Social Policy Specialist (PF4C), NOC, FT Full-time Job

Social Policy Specialist (PF4C), NOC, FT, Kenya Country Office, Nairobi #120839 (Kenyans Only)

Job no: 555573
Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment
Duty Station: Nairobi
Level: NO-3
Location: Kenya
Categories: Social Policy

UNICEF works in some of the worlds toughest places, to reach the worlds 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

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to childrens rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a societys most disadvantaged citizens addressing inequity not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

The Social Policy Specialist PF4C is responsible for providing technical lead in the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of all stages of social policy PF4C programing and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results. The incumbent will contribute to 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/devolution 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, and HIV.

1. Improving data on child poverty & vulnerability for increased use for policy and programme action

• Contribute to 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
• Analyze 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
• Support UNICEF with data collection and analysis for PF4C related researches such as investment cases, budget absorption capacity studies, and fiscal space analysis
• Contribute to use of PF4C methodologies and tools in secondary analysis of key reports and major national surveys to establish links with public spending patterns and provide on-demand support to PF4C work.

2. Strengthening PF4C coverage and impact for children

• Contribute to the development of PF4C 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
• Collaborate and/or consult with internal and external partners mainly the government counterparts to provide operational and technical support to implementation of social protection and public finance for children related activities
• Undertake improved monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes, and use of data and research findings for strengthening programme results
• Undertake budget analysis to inform UNICEFs 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
• Build 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

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

• Collaborate with National and County governments to address PF4C through improved policies, planning, budgeting, consultation and accountability processes so that decisions and child-focused service delivery more closely respond to the needs of local communities
• Collaborate with the National and County governments 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
• In collaboration with the UNICEF zonal offices and in partnership with other stakeholders, work close with national and county governments in areas such as; joint devolution programme activities such as advocacy for implementation of budget thematic briefs, improving county capacity on own source revenue (OSR) with intention to enhance the resources towards social expenditure that benefits the children and vulnerable groups/communities Public Finance Management systems for monitoring allocation of expenditure in sectors for children (health, education, HIV, nutrition, child protection, social inclusion, and WASH), etc.
• Capacity building of country governments in improving the descriptions of the budget programme structures accurate use of the economic classifications to describe child protection budgets in budget documents, and in the recording of expenditures on child protection

4. Strengthened advocacy and partnerships for child-sensitive social policy

• Contribute to capacity building and uptake of PF4C commitments through use of data and evidence on situation of children and coverage, and its impact on child focused services in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall
• Establish effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to influence policy formulation, review and monitoring of the medium-term plans, sector plans etc. to ensure PF4C priorities are articulated and reflected
• Keep track of, and analyze the governments socio-economic policies, strategies, and programs with a bearing on PF4C to inform programming and advocacy by UNICEF and its partners.

5. 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

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
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as a strong asset
• Background and/or familiarity with emergency is considered as a strong asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEFs Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability (CRITA) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

UNICEF competencies required for this post are

Core Competencies

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

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 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.

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 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. 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:

UNICEFs active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable Candidates are encouraged to apply.

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

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 be 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.

Advertised: 28 Sep 2022 E. Africa Standard Time
Deadline: 12 Oct 2022 E. Africa Standard Time

UNICEF works in the worlds toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. The worlds largest provider of vaccines, we support child health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, quality education and skill building, HIV prevention and treatment for mothers and babies, and the protection of children and adolescents from violence and exploitation.