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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, learning.

UNICEF Syria was established in 1970 and has been working with partners to help empower children to fully claim and enjoy their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF works with partners across Syria to deliver supplies, services, and expertise in areas of Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition, Water, Hygiene and Sanitation for every child. UNICEF also provides humanitarian assistance when needed.

Syria continues to face one of the most complex emergencies in the world. Unprecedented humanitarian needs are compounded by displacement inside the country and across its borders, extensive destruction of civilian and social services infrastructure, devastating impacts on the economy, and most importantly, the breakdown of the social fabric that stitched the country together for decades.

Today, 90% of people in Syria live in poverty, most are unable to make ends meet or bring food to the table. Families have had their resources depleted, with limited employment opportunities, skyrocketing prices, and shortage of basic supplies. For most people, the current socio-economic challenges represent some of the harshest and most challenging circumstances they have faced since the beginning of the crisis in 2011.

The February 2023 earthquakes in north Syria and Türkiye have added agony to an already catastrophic situation, increasing the strain on services, causing displacement, and inflicting widespread damage. Many families lost their main breadwinner due to death or injury, at a time when the economic situation was already dire, resulting in millions of people unable to meet their basic needs.

In 2024, 16.7 million people need humanitarian assistance[1]. This is the highest number of people in need ever recorded in Syria since 2011. The number of children in need - more than 6.5 million – has increased by seven per cent in the past year alone. This is largely due the ongoing conflict, continued displacements, the unprecedented economic crisis, deepening poverty, and unemployment. The COVID-19 pandemic, the hike in price of commodities triggered by the overall global economic situation and the impact of sanctions are further compounding the dire situation.

For information of the work of our organization, please visit our website: UNICEF Syria  

Background on the Assignment:

UNICEF is committed to playing its role in ending violence against children. In both the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 19) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries committed to end violence against children. UNICEF works with governments and partners worldwide to prevent and respond to violence against children in all contexts. UNICEF therefore collaborates with governments across sectors – including health, education, the justice system, and other social services – and with partners in business, civil society, faith-based organizations, and the media to prevent and respond to violence against children. At the national and local levels, UNICEF’s efforts strengthen laws and policies to improve public service delivery for children and families in their homes, communities, and schools. UNICEF also supports parents and caregivers through parenting initiatives, while working with young people themselves to ensure their voices shape UNICEF programming. By improving data availability and building evidence, UNICEF aims to help raise awareness and enhance political will to act and protect children against violence.

Context:

Tackling violence against children in Syria requires a holistic and multifaceted response targeting the social norms, local systems, students, parents, and teacher capacity as well as the scale-up of prevention and response services. It requires addressing underlying causes and changing attitudes, norms and practices among individuals and communities that condone, accept and lead to acts of physical and psychological violence on children. In school settings, school administrators, teachers, educators, and students need to adopt a positive attitude along with positive school and classroom management style to ensure that students learn in a fear-free environment and are protected from any form of verbal/physical violence, including bullying.  Conflict management modalities must likewise be introduced to families and communities surrounding the schools. They require platforms through which community leaders, family representatives, teachers, students, and government officials can consult and co-engage. By changing behaviors and influencing social norms, it is possible to ignite change and promote a culture of harmonious relationships and a protective environment for children at home, and in the community. 

In 2021, a comprehensive Child Rights Bill was endorsed which integrates all the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and stresses the right of children to be protected from all types of violence, abuse, and exploitation. However, as Syria tries to recover from 13 years of crisis in a context marred by insufficient social services, destroyed infrastructure and multiple cycles of displacement, protecting children against violence remains challenging.

 How can you make a difference? 

UNICEF Education section is seeking a qualified Syrian technical expert who can support updating and localizing the Safe School Initiative concept note and action plan. In addition to training and leading the national trainers’ team.  Also, who can contribute towards the designing of the activities of the Safe School Initiative and provide qualitative feedback on both training materials, teaching skills of the trainers and the implantation of the Safe School Initiative activities inside schools.

If you would like to know more about this assignment, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:

 TOR SS Initative_Master Trainer_Content team lead (VA).pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

I. Academic qualifications:

A bachelor university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, , psychology, sociology, or another relevant literature technical field.

II. Work experience / Technical competencies:

A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in child and adolescent psychology, Psychosocial support PSS, communications, conflict management, development of monitoring and evaluation tools, training and capacity development, research in education and psychology is required.

Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.

Familiarity/ background with emergency is considered as an asset.

III. Language requirement:

Fluency in Arabic; working knowledge in English is required.

IV. Competencies:

For every Child, you demonstrate..

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

General Remarks:

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided there in; such as sick leave; adoption leave, Paid Time Off or any other kind of leave within the period of their contracts. Consultants are responsible and certify that they are fully covered by adequate medical/health insurance and that, if required to travel beyond commuting distance from their usual place or residence to UNICEF (other than to duty station(s) with hardship ratings “H” and “A”, under the list available at icsc.un.org) the Consultant’s medical/health insurance covers medical evacuations.

Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.