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.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to uphold and promote the rights of every child, everywhere, through its programs, advocacy, and operations. Central to this mission is the equity strategy, which prioritizes the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translating the commitment to children’s rights into tangible action. For UNICEF, equity means ensuring that all children—regardless of their circumstances—have an equal opportunity to survive, develop, and reach their full potential. When a child faces unequal chances in life—whether socially, politically, economically, civically, or culturally—their rights are violated.

Evidence shows that investing in the health, education, and protection of the most disadvantaged populations not only enables children to fulfil their potential but also contributes to sustainable national growth and stability. This focus on equity is critical for accelerating progress toward realizing the rights of all children, as mandated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while supporting inclusive and equitable development of nations.

In Uganda, UNICEF collaborates with the Government of Uganda to strengthen national and subnational child protection systems that prevent and respond to violence against children.

These systems aim to deliver quality and equitable services for child survivors and victims of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation. UNICEF’s Child Protection program adopts a lifecycle approach, focusing on three key result areas:

1. Strengthening the enabling environment for child protection by fostering policies, legal frameworks, and institutional capacities to create a protective environment for children.
2. Enhancing prevention efforts by addressing harmful social norms and practices, increasing demand for protection services, and promoting community-level initiatives to mitigate violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
3. Improving access to integrated response services across social welfare, police, justice, and health sectors, ensuring timely, effective support for children who have experienced harm or are at risk.


The UNV will play an integral role in supporting the Child Protection team, which comprises approximately 10 staff in Kampala and 3 staff across zonal offices in Moroto, Arua, and Fort Portal.

Under the supervision of the Chief of Field Office in Moroto, the UNV will provide critical support to the Child Protection services and response team in the Karamoja region and collaborate with the Kampala office and other zonal offices to strengthen service delivery at all levels.

This strategic role offers an opportunity to contribute to impactful, system-strengthening initiatives that protect Uganda's most vulnerable children.

Under the direct supervision of Chief of Field Office in Moroto in collaboration with the Chief of Section Child protection based in Kampala the UN Volunteer will undertake the following strategic tasks:

Joint Programme Support:

1. Actively participate in joint programme coordination meetings, including task force and weekly/monthly coordination meetings, to ensure effective implementation of child protection activities. Provide strategic support by preparing agendas, documenting key discussions, and following up on action points.
2. Support the preparation and submission of high-quality progress updates and activity reports, ensuring data accuracy and alignment with programmatic goals.
3. Contribute to the development of tools for monitoring and tracking the progress of ongoing child protection activities to ensure timely implementation and achievement of key milestones.

Support to the Child Protection Program/Project Development, Planning, and Reporting:

1. Support the capacity development initiatives for the social service workforce, ensuring alignment with national priorities.
2. Contribute to the design and development of project proposals by gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing relevant data, ensuring alignment with child protection needs and the Rolling Work Plan.
3. Assist in the development and monitoring of budgets and activity plans, ensuring compliance with UNICEF and donor requirements to achieve efficient program delivery.
4. Conduct field visits and remote monitoring to assess the implementation and impact of child protection activities in the districts within the Karamoja Region. Proactively address discrepancies, provide actionable recommendations, and ensure accountability for results.
5. Support the development and application of monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess program effectiveness and measure the impact of emergency child protection interventions.
6. Assist in the consolidation of data from multiple sources to prepare high-quality reports for internal and donor reporting, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

Networking and Partnership Building:

1. Collaborate in the development of regular communication materials, including social media posts, photography, videography, and human-interest stories, to raise awareness, foster partnerships, and support resource mobilization for child protection programs.
2. Contribute to strengthen partnerships with government entities, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure coordinated and sustainable child protection interventions.

Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Capacity Building:

1. Support research and provide actionable insights on best practices to inform the development of knowledge products and systems, particularly focusing on the inclusion of refugees and emergency-affected children in government-led child protection system strengthening initiatives.
2. Support the documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices to enhance program effectiveness and build stakeholder capacity.

Through these tasks, the UN Volunteer will play a critical role in advancing UNICEF’s mandate to strengthen child protection systems, ensuring that children—particularly the most vulnerable—are protected, supported, and empowered to thrive in safe and nurturing environments.