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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, CARE!

Background:

Ethiopia has faced severe challenges due to climatic shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing conflicts, particularly in the northern regions in Afar, Amhara, and Tigray. These crises have caused extensive damage to infrastructure, significant loss of life, and massive displacement, disrupting the lives of millions. The collapse of essential services has severely impacted the physical and psychological well-being of the population, particularly young people. These youths have experienced forced labour, recruitment into armed groups, violence, exploitation, trauma, displacement, and separation from their families. Young women and persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected due to prevailing social norms and limited access to education and economic opportunities. 2

The conflict in Northern Ethiopia has led to the destruction of infrastructure, disruption of production, and displacement of more than 4.5 million people, resulting in considerable social trauma and economic crisis. In response to these challenges, UNICEF and the Mastercard Foundation have partnered to co-design and implement the Biqu Wetat (ብቁ ወጣት) Programme. This initiative aims to help young people pursue and sustain opportunities in education, skills development, entrepreneurship, and employment. The program is driven by the belief that equipping young people with knowledge, positive attitudes, and relevant skills, including social-emotional, soft, and technical skills through mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), can enable them to rebuild social connectedness, become more resilient, and unlock their potential to create positive and sustainable change in their communities.

The program will be implemented in the conflict-affected regions of Afar, Amhara, and Tigray, targeting 50 economically disadvantaged woredas selected through an iterative prioritization process. The program will focus on youth prioritizing the most vulnerable and marginalized, including women, and persons with disabilities. Building on its human rights mandate and commitment to the "leave no one behind" principle (LNOB), the program will ensure that all youth in the affected areas have access to program-supported opportunities and can fulfil their basic needs and rights, regardless of their background, location, gender, or disability.

How can you make a difference? 

• Identify gender-related barriers for youth continued education, skilling and livelihood opportunities in targeted regions and develop and implement evidence-based gender integration framework/action plan for the program.
• Provide technical support and guidance to program teams across different sectors and partners in understanding gender dynamics and adopting a gender-transformative approach that puts young women at the center in the design and delivery of all activities.
• Establish/strengthen partnerships with local women- and youth-led organizations and facilitate their active engagement and contribution to the program implementation and monitoring.
• Support with capacity building of women- and youth-led organizations, public and private sector on the importance of creating employment opportunities for youth, apprenticeships, child and youth rights, business principles, etc.
• Work closely with the Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) team to integrate gender equality in the behavioral insights study and SBC strategy to bring positive social and behavioural outcomes and address negative gender and social norms that hinder girls’ and women’s access to education and employment opportunities.
• Document, disseminate and facilitate the uptake of lessons and promising practices in closing gender gaps in accessing quality education and dignifying employment or self-employment pathways.
• Work with governmental and non-governmental partners to develop gender responsive education and training systems that take into consideration the needs and interests of female and male youth in the targeted regions.
• Develop and implement monitoring and tracking mechanisms to assess concrete gender outcomes/results in the program.
• Facilitate and advocate for young women’s meaningful engagement in program design, implementation and monitoring.
• Design and implement capacity strengthening plan for relevant program team and implementing partners in gender-transformative livelihood programming.
• Contribute to needs assessments, reports, evaluations, studies, development of strategies documents and policy briefs that support UNICEF’s efforts in promoting young women’s socio-economic empowerment.
• Provide support to the implementation of Global and UNICEF Ethiopia’s Gender Action Plan in coordination with the Gender Specialist and gender working group.
• Build strategic alliances for gender equality with various partners, including institutional links with UN agencies and other relevant entities.
• Support resources mobilization efforts for gender focused and impactful gender programming in close collaboration with the resource mobilization unit and sectoral teams.
• Represent UNICEF in relevant internal and external platforms in consultation with ECO’s Gender Specialist.

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

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: Gender, Development Studies, Social Science, or related fields.

Work Experience:

• At least 2 (two) years of progressive experience and demonstrated track record of having undertaken and led substantive programming on livelihood and gender.
• Experience in designing, implementing, managing, and delivering results-based programmes on gender or any other cross cutting programme, especially at country/regional level.

Language Requirements: 

• Fluency in English language is required.

Desirables:

• Knowledge of another official UN language (French, Spanish, Arabic, or Russian), Amharic or the local language is an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

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 (1)

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact (1)

(4) Innovates and embraces change (1)

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

(6) Thinks and acts strategically (1)

(7) Works collaboratively with others (1)

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 benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes[KR5] , 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.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates and persons with disability are encouraged to apply.

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.

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.