Child Protection Assistant (Children on the Move)-Zarzis

Details

Mission and objectives

Update

Context

This volunteering opportunity is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Tunisia in the framework of the initiative launched in partnership with UNV in December 2023 to foster youth and disability inclusion through meaningful and impactful volunteering assignments with the United Nations between 2024 and 2026. During the last ten years, migration dynamics in Tunisia have increased in both scale and complexity. Tunisia has not only become an important transit country for Sub-Saharan migrants searching to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, but increasingly, Tunisia had also become a country of destination for migrants who leave their countries of origin in search for livelihood or educational opportunities, better living conditions or to escape violence and insecurity. In light of these regional and global developments, the number of registered migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa in Tunisia have sharply increased over the years. Tunisia has become a major departure point for the Central Mediterranean route, one of the most active and dangerous sea routes in the world. The largest proportion of migrants and refugees who arrived in Italy lately departed from Tunisia. Since early 2023, the increasing number of migrants travelling to and transiting through Tunisia has been posing significant challenges in terms of social cohesion and capacity of national services. The key focus of UNICEF program for children on the move are 1) Leveraging partnerships, evidence, and advocacy, including across the two sides of the Mediterranean. 2) Strengthening the national child protection system to better address the needs of children on the move. And 3) Social Protection for Tunisian intercepted or returning from Europe. Since July 2023, UNICEF has been supporting the emergency response for the thousands of migrants currently scattered throughout Tunisia. This includes referral to child protection actors for family tracing, support for the placement of unaccompanied minors, the provision of mental health and psychosocial support and capacity building of first responders on child protection. In December 2023, UNICEF signed a joint workplan with UNHCR and IOM to coordinate the response. UNICEF is partnering with several NGOs across the country to ensure children on the move receive protection services. Given this context, there is a need to monitor the interventions on the ground, and promote case management services, referral and alternative family-based care for children on the move in Tunisia, including unaccompanied and separated children. The Child Protection UNV will primarily monitor and coordinate the different projects on children on the move to strengthen child protection services. Information management of the data will be used to support advocacy efforts.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the direct supervision of the Child Protection Officer (Children on the Move) in Tunis and the overall technical guidance of the Chief Child Protection in the country office, the UNV Child Protection will carry out the following tasks/responsibilities/ 1. Management & Support to Programme Development and Planning: Providing technical and administrative assistance, ensuring accuracy and relevance of information, and sup-porting UNICEF IPs. 2. Programme Management, Monitoring, and Delivery of Results: Conducting regular field visits for assessments, managing relationships with stakeholders, analyzing data for deci-sion-making, and contributing to reports. 3. Networking and Partnership Building: Participating in meetings, identifying development opportunities, and fostering partnerships. 4. Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Capacity Building: Sharing lessons learned, promoting good practices, and participating in capacity building initiatives. Overall, the volunteer will play a crucial role in supporting child protection initiatives, fos-tering partnerships, and enhancing program effectiveness in addressing the needs of children on the move. The UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following sug-gested activities: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by read-ing relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country. • Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities. • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.