Child Protection Officer - UNICEF Ghana

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s 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, a safe and conducive environment

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does – in programmes, 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, nutrition, 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.

How can you make a difference?

The Child Protection Officer will contribute to the Child Protection programme by supporting adequate planning, implementation and monitoring of output results and activities related to Social Welfare and Case Management under the Government of Ghana/UNICEF country programme. While supporting capacity strengthening of the Social Welfare and Community Development Units, focus will be on ensuring the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) provide access to quality social welfare services to vulnerable children and families.

The Officer will be supervised by the Child Protection Specialist and will collaborate with all other UN agencies, NGOs and civil society agencies to accelerate the implementation and scale up of social welfare and case management programme at decentralized level.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Support to programme development and planning

• Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of child protection related programmes/projects. Research and report on development trends (e.g. economic, social, health) and data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through research, analysis and reporting of child protection and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical, programme, operational, and administrative transactions, preparing related materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating of results.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level interventions and/or decisions. Keep records of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programmes/projects, and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules, regulations, procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on critical issues and findings to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.

Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys and exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support. Take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

•  Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices in child protection, to support programme implementation.

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on child protection.

• Participate in inter-agency meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of child protection programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with UNDAF development and planning processes.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

•  Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for child protection programmes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

• Research and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

Additional Key results expected 

• Most vulnerable and disadvantaged girls and boys have access to services to prevent and respond to violence against children
• Existence of a functional quality assurance system in place for social service work (RAAM)
• Quality services for children are provided through capacity development of social welfare and health service providers (formal and informal) on the child protection/ GBV and the development of child protection case management SOPs

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

• A University degree in Social Science, preferably with a specialization in social work, or in another related discipline, is required.
• A minimum of two (2) years of professional experience in developing policies, programmes and tools, providing technical assistance and managing programmes in the area of social/child and family welfare/child protection services.
• Social work background with experience in case management and case work is an asset
• Relevant experience in working with local government and Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies.
• Relevant experience in child protection and related areas, program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts are an added advantage.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset