Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) Specialist

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.
Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

UNICEF Papua New Guinea, in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and national institutions, is implementing a KOICA-funded climate programme portfolio to strengthen climate-resilient and -smart social services and infrastructure, integrating climate resilience into essential services while supporting community resilience and institutional capacity to respond to climate risks across WASH, education, health, nutrition, and child protection. The UNV MER Specialist will support monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (MER) functions across the KOICA-funded climate programme portfolio, including coordination of progress consolidation, performance tracking against the logical framework, monitoring tool development, donor reporting, and data and knowledge management to support evidence-based and results-based management, to ensure effective implementation. The role involves coordination with country office implementing sections, government counterparts, implementing partners, INGOs/CSOs, and other stakeholders, working closely with the Programme Manager and relevant sections within the UNICEF PNG Country Office.

Under the direct supervision of Programme Manager, Climate Change & Sustainable Environment, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation (40%)
• Convene and coordinate monthly section-level coordination meetings to consolidate implementation progress, monitoring data, and key action points across programme sections and relevant stakeholders.
• Collect, compile, and analyze performance data, results, and implementation challenges from implementing sections and partners, flag delays, bottlenecks, and risks for management follow-up, and propose mitigation measures to address identified risks and issues.
• Maintain and update the programme logical framework, including indicator tracking, baselines, targets, and results data, to support evidence-based programme management and decision-making.
• Undertake field monitoring missions to verify reported progress, results, and conditions on the ground, and document findings, observations, and recommendations for programme management.
• Contribute to quality assurance of monitoring and programme documentation, and sup-port compliance with UNICEF procedures and donor monitoring and reporting requir-ments.
• Support the Programme Manager in preparing for and facilitating donor evaluations and reviews, including organizing relevant monitoring data, documentation, and field evidence as required.
Reporting and Knowledge Management (30%)
• Prepare and submit monthly progress updates to the Regional Office, consolidating results, financial delivery, and implementation status of the programme.
• Prepare and quality-assure donor reports, ensuring results, data, and narrative are accurate and consistent with the logical framework, and support the Programme Manager in donor communication on reporting matters.
• Systematize knowledge management by maintaining an organized repository of pro-gramme documents, data, and records, and documenting lessons learned, good practices, and recommendations from monitoring and field findings, ensuring materials are readily accessible to support evidence-based and results-based programme management and to facilitate timely preparation for evaluations.
• Support preparation of background notes, briefing materials, and presentations on pro-gramme results and monitoring findings for internal management review and decision-making.
Climate Data, Information, and Partnerships (30%)
• Develop, pilot, and roll out monitoring tools and templates (e.g., progress tracking sheets, indicator dashboards, field checklists) to strengthen systematic data collection and performance monitoring across the portfolio.
• Support capacity building efforts by designing and delivering training and guidance to internal programme sections and external stakeholders on monitoring tools, reporting requirements, and data collection processes.
• Support the Programme Manager in coordinating with the National Weather Service (NWS) and relevant vendors on the development and implementation of a climate information and early warning system, including follow-up on technical progress, data and system requirements, and related documentation and reporting.
• Support the Programme Manager in responding to requests from the Regional Office and UNICEF Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Climate, including climate-related data, documentation, and resource mobilization.
• Support the Programme Manager in climate programme and proposal design as needed, drawing on monitoring data, field evidence, and lessons learned from portfolio implementation.