Social Policy Specialist (NOC)

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 Future

UNICEF in the State of Palestine aims to help every child attain her or his rights and realize their full potential. To help mobilize support for the children who are most in need, UNICEF and partners track key indicators, analyses gaps and bottlenecks to the realization of rights.  Major strides have been made in the last decades to improve the situation of children in the State of Palestine, with some social indicators like near universal immunization coverage and high school enrollment rates – including for girls – in primary education, showing progress well beyond other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.

But much remains to be done for every Palestinian child to realize his/her full potential. This entails addressing the many obstacles children and young people face in accessing basic services and fulfilling their rights. This is due to many factors, not least the very high levels of violence they are exposed to in their schools and communities and as a result of the continuing conflict.

2.5 million people (a little over half of the population) including more than 1 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance. More than one-fifth of Palestinian families live below the poverty line defined as a monthly income of less than US$640. Unemployment rates are high: 26.9 per cent in the State of Palestine -- 41.7 per cent in the Gaza Strip, one of the highest rates in the world, with unemployment reaching 60 per cent of youth in the Gaza strip, where 80 percent of the population relies on some kind of humanitarian assistance. Coping mechanisms are eroding fast, with some children and families resorting to negative strategies like school drop-out, child labour, substance abuse and early marriage.

However, every day Palestinian children display inspiring stories of resilience and hope. Many adolescents demonstrate great skills and talents, a determination to continue to learn and to succeed despite the odds, and a wish to come up with innovative solutions to the problems their communities face and help build a brighter, more peaceful future.

Together with the Palestinian Authority, UN and NGO partners, UNICEF in Palestine continues to impact positively children’s development and to respond to the population’s humanitarian needs, in an integrated manner.

How can you make a difference? 

Under the supervision of the Chief, Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Social Policy, responsible for providing technical support to the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all stages of social policy programing and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results. This includes programmes aimed at improving (a) public policies to reduce child poverty; (b) social protection coverage and impact on children; (c) the transparency, adequacy, equity and efficiency of child-focused public investments and financial management; and (d) governance, decentralization and accountability measures to increase public participation and the quality, equity and coverage of social services. This encompasses both direct programme work with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to teams working on education, health, child protection, water and sanitation

Improving data on child poverty & vulnerability for increased use for policy, child rights monitoring and programme action

• Supports the collection, analysis and user-friendly presentation of data on multidimensional and monetary child poverty, including strengthening national capacity to collect routinely, report and use data for policy decision-making.
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives to reduce child poverty. 
• Analyzes the macroeconomic context and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effects of social welfare policies on the rights of children.

Strengthening social protection coverage and impact for children

• Supports the development of social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children, with special attention the most marginalized.  Identifies, generates and presents evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners.
• Promotes strengthening of integrated social protection systems, providing technical support to partners to improve the design of cash transfers 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 intervention related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation and child protection.
• Undertakes improved monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes, and use of data and research findings for strengthening programme results.

Improving use of public financial resources for children

• Undertakes budget analysis to inform UNICEF’s advocacy and technical assistance to Ministries of Finance, planning commissions and social sector ministries to improve equitable allocations for essential services for children.  Works with sector colleagues to build capacity to undertake costing and cost effectiveness analysis on priority interventions to help inform policy decisions on child-focused investments.
• Supports the identification of policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions.
• Undertakes and builds capacity of partners for improved monitoring and tracking of public expenditure to support transparency, accountability and effective financial flows for essential service delivery, including through support to district level planning, budgeting and public financial management as well as facilitating community participation.

Strengthening capacity of local governments to plan, budget, consult on and monitor child-focused social services.

• Where national decentralization processes are taking place, collaborates with central and local authorities to improve policies, planning, budgeting, consultation and accountability processes so that decisions and child-focused service delivery more closely respond to the needs of local communities.
• Collaborates with the central and local authorities to strengthen capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of essential social services, with emphasis on community participation and accountability.

Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive social policy

• Supports correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child focused services – in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall. 
• Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.

UNICEF Programme Management

• Manages and coordinates technical support around child poverty, social protection, public finance and governance ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion so as to adequately support scale-up and delivery. Ensures risk analysis and risk mitigation are embedded into overall management of the support, in close consultation with UNICEF programme sections, Cooperating Partners, and governments.
• Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme. Ensures that the social planning project enhances policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.

جميع الحقوق محفوظة لموقع جوبس.

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

Education:  An advanced university degree in one of the following fields: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field

Experience: A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience is required. Experience working in a developing country is considered as a strong asset. Background and/or familiarity with emergency is considered as a strong asset.

 Language: Fluency in English and Arabic required.  Knowledge of another official UN language is considered an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

Click here to view our competency framework http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply for a position.

Remarks:

* Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

* Employment offer is conditional upon receipt of medical clearance, any clearance required, and completion of any other pre-employment criteria that UNICEF may establish. Candidates may not be further considered or offers of employment may be withdrawn if these conditions are unlikely to be met before the date for commencement of service.

Interested and qualified candidates can apply online through Apply Now - تقدم الآن لهذه الوظيفة