UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, CARE

The Social Policy Section leads UNICEF China’s work on child poverty, social protection, public financial management for children, and governance. It provides technical and policy development support to initiatives to ensure that children, particularly the most disadvantaged and excluded, benefit from equitable and inclusive poverty reduction and social protection systems. It supports the generation of evidence on multiple dimensions of child poverty and social exclusion, which will be developed for use in policy dialogue, advocacy and local planning in relevant sectors. The programme also contributes to the understanding of social sector budgets, providing evidence that will be used to advocate for increased investment in services that benefit children, and to promote effective, efficient and equitable finance for and governance of essential public services across all sectors.

How can you make a difference? 

The internship will be working with Social Policy Section at UNICEF China, with following responsibilities:

1. Conduct desk research on data governance and its implications for children, particularly related to:

• Public and admin data (e.g. regulations on public data, cases on misused admin data, etc)
• Data and technology (e.g. AI for service delivery, AI for policymaking, etc)

2. Provide support to the project on multidimensional vulnerability assessment of children in the low-income population monitoring platform (called ‘Child Module’):

• Facilitate the field testing of the Child Module, ensuring close consultation and fostering synergy with the Cash Plus initiative
• Support capacity building of key stakeholders on the ‘responsible data for children’

3. Fulfill other duties related to social policy as assigned.

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

• Be enrolled in a master’s degree programme or a postgraduate study, majored in law, data science, information management, or related field.
• Have strong academic performance as demonstrated by recent university or institution records, or, if not available, a reference letter from an academic supervisor;
• Have no immediate relatives working in any UNICEF offices;
• Fluency in English and Mandarin is required.

Internship Period: 5 months

For every Child, you demonstrate... 

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

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.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

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, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
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 promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, 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.

Remarks:  

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.