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

UNICEF in the State of Palestine (SoP) works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential.

In the past years, UNICEF in the State of Palestine has achieved a high reach and engagement through its communication channels. UNICEF-SoP would like to build on this and continue engaging with our audience, who are not only seek information but are willing to have important conversations on crucial issues concerning children’s wellbeing and rights.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF State of Palestine is seeking temporary support in rolling out the PSEA Inter-Agency Action Plan. Towards advancing PSEA and Child Safeguarding in UNICEF with the UN Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) which includes prioritized activities to improve safe and accessible reporting, access to survivor centered assistance, and enhanced accountabilities, including country-level investigations. The plan includes a mapping of PSEA efforts amongst partners; awareness-raising in local communities and coordination of reporting responsibilities; the strengthening of the complaint’s mechanism and victims’ assistance; development and implementation of risk assessment and mitigation plans for partners and operations; and strengthen coordination with Protection Cluster and AoR- Child Protection and GBV.

Under the overall supervision of the PSEA Coordinator and working closely with the Senior Emergency Coordinator, Gaza, the Programme Specialist (PSEA / Child Safeguarding) is responsible for supporting the collective PSEA activities of UNICEF (50%) and for the Interagency PSEA Coordination in Gaza (50%). The specialist will report directly to the PSEA Coordinator in Jerusalem and liaise with the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Gaza. Working closely with UNICEF sections and the PSEA Network, the PSEA specialist will divide efforts equally between supporting the Child Safeguarding and PSEA portfolio in Gaza and fulfilling UNICEF’S accountabilities.

Your key functions/accountabilities

– Coordinate with clusters and UNICEF’s partners the implementation of Child Safeguarding / Protection Risk Workshops. Share and analyze information about partners’ potential risk factors and areas of concern and develop strategies to minimize them within the emergency response.

– Co- Chair the PSEA Network in Gaza to hold regular meetings and secure the development of Gaza action plan in coordination with other protection actors.

– Develop a PSEA / Child Safeguarding capacity building plan for all implementing partners and provide technical assistance to partners of the PSEA Network in Gaza

– In coordination with the PSEA network’s members ensure that awareness-raising and community engagement activities are held with local communities.

– Support the PSEA Network to map existing CFMs in Gaza to identify where there are gaps in community access for reporting sensitive complaints and provide support to strategic channels.

– Support the PSEA Network to hold inter-agency trainings on good practices in SEA, safeguarding, complaint intake and referral for PSEA Focal Points, Protection, GBV and Child Protection actors, and all actors staffing CFM channels, so that all actors who may receive SEA complaints know how to recognize SEA and where to send allegations in the joint CBCM.

– Mobilize the PSEA Network in Gaza to assist in a mapping exercise of available services and gaps for health, legal, psychosocial, and material support and advocate for addressing existing gaps and practices vulnerating the rights of Children and Survivors.

– Facilitate awareness-raising with section’s partners and operation’s contractors on codes of conduct, including PSEA and complaint mechanisms, available services and referral pathways. Assist the Network to train assistance service providers on PSEA-specific components.

– Proactively reach out to relevant entities that are not participating in the PSEA Network or the joint CBCM to ensure that they are aware of PSEA activities, and to foster linkages and information-sharing on PSEA

– Support data collection exercises with PSEA Network partners in Gaza

– Receive updated PSEA material (policy, guidance, training tools), and share it with UNICEF, OCHA and network staff in office as needed.

– Share information on achievements, best practices and/or effective mechanisms in addressing SEA by partners. Respond to questions related to PSEA raised by network focal points, UNICEF staff, partners, and community.

– Support resource mobilization

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

Education:

An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Social Sciences, Human Rights, Gender Studies, Child Protection, International Relations, Social Policy, Social Development, Community Development, or another relevant technical field.

Experience:

– A minimum of minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience

– Field experience in humanitarian or development settings, ideally in PSEA / Safeguarding

– Understanding of the international development and humanitarian architecture

– Familiarity with the UN system and global coordination structures (e.g. IASC)

– Proven ability to develop and/or implement an Action Plan/Strategy

– Experience in developing and facilitating training and capacity-building activities is an advantage

– Familiarity with data protection and confidentiality measures is an advantage

Language Requirement:

English and Arabic are a requirement.

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 reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

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 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 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:

Special Remarks: In the current evolving emergency context, this position will be based in Gaza where medical facilities have been negatively affected and individual chronic and/or serious medical conditions cannot be adequately addressed.

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 female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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

This is required for all posts requiring a higher education degree. “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/

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

The VA is open to all (internal and external candidates)

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.