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, 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 children’s 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 society’s 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.

The position (Gender-Social Behavioral Change-Youth Engagement) is established to align the three result areas (SBC, Youth engagement and Gender) by strengthening synergies and complementarities; and encouraging and attracting more investments in women and young people as vehicles of social transformation from a co-creation perspective. This position will simply establish connections and strengthen alignment and coordination of efforts to promote positive social change towards making communities and institutions more resilient. The change is justified by the complexity of the national context, the stakes on the three levels of development, emergency and peace, the challenges linked to the strengthening of participation, community engagement and their ownership of development initiatives and the abandonment of social and gender norms unfavorable to children and women.

Social and Behavior Change in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that analyses and addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of individual practices and societal changes in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, their values, the socio-cultural norms, and the economic and institutional contexts that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for change. SBC brings social and behavioral evidence generation together with participation in community-led and human-centered processes. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around behaviors like immunization, feeding practices, learning, hygiene, and positive discipline.

UNICEF SBC employs a mix of approaches including community engagement, strategic communication, applied behavioral science, service delivery improvement, systems strengthening, social mobilization and policy advocacy to advance child rights, survival, development, protection, and participation.

Gender equality is a priority for UNICEF, as manifested in its Gender Action Plan 2022–2025 (GAP). The GAP establishes UNICEF’s intention to transform into a more gender-responsive organization with enhanced ambitions for gender equality across results areas. Programme priorities included in the GAP include girls’ empowerment and transforming harmful gender norms from early childhood through adolescence.

The Programme Manager Social Behavior Change and Gender leads the social Behavior change, youth empowerment and Gender Programme of a highly complex nature, under the direct supervision of the Deputy Representative Programme (P5 level) and overall guidance of the Representative (D1 level).

How can you make a difference?

This position is established to reshape the most context-specific pathways to attract more investments in women and young people as vehicles of social transformation from a co-creation perspective. It is designed to create favorable policy environment that will introduce a paradigm shift of moving from “behaviorism” to social transformation at community level and positive social change at institutional level.

The Programme Manager, Social Behavior Change (SBC), Youth Engagement and Gender reports to the Deputy Representative Programme for general guidance and direction. The Programme Manager is responsible for developing a systematic, planned and evidence-based strategy and process for SBC, Youth empowerment and Gender as an integral part of programme development, planning and implementation. With appropriate social and behavioral science, as well as the empowerment and participation of stakeholders, communities, children, civil society partners and government counterparts, s/he promotes measurable behavioral and social change/mobilization.

S/he also performs the role of Gender Focal Point for the Office. As such, the SBC, Youth Engagement and Gender manager provides authoritative technical guidance/operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of results contributing to gender equality in alignment with the UNICEF Gender Action Plan (2022-2025). S/he supports the development, implementation, and monitoring of high-quality gender programming/projects across sectors in alignment with the Gender Action Plan. This subsequently contributes to the achievement of sustainable and concrete results on improving children’s rights, survival and well-being in the country.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Generate & Use Evidence: Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC and Gender transformative programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC, youth empowerment and Gender.
2. Design, plan, and implement: Design, plan and implement SBC, youth empowerment and Gender transformative activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts.
3. Advocate & Build Partnerships: Support operationalization of SBC and Gender transformative programs by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building.
4. Build Capacities: Promote continuous learning, strengthening, and scaling up in SBC and gender transformative programs for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  SJP – Programme Manager – P4 – FT – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: social and behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, communication, international development, gender and/or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience at the national or international levels in developing, implementing, evaluating, and managing social and behavioral change strategies, in social and policy program development planning and management, operational support and humanitarian settings is required.
• Relevant experience in program/project development and management in related areas in a UN system agency or organization is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated expertise in the application of social and behavior change science, theories, research, and analysis, to all stages of the programmes cycle.
• Proven ability to manage social research, including quantitative, qualitative, and participatory methods for formative assessments, identifying behavioural drivers, and tracking, measurement and evaluation of social change is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to stay updated with new developments in the SBC and Gender fields is required.
• Familiarity with new and emerging approaches such as behavioural insights, human cantered design, social listening, among others is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in the execution of complex priorities, processes and projects in office work-plans.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in French and English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

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

(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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, such as 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.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable females candidates are encouraged to apply.

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.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.