United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Child Protection Officer (GBV)

Job no: 561657
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment
Categories: Child Protection
Level: NO-2

For Every Child, a Champion

• The conflict in northeast Nigeria is now in its thirteenth year and has continued to cause untold suffering for millions of people. This conflict is marked by violence and massive displacement, abductions targeting women, girls, men, and boys, and the struggle for control over different towns .
• According to the 2023 Humanitarian needs overview (HNO) for Nigeria, an estimated 1,829,002 million individuals (32% IDPs, 25% returnees, 43% host communities) need GBV services across the Borno, Adamawa, Yobe (BAY) states with Borno state having the bulk (48%) of those in need followed by Adamawa at 34% and 18% in Yobe respectively .
• In 2022, 76% of incidents of GBV were perpetrated against adults over the age of 18 years, and 24% against children. In furtherance, among the child survivors, 33% of reported incidents across BAY states were against unaccompanied or separated children, which gives credence to the fact that due to their vulnerabilities, children, especially adolescent girls and unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), are particularly at-risk of sexual abuse, female genital mutilation (FGM) and child or forced marriages (GBVIM report, 2022).
• According to the findings of the Adamawa State Multisectoral Needs Assessment (2019), between 15 and 16 December 2022 in all the locations except Maiha, 80% of adolescent girls and 60% of women identified sexual violence and domestic violence as the most significant safety and security concern. 33% of the respondents lamented that their children were either killed, abducted, or missing because of the NSAG attacks. 95% of the refugee children in Madagali, Michika and Mubi do not attend school instead, they engage in menial jobs with their parents or caregivers daily to buy staple food and non-food items for household use .
• The abuse of women is a critical dimension of the strategy of one of the NSAG – Boko Haram. By adopting gendered tactics, Boko Haram exploits female vulnerability to promote its anti-western, jihadi agenda. The group victimizes women by subjecting them to rape, armed abduction, forced marriage, and captivity. Boko Haram also objectifies women by using them as instruments and objects of war such as sex slaves, human shields, and suicide bombers.
• More disturbing are the findings from the 2022 intersectionality gender analysis led by the UN women which reveals that patriarchal social structures such as forced marriage, child labour, early or under-age marriage, preference of sons over daughters, arranged marriages, FGM, virginity tests, bride abduction, wife inheritance, and restriction of women and girls to only housewife and child-bearing roles – drive the prevalence of socioeconomic inequality and inadequate livelihoods for women and girls in the region . It is expected that vulnerabilities of women and girls, as well as survivors of GBV including children would be further exacerbated by the current displacement situation, which would further lead to their increased risks. In addition to risks of exposures to the disease due to overcrowding in camps and the limited health facilities, additional burden of caring for the sick by women and girls may increase their risks of COVID-19 infection. Children separated from their parents and caregivers, and GBV survivors may have challenges in accessing services due to resource constraints.
• The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Child Protection Officer to programme preparation, planning and implementation, contributes to the achievement of sustainable results to create a protective environment for children against harm and all forms of violence, and ensures their survival, development and well-being in society. Success in child protection programmes and projects in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to provide programme services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equality in the country.

How Can You Make a Difference?
Below is a list of Key functions & accountabilities expected of this role: 

Support to programme development and planning:

• Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of child protection GBViE 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 especially for the GBViE response.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of the GBViE 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.
• Prepare required GBViE programme documentations, materials and data to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results:

• Monitor the implementation of GBViE activities in Women’s and Girls’ Friendly Spaces, Virtual Safe Spaces, Mobile Health and Nutrition teams to ensure minimum standards are in place and adhere to.
• Build the capacity of GBV specialized actors to provide GBV responses, enhance GBV prevention and implementation of GBV mitigation measures in programs
• Work with other sectors to strengthen the capacities of frontline workers on integration of GBV risk mitigations and handling disclosures making safe referrals for required services
• 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.
• Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/project reports for management, donors, and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
• Engage the service of a consultant to strengthen the legal and justice system to be responsive to GBViE issues affecting girls and women.
• Support the strengthening of SEA community based compliant and reporting mechanism (CBCRM) with special attention to child friendly (CBCRM) in camps, communities, schools, and hospitals supported by UNICEF.

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.
• Consistently review the GBV referral pathways in UNICEF supported programme sites including schools and ensure the pathways and service directories are in use to provide professional assistance to GBV/SEA survivors aligned to IASC GBV guidelines and UN Victim Assistance framework 
• Contribute to the development of new programme cooperation agreements with international and national NGOs for the reintegration of girls and women affected by conflict-related sexual violence and for GBV prevention and response programming in close collaboration with the Information Management Specialist and Officers, ensure robust data collection to capture the number of beneficiaries reached by the programme and the impact of the programme, including management of the evaluation of the programme.
• Support the CP Specialist to implement the GBV/reintegration programme, including ensuring timely implementation of activities, timely reporting to the donors, compliance with visibility requirements and compliance with internal UNICEF procedures and processes.
• Conduct and facilitate structured GBV safety audits and risk assessments in UNICEF programme locations and schools, health and WASH facilities and work with partners and communities to address identified concerns
• Serve as the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) focal point for the Maiduguri Field Office (MFO)

Networking and partnership building:

• Support the GBV and CP AoR in country coordination teams, in setting up of referral systems to facilitate safe referral of GBV Survivors with a focus on children and adolescents to appropriate, quality multi-sectoral services.
• 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 on operational planning
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.
• Draft communication and information materials on GBViE for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for child protection programmes.
• Regularly represent UNICEF in coordination forums including GBV Sector and provide updates on UNICEF's response and response plan.
• Identify key capacity gaps in implementing GBV integration within UNICEF and partners including UNICEF led clusters and sub-cluster.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned on GBViE 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.

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

• A University Degree in one of the following fields is required: International Development, Human Rights, Psychology, Sociology, International Law, or Another Relevant Social Science Field.
• Minimum of 2 years of progressive professional experience implementing Child Protection and GBV programmes in emergencies.
• Proven ability to work independently under difficult conditions, including in protracted conflict environments
• Experience working with community structures and/or religious groups and leaders at the grass root level on prevention and response to GBV, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence
• Proven experience in developing proposals and budgets for resource mobilization, partnership management and writing donor reports
• Fluency in English is required. Has a basic knowledge and can speak one or two of the local languages common to the Northeast, Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is:a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.
• UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable women are encouraged to apply.
• UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.