Social Policy Specialist, NOC, Fixed Term, Manila, Philippines, (Open to Nationals Only)

Join our dedicated team and provide support to Social Policy and Advocacy work. You will be responsible for the effective engagement in social policy dialogue with the Government with emphasis on programme development, advocacy for increased public resource allocation and budgeting, sustainable decentralization of social services and local capacity building, data collection and analysis in support of advocacy for children’s rights, and to support the Agenda 2030, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

For every child, A Fair Chance

UNICEF has been an active partner of the Government of the Philippines and civil society in realizing the rights of every Filipino child, in line with priorities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. UNICEF efforts have been focused on the most vulnerable regions identified by the Government of the Philippines Development Plan, particularly in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. To ensure that interventions are sustainable and scaled up, UNICEF will support primarily local government units (LGUs) as the main instruments of delivering services and building systems. The level of engagement with government institutions will take into account capacities, economies of scale and sector issues.

Unicef has a field office in Cotabato City the second largest city in Mindanao, southern Philippines, with some 300,000 population. The city is the regional administrative centre of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and over 80 percent of the population is Muslim. Mindanao is both conflict-affected and prone to frequent earthquakes and typhoon storms.

Visit this link for more information on Philippine Country Office: https://www.unicef.org/philippines/

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Chief of Social Policy and Advocacy, the Social Policy Specialist is accountable for the effective engagement in social policy dialogue with the Government. The dialogue is in line in the promotion of programme development, advocacy for increased public resource allocation and budgeting towards the social sector, and sustainable decentralization of social services and local capacity building in support of the goal of universal coverage of essential social services and the creation of a protective environment for children. S/He will conduct data collection and analysis to fill information gaps and to strengthen capacity for advocacy for children’s rights, and to support the Agenda 2030, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda.

The Social Policy and Advocacy Specialist role in the given organizational set up are following:

• Participates in social policy dialogue and development with the Government, engages in and establishes constructive dialogue and partnerships between international and local stakeholders to support the development of social policies and programmes contributing to the progressive realization of children’s rights and strengthening of implementation and monitoring mechanisms at all levels of society, and ensures that the services reach out in innovative, effective ways to those most vulnerable pockets of children and families that have been previously left out.
• Supports child rights-based reviews of national and local legislation, in close consultation with civil society organizations, people’s organizations, including children and youth.
• Monitors and updates current information on state budgeting and spending patterns for social programmes and decentralization status of social services on an on-going basis to support advocacy for greater public resources and budget allocation for social development, the prioritization of resource allocation for children, and universal coverage of essential services for children, to ensure that they reflect the best interest of children.
• Where the national decentralization process is taking place, collaborates with the national and local authorities to assist in planning, policy discussion and service delivery closely responding to the needs of local communities.
• Provides on-going support in making decentralization sustainable through adequate local support while keeping decentralized services both accessible and effective.
• Collaborates with the central and local authorities to strengthen community-based capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of social policy and programmes.
• Develops programme plans of action for children at provincial and city/municipality levels; strengthens coordination between sectors and between different levels of government structures for policy implementation.
• Collects systematically qualitative and quantitative data for the sound and up-to-date assessment of the situation of children and women to provide the base-lines for result-based decisions on interventions and evaluations.  .
• Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives.
• Analyzes the macroeconomic context of social policy programmes and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children.
• Promotes and raises awareness on children’s rights with policy makers and decision makers, to ensure local buy-in, commitment, and continued relevance of UNICEF programming. Provides technical support to the country office particularly in providing relevant data and insights necessary for the development and implementation of public advocacy and Communications for Development (C4D) strategies.
• Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda.  
• Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family.
• Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme.
• Ensures that the social planning project enhances policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.

To qualify as a champion  for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree in Economics, Social Development, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, International Finance, Public Administration/Management, or other relevant disciplines. 
• Five years of relevant professional experience in development work.
• Field work experience in local governance, decentralization, urbanization, social development, and human rights
• Background/familiarity with Emergency 
• Fluency in English and local working language of the duty station (for NO).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

Our core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. To view our competency framework, please click here.

How to Apply

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/ by 31 October 2017.  Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal under Job Number: 507874 will be considered.

 Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.