General
Description of assignment title: Child Protection Junior Officer (Knowledge management in child marriage)
Assignment country: Ghana
Expected start date: 09/01/2024
Sustainable Development Goal: 5. Gender equality
Volunteer category: International UN University Volunteer
Host entity: UNICEF
Type: Onsite
Duration: 6 months
Number of assignments: 1
Duty stations: Accra
Details
Mission and objectives
The Child Protection Programme of UNICEF Ghana is committed to ensuring that by 2022, girls and boys in Ghana, especially the most disadvantaged, increasingly benefit from an equitable and integrated child protection system that better protect them from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. The system is focus on the establishment of effective structures, functions and capacities that can prevent and respond to all child protection issues. It also seeks to integrate the actions of families (and children including adolescents), communities, formal and informal laws and practices together to protect children. To achieve these, strategic investments are made to: i) Bringing relevant policy, legal and regulatory framework in line with international standards and good practices ii) strengthening the capacity of formal and informal service providers actors to prevent and respond effectively to protection issues; and iii) supporting interventions aimed at behavioural and social change among girls, boys, families and communities.
Among all children, adolescent girls in Ghana are disproportionately affected by child protection concerns, including exposure to gender discrimination, child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting, sexual violence, unsafe migration and trafficking, among others. The purpose of the proposed UNV assignment is to provide assistance to the Child Protection section of UNICEF Ghana in further developing and strengthening its interventions for better protection of adolescent girls, by working closely with particularly vulnerable group of girls, their families and communities, service providers and other key local and national stakeholders.
Context
Adolescent girls remain highly vulnerable group due to the multifaceted protection, education, health, nutrition, and WASH-related issues that prevent them from reaching their full potential. They are often underscored by gender discriminatory norms, including gendered stereotypes of femineity and masculinity, which reinforce the inequities and power differentials.
While child marriage is becoming less common in Ghana and has seen a steady decline from about 40 per cent in 1980s to 19.3 per cent in 2017/2018, one in five girls is still married or in informal union (cohabitation) before the age of 18 years. The high prevalence of adolescent pregnancy, mostly unplanned, remains a serious protection concern. The adolescent birth rate is 75 per 1,000 adolescent girls. Over 38 per cent of girls aged 15-19 years reported having experienced at least one act of sexual violence.
To address these issues faced by adolescent girls, UNICEF Ghana has invested significantly in evidence generation and knowledge management in the areas of protection of children from violence and harmful practices, especially child marriage, gender and adolescents. There is a need to accelerate efforts to generate evidence in the area where there is knowledge gap, disseminate and use evidence in a strategic manner to inform programmes and policies to support adolescent girls to fulfil their potential.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of Child Protection Officer (NOB), the UN University Volunteer will contribute to evidence generation and knowledge management in the areas of child marriage, gender and adolescents. The UN University Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
- Support production of communication product in the form of a brief, infographic or flyer to provide an overview of key ongoing interventions, including the Ghanaians Against Child Abuse (GACA) social drive/campaign, the Child Protection Community Facilitation Toolkits and Promoting Adolescents Safe Spaces (PASS);
- Support development, finalization and dissemination of the Most Significant Change Stories of the Promoting Adolescents Safe Spaces (PASS) initiative to capture how the initiative has made transformative changes in the lives of adolescent girls over the years;
- Contribute to evidence generation activities in the areas of child marriage, gender and adolescents, including the Impact Evaluation of the Promoting Adolescents Safe Spaces (PASS) initiative;
- Support organizing and participating in field visits related to child marriage, gender and adolescents to capture transformative human interest stories, document programme success, areas of improvement and key lessons learned;
- Support organizing and participating in meetings, workshops and events related to child marriage, gender and adolescents, and document the meeting results;
- Assist UNICEF Ghana to strengthen the collaboration with KOICA in the area of child marriage, gender and adolescents with improved linkages to the ongoing KOICA-support project in innovation and youth engagement “Start-up Lab”
- Support any other tasks assigned by the supervisor
Under the guidance and direct supervision of the supervisor, the UNV will have opportunities to work closely with various members of the UNICEF Ghana Child Protection team, as well as other teams (Health; Education; Social Policy and Inclusion; Adolescents, Gender and Youth; Social and Behaviour Change; Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; Communication and Advocacy; Partnership; etc.) Chances of interacting with other external partners at various levels will be also available, including the Government of Ghana and CSO/NGOs.
All work-related travel for the planning, implementation or monitoring of activities, including transportation, accommodation and security clearance and will be supported by UNICEF as per UNICEF rules.
Human resource investment is at the heart UNICEF’s strategy to deliver results for children. UNICEF will find necessary opportunities to invest in capacity development of the UNV as a capable child protection professional, through supports to implement an annual learning and development training plan, online and off-line trainings and field visit opportunities.
The post will be managed under the rules of UNICEF, and the UNV will benefit from work-related facilities and equipment provided by the office, including a laptop and a desk.
Eligibility criteria
Age: 18 – 26
Additional eligibility criteria
ELIGIBILITY
– As this assignment is funded by KOICA, specific eligibility criteria apply.
– Candidates must be Korean nationals between 18 and 29 years of age at the time of application (the age limit shown above does not apply).
– You must be enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree or have recently graduated (no longer than 12 months ago at the time of application).
– Candidates who already served on a UN Volunteer assignment funded by KOICA are not eligible.
APPLICATION
– If you are currently enrolled in a university and have not yet obtained a university degree, indicate in the section ‘Academic qualifications’ under ‘diploma/degree obtained’ that you are still studying and towards which degree. In the ‘to’ field, enter the current date, as the system does not allow you to enter a future date. Instead of the degree certificate, upload any evidence of your enrollment, for example a transcript.
– You may apply to a maximum of three assignments and indicate the order of preference in the ‘Additional remarks’ field when filling in the application form.
– If you are above the age of 26, a notification will be displayed that you are not eligible to apply. You may ignore this and proceed with submitting your application.
– Application deadline: 26 May 2024
SELECTION
– Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment. Interviews will be conducted by the UN Host Entity in June.
– Selected candidates will be invited to attend a mandatory online preparation training on 19 and 21 August.
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Nationality
Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.
Donor priorities
Requirements
Required experience
1 years of experience in or demonstrated interest in supporting and implementing development projects related to child rights, community development, youth empowerment and family strengthening;
- Fluent oral and written skills in English, including drafting, reviewing, editing and re-porting skills (speeches, press releases, programme briefs, factsheets, donor reports, social media, etc.)
- Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including a multicultural team of international and national personnel, grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; eLOsKD6 BIpnb
- Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, among others), email, and familiarity with database management; office technology equipment; and social media and other communicational applications;
- Experience working in the UN or other international development organizations, including INGOs, is highly desirable;
- Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines; and
- Have affinity with or interest in child rights, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN system.
Area(s) of expertise
Communication, Social work, Development programmes
Driving license
Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required
Required education level
Bachelor degree or equivalent in – currently enrolled or recent graduate – in Social Sciences, Social Work, Development Studies, International Relations, Communication, and other relevant studies.
Competencies and values
For every child, you demonstrate UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
- Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
- Works Collaboratively with others (1)
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
- Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
- Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
- Drives to achieve impactful results (1)
- Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)
Other information
Living conditions and remarks
Ghana is a very peaceful and beautiful country with an affable citizenry. The living condition in Accra, where the assignment is based, is a family duty station and relatively good. The UNV will be responsible for arranging his or her own housing and other living essentials such as food, water, electricity, etc. The UNICEF Ghana orientation package will be shared with the successful UN volunteer once confirmed. Transport, medical, education and other services are at a high level compared to other countries in the region. At sea level, the climate of the country is tropical-hot and humid with average yearly temperatures of about 27oC (80oF) and little daily variation. At the interior’s higher altitudes, the average yearly temperature is 20oC (68oF), and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies from 500 centimetres (200 in.) on the southwestern slopes to 100 centimetres (40 in.) in the northern lowlands. The rainy season runs from October to May. The total population of Ghana is about 33,000,000. Ghana is a Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) country. Regarding accommodation and food, houses and apartments can be rented from 200$ to 1000$ per month and meals at the restaurant cost
between 10$ and 60$. Food, household commodities and clothing can be found in shops and local markets at reasonable prices. An entry visa is required for all travellers and must be obtained prior to arrival from an embassy. The Cedi is the local currency and according to the UN exchange rate system, a USD 1 is equivalent to 13.45 GHS in April 2024. Some commercial banks are operating in the country and Visa cards are accepted in very limited hotels.
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.