Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF is responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. UNICEF Health program is designed to support national health priorities with focus on programs that will positively impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged children, such as the prevention and treatment of diseases through establishing community-level efforts and services to promote the health and well-being of children. In line with this strategy, UNICEF supports immunization and health prevention programs for childhood diseases and funding for sustainable health services. UNICEF programs have been guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which affirms the right of all children to “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.”
UNICEF is committed to realizing the rights of all children to help them build a strong foundation and have the best chance of fulfilling their potential. We believe that ensuring a happy and healthy child begins before birth: from ensuring his/her mother has access to good neonatal care and delivering in a clean, safe environment to reaching adulthood as a responsible, healthy and informed parent to the next generation. This journey relies on a child having access to shelter, good nutrition, clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education.
UNICEF is committed to realizing the rights of all children to help them build a strong foundation and have the best chance of fulfilling their potential. We believe that ensuring a happy and healthy child begins before birth: from ensuring his/her mother has access to good neonatal care and delivering in a clean, safe environment to reaching adulthood as a responsible, healthy and informed parent to the next generation. This journey relies on a child having access to shelter, good nutrition, clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education.
Context
The fundamental mission of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is to promote the rightsof every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy andin operations. Gender equality lies at the core of UNICEF’s mandate to advance wellbeing of all children. These commitments are reflected in UNICEF Gender Policy 2021-2030, UNICEF Gender Equality Action Plan (UGEAP) 2026-2029, and other operational frameworks.
UNICEF’s Gender Equality Action Plan (UGEAP), 2026-2029, outlines the organization’s key commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women. Building on UNICEF’s comparative advantages, lessons learned from prior Action Plans, as well asevidence of proven strategies to effect change at scale in the lives of girls and women, this UGEAP sets targets to enhance girls’ and women’s access to quality services across all five programmatictargets of the Strategic Plan. A special emphasis is placed on boosting investments to advance thewell-being, leadership and agency of adolescent girls, recognizing that investments in this agecohort yield multiple dividends for every child, their families and societies. UNICEF’s role inconvening partners and influencing budgets, policies and systems is underscored, both for greaternational ownership and long-term impact. As an organization, UNICEF will lead by example, adhering to sustained financial expenditure for gender equality, robust measures for monitoringa nd reporting on progress to achieve programmatic targets, and nurturing safe, equitable andempowered workplaces.
Mirroring the global commitments and national priorities, the UNICEF Nigeria Country Office (CO) has a Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2024-2027 and puts gender equality as an organizational priority and a cross-cutting principle for all programme and operational areas. In alignment with the National Gender Policy 2021-26, the GAP 2024-2027 outlines a commitment to integrating gender equality in health and nutrition, with specific actions outlines at the systems, community and individual levels such as supporting gender-responsive policies and guidelines, improving the capacity of PHC to deliver gender-responsive and adolescent-friendly services, strengthening community structures such as mothers and fathers groups, and strengthening platforms to build adolescents leaderships and skills, including in health, HIV awareness, SRHR, etc.
Northern Nigeria continues to face persistent gender gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), and nutrition outcomes driven by social and gender norms, differential decision-making power, mobility restrictions, gender-based violence risks, early marriage, low male engagement, and structural barriers within health and community systems. These gendered dynamics intersect with adolescence, disability, poverty, location (urban/rural), and education to shape access, utilization, quality, and outcomes.
UNICEF’s Gender Equality Action Plan (UGEAP), 2026-2029, outlines the organization’s key commitments to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women. Building on UNICEF’s comparative advantages, lessons learned from prior Action Plans, as well asevidence of proven strategies to effect change at scale in the lives of girls and women, this UGEAP sets targets to enhance girls’ and women’s access to quality services across all five programmatictargets of the Strategic Plan. A special emphasis is placed on boosting investments to advance thewell-being, leadership and agency of adolescent girls, recognizing that investments in this agecohort yield multiple dividends for every child, their families and societies. UNICEF’s role inconvening partners and influencing budgets, policies and systems is underscored, both for greaternational ownership and long-term impact. As an organization, UNICEF will lead by example, adhering to sustained financial expenditure for gender equality, robust measures for monitoringa nd reporting on progress to achieve programmatic targets, and nurturing safe, equitable andempowered workplaces.
Mirroring the global commitments and national priorities, the UNICEF Nigeria Country Office (CO) has a Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2024-2027 and puts gender equality as an organizational priority and a cross-cutting principle for all programme and operational areas. In alignment with the National Gender Policy 2021-26, the GAP 2024-2027 outlines a commitment to integrating gender equality in health and nutrition, with specific actions outlines at the systems, community and individual levels such as supporting gender-responsive policies and guidelines, improving the capacity of PHC to deliver gender-responsive and adolescent-friendly services, strengthening community structures such as mothers and fathers groups, and strengthening platforms to build adolescents leaderships and skills, including in health, HIV awareness, SRHR, etc.
Northern Nigeria continues to face persistent gender gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), and nutrition outcomes driven by social and gender norms, differential decision-making power, mobility restrictions, gender-based violence risks, early marriage, low male engagement, and structural barriers within health and community systems. These gendered dynamics intersect with adolescence, disability, poverty, location (urban/rural), and education to shape access, utilization, quality, and outcomes.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of the Gender and Development Manager, and working closely with the Health and Nutrition Manager, the UN National Specialist Volunteer provides support to Country Office and Field Office (Bauchi, Kaduna and Kebbi) colleagues and internal and external partners and stakeholders for the GAC-supported programme by providing technical, administrative and operational support to ensure that gender and adolescent development and participation are fully integrated.
The UN National Specialist Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
Technical Support for Programme Implementation (40%)
•Provide day‑to‑day technical support to CO and Field Office teams to ensure gender is effectively integrated into planning and implementation of the GAC-supported programme.
•Support state government and implementing partners in applying gender‑responsive and gender‑transformative approaches, including through capacity building and supportive supervision.
•Contribute to internal collaboration across UNICEF teams to ensure alignment and coherence of gender and adolescent-related interventions.
•Support development, adaptation, and use of tools, guidelines, and checklists for integrating gender into programme interventions and community engagement activities.
•Ensure programming remains responsive to the needs of adolescents (10–19 years), including married adolescents, out‑of‑school girls, and pregnant/parenting adolescents.
Coordination and Partnerships (20%)
•Support policy dialogue and engagement with state governments, CSOs, youth-led groups, and development partners on gender equality and adolescent development.
•Support the coordination of a gender community of practice, technical meetings, and workshops across the three programme states.
•Strengthen partnerships with women‑ and youth‑led organizations to support gender-transformative and adolescent-focused programming.
•Support meaningful engagement with adolescents, especially girls, ensuring their perspectives inform programme design, implementation, and monitoring.
Evidence, Research and Knowledge Management (20%)
•Support development of research tools, case studies, and knowledge products related to gender and adolescents.
•Contribute to gender analyses, adolescent assessments, gender norms mapping, and documentation of best practices.
•Assist with rapid gender reviews, evaluations, and programme learning exercises to strengthen evidence-informed programming.
•Document promising approaches and lessons learned for dissemination across states and national platforms.
Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation (20%)
•Track gender and adolescent-related programme indicators, analyze data, and validate partner reports to ensure quality and accuracy.
•Conduct joint field monitoring visits and supportive supervision to assess programme progress and identify bottlenecks.
•Contribute to donor reports, annual reports, updates, briefing notes, and human-interest stories showcasing programme achievements.
•Ensure gender and adolescent outcomes are consistently captured and reported across all components of the GAC-supported programme.
The UN National Specialist Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
Technical Support for Programme Implementation (40%)
•Provide day‑to‑day technical support to CO and Field Office teams to ensure gender is effectively integrated into planning and implementation of the GAC-supported programme.
•Support state government and implementing partners in applying gender‑responsive and gender‑transformative approaches, including through capacity building and supportive supervision.
•Contribute to internal collaboration across UNICEF teams to ensure alignment and coherence of gender and adolescent-related interventions.
•Support development, adaptation, and use of tools, guidelines, and checklists for integrating gender into programme interventions and community engagement activities.
•Ensure programming remains responsive to the needs of adolescents (10–19 years), including married adolescents, out‑of‑school girls, and pregnant/parenting adolescents.
Coordination and Partnerships (20%)
•Support policy dialogue and engagement with state governments, CSOs, youth-led groups, and development partners on gender equality and adolescent development.
•Support the coordination of a gender community of practice, technical meetings, and workshops across the three programme states.
•Strengthen partnerships with women‑ and youth‑led organizations to support gender-transformative and adolescent-focused programming.
•Support meaningful engagement with adolescents, especially girls, ensuring their perspectives inform programme design, implementation, and monitoring.
Evidence, Research and Knowledge Management (20%)
•Support development of research tools, case studies, and knowledge products related to gender and adolescents.
•Contribute to gender analyses, adolescent assessments, gender norms mapping, and documentation of best practices.
•Assist with rapid gender reviews, evaluations, and programme learning exercises to strengthen evidence-informed programming.
•Document promising approaches and lessons learned for dissemination across states and national platforms.
Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation (20%)
•Track gender and adolescent-related programme indicators, analyze data, and validate partner reports to ensure quality and accuracy.
•Conduct joint field monitoring visits and supportive supervision to assess programme progress and identify bottlenecks.
•Contribute to donor reports, annual reports, updates, briefing notes, and human-interest stories showcasing programme achievements.
•Ensure gender and adolescent outcomes are consistently captured and reported across all components of the GAC-supported programme.
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