Details
Mission and objectives
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 fulfilling 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.
In the East Asia and Pacific Region, UNICEF works to uphold the rights of all children. This means the rights of every child, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:
• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them
Recognizing children, adolescents and youth have a right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, a right to a healthy and safe environment, and a right to protection from harm, UNICEF is calling for governments and businesses to address the climate crisis through reduction in greenhouse emissions, increased investment in children’s awareness and climate literacy, and by engaging young people in environmental and climate related policy making.
In the East Asia and Pacific Region, UNICEF works to uphold the rights of all children. This means the rights of every child, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:
• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them
Recognizing children, adolescents and youth have a right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, a right to a healthy and safe environment, and a right to protection from harm, UNICEF is calling for governments and businesses to address the climate crisis through reduction in greenhouse emissions, increased investment in children’s awareness and climate literacy, and by engaging young people in environmental and climate related policy making.
Context
This assignment is part of UNICEF’s mission to uphold the rights of every child, everywhere, across programmes, advocacy, partnerships, and operations. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF places equity at the heart of its work, recognising that the most disadvantaged and excluded children must be prioritised to achieve sustainable development for all.
Public Finance for Children (PF4C) is central to this mission. Governments’ fiscal choices determine whether health, education, protection, social protection, and climate investments are adequate, equitable, and sustainable. UNICEF works to ensure that public budgets and financial systems are transparent, inclusive, and child-sensitive, so that all children—especially the most marginalised—can survive, develop, and thrive.
Within UNICEF, the Global Programme Division (GPD) drives programme excellence by setting standards, building coherence across sectors, and linking global policy with country-level action. Through its Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in Nairobi, Panama, Amman, and Bangkok, UNICEF provides high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to Country and Regional Offices and their partners. The Child Poverty Centre of Excellence (CoE) focuses on reducing multidimensional child poverty through social protection, livelihoods, and PF4C.
PF4C priorities include:
• Reviewing national budgets and expenditure frameworks to strengthen policy action, improve fiscal equity, and promote sustainable financing for children.
• Supporting ministries of finance, planning, line ministries and subnational agencies in applying a child lens to the development, prioritisation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of budgets.
• Influencing domestic resource mobilisation, SDG financing, debt and tax reform, and climate and humanitarian financing, in line with Article 4 of the CRC, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Seville Commitment.
• Building political commitment and accountability for children’s rights through stronger evidence, and more transparent and inclusive fiscal governance.
In Asia-Pacific, UNICEF is increasingly engaged, thanks to the EU-UNICEF Public Finance Facility, in providing analytical and technical support to public financial management to leverage domestic public resources for greater, more sustainable, and more equitable results for children. This work includes ensuring social services are prioritised in government budgets and promoting financing solutions that support human capital investments.
This work contributes directly to UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029, Impact Result #3 (reducing child poverty), and to the achievement of SDGs 1 and 10, while also linking to wider UN and IFI financing agendas.
This assignment sits within the Economic and Social Policy Section’s Child Poverty CoE Satellite in Bangkok, as part of the PF4C team, and reports to the Social Policy Specialist, Public Finance for Children. It contributes directly to Impact Result 3 of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026–2029, focused on reducing child poverty.
Public Finance for Children (PF4C) is central to this mission. Governments’ fiscal choices determine whether health, education, protection, social protection, and climate investments are adequate, equitable, and sustainable. UNICEF works to ensure that public budgets and financial systems are transparent, inclusive, and child-sensitive, so that all children—especially the most marginalised—can survive, develop, and thrive.
Within UNICEF, the Global Programme Division (GPD) drives programme excellence by setting standards, building coherence across sectors, and linking global policy with country-level action. Through its Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in Nairobi, Panama, Amman, and Bangkok, UNICEF provides high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to Country and Regional Offices and their partners. The Child Poverty Centre of Excellence (CoE) focuses on reducing multidimensional child poverty through social protection, livelihoods, and PF4C.
PF4C priorities include:
• Reviewing national budgets and expenditure frameworks to strengthen policy action, improve fiscal equity, and promote sustainable financing for children.
• Supporting ministries of finance, planning, line ministries and subnational agencies in applying a child lens to the development, prioritisation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of budgets.
• Influencing domestic resource mobilisation, SDG financing, debt and tax reform, and climate and humanitarian financing, in line with Article 4 of the CRC, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Seville Commitment.
• Building political commitment and accountability for children’s rights through stronger evidence, and more transparent and inclusive fiscal governance.
In Asia-Pacific, UNICEF is increasingly engaged, thanks to the EU-UNICEF Public Finance Facility, in providing analytical and technical support to public financial management to leverage domestic public resources for greater, more sustainable, and more equitable results for children. This work includes ensuring social services are prioritised in government budgets and promoting financing solutions that support human capital investments.
This work contributes directly to UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029, Impact Result #3 (reducing child poverty), and to the achievement of SDGs 1 and 10, while also linking to wider UN and IFI financing agendas.
This assignment sits within the Economic and Social Policy Section’s Child Poverty CoE Satellite in Bangkok, as part of the PF4C team, and reports to the Social Policy Specialist, Public Finance for Children. It contributes directly to Impact Result 3 of the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026–2029, focused on reducing child poverty.
Task description
1. Technical Assistance and programme support to deliver EU-UNICEF’s Public Finance Facility (PFF) for Children work (40%)
• Provide support to country offices for the roll-out of the EU-UNICEF PFF agenda, including through assistance to the design, delivery and documentation of country-level technical analysis and evidence-based advocacy to make budgets and fiscal frameworks work for children
• Assist EU-UNICEF PFF country offices in the design, implementation and documents of public finance system strengthening, including in the areas of local governance, subnational financing, and improved transparency and participation
• Provide support to country-office public finance requests for technical assistance on issues and topics complimentary to the UNICEF’s EU-UNICEF PFF goals, in line with the UNICEF PF4C Framework, and reflecting the contribution of the public finance and sector financing perspectives
• Assist COs in identifying and compiling budget data for health, education, social protection and other relevant social sectors, and support analysis to link budget data to children’s outcomes.
• Coordinate program activities, monitor progress, and ensure timely reporting on key initiatives related to child-focused public finance, including through donor updates and donor reporting.
• Support the EU-UNICEF PFF Programme Manager in day-to-day operations and programme implementation tasks.
2. Policy Analysis and support to policy dialogue processes on Financing for children (30%)
• Support research and analysis on key trends and challenges related to Public Finance for Children agenda that contributes to the EU-UNICEF-PFF priorities.
• Collaborate with different UNICEF teams to provide quality assurance on key tools and processes of the Public finance for Children agenda, including through budget briefs, expenditure reviews, cost-effectiveness analysis, tax incidence analysis, financing options papers, etc.
• Facilitate programme country participation in regional policy dialogue on Financing for Development, with the particular focus on UNICEF’s contribution from the Public Finance for Children agenda, including through the promotion of South-South and Triangular cooperation knowledge exchanges.
• Provide strategic policy analysis support in the assessment of key regional and sub-regional trends and challenges in the different areas impacting children’s wellbeing.
3. Positioning and representation (20%)
• Collaborate with key stakeholders, including governments, academia, NGOs, the EU, the OECD, multi-lateral development banks, and bilateral and multilateral agencies working on public finance to support UNICEF's positioning as a vital partner in child-focused public finance initiatives, building and maintaining strategic partnerships to advance children's rights and well-being through effective public finance.
• Contribute to advocacy efforts by preparing presentations, case studies, short accessible policy briefs, advocacy materials and messages, and by representing UNICEF at relevant events.
• Support communication initiatives to disseminate research findings, policy recommendations and key messages related to social sector spending, children's rights, child poverty and human capital investment.
4. Knowledge management (10%)
• Collect and organize country data, technical reports, advocacy materials and other documents related to the EU-UNICEF PFF, support the maintenance of a structured knowledge repository for easy access by colleagues across teams, regions and COs, as well as key external partners and stakeholders.
• Support the development and management of a centralized repository for project documents, research, and publications of COs and CoE to support the scaling up of good practices, the dos and the donts of our work, ensuring accurate documentation of lessons learned and the overall Public Finance for Children related milestones.
• Support knowledge sharing through the development and delivery of webinars and brownbag sessions, and create and distribute updates and resources to keep COs and the PF4C network informed (including through the development of thematic briefs, summaries and communication materials).
• Provide support to country offices for the roll-out of the EU-UNICEF PFF agenda, including through assistance to the design, delivery and documentation of country-level technical analysis and evidence-based advocacy to make budgets and fiscal frameworks work for children
• Assist EU-UNICEF PFF country offices in the design, implementation and documents of public finance system strengthening, including in the areas of local governance, subnational financing, and improved transparency and participation
• Provide support to country-office public finance requests for technical assistance on issues and topics complimentary to the UNICEF’s EU-UNICEF PFF goals, in line with the UNICEF PF4C Framework, and reflecting the contribution of the public finance and sector financing perspectives
• Assist COs in identifying and compiling budget data for health, education, social protection and other relevant social sectors, and support analysis to link budget data to children’s outcomes.
• Coordinate program activities, monitor progress, and ensure timely reporting on key initiatives related to child-focused public finance, including through donor updates and donor reporting.
• Support the EU-UNICEF PFF Programme Manager in day-to-day operations and programme implementation tasks.
2. Policy Analysis and support to policy dialogue processes on Financing for children (30%)
• Support research and analysis on key trends and challenges related to Public Finance for Children agenda that contributes to the EU-UNICEF-PFF priorities.
• Collaborate with different UNICEF teams to provide quality assurance on key tools and processes of the Public finance for Children agenda, including through budget briefs, expenditure reviews, cost-effectiveness analysis, tax incidence analysis, financing options papers, etc.
• Facilitate programme country participation in regional policy dialogue on Financing for Development, with the particular focus on UNICEF’s contribution from the Public Finance for Children agenda, including through the promotion of South-South and Triangular cooperation knowledge exchanges.
• Provide strategic policy analysis support in the assessment of key regional and sub-regional trends and challenges in the different areas impacting children’s wellbeing.
3. Positioning and representation (20%)
• Collaborate with key stakeholders, including governments, academia, NGOs, the EU, the OECD, multi-lateral development banks, and bilateral and multilateral agencies working on public finance to support UNICEF's positioning as a vital partner in child-focused public finance initiatives, building and maintaining strategic partnerships to advance children's rights and well-being through effective public finance.
• Contribute to advocacy efforts by preparing presentations, case studies, short accessible policy briefs, advocacy materials and messages, and by representing UNICEF at relevant events.
• Support communication initiatives to disseminate research findings, policy recommendations and key messages related to social sector spending, children's rights, child poverty and human capital investment.
4. Knowledge management (10%)
• Collect and organize country data, technical reports, advocacy materials and other documents related to the EU-UNICEF PFF, support the maintenance of a structured knowledge repository for easy access by colleagues across teams, regions and COs, as well as key external partners and stakeholders.
• Support the development and management of a centralized repository for project documents, research, and publications of COs and CoE to support the scaling up of good practices, the dos and the donts of our work, ensuring accurate documentation of lessons learned and the overall Public Finance for Children related milestones.
• Support knowledge sharing through the development and delivery of webinars and brownbag sessions, and create and distribute updates and resources to keep COs and the PF4C network informed (including through the development of thematic briefs, summaries and communication materials).
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