Child Protection Specialist, (P-4), Panama, LAC Regional Office, #103244, FT

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, a champion

This position is within the child protection team at the regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean. The regional office supports 24 UNICEF country offices covering 36 countries. The child protection programme includes ending violence, safe migration, emergency response, and responding to children separated from their families by the care or justice authorities. It also deals with other critical protection areas such as child marriage, adoption and surrogacy. The team has strong partnerships with regional bodies and leads a number of interagency groups to galvanise results for children.

Purpose 

The Child Protection Specialist reports to the Child Protection Regional Adviser for general guidance and direction. The Specialist supports the Adviser in managing the Section and contributing to knowledge development/innovation and for developing and preparing child protection (and/or integrated/complex/key) programmes and projects, including in the area of violence against children. The Specialist provides authoritative technical guidance, operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of concrete and sustainable contributions to national and international efforts to create a protective environment for children against all harm and to protect their rights to survival, development and wellbeing as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties, framework and UN intergovernmental bodies.

The Specialist contributes to achievement of concrete and sustainable programmes, project results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

How can you make a difference?

You will work under the guidance of the Regional Child Protection Advisor and your responsibilities will include but are not limited to the following:

 Management and advisory support

• Provide advice to the Regional Adviser in establishing the annual work plan including developing strategies and determining priorities, targets and performance measurements. Coordinate work progress monitoring and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards and report critical issues for timely action.
• Provide technical assistance and advice to colleagues in the Section on all aspects of programming and implementation to enable colleagues to achieve programme, performance objectives, including violence against children.
• Perform the full duties of the Regional Adviser in his/her absence.

Programme development and planning

• Plan and/or provide technical assistance and operational support to the preparation, design, conduct and update of situation analysis to ensure that current comprehensive and evidence- based data on child protection issues are available to guide UNICEF strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights and protection and to set programme priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans, including on violence against children in the Region.
• Keep abreast of national, regional and international development priorities on child protection and rights to enhance programme management and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussion on the planning of child protection programmes and projects. Formulate, design and prepare programmes and projects proposal for the sector, ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF Strategic Plans, Country Programmes in the Region, regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for the sectors using on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies and to determine national and regional priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide authoritative technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes and projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results

• Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in child protection programmes, including on violence against children.
• Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in programme and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Monitor programmes/projects to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Plan, monitor and control the use of programme resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Submit/prepare programme/project reports to donors and other partners to keep them informed on programme progress and critical issues.

Advisory services and technical support

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO, UN system and country offices on policies, strategies, best practices and approaches on child protection, including violence against children, and other related issues to support programme development planning, implementation and delivery of results.
• Translate the latest global and regional evidence, tools and directions into programming practice for use within UNICEF and for partners
• Coordinate/ensure the availability of technical experts (Regional Office/HQ) to ensure timely support throughout all stages of programming/project processes.
• Participate in strategic discussions to influence policy and agenda setting for combating poverty and all forms of discrimination against women/children by advising on and advocating strategies and approaches to promote/catalyze social changes for a protective environment for child survival, development and wellbeing in society in the Region.
• Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and consideration.
• Participate in regional and country discussions on child protection emergency preparedness, programming and contingency planning to ensure proactive and appropriate response are in place to meet onset of emergencies regionally or other designated locations.

Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with regional and national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organization, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on child protection in the Region, particularly in the area of violence.
• Participate in and lead strategic interagency groups to achieve results for the protection of children
• Prepare communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances for sustainable results and support fund raising for UNICEF child protection programmes and emergency interventions in the Region.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions and planning on child protection and related issues, to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the development planning and agenda setting. Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues planning and preparation of programmes/projects including emergency preparedness.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable child protection programmes/projects initiatives, particularly on violence against children, through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Collect and analyse data, research, tools and keep abreast of regional and global directions as a contribution to understanding the current situation as well as programming practice.

• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting-edge practices on child protection programming and management and information systems. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned.

• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on child protection and related programmes/projects.

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

• An Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or higher) in international development psychology, sociology, social work, child and youth worker, family or criminal law, social policy or other similar social science field is required. 
• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection or related areas at the international level is required.
• Relevant experience in child protection and related areas, with significant experience programming around violence against children is required
• Programme, project development and management in the UN/UNICEF is an asset;
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage;
• Professional experience within and outside the LAC region would be an asset;
• Experience working with partner organizations and coordination groups is an asset;
• Experience providing technical assistance to peers and to partners in the area of child protection an asset;
• Experience analysing child protection evidence is required.

• Spanish and English are required for the post, with at minimum fluency in one language and intermediate knowledge of the other. Fluency in both languages will be considered a strong asset. Knowledge of French or Portuguese will also be an asset. Knowledge of another official UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) 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. 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 male 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). 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.