Chief Child Protection P4, FT, Bamako-Mali # 14323 (Not for Malian Nationals) Mid level

The Chief Child Protection, P4 in Mali requires both solid child protection humanitarian and development experience at technical and leadership levels. The position requires experience in navigating the complexities of an UN integrated mission and the ability to bring children in armed conflict (CAAC) agenda forward according to UNICEF mandate and the UN Security Council 1612 Resolution. The position requires strong technical knowledge on International and Humanitarian Human Rights laws, on emerging evidence, research, and good practices in line with UNICEF new Strategic Plan around child protection and GBV case management, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, gender and social norms around child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation. The position requires strong leadership in harnessing data and analysis to guide the programme and the team

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, Hope

In Mali, children face a variety and multiple forms of abuse, violence and exploitation, including those who are on the move and affected by the crisis. The humanitarian crisis that Mali has experienced since 2012 further impacted the lives of children and their families. Families and children, including unaccompanied children, continue to move for safety reasons, or for (temporary) work opportunities or for transit purposes. As a result, children face family separation, exploitation, child labor, recruitment into armed groups, trafficking, smuggling, sexual violence, and a lack of basic services, while existing child protection concerns have further exacerbated. Children are exposed to these multiple vulnerabilities and risks in an extremely weak protective environment where basic social welfare services are weak and traditional community-based child protection mechanisms have been disrupted.

The Chief Child Protection, P4 in Mali requires both solid child protection humanitarian and development experience at technical and leadership level. The position requires experience in navigating the complexities of an UN integrated mission and the ability to bring children in armed conflict (CAAC) agenda forward according to UNICEF mandate and the UN Security Council 1612 Resolution. The position requires strong technical knowledge on International and Humanitarian Human Rights laws, on emerging evidence, research, and good practices in line with UNICEF new Strategic Plan around child protection and GBV case management, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, gender and social norms around child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation. The position requires strong leadership in harnessing data and analysis to guide the programme and the team

How can you make a difference?

The Chief, Child Protection reports to the Deputy Representative for general guidance and direction. The Chief is responsible for managing and supervising all stages of child protection programmes/projects from strategic planning and formulation to 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 well-being, as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/frameworks and UN intergovernmental bodies.

The Chief Child Protection is responsible for establishing the plans of action and overseeing work progress to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable programme/project results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Managerial leadership
2. Programme development and planning
3. Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results
4. Advisory services and technical support
5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building
6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Managerial leadership

• Establish the section’s annual work plan with the child protection team; set priorities/targets and performance measurements. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment of the team.
• Supervise team members by providing them with clear objectives and goals, direction and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.

Programme development and planning

• Provide technical advice and operational support to the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis to ensure that current and comprehensive evidence-based data on child protection issues is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights and protection, and to set programme priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans.
• Keep abreast of national, regional and international development priorities on child protection and rights to leverage UNICEF’s position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities and constituents to advocate and promote child protection interventions, policies and social change to achieve goals on child’s rights, protection, survival and wellbeing, as productive members of society.
• Supervise the development of child protection programmes/projects (as a full component of the CO and/or UNDAF programmes). Establish plans of action, programme goals and results, using results-based planning methodology and terminology (RBM).

Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results

• Plan and collaborate on monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in child protection programmes.
• 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 and interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths, and/or weaknesses in programme 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. Take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.

Advisory services and technical support

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on strategies and best practices to influence approaches/policies, support social/economic/political/legal development planning & implementation, and to support delivery of results on child protection, human rights and other related issues.
• Coordinate and ensure the availability of technical experts (with 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 and catalyze social changes for a protective environment for children.
• Lead in country discussions on child protection emergency preparedness, programming and contingency planning to ensure proactive and appropriate responses are in place to meet onset of emergencies nationally, or in other designated locations.

Advocacy, networking and partnership building

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

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking, innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable child protection programme/project initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce, and implement best and cutting edge practices on child protection 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 and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results on child protection and related programmes/projects.

Child Safeguarding

Child safeguarding involves proactive measures to limit direct and indirect collateral risks of harm to children, arising from UNICEF’s work, UNICEF personnel or UNICEF associates. The risks may include those associated with: physical violence (including corporal punishment); sexual violence, exploitation or abuse; emotional and verbal abuse; economic exploitation; failure to provide for physical or psychological safety; neglect of physical, emotional or psychological needs; harmful cultural practices; and privacy violations.

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

• An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science.
  *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 8 years of relevant professional experience in professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas, at the international level, is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in programme development in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in French & English is required (oral and in writing). Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is 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 (II)
2. Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (II)
3. Drive to achieve results for impact (II)
4. Innovates and embraces change (II)
5. Manages ambiguity and complexity (II)
6. Thinks and acts strategically (II)
7. Works collaboratively with others (II)
8. Nurtures, leads and manages people (I)

Functional Competencies:

• Analyzing (3)
• Deciding and initiating action (2)
• Applying Technical Expertise (3)

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:

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.

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.

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.

**The candidate must be available within 31 days of accepting the job offer

** Bamako is a Category D. Non-Family duty station. The Rest and Recuperation Cycle is 8 weeks.

Tagged as: Mali, UNICEF