Planning Officer (United Nations Affairs)

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Strategic office context:
The Joint Government of Uganda – UNICEF Country Programme (2026-2030) provides a framework that guides UNICEF’s interventions in Uganda. Aligned to the National Development Plan IV, it supports the operationalization of the national sustainable development goals roadmap (2018). The Country Programme is an integral part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for Uganda 2026– 2030. The programme has sectoral components: Health, HIV and Nutrition; Learning and skilling; WASH, climate action and the environment; Child protection; and Social policy and Social protection. Focus is also placed on ensuring that priority cross-sectoral themes – including Teenage Pregnancy; Violence against Children (including Child labour, FGM, Child Marriage); Child Rights; Climate Action; Disability; Adolescent Development and Participation; ECD and Parenting; Data for Children; Gender and PSEA and Humanitarian Preparedness and Response – contribute to holistic results for children.

UNICEF’s programming makes use of gender-transformative and life-cycle approaches, while strengthening humanitarian-development linkages; supporting the national response to pandemics and disease outbreaks; exploring innovative solutions and fostering shared value partnerships, including with the private sector and young people.

Purpose for the job:
Under the direct supervision of the Planning and Monitoring Specialist and matrix management to the Deputy Representative, the National UNV Planning Officer (UN Affairs will support UNICEF’s strategic coordination efforts on implemenation of the UNSDCF with sister UN agencies in Uganda. This will include convening and cooridinating programme teams towards UNSDCF common planning, implemetnation, monitoring, and reporting requirements and will support the Deputy Representative in convening and coordinating broader UN agencies engagement under UNSDCF Outcome and Result groups where UNICEF is the lead. The UNV will also support Programme teams that have integrated/joint programmes with sister UN agencies within the UNSDCF.

Under the supervision of the Planning and Monitoring Specialist, the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) will undertake the following tasks below:

A. United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting Processes
a) Leads the coordination, quality review, and finalization of UNICEF inputs to One UN Workplan/Joint Programmes; ensuring compliance with specific assigned objectives of the UNSDCF.
b) Provides quality assurance for all UNICEF inputs across UNSDCF Outcomes and Outputs and ensures quality of consolidated United Nations (UN) agencies' inputs in UNINFO for Outcomes chaired by UNICEF.
c) Provides strategic and sound technical inputs towards UN monitoring and evaluation (e.g., Results-Based Management (RBM) Group) initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators, and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence, and delivery of concrete and sustainable results on integrated programmes.
d) Responsible for all Knowledge Management (KM) efforts towards UNICEF’s contribution to the UNSDCF maintaining an active repository of cross-referenced Programme Work Plans, Reports, presentations, and KM products.
e) Effectively monitors UNICEF’s contributions to integrated programme approaches to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems; providing timely updates and suggested solutions to relevant UNICEF leads for timely decisions to resolve issues.

B. Strategic support to the UNICEF Chairs of Results Group, Integrated Programmes, or UN Deputies Group
a) Supports UNICEF senior management (Representative and Deputy Representative) in all coordination efforts bringing together collaborative efforts of participating UN agencies towards joint planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting on specific Outcome and Result groups of UNSDCF chaired by UNICEF, including acting as Secretariat for the Outcome and Result groups chaired by UNICEF.
b) Provides strategic support to the UNICEF Deputy Representative (DRP), in meetings with UN agencies for programme/project review and follows up on implementation of recommendations and agreements.
c) Provides technical advice and support to the UNICEF Chairs on consultations with the government and donors on policy, planning, and coordination of development assistance; ensuring coherence in all initiatives UNICEF is invested in, within the UNSDCF.
d) Supports the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) Programme and Operations Management Team as needed to ensure coherent and harmonized approaches on UNICEF programming and operational issues are adopted when practical.
e) At the request of the Senior Management Team (SMT), supports various national and UN meetings as well as regional coordination of UN activities.
f) Provides technical support and/or written guidance to key UNICEF staff / Chairs on policies, strategies, best practices, and approaches on integration to support programme development planning, implementation, and delivery of results.
g) Participates in strategic discussions, meetings, and workshops and supports the drafting of evidence-based papers and inputs to influence approaches on integrated UNICEF support to the UNSDCF.
h) Submits and prepares updates and reports to UNICEF Management and Section Chiefs to keep them informed on UNSDCF and Joint UN programme progress; with timely escalation, advice, and solutions on potential issues.

C. Advocacy, networking, and partnership building for UNICEF
a) Builds and strengthens strategic partnerships for UNICEF through networking and advocacy with UN system agencies to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on integrated approaches.
b) Participates in inter-agency discussions and planning to ensure organizational position, interests, and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNSDCF development planning and agenda-setting process.
c) Collaborates with inter-agency partners and colleagues in the UNSDCF planning and preparation of programmes and projects including emergency preparedness.