Inclusive Programming Officer

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 all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why 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.

UNICEF Tajikistan is supporting the Government of Tajikistan on early childhood development, which includes early detection and intervention for children with disabilities (CwD) and children with developmental delays. This support is critical as ever now, as Tajikistan Government is nearing the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) in 2025. UNICEF plans to double-down on strengthening policy reforms and services relating to the rights of CwD. In addition, UNICEF Tajikistan has been the lead agency, alongside the World Bank, in supporting the government in strengthening social protection. With UNICEF’s technical capacity as well as advocacy support, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population (MoHSPP) has established a vision for a government-led inclusive social protection system through the adoption of the National Social Protection Strategy in 2022. The strategy aims to address vulnerabilities around the life cycle in a risk-informed and shock-responsive manner. The key priorities under the strategy are further translated into a three-year Plan of Action 2024-26.
JICA Global Agenda (JGA) for Social Protection identifies child protection as one of the sector’s key priorities and recommends focusing on the professionalization of the social workforce as the agenda’s main engagement to tackle issues related to social protection of children.
JICA is exploring a potential future project in the social protection sector for the first time in Tajikistan and seeks sending a JOCV on inclusive social protection aligned to Strategy of the Development of Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan 2040 to protect the most vulnerable children and families.
UNICEF is the partner of choice for the MoHSPP as well as the Ministry of Education and Science in establishing a comprehensive ECI system and services, including creating an enabling environment through high-level advocacy and policy change, capacity building and provision of essential equipment. For JICA to better understand the activities of early childhood intervention in Tajikistan, a joint field mission is planned for March to visit the early childhood intervention (ECI) center in a polyclinic.
Against this backdrop, UNICEF is looking for a JICA-sponsored Inclusive Programming Officer (Social protection and early childhood development), UNV, to enhance the governance and cross-sectoral coordination mechanism to realize improved access to early childhood intervention services and to community and family-based care, including for families with CwD, to build a foundation of future project formulation in Tajikistan’s child and family welfare sector.
Inclusive programming in social protection and early childhood development/intervention involves implementing policies and interventions that cater to the diverse needs of all children, including vulnerable and marginalized groups. The aim is to ensure equitable access to social protection measures and quality early inclusive childhood development/intervention for every child, regardless of their background or abilities.

Under the supervision of Deputy Representative, in close coordination with the ECD Specialist, the Chief Child Protection and the Chief Social Protection, the Inclusive Programming Officer will undertake:

 Work with the UNICEF inter-sectoral team (health/child protection/social protection) to coordinate with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) and NGOs to implement the early childhood intervention and inclusive social protection programme.
 Support development and implementation of the efficient local referral mechanism(s) for the most disadvantaged children to strengthen coordination between the social, health and education providers at the community level. Support the development of tools and protocols to institutionalize the referral mechanism.
 Support the policy discussion on education and protection of the most disadvantaged children under the umbrella of the SDSPP2040. contribute to strengthening the linkages between education, child protection and social protection from the perspective of ensuring social welfare for the most vulnerable families and children.
 Support the evidence generation on parenting study. Develop advocacy and fundraising materials for ensuring social protection and access to ECI services for the most disadvantaged children.
 Contribute to drafting of programme progress and donor reports. Analyse collected data and prepare progress reports including monitoring and reporting indicators, disaggregated by age and gender.
 Support the UNICEF’s coordination with relevant development partners including World Bank, JICA and the government stakeholders.
 Contribute to design of the activities focusing on integrating community based ECI services with parenting programmes.
 Strengthen the strategic partnership between UNICEF and JICA to protect the rights of children and families.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.