Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF has been working in Liberia for close to 30 years, turning our vision for children into practical action.
The organization's work in the country is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union 2040 Agenda for Children, and Agenda 2063 of the Economic Community of West African States. UNICEF's vision for Liberia is that all children, from birth to adolescence, exercise their rights to survival, development, protection, and participation. To achieve this vision, UNICEF focuses on three key areas:
Strengthening service delivery systems in health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), early and basic education, and child protection.
Empowering communities to claim their rights and adopt positive social norms and practices.
Prioritizing children's issues and creating an enabling environment conducive to effective governance.
UNICEF's work in Liberia is guided by the following principles:
Focus on intersectoral and community-based approaches.
Enhanced integration of disaggregated data, evidence generation, and the use of innovation.
Stronger emphasis on prevention and resilience-building.
Emergency preparedness and response.
Partnership with the Liberian private sector.
The organization's work in the country is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union 2040 Agenda for Children, and Agenda 2063 of the Economic Community of West African States. UNICEF's vision for Liberia is that all children, from birth to adolescence, exercise their rights to survival, development, protection, and participation. To achieve this vision, UNICEF focuses on three key areas:
Strengthening service delivery systems in health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), early and basic education, and child protection.
Empowering communities to claim their rights and adopt positive social norms and practices.
Prioritizing children's issues and creating an enabling environment conducive to effective governance.
UNICEF's work in Liberia is guided by the following principles:
Focus on intersectoral and community-based approaches.
Enhanced integration of disaggregated data, evidence generation, and the use of innovation.
Stronger emphasis on prevention and resilience-building.
Emergency preparedness and response.
Partnership with the Liberian private sector.
Context
The UNICEF Liberia Country Programme Document (CPD) 2026–2030 strategically shifts to decentralized, integrated, and data-driven programming, aligned with Liberia’s Annual Analytical and Integrated Data (AAID) 2025-2029, This country program, following rigorous data analytics and triangulation, prioritized five convergence counties (Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, Grand Gedeh, Montserrado, River Cess). UNICEF has identified two flagship areas to ensure strategic impact of interventions. These are the Adolescent girls programme and Back to My Classroom campaign which is also a Liberian Presidential initiative.
To operationalize this approach, UNICEF is focusing on five convergence counties, where county-led models for integrated service delivery across Education, Health & Nutrition, WASH & Climate, Child Protection, Social Policy, SBC, and adolescent services will be tested and scaled. The UN Volunteer will be embedded at the county level to directly support and operationalize this programmatic shift, defined by three interdependent components:
1) Decentralization: Transitioning decision-making, planning, and accountability to the county level.
2) Integration: Moving from isolated sectoral interventions to a coordinated “convergence” approach.
3) Data-Driven Programming: Ensuring planning and monitoring are grounded in robust evidence.
To operationalize this approach, UNICEF is focusing on five convergence counties, where county-led models for integrated service delivery across Education, Health & Nutrition, WASH & Climate, Child Protection, Social Policy, SBC, and adolescent services will be tested and scaled. The UN Volunteer will be embedded at the county level to directly support and operationalize this programmatic shift, defined by three interdependent components:
1) Decentralization: Transitioning decision-making, planning, and accountability to the county level.
2) Integration: Moving from isolated sectoral interventions to a coordinated “convergence” approach.
3) Data-Driven Programming: Ensuring planning and monitoring are grounded in robust evidence.
Task description
Under the supervision of the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF, the National UN Volunteer will undertake the following functions in one of the five target counties (Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, Grand Gedeh, Montserrado, and River Cess):
• Provide support in strengthening the county capacity and systems on participatory and child-focused planning, budgeting, monitoring, and reporting.
• Support the convening of existing county convergence committee meetings and relevant sector coordination platforms; prepare agendas, minutes, action trackers, and follow up on decisions; advocate for integration of UNICEF-supported objectives into these existing platforms.
• Facilitate alignment and coordination of county-led Annual Work Plan (AWP) co-designing and implementation processes with county authorities, ensuring activities are aligned with the integrated service delivery package; maintain implementation schedules and track progress at the county level.
• Coordinate joint campaigns and integrated service delivery efforts in counties (e.g., Back to My Classroom enrolment drives in high-risk communities; Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS)/birth registration outreach; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)-in-Schools activities; adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)/nutrition services including human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination where applicable), working closely with relevant line ministries, UNICEF teams, and partners.
• Provide oversight into establishment and strengthening of inclusive community-level forums and Adolescent Girls Advisory Panels at community and sub-county levels; operationalize two-way feedback mechanisms and ensure community/adolescent recommendations are documented and fed into AWP review/amendment processes at the county level.
• Support county-level climate vulnerability assessments and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) planning; contribute to mapping flood/drought hotspots; assist in integrating resilience actions into AWPs; track related indicators in collaboration with relevant technical partners.
• Support maintenance and updating of county-level dashboards (using existing tools and data flows aligned with AAID/UNSDCF and UNICEF flagship indicators and adolescent participation metrics); compile inputs for quarterly progress reports to feed into central office consolidation and review.
• Facilitate coordination with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and community radios for convergent messaging and community-level transparency; document partnerships and support integration of feedback into programme adjustments.
• Support programme monitoring through joint field visits, spot checks, supply end-user monitoring, and audit readiness preparation, in close collaboration with UNICEF Programme Officers and county partners; escalate any identified risks to the supervisor for appropriate mitigation.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate 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 suggested activities:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading 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.
Results/expected outputs:
• Support county-led integrated planning, budgeting, and system strengthening. Support county-led development and implementation of integrated Annual Work Plans (AWPs)/County Operational Plans in alignment with the county development agenda; strengthen child-focused planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, and evidence-based decision-making systems (including ensuring inputs from county staff to maintain simple dashboards and reporting mechanisms).
• Facilitate multi-sector coordination, community engagement, and adolescent inclusion. Facilitate effective multi-sector coordination platforms and joint actions across social sectors; promote meaningful community engagement, accountability to affected populations (AAP), adolescent participation, and the systematic integration of climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) considerations into county plans.
• Uphold UNICEF core protection and accountability standards. Ensure full and consistent adherence to UNICEF Child Safeguarding and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) standards in all activities, engagements, and interactions at all times.
• Provide support in strengthening the county capacity and systems on participatory and child-focused planning, budgeting, monitoring, and reporting.
• Support the convening of existing county convergence committee meetings and relevant sector coordination platforms; prepare agendas, minutes, action trackers, and follow up on decisions; advocate for integration of UNICEF-supported objectives into these existing platforms.
• Facilitate alignment and coordination of county-led Annual Work Plan (AWP) co-designing and implementation processes with county authorities, ensuring activities are aligned with the integrated service delivery package; maintain implementation schedules and track progress at the county level.
• Coordinate joint campaigns and integrated service delivery efforts in counties (e.g., Back to My Classroom enrolment drives in high-risk communities; Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS)/birth registration outreach; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)-in-Schools activities; adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)/nutrition services including human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination where applicable), working closely with relevant line ministries, UNICEF teams, and partners.
• Provide oversight into establishment and strengthening of inclusive community-level forums and Adolescent Girls Advisory Panels at community and sub-county levels; operationalize two-way feedback mechanisms and ensure community/adolescent recommendations are documented and fed into AWP review/amendment processes at the county level.
• Support county-level climate vulnerability assessments and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) planning; contribute to mapping flood/drought hotspots; assist in integrating resilience actions into AWPs; track related indicators in collaboration with relevant technical partners.
• Support maintenance and updating of county-level dashboards (using existing tools and data flows aligned with AAID/UNSDCF and UNICEF flagship indicators and adolescent participation metrics); compile inputs for quarterly progress reports to feed into central office consolidation and review.
• Facilitate coordination with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and community radios for convergent messaging and community-level transparency; document partnerships and support integration of feedback into programme adjustments.
• Support programme monitoring through joint field visits, spot checks, supply end-user monitoring, and audit readiness preparation, in close collaboration with UNICEF Programme Officers and county partners; escalate any identified risks to the supervisor for appropriate mitigation.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate 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 suggested activities:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading 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.
Results/expected outputs:
• Support county-led integrated planning, budgeting, and system strengthening. Support county-led development and implementation of integrated Annual Work Plans (AWPs)/County Operational Plans in alignment with the county development agenda; strengthen child-focused planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, and evidence-based decision-making systems (including ensuring inputs from county staff to maintain simple dashboards and reporting mechanisms).
• Facilitate multi-sector coordination, community engagement, and adolescent inclusion. Facilitate effective multi-sector coordination platforms and joint actions across social sectors; promote meaningful community engagement, accountability to affected populations (AAP), adolescent participation, and the systematic integration of climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) considerations into county plans.
• Uphold UNICEF core protection and accountability standards. Ensure full and consistent adherence to UNICEF Child Safeguarding and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) standards in all activities, engagements, and interactions at all times.
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Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.