Social Policy Specialist Wanted at UNICEF BOTSWANA

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Position

Accountable for effective engagement in social policy dialogue with the Government for programme development, advocating for increased public resource allocation and budgeting towards the social sector and sustainable decentralization of social services and local capacity building in support of the goal of universal coverage of essential social services and the creation of a protective environment for children. Conducts data collection and analysis to fill information gaps and to strengthen capacity for advocacy for children's rights, and to support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda.

Key Expected Results

• Constructive dialogue and partnerships are established between international and local social policy stakeholders, to provide effective protective environment for the most vulnerable children, including progressive compliance of principal policy documents and legislation regarding all aspects of child rights.
• Current information on state budget and spending patterns and decentralization status of social services are monitored and updated on an on-going basis to support advocacy for decentralization and universal coverage of essential services.
• Decentralization of social services is made sustainable through adequate local support, keeping decentralized services both accessible and effective. Programme plans of action are developed for children at provincial and district/municipality levels; coordination between sectors are increased and links between different levels of government structures for policy implementation are strengthened.
• Data-driven analysis is provided for effective prioritization, planning, development, and results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives. Gender/sex disaggregated data and inputs provided, relevant to the Social Policy programme.
• Advocacy efforts are effectively made to raise awareness on children's rights with both the general public and with policy makers, and to ensure local buy-in and continued relevance of UNICEF programming.
• Effective partnerships with the Government and other agencies established to enable sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and the Millennium Development Goals for continuing worldwide progress of the UNICEF mission.
• UNICEF social policy programme effectively planned, implemented and managed in support of the country programme.

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