Child Protection Specialist

at  UNICEF

Job no: 571711
Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment
Duty Station: Panama City
Level: P-4
Location: Panama
Categories: Child Protection
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.
At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.
Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.
For every child, Protection

THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of eight (8) years progressively responsible professional experience in programme design, planning, implementation, and management relevant to child protection, GBV, PSEA, AAP or related field, preferably with the UN and/or international NGO.
• Experience working in multiple humanitarian, and/or development contexts on implementing PSEA, AAP or protection related programming for children or adults.
• Familiarity with the latest developments in PSEA and AAP, inter-agency PSEA and AAP responses and humanitarian cluster systems and understanding of the intersections of PSEA with other technical areas (e.g., GBV, Child Protection, AAP)
• Experience with training and capacity building in PSEA, AAP or relevant technical areas
• Excellent communication, facilitation, training, networking and advocacy skills.
• Proven ability to work independently under difficult conditions and exercise sound judgement in high-pressure situations.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships, both within and outside the organization.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

• Fluency in English and Spanish is required.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB:

The UNICEF Safeguarding, PSEA and AAP Specialist in the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean will develop and support UNICEF’s work on Safeguarding, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) to meet UNICEF institutional and programmatic commitments.
The post will serve as the key technical resource on Safeguarding, PSEA and AAP and will provide programme guidance and technical support to Country Offices in strengthening UNICEF’s ability to effectively fulfil our commitments in the areas.
The Safeguarding, PSEA and AAP specialist will: 1) Support the rollout and adoption of the Policy on Safeguarding in the regional office and country offices under its purview; 2) coordinate and support the rollout/implementation of the forthcoming Complaint Feedback and Redressal Mechanism (CFRM - UNICARE) procedure; 3) Provide ongoing technical support for country offices on the PSEA Portfolio; 4) Provide ongoing technical support for country offices on the AAP Portfolio.
The Specialist will report to the UNICEF Regional Director, in consultation with the Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Advisor for Child Protection, the Regional Chief of Programme and Planning, and the Human Resources Manager, when needed.

KEY FUNCTIONS, ACCOUNTABILITIES AND RELATED DUTIES/TASKS:

1. Support the rollout of the Policy on Safeguarding, which includes PSEA, in country offices

• In coordination with HQ Divisions, provide technical support to Country Offices for the roll out of the Policy on Safeguarding and its implementation guidance.
• Support UNICEF CO Risk Management, Planning; Safeguarding and PSEA Focal Points (FPs) and Specialists by organizing regular meetings, providing trainings, enhancing communication and information sharing.
• In coordination with HQ Divisions, support Country Offices to strengthen Safeguarding, including PSEA, in HR, partnerships and supply.
• Promote adherence to global Policies and procedures for Safeguarding and PSEA and strengthen understanding among UNICEF staff and partners on UNICEF policies and reporting procedures.
• Provide support in reporting, managing, and responding to safeguarding, SEA and AAP concerns and incidents in coordination with OIAI and other HQ divisions, as required.
• Explore methodology for regular tracking progress at country level (pulse survey; targeted surveys or similar)

1. Coordinate and support the rollout/implementation of the Complaint Feedback and Redressal Mechanism (CFRM) Procedure

• Strengthen COs capacities to develop and improve access to integrated, safe, gender and age-sensitive feedback, complaint, and redressal mechanisms, in line with the CFRM Procedure.
• Support COs in regularly analyzing and bringing feedback trends and insights to the senior management decision-making fora to foster improvement and adaptation of CO’s programmes, activities, operations and supply chain.
• Coordinate the establishment and operation of the Regional Office CFRM.
• Train RO staff, complementary staff and implementing partners staff on how to receive and handle the different types of feedback that might be disclosed to them.
• Support visibility and sensitization efforts to raise awareness about the CFRM among all stakeholders with whom UNICEF interacts.
• Act as the RO focal point for feedback issues that might be escalated from the different COs.
• Convene the RO Complaints and Feedback Management Committee (CFMC).Ensure that feedback trends and insights from across the region are regularly analyzed and brought to the senior management decision-making fora within and beyond the RO (HQ Divisions), to foster improvement and adaptation of UNICEF’s programmes, activities, operations, and supply chain.

1. Provide ongoing technical support for country offices on the PSEA Portfolio

• Contribute to the implementation and roll out of global and regional guidance and strategies to improve efforts to address SEA including survivor assistance, SEA risk assessments and engagement with government and other partners.
• Provide technical support to COs for implementation of survivor assistance to ensure survivors have access to appropriate services i.e., medical, psychosocial, legal and material support, in accordance with the UN Victim Assistance protocol.
• Work closely with the Programme Specialist for IP Management and Risk Management team to operationalize the requirements for PSEA Assessments of CSO Implementing Partnerships and overall risk management policies and procedures.
• Strengthen implementation of COs PSEA inter-agency initiatives/networks, including the setting-up of in-country PSEA Networks
• Represent UNICEF on the inter-agency PSEA regional working group and on UNICEF HQ coordination groups and maintain close relationship with focal points in other regions.
• Regularly support COs capacity building efforts including co-facilitating PSEA training modules for UNICEF and IPs staff as appropriate on international standards on PSEA, roles and responsibilities, and how to submit and receive complaints and strengthening GBV services for survivor assistance.
• Provide technical support to COs, identify trends, needs, challenges, good practices and escalate them to HQ for continued improvement.

1. Provide ongoing technical support for country offices on the AAP Portfolio

• Support countries in the design and implementation of strategies and action plans to scale up Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP)
• Ensure the mainstreaming of AAP in program planning procedure, implementation, and monitoring in alignment with the global efforts in this area, and make sure to support countries implement mainstream AAP in these processes at their level.
• Supporting advocacy, networking and capacity building of RO and COs staff for improved understanding, and adoption of, AAP principles and approaches.
• Develop capacities of country staff on AAP including on AAP approaches in both humanitarian and development contexts, within UNICEF and at interagency level.
• Revise and support country plans that provide strategic emphasis on vulnerable groups – including adolescent girls, children living with disabilities, minority groups etc.
• In line with the global policy, promote a common understanding of aligned approaches in AAP and Safeguarding / PSEA. Advise COs to minimize the duplication of efforts, integrate AAP and community engagement into PSEA initiatives for greater reach and effectiveness, and ensure that approaches set up for AAP meet PSEA requirements.
• Review regional response plans, or regional strategies and ensure the inclusion of a strong AAP lens
• Ensure that an AAP budget is included in regional appeals and fundraising initiatives.
• Develop means to track progress on AAP strategy implementation in countries and support the AAP Country Standard Indicators revision for the region.
• Convene an internal cross-sector group of focal points to share AAP/CE experiences across the region.
• Strengthening AAP evidence generation, innovation and knowledge management and exchange
• Represent UNICEF and provide technical coordination in the interagency fora on AAP; contribute actively to regional AAP networks to help advance interagency AAP results and promote linkages with PSEA.