Job no: 548012
Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment
Level: P-4
Location: United States
Categories: Child Protection
Deadline: 14 Feb 2022 Eastern Standard Time
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.
The Child Protection Team influences policy, produces public goods and supports partnerships at a global level, and provides technical oversight and programmatic support to regional and country offices.
UNICEF’s child protection programme focuses on children’s access to justice in child protection and ‘child justice/juvenile justice’. Specifically, children’s interaction with formal and informal justice and administrative systems as victims/survivors or witnesses of a crime, when alleged or accused of an offence, or because an intervention is required for their care, custody, and protection.
Justice for children and their access to justice is key to achieving all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 16 on just, peaceful and inclusive societies and its targets 16.3 (access to justice for all), 16.2 (ending all forms of violence against children), and 16.9 (legal identity for all). The new UNICEF Strategic Plan (2022-2025) as well as the new Child Protection Strategy (2021-2030) both recognize justice for children and access to justice as a key programming priority to protect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and harmful practices as well as children on the move. UNICEF’s Reimagine Justice for Children Agenda (2021-2030) provides the programmatic framework to operationalize these strategic priorities.
For every child, Hope
Under the supervision of the Senior Advisor, and in the context of rolling out and implementation of the new UNICEF Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the new Child Protection Strategy (2021-2030), and the Reimagine Justice for Children Agenda (2021-2030) you will provide technical leadership with a focus on justice for children and child protection systems, including justice issues in the context of migration. You will also develop global technical guidance and effective partnerships to strengthen UNICEF's work globally on justice for children/access to justice and to support a systems approach to child protection as per the Child Protection Strategy. You will also identify and disseminates latest research and good programming practices in child justice, including data, legal and institutional reform regarding children’s interaction with formal and informal justice and administrative systems as victims/survivors or witnesses of a crime, when alleged or accused of an offence, or because an intervention is required for their care, custody, and protection. Provides intra-sectoral support, including legal support, and works closely with the CPHA, HP, VAC, and Migration hub to address issues relating to justice for children including in the context of migration, specifically child immigration detention. Collaborates with all divisions/hubs/sections at HQ, regional and country offices as well as external and inter-agency partnerships, UN agencies and intergovernmental organizations such as the European Union and the Hague Conference on Private International Law to enhance justice for children and child protection systems and related issues.
How can you make a difference?
Programme Policy and Strategy Formulation and Support
- Provide leadership and technical guidance to support the development of effective justice for children policies, strategies, guidance, and tools, including on justice for children in the context of migration. This should consider child justice and access to justice in all aspects of the child protection systems and in all contexts including emergencies.
- Provides support to country offices, regional offices, networks, including the Migration network, for situation analysis, strategy formulation, project and programme development, and assessment of programme recommendations and programme evaluations in respect of justice for children and child protection.
Knowledge Acquisition and Dissemination
- Identifies and disseminates relevant research as well as examples from the field to support advocacy, enhanced analysis and programming around justice for children, with special attention to the following justice for children work: ending deprivation of liberty and promoting restorative justice approaches and supporting use of diversion and non-custodial measures, ending the immigration detention of children, improving support for child survivors/witnesses of crime, legal empowerment of children including legal aid for children, traditional/informal justice, and accountability mechanisms.
- In collaboration with Office of Research, the Migration hub, the Human Rights Unit and other relevant Sectors, the UN Rule of Law Global Focal Point, the UN Taskforce on follow-up to the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of their Liberty, the Rule of law Unit of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and other research partners, strategically identifies gaps in policy evidence in order to support and promote further research and development of guidance that fills identified gaps.
Advisory Services and Technical Support
- Provides technical input into the development and refining of tools on justice for children and access to justice, as well as identifying areas that require further elaboration.
- Provides technical guidance to ensure the development of and effective roll-out of agreed indicators on justice for children, including in emergency and post-emergency settings.
- Organizes and participates in trainings, orientations, and other action-oriented learnings responding to country and regional offices, as well as other partners, requirements.
Global Advocacy, Strategic Partnerships and Networking
- Contribute to the establishment and strengthening of strategic partnerships at international level for the programmatic follow up to the SDGs and international commitments via active participation in the UN Taskforce on follow-up to the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of their Liberty, UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law, the Global Migration Network, EOSG Rule of Law Initiatives on the Common Agenda and other bilateral contacts with SRSG VAC, OHCHR, UNDP, UNODC, UNHCR, IOM, the EU and HCCH and others to improve understanding and rights-based action on justice for children, including in the context of migration..
- Network with and build partnerships with a range of actors and related to programming, policymaking, coordination, guidance/standard setting, and advocacy.
- Participate and/or represent UNICEF in international meetings, inter-agency discussions
- and planning on justice for children, including in the context of migration, to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered.
- Keep abreast of and apply knowledge of developments taking place in the wider context in which the work is situated to inform programming, advocacy and policymaking.
Leveraging resources
- Contribute to increasing the financial resources available for justice for children by fostering partnerships and supporting the development of project proposals, preparing multi-country proposals and donor reports, managing Programme Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) and contracts, and monitoring and reporting on utilization of funds.
Team and Management Support
- Serves as section focal point on justice issues for children including in respect of legal reform for child protection, and migration.
- Contribute to planning and reporting functions of the UNICEF Child Protection Team, including development and monitoring of annual workplans, drafting funding allocations, writing annual and ad-hoc reports, and producing other documentation
- Provide overall support to the team, including preparation of team and section reports,
- develop project proposals and donor reports, monitor programme implementation, and
- participate in the development and implementation of the Section's Annual Workplan.
- Contribute to Child Protection Team to achieve planned results and organizational reporting requirements (e.g. GARR, PDAR, EDAR, SMQs, OIC function as appropriate, including timely response to OEDs, quality BNs, Advocacy initiatives, Knowledge Management).
- Perform any other related work as assigned.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Master’s degree (LLM) or higher in international law is required, preferably in public international law or international human rights/humanitarian law.
- A minimum Eight (8) years of solid professional work experience at the national and international levels in programme formulation, design, management, and evaluation with emphasis on strategic planning on justice for children, and child protection systems strengthening required.
- Solid professional field experience in multiple country contexts with demonstrated technical leadership on justice for children/access to justice, legal reform, policy advocacy, and programme implementation required.
- Strong legal analysis and drafting skills, including advising on questions of international law and negotiating international agreements is desirable.
- Prior professional experience as a lawyer in a legal office or the legal office of a government or intergovernmental organization advising on questions of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, public and/or private international law with a focus on child rights, access to justice, justice for children is desirable.
- At least two years of professional experience working with the UN or a related intergovernmental organization is desirable.
- Fluency in English and French or Spanish (written and verbal) is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian) is an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
To view our competency framework, please visit here and click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.
- UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
- 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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
- For more information on remuneration and benefits, please visit UNICEF’s Entitlements’ page. If you would like to find estimates for entitlements, you may use the online Salary Estimate Calculator
- “UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/”
- Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.