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. Key functions, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks:
Strengthening national social protection coverage and impact for children:
Supports the development of national social protection policies, legislation and programmes (including funding from national budgets) with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, particularly the most marginalized (including disabled persons and other categories). Identifies, generates, and presents evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners.
Promotes strengthening of national integrated social protection systems, providing technical support to improve the design of social safety nets and child grants and improve linkages with other social protection interventions such as health insurance, public works and social care services as well as complementary services and interventions related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, child protection and HIV.
Providing effective technical support, quality assurance, and guidance on social protection programmes:
Provide evidence-based technical support on funding frameworks, legislation, coordination mechanisms, information system (RSU and others), and other dimensions of the social protection system aimed at increasing the coverage, impact, equity and shock-responsiveness of the social protection system for children, especially the most marginalized (including people with disabilities and other groups).
Provide technical support to ensure adequate integration to social protection as accelerator strategy for multisectoral results for children.
Ensure adequate inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration with program sections to systematically ensure linkages between Humanitarian Cash and Social Protection.
Manage the planning, budgeting, and monitoring of the social protection component of the Social Policy work plan for the Country Office.
Contribute to activities to mobilize financial resources for social protection and support the development of funding proposals for the UNICEF country office.
Ensure relevant and strong work relationships with social protection colleagues at the regional and global HQ levels.
Develop capacity within the COs teams and with national partners on social protection.
Providing effective technical support to social protection evidence generation and system assessments:
Support research around social protection impacts on child outcomes and promote uptake of data and research findings for strengthening programme design and delivery. Support assessments of social protection systems, including financing and spending, with a focus on the extent to which they are child- and gender-sensitive and shock-responsive.
Ensure adequate dissemination of research findings and keep abreast of latest developments in the field of social protection for sharing with national partners and UNICEF CO staff in view of strengthening social protection advocacy and programming.
Support the collaboration with research institutes in the country and promotes north-south, south-south research collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Support the collection, analysis, and user-friendly presentation of data on child deprivation and wellbeing, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report and use data to inform social protection policies and programmes.
Providing effective support for establishing and developing social protection partnerships at country level:
Ensure adequate relationships between the Multisectoral Cash Working Group and the national social protection system.
Establish strong collaborative relations with UN partners, notably ILO and WFP, bilateral development partners, notably Germany and the EU, multilateral partners such as the World Bank, and civil society organizations. This includes collaboration to strengthen exchange of evidence and relevant social protection programming information, advocacy, and support to implementing programmes.
Providing effective support to the integration of social protection into strategies and support aimed at achieving UNICEF Niger’s results for children:
Provide technical support to ensure adequate integration to social protection as accelerator strategy for multisectoral results for children.
Ensure adequate inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration with program sections to systematically ensure linkages between Humanitarian Cash and Social Protection.
Manage the planning, budgeting, and monitoring of the social protection component of the Social Policy work plan for the Country Office.
Contribute to activities to mobilize financial resources for social protection and support the development of proposals for the country office.
Ensure relevant and strong work relationships with social protection colleagues at the regional and global HQ levels.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:
An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience is required, in managing (technical support to) the design and delivery of social protection programmes, including cash transfers, social protection policy development, and the strengthening of social protection systems.
Experience working in the West and Central Africa region is considered as a strong asset.
Background and/or familiarity with emergency is considered as a strong asset.
Fluency in English and French is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is considered as an asset.
