Knowledge Management Associate

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.

Through 2018-2021 Strategic Plan, UNICEF’s work in education prioritizes equity – supporting all children regardless of their circumstances to have equal opportunities in education and learning – helping children secure basic skills such as literacy and numeracy and a wider range of skills. This includes paying particular attention to early learning, girls’ education, education for children with disabilities as well as education in emergencies and post-crisis context. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNICEF’s education programme is focused on the area of inclusive early learning, quality primary and secondary education and intercultural and inclusive education. In the area of inclusive early learning, the programme supports the continued expansion of preschool education programme.

Every year, UNICEF in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its partners produce and gather a wealth of knowledge: evaluations, research and studies, data and statistics, field insights and lessons from programmes in health, education, child protection and social protection. Used well, this knowledge is one of the office's most powerful assets. It tells us what works, for whom, where and why, and helps us design better programmes, adapt them during implementation, and measure what really changes for children.
The Country Office is turning this knowledge into a living system: an Evidence Hub that is easy to search, connected across sectors, and analyzed to shape programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. A particular focus is on the children most at risk of being left behind, such as Roma children, children with disabilities, girls and children in rural areas, who are often the least visible in existing evidence and data.
The assignment is fully funded by the Czech Republic and builds on shared priorities under the Czech Development Cooperation Programme with Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2030, including the inclusion of marginalized groups and persons with disabilities, gender equality, digital transformation and the country's EU integration. The UN Volunteer will help connect UNICEF's knowledge work with these priorities and with Czech partners in the country.
The UN Volunteer will join the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation team alongside two other UN Volunteers, with structured mentoring and a reporting line to the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. It is a hands-on opportunity to learn how a UNICEF office generates and uses evidence, and to build skills in data analysis, digital knowledge tools and evaluation.

Under the direct supervision of the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, the Knowledge Management Associate will undertake the following tasks:
Building the office’s knowledge system
• Supports the development and curation of the office’s SharePoint evidence repository, making UNICEF’s evaluation findings, research, studies, data and programme documentation easy to access and connected across sectors. Documents are tagged by theme, location and population group, including Roma children, children with disabilities, girls and children in rural areas.
• Contributes to mapping knowledge produced by institutions, United Nations agencies, academia and civil society, keeping an up-to-date picture of what is known about children in Bosnia and Herzegovina and where the gaps are, particularly for the most vulnerable groups.
• Turning knowledge into insights for better programming
• Assists in analyzing the office’s knowledge base to inform programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation, for example by synthesizing findings and recommendations across evaluations and studies, keeping an overview of evaluation recommendations and follow-up actions, and identifying recurring lessons and challenges.
• Contributes to analysis focused on the children most often left behind, such as reviewing what evidence exists and whether data are broken down by sex, disability, ethnicity or location, to help teams target interventions, select meaningful indicators and see where new evidence is needed.
• Assists in preparing short, engaging knowledge products, such as evidence snapshots, “what we know” briefs and data visualizations, for programme planning, mid-year and annual reviews, advocacy and donor reporting and external audiences.
Voices, innovation and partnerships
• Supports, together with programme colleagues, efforts to bring the voices of children, young people and communities into knowledge products, including by synthesizing feedback from U-Report polls, youth consultations and partner organizations, including Roma and disability organizations, in line with UNICEF ethical standards for evidence generation.
• Contributes to making selected external products accessible to the communities and external audiences they concern, such as plain-language, easy-to-read or child-friendly summaries, prepared with UNICEF colleagues and partners.
• Explores, with guidance, innovative knowledge management and analytics solutions, such as AI-assisted search and summarization in line with UNICEF guidance, simple dashboards (e.g., Power BI) and smarter ways of tagging and connecting evidence and helps pilot those that add value.
• Contributes to cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic and Czech development partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by contributing to updates around common areas of interest (e.g., disability inclusion, Roma inclusion, maternal and child health) that could inform UNICEF’s work.
• Assists in organizing knowledge cafés, brown-bag sessions and other learning moments that bring colleagues together around evidence and strengthen its use in programming.

During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work closely with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed-upon work plan. The work plan should outline key objectives and activities and include regular check ins with the supervisor to review progress and receive performance feedback.