicef.org/venezuela

How can you make a difference?

Purpose for the job:

The Child Protection Officer reports to the Chief of Field Office with close technical guidance of the Chief of Child Protection. Together the Chief of Field Office and the Chief of Child Protection guide the Child Protection Officer to acquire organizational knowledge of rules, regulations and processes to supplement academic and theoretical knowledge of the profession for upward mobility to higher responsibilities.

The Child Protection Officer provides professional technical, operational, and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the child protection programs/projects through the application of theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing, and presenting technical program information while learning organizational rules, regulations, and procedures to support the development and formulation of the Child Protection Programme within the Country Programme. 

    1. Support to programme development and planning

• Research and analyze regional, national and local political, protection, social and economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify, and synthesize information to facilitate program development, design, and preparation.
• Prepare technical reports and provide inputs for program preparation and documentation, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and relevancy of information.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis, and reporting of child protection programs and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting at the subnational level.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentation, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results towards the Child Protection-related outcome and/or output results in the Country Programme.
• Prepare required documentation and materials to facilitate the program review and approval process.
• Contribute to risk analysis to inform adequate DRR measures, including emergency preparedness are mainstreamed across the FO’s Contribution Plans, specially in child protection in emergencies.

    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 a record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program 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.
• Contribute to the development of DRR measures, including emergency preparedness plans within FO’s Contribution Plans, especially in child protection in emergencies.

    3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Undertake field visits, surveys and emergency missions, and collect and share information with stakeholders to assess progress and 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 and other 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 operations and delivery of results.
• Contribute to situation analysis to inform emergency response plans and provide inputs for developing child protection emergency preparedness, including drafting required supplies and services, long-term agreements, partnership agreements, and coordination mechanisms.
• Study and fully understand UNICEF’s procedures for responding in an emergency according to the CCCs.
• Take up support roles in an emergency response and resilience building as and when the need arises.

     4. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and subnational 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 program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances and support fundraising for child protection programs.

     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 implementing and delivering concrete and sustainable program 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.

     Impact of Results

The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Child Protection Officer to program preparation, planning, and implementation contributes to achieving sustainable results to create a protective environment for children against harm and all forms of violence and ensures their survival, development, and well-being in society. Success in child protection programs and projects, in turn, contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to provide program services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equality in the country.

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, social work, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of one year of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Experience working within the United Nations is considered as a strong asset.
• Experience working in rural and/or indigenous contexts of Venezuela is a strong asset.
• Fluency in Spanish is required.
• Working-level knowledge of English is considered an asset.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) or a local language 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

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 has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is: a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

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. 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/”

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.

The following positions is only applicable for national personnel.