General
Description of assignment title: Social Protection Officer
Assignment country: Angola
Expected start date: 03/10/2025
Sustainable Development Goal: 1. No poverty
Volunteer category: National UN Volunteer Specialist
Host entity: UNICEF
Type: Onsite
Duration: 12 months
(with possibility of extension)
Number of assignments: 1
Duty stations: Luanda
Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children’s rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.
UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.
UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a “first call for children” and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families.
UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities.
UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care.
UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority.
UNICEF aims, through its country programmes, to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social and economic development of their communities.
UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realization of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
Context
Social Protection—a set of policies and programmes aimed at preventing and protecting all people against poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, throughout their life cycle—is a key area of work of the UNICEF Angola Country Office (ACO), under the Social Policy section. ACO has engaged in proof of concept, evidence generation, capacity building and strong advocacy around social protection and particularly a cash plus system for children 0-5 years old and municipalization of social action, through the APROSOC project.
The APROSOC project, which came to a close in 2022, proved to be an opportunity for UNICEF ACO, through the solid technical assistance for implementation of the first-ever cash transfer programme in the country, to demonstrate its expertise and leadership capacity in the area of social protection. The solid work since 2014, but in particular since 2019, has led to a much more significant understanding of child-sensitive social protection by government officials, demand for an improved social protection system by local academics and CSOs, and a stronger public discourse around inclusive social protection. It has also led to an expanded workplan in terms of support to government, generating and disseminating evidence, building partnerships, engagement with CSO, Parliamentarians, etc. APROSOC successfully build a foundation for cash transfers and municipalization of social action in Angola, paving the way to a much bigger social cash transfers programme, Kwenda, financed mostly through a loan by the World Bank.
The new National Development Programme 2023-2027 brings several key priorities related to social protection, particularly under Programme 21, such as the expansion of social cash transfers, including for children, social assistance services, integrated management information systems, and furthering the municipalization of social action.
Having strong in-house social protection capacity is crucial to build on ACO’s investments in building government capacity on social protection and, in the process, forming trusting relationships; engaging multiple stakeholders; generating credible evidence; and undertaking strategic advocacy. UNICEF is also the co-chair of the Development Partners’ Group on Social Protection, which brings UN agencies and other Development Partners together to share information, discuss priorities and joint programming to support efforts to build an effective and efficient social protection system.
This UNV will support the work of the Social Policy section of UNICEF ACO related to social protection, as well as its interrelations to child poverty and vulnerability, and adequate financing, monitoring and evaluation. It will support coordination of efforts, linkage with the other sections of the ACO and UN agencies, capacity building on inclusive, child-sensitive social protection, and support to evidence generation and policy proposals through data analyses.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of Chief of Social Policy and Social Protection, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
- Support the section in its engagement in development of social protection policies, legislation and programmes with attention to increasing coverage of and impact on children. Help identify, generate and present evidence to support this goal in collaboration with partners;
- Support strengthening of the social protection system, promoting capacity building and providing technical support to partners to improve the design of social protection programmes and improve linkages with other social protection interventions as well as complementary services and interventions related to nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, child protection and emergencies;
- Support coordination between UN agencies on social protection (including through the Social Protection Development Partners Group), and the monitoring and research around social protection impact on child outcomes;
- Support the identification of policy options for improved domestic financing of child-sensitive social protection interventions, in particular the finalization and strategic dissemination of the ongoing Investment Case on Universal Child Benefits being developed by UNICEF Angola;
- Assist the section in its collaboration with the central and local authorities to strengthen capacity on analysis for policy development, planning, implementation of essential social services, with emphasis interventions for reduction of poverty and vulnerability:
- Support the correct and compelling use of data and evidence on the situation of children and coverage and impact of child-focused services – in support of the social policy programme and the country programme overall.
- Support UNICEF’s engagement with the key government and civil society organizations responsible for the social protection system and support the management of these strategic partnerships.
- Eligibility criteria
Age: 18 – 80
Required experience
3 years
Nationality
Candidate must be a national or legal resident of the country of assignment.
Assignment requirements
Relevant experience
3 years
Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required
Portuguese, Level: Fluent, Required
Required education level
Bachelor degree or equivalent in Sociology, Social Assistance, Political Science, Economics, Public Policy, International Relations, or another relevant technical field
Competencies and values
- Accountability
- Adaptability and flexibility
- Commitment and Motivation
- Communication
- Creativity elSRqo9 BTn6yA
- Ethics and Value
- Planning and organising
- Professionalism
- Respect for diversity
- Self-management
- Working in teams
Skills and experience
- Excellent writing and editing skills (required);
- Strong
- communications, public speaking and presentation skills (required);
- Proven research, data analysis and analytical skills (desirable);
- Solid grasp of the socio-economic situation of Angola, including understanding of the social protection system (required);
- Training and experience with statistical analysis software (Stata, SPSS, E-views, RStudio) (major advantage);
- Experience organizing/coordinating capacity building programmes (desirable);
- Experience with data dissemination and engagement through social media (desirable).
- Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded.
Area(s) of expertise
Crisis and emergency response, Development programmes, Social work
Driving license
Other information
Living conditions and remarks
As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. This position is based in Luanda, Angola. National UN Volunteers are part of the malicious insurance plan. National UN Volunteers are expected to be culturally sensitive and adjust to the prevailing culture and traditions.
Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers
The contract lasts for the period indicated above with possibility of extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment.
The applicable Volunteer Living Allowance is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents – except for UN Community Volunteers), as well as final repatriation (if applicable). You can check full entitlements at https://app.unv.org/calculator .
Furthermore, in non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the ICSC, a Well-Being Differential (WBD) will be provided monthly
Inclusivity statement
United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
Reasonable accommodation
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.
Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements
In addition to duty station-specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts.
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More Information
- Job City Angola
