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, an advocate.

UNICEF Syria was established in 1970 and has been working with partners to help empower children to fully claim and enjoy their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF works with partners across Syria to deliver supplies, services, and expertise in areas of Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition, Water, Hygiene and Sanitation for every child. UNICEF also provides humanitarian assistance when needed.

Syria continues to face one of the most complex emergencies in the world. Unprecedented humanitarian needs are compounded by displacement inside the country and across its borders, extensive destruction of civilian and social services infrastructure, devastating impacts on the economy, and most importantly, the breakdown of the social fabric that stitched the country together for decades.

Today, 90% of people in Syria live in poverty, most are unable to make ends meet or bring food to the table. Families have had their resources depleted, with limited employment opportunities, skyrocketing prices, and shortage of basic supplies. For most people, the current socio-economic challenges represent some of the harshest and most challenging circumstances they have faced since the beginning of the crisis in 2011.

The February 2023 earthquakes in north Syria and Türkiye have added agony to an already catastrophic situation, increasing the strain on services, causing displacement, and inflicting widespread damage. Many families lost their main breadwinner due to death or injury, at a time when the economic situation was already dire, resulting in millions of people unable to meet their basic needs.

In 2024, 16.7 million people need humanitarian assistance[1]. This is the highest number of people in need ever recorded in Syria since 2011. The number of children in need – more than 6.5 million – has increased by seven per cent in the past year alone. This is largely due the ongoing conflict, continued displacements, the unprecedented economic crisis, deepening poverty, and unemployment. The COVID-19 pandemic, the hike in price of commodities triggered by the overall global economic situation and the impact of sanctions are further compounding the dire situation.

For information of the work of our organization, please visit our website: UNICEF Syria

Background on the Assignment:

For 2024 and 2025, UNICEF’s Social and Behavior Change (SBC) team in Syria plans to enhance its knowledge management system adopting a three-fold approach. Firstly, this includes improving the storage and sharing of files and knowledge products to boost the internal efficiency of the SBC section’s work processes. Efficiency should also be further supported by drafting necessary documentation such as reports, concept notes, and proposals. Secondly, recording the impact of SBC interventions in the field is vital for the UNICEF SBC team’s continuous learning. This also aids in sharing key insights with other UNICEF programs and informing future SBC interventions. Thereby, the key results of SBC interventions should be reviewed and illustrated through case studies, aimed to be shared with the wider public. Thirdly, the SBC team’s knowledge management focus is on the direct use of SBC knowledge products during implementation. This will be enabled through the compilation of produced knowledge and learnings into user-friendly packages intended for implementing partners

How can you make a difference? 

The aim of this assignment, as per UNICEF Syria’s SBC team’s knowledge management priorities, is to address the specific efforts required for the successful execution of these priorities. You will report to the SBC Specialist, who provides technical guidance throughout the entire consultancy for quality assurance. In particular, the objectives for the Knowledge Management (KM) consultancy can be divided into three major categories: i) documenting and sharing case studies that assess the impact of SBC interventions; ii) enhancing the internal SBC knowledge management system, including the filing system and internal documentation processes; iii) packaging knowledge products into user-friendly guides for implementing partners. Given the volatile emergency situation in which UNICEF Syria operates, the priorities of this assignment may be subject to adaptation if changing circumstances require it, while remaining under the general umbrella of knowledge management. Specifically, this could include support to the drafting of regular reports required during emergencies, such as Situation Reports.

If you would like to know more about this assignment, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:

SBC KM Consultancy_TOR_ VA.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

1. Academic qualifications:

Master’s Degree in Knowledge Management, Communication, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Social Sciences, International Relations or a related field. As the second tier of the selection process, a first-level university degree with an additional 2 years of required relevant experience in lieu of the advanced university degree could exceptionally be considered for further assessment.

2. Work experience / Technical competencies:

• 5 years of experience in knowledge management and programming for social impact at country level, some of which preferably were served in an emergency or developing country is required.
• Consultant must have completed at least three high-quality documents in that period, at least one of them being related to social and behavioral change and/or community engagement.
• Demonstrates excellent writing skills, and strong communication, in particular for the development of technical documents is essential.
• Demonstrates experience and knowledge of the latest developments and issues related to UNICEF’s work on social and behavior change and community engagement are essential.
• Demonstrated capacity of effective coordination across different teams and being able to work independently with minimum support/supervision.

3. Language requirement:

Fluency in English and Arabic (both written and verbal) is required.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

Competencies:

For every Child, you demonstrate..

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

Child Safeguarding Remark

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is either a role with direct contact with children, a role that works directly with identifiable children’s data, a safeguarding response role, or an assessed risk role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) apply.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

General Remarks:

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Visa Requirements remark

This Consultancy Contract is subject to VISA approval (this assignment cannot be done remotely)