Social Policy Intern (2 positions)

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist (Cash Transfers), the Social Policy Interns will work in a three person team to deliver the intern outputs

The Syria Crisis is entering into its sixth year. According to the UNHCR, there are 661,114 active Syrian refugees registered in the country as of 3 July 2017 and out of them 52% are children under 18 years of age.[1] Among these, 50.7%are female, 49.3% are male, and 16.4% are children from 0-4 years, 21.8% are from 5 -11 years, and 13.5% are from 12-17 years. Initial results of the latest census completed by the Government of Jordan in December 2015 indicated that Syrians constituent 12.5% [1.2 million in total] of the total Jordanian population, adding significant pressure on the country. The majority (82 %) of refugees are living in non-camp settings (so-called, “host community/urban centers”), with higher concentration in northern and central Jordan.

Overall, the humanitarian situation for refugees in Jordan has been in continual decline, due to aid agencies and NGOs facing increasingly severe funding shortfalls. As the vast majority of families receiving assistance are already considered vulnerable, for many these cuts have had a heavy impact. Majority of refugee families are heavily reliant on the assistance from WFP, UNHCR and UNICEF, with very few families generating income through other means as result of Jordan’s policy on labour force participation. 

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Jordan Country Office (JCO) initiated an unconditional Child Cash Grant (CCG) programme in February 2015 to assist children in the most vulnerable Syrian refugee families living in non-camp settings in Jordan. Under this humanitarian programme, a monthly cash transfer equal to JD 20 per child per month is transferred to eligible families living in host communities based on their poverty and protection status, as identified through the Inter-agency Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF), thereby aiming to provide the means to meet the children’s basic needs and prevent vulnerable families from resorting to negative coping strategies that affect their children’s wellbeing. The purpose of the grant is to contribute toward expenses specific to children, through increasing income for the most vulnerable refugee families.[2]

On average in 2015, UNICEF assisted 55,000 children from 15,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugee families. UNICEF also assisted all unaccompanied and separated children irrespective of the poverty status. As funding become available, UNICEF aims to reach these children for 2016 and also to expand on the coverage in terms of number of children and duration.

As the UNICEF Child Cash Grant moves into a phase of renewal, UNICEF builds on lessons learnt from cash assistance programmes in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Morocco. UNICEF new Child Cash Grant programme will be called Integrated Social Protection Programme for Children in Jordan, its Arabic name will be Hajati (My Need). This new programme integrates recommendation to address the above mentioned areas and improve the former Child Cash Grant.

Starting from school year 2017/2018 the Hajati programme will target vulnerable

Children beyond their nationality or registration status thanks to a child focused targeting methodology under development by UNICEF in partnership with National Assistance Fund (NAF), this will contribute in bringing together Syrian, Jordanian and other nationalities’ children. Twenty three priority districts have been identified based on a multidimensional children vulnerability analysis, in these districts all families enrolling their children in a Double Shift School will be assessed and the most vulnerable will be selected to benefit from Hajati. Beneficiary children attendance will be monitored and SMS will be sent to remind beneficiary families about the purpose of the grant. This will be coupled with behavior change activities and ad-hoc home visit, in case a child misses more than fifteen days of school, by UNICEF specialized Makani staff who will be able to address other barriers to education such as bullying or violence in school, unemployment in the family or child protection cases through referral and case management procedures.

Description of Tasks:

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist (Cash Transfers), the Social Policy Interns will work in a three person team to deliver on the following two outputs:

Integrated Social Protection programme for Children in Jordan (Hajati) Programme support:

• Ensure that the data collected by UNICEF partner are sound and reliable
• Perform data quality assurance procedures
• Contribute to the integration of Hajati programme data into Bayanati database
• Troubleshoot data collection problems
• Contribute to develop an accountability to affected population framework for the programme
• Work in partnership with the other UNICEF sections to produce a Home Visit Protocol for delivering an integrate package of Social Protection services.
• Contribute in analysing the available data to conduct operational programme review and report generation

Preparation of Knowledge Management products:

• Contribute in producing relevant fact sheet and information briefs on the situation of children in Jordan
• Contribute in preparing working paper on the situation of public finance for children in Jordan
• Contribute in preparing both internal and external reports.
• Document human interest stories from the Hajati programme.

Qualifications: 

• Being enrolled in a social science bachelor or master course (economics, statistics, social policy or other relevant subject)
• Fluency in English
• Strong writing skills
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset
• Experience in data collection and analysis software (ODK, STATA/ SPSS) is considered an asset

Experience with GIS software also considered an asset

Expected benefits -Learning and Development

The intern will be received and assisted within the framework of the UNICEF Jordan Country Programme in Jordan that emphasizes the focus on acquiring experience in a development field under close direction of UNICEF Social Policy Specialist.

A stipend will be provided to cover part of the in-country needs of the intern.

Living conditions in Jordan

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is strategically located in the Middle East covering a diversity of landscapes. Bound by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Red Sea to the south and Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to the west. The weather in Jordan is not too extreme. This position will be based in Amman, which is the capital city of Jordan - a unique blend of old and new, ideally situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley. Amman is a peaceful city with over one million residents. People are friendly to visitors. Amman is hot and sunny from May to October, with cool, pleasant evenings. Winter in Amman is rainy with occasional short snowfalls. Services in terms of banking, transportation, communications, etc are well-available. Arabic is the official language but English is widely spoken among the majority of the population, especially in Amman