Child Protection Officer

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, 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’s Child Protection (CP) Programme in India seeks to promote the protection of children from violence, exploitation and abuse and ensure their participation in key decision-making processes. It supports the implementation of the Government of India’s Mission Vatsalya, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006), and other child welfare and protection schemes/ programmes to create a protective environment for children and adolescents. The CP Programme seeks to improve and expand services to children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with the law under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act and related legislation with regard to child trafficking, child labour, child marriage and the sexual abuse of children. The programme also works towards empowerment of adolescents, building life and work skills and their healthy transition to higher education and productive work opportunities. CP programmes emphasize the prevention of abuse and exploitation of children, particularly the reduction of all forms of violence, child marriage through partnerships with education, health, communication for development, social protection and other sectors and departments. At the state level, UNICEF state offices work with state departments, CSOs, government officials and duty bearers, community members and children and adolescents to strengthen child protection services, build capacities of stakeholders, and facilitate process of adolescent participation.

Under the direct supervision of Child Protection Specialist, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1) Programme management support

• Contribute to the planning and review of the child protection annual workplan and other strategic programme documents.
• Prepare programme documentation and materials to support planning, review, and approval processes.
• Support concurrent monitoring of the child protection programme and coordinate with partners for timely reporting of results.
• Conduct regular programme field visits and engage with stakeholders to assess progress, provide technical support, report on critical bottlenecks, and take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely action.
• Coordinate and participate in meetings with stakeholders, ensuring quality and follow-up on agreed actions.
• Prepare regular progress reports for management, donors, and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
• Contribute to development of concept notes, strategy briefs, funding proposals, donor reports, and talking points.

2) Knowledge management

• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned to strengthen knowledge and build stakeholder capacity.
• Report on emerging promising practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Manage knowledge resources by maintaining the child protection document library on SharePoint, ensuring updated repositories for easy reference and institutionalizing lessons learned.