Child Protection Specialist (PSEA), P-4 at UNICEF

Job Number: 520125
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Work Type: Temporary Appointment

For every child, Change

• In its 2017 Report on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, the Secretary General confirmed the United Nations’ commitment to taking effective actions to preventing and ending impunity for Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) by UN staff and related personnel, as well as to providing support for SEA survivors. The potential for SEA against children affected by the crisis in north eastern Nigeria is high. The levels of poverty and critical needs of communities affected and displaced by the conflict in the northeast, combined with large-scale humanitarian operation, often in areas of insecurity and remote access, often create a context that puts vulnerable populations at greater risks for SEA.
• To this end, UNICEF has developed Minimum Operating Standards for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (MOS-PSEA), which sets out the measures to be taken by the organization to meet its obligations relating to SEA. Globally, UNICEF has contracted dedicated personnel to build its internal capacity to respond to SEA in emergency contexts and high-risk settings. In May 2017, the Regional Office supported the Nigeria Country Office by sending a PSEA Consultant for 3 weeks, to develop a PSEA Action Plan for Nigeria. From August 2017 to February 2018, an international consultant in close collaboration with UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (Gender Based Violence) who was also the designated PSEA Focal Point helped implement the plan. UNICEF urgently needs to a full time PSEA support, based in Maiduguri, to mitigate risks, scale up prevention and response systems and take forward PSEA work. The PSEA Specialist will be managed by the Chief of Field Office, Maiduguri, with technical guidance from Chief of Child Protection, Abuja. Supporting this post will be the UNICEF GBV and national PSEA officer, both based in Maidugiri, Borno State, Nigeria.

How can you make a difference?

• The overall objective of the post is to support overall GBV prevention and response initiatives and programming, including but not limited to the capacity building initiatives, case management and PSS support.
• The incumbent will also promote the handover of girls and women associated with non-state armed groups to civilian authorities and to ensure their safe, supported return and reintegration and recovery from their experiences.

Specific project objectives to which the position is related:

• Outcome 6. Children who are victims or at significant risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, including those in humanitarian settings, receive quality preventive and responsive services from a functioning child protection system at federal level and in targeted states
• Output 6.4. By 2022, children in humanitarian situations have timely and sustained access to quality preventive and responsive child protection services
• The PSEA Specialist will implement UNICEF Nigeria’s Office PSEA Action Plan, which focuses on scaling up and taking forward UNICEF’s prevention and response efforts to sexual exploitation and abuse. This will include conceptualizing and implementing PSEA prevention activities, responding to alleged PSEA cases that are reported (including reporting, investigating, and ensuring appropriate victim support), liaising with the PSEA Task-force and other inter-agency bodies addressing PSEA and making contributions to inter-agency PSEA response and monitoring, liaising with UNICEF senior management at national, regional and international levels on the same.
• The PSEA Specialist will be also responsible for building the capacity of UNICEF staff, consultants, volunteers, and implementing partners on PSEA.
  

Major tasks to be accomplished
Internal capacity building and technical support:

• Provide technical support and monitoring for the implementation of UNICEF Nigeria Office PSEA Action Plan, with a focus on Borno Field Office
• Deliver PSEA trainings for UNICEF staff, consultants, volunteers, and implementing partners, in line with the PSEA Training Plan
• Build the capacity of selected UNICEF staff to replicate PSEA training and awareness raising efforts.
• Together with C4D, and in liaison with the PSEA Taskforce, develop awareness raising materials for UNICEF office and partners: including leaflets and posters for UNICEF offices and UNICEF partners’ offices
• Build the capacity/ mentor the PSEA national officer to enable him/her to deliver PSEA trainings and to carry out other PSEA related activities

Inter-agency response to SEA:

• Participation in PSEA Task Force coordination meetings and events
• Work with the PSEA Task Force in taking forward actions including; development of information sharing agreement on SEA; development and implementation of a Community Based Complaints Mechanism on SEA; development of outreach and sensitization on SEA in the communities; training PSEA Focal Points and staff from humanitarian organizations, responding to complaints that arise, and developing inter-agency responses to problems that become evident

Victim Assistance:

• In coordination with the GBV Specialist (Maiduguri), ensure that child victims of SEA access assistance and support
• In coordination with the GBV Specialist, monitor the quality of assistance and follow up provided to victims of SEA by UNICEF partners
• Work with the GBV Specialist and the Chief of Child Protection to define the modality for monitoring the assistance provided to child SEA victims by service providers (other than UNICEF implementing partners)

Prevention:

• Carry out sensitization activities on SEA in communities
• Identify opportunities across UNICEF programmes for community sensitization, risk assessment and capacity building on SEA
• Respond to any circumstances that create risk and vulnerability for SEA, seeking to address underlying risk factors

Reporting:

• Support and advise the Head of Office on the reporting of SEA allegations through the internal Notification Alert
• Receive complaints and reports about alleged SEA (from staff, partners, community members, other)
• Once a complaint is received
• Ensure that all information pertaining to complaints is handled and referred strictly in line with agreed protocols: the internal UNICEF Notification Alert and inter-agency information sharing procedure agreed with the PSEA Task Force
• Ensure that information gathered on SEA allegation is verified and whistle-blowers and alleged victims are interviewed in line with the interviewing protocols
• Immediately refer victims to appropriate service providers so that they receive the medical, psycho-social, legal and material support they may need

Information Management:

• Work with the Information Management Officer (IMO) for Child Protection to regularly update the database on SEA cases and case management of child victims’ assistance
• Update share drive for office staff to access PSEA policy and guidance materials

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

• An advanced University degree in International Development, Human Rights, Psychology, Sociology, International Law or other Social Science field is required.
• A minimum of (8) eight years of professional experience in designing, implementation and management of protection, GBV and PSEA, preferably with the UN is required.
• Experience working in humanitarian contexts is required.
• Familiarity with the latest development in PSEA, inter-agency PSEA responses and humanitarian cluster systems is required.
• Excellent communication skills is required.
• Proven ability to work independently under difficult conditions is required.
• Excellent facilitation, training, networking and advocacy skills is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships, both within and outside the organization is desirable.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)  or local language  is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

Competencies required for this post are:

• View our competency framework at: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf