Child Protection Officer

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.

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, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give more children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, 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.

The UNICEF child protection programme in Angola works combines policy advocacy with field interventions that ensure immediate and long-term results for children. The Child Protection program pivots essentially around the prevention and response to violence against children, especially girls, and birth registration. Furthermore, the programme seeks synergies with other program areas, in particular social policy, through decentralization of social services, and by mainstreaming violence prevention in health, education and early childhood development programs.

The UNV Child Protection Officer will assist the UNICEF child protection section with the implementation of interventions on the strengthening of birth registration services, the child protection system to prevent and respond to cases of violence and the prevention of teenage pregnancy and

child marriage – ensuring access to inclusive, timely, and quality services for survivors - within the new country programme for Angola.

The main purpose of this assignment is to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 (SDG target 16.2 “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children”) and 16.9 (“by 2030 provide legal identity for all including free birth registrations”)

Under direct supervisor of the Chief Child Protection, the the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

a) Support to program development and planning
• Participate in strategic and programmatic discussions on the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the child protection programme in Angola.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives, and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, 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/administering a variety of technical, program, operational, and administrative transactions, preparing related materials/documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.
• Prepare required program documentations/materials/data to facilitate the program review and approval process.
• Knowledge management: collecting data on child protection, identifying, organizing, storing, and disseminating information related to the programme.

b) Technical and operational support to program implementation
• Provide technical and operational support to colleagues and partners to ensure smooth implementation of the Child Protection Programme in Angola with a focus on the following two outcomes:
o Violence against children: supporting evidence generation efforts; developing programmes that address social norms related to violence and overseeing the development of programmes related to mental health and psycho-social support.
o Prevention of teenage pregnancy and child marriage: overseeing the roll out of a girl-to-girl approach on sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental health, and parenting.
o Supporting the implementation of commitments made by the Minister of MASFAMU in Bogota, Colombia (November 2024) to implement a multisectoral working group on violence against children, undertake a study on the cost of violence and a legal review on violence against children, particularly sexual violence.
• Conduct regular program field visits and surveys and/or 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 training and technical support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, and best practices on child protection.

c) Networking, resource mobilization and reporting
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on child protection.
• Ensure timely and accurate preparation of donors’ reports.
• Support the section to prepare and consolidate their contribution to the country office annual report.
• Under the guidance/supervision of the CP Section Chief, develop and prepare fundraising/donor proposals in line with the Country Office fundraising strategy. This includes coordination with programme colleagues, gathering, compiling, and consolidating information as well as writing/editing proposals and preparing proposals for management review/clearance as per country office standard operating procedures.
• Write, produce, and edit human interest stories for dissemination including for donor reporting requirements as well as social media.

Working closely with the Child Protection team and the UNICEF Gender unit, the UNV is expected to achieve the following results:
• Oversee study processes, protocols, and roll-out of research on violence in school settings, children on the move, children in street situations, and the cost of violence (advocacy on increasing public finances for children).
• Support the development of an Integrated Information Management System to collect government-owned data on violence against children.
• Strengthen Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) interventions and empowerment initiatives for adolescent girls and young mothers in vulnerable situations, including HPV and pregnancy prevention.
• Develop guidance and programming on mental health and psycho-social support and on positive parenting practices for children, adolescents, and young mothers in vulnerable situations, including survivors of sexual violence.
• Support the implementation of the National Programme, Strategy, and Action Plan to prevent and respond to Teenage Pregnancy and Child Marriage.
• Identify and operationalise opportunities for the development of learning outcomes and access to decent employment for out-of-school vulnerable adolescent girls, working closely with the education section.
• Supports efforts to implement actions to strengthen Civil Registration & Vital Statistic System in Angola.
• Draft and support detailed end-of-year report, with multimedia materials, case studies, and human-interest stories.