TA Regional Child Protection Information Management Specialist, P3 - WCARO Dakar, Senegal - #105857

UNICEF WCARO is looking to fill a temporary position of Regional Child Protection Information Management Specialist, P3 for 364 days.

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 fulfill 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.

For Every Child, hope

Within the framework of the Strategic Plan and the WCARO Regional Child Protection Strategy (2018 - 2021), the WCARO Child Protection team requires targeted support to strengthen the overarching child protection systems approach and to address seven core priorities: Violence against Children (VAC); Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE); Children on the Move; Harmful Practices (Child Marriage and FGM/C); Justice for Children; and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS). A key component of this support to date has been to focus on strengthening monitoring and evaluation and evidence generation to support interventions and programming in countries facing both emergency and non-emergency situations. The Regional Office Child Protection section seeks to provide country offices (COs) confronted with complex and diverse data needs with dedicated information management expertise to help COs better track their programs and capitalize on their achievements as part of the overall system strengthening, both to mobilize resources and to strengthen political engagement. This support is vital in a region where countries are working to strengthen monitoring systems across the board in terms of regular programming for child protection, and where 10 out of the 24 countries are responding to chronic or recurring humanitarian situations, where higher-frequency monitoring and information needs are all the more critical. Continued advances in higher quality, accessible and actionable data for research, monitoring and evaluation are a core requirement for improved decision making and to strengthen UNICEF's accountability to donors for results and value for money.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this position is to enhance data collection and data management, to consolidate the capacity of UNICEF Child Protection Country Offices sections and partners at the national level, building on existing information management (IM) systems, and where appropriate, to support the technical roll-out of new IM systems in humanitarian and non-humanitarian contexts.

Central to support that is provided to Country Offices in Monitoring and Evaluation for Child Protection by the Regional Child Protection Specialist (M&E), dedicated support in information management is needed at the regional level for COs on systems for data collection, data management, data sharing, and data quality assurance. In 2018, the WCARO Child Protection team will place specific emphasis on improving data collection tools and setting up mechanisms for data consolidation and analysis, ensuring that data are consistently transmitted from the decentralized to the central levels, and are consolidated, analyzed and used to improve programmes, to raise awareness, and used for advocacy. In this context, the WCARO Child Protection team intends to recruit a candidate with specific expertise in the roll-out of existing global Information Management tools in both development and emergency contexts (ex. PRIMERO, Data for All, Kobo, and RapidPro...), and in linking data collection tools to the overall effort to measure the outcomes of the Child Protection system as a whole.

1. Support to regional and country office data collection

• Maintain updated indicator guide(s) at the regional level in regular consultation with COs, which includes harmonized indicators for CPiE, indicators for VAC and Harmful Practices, Birth registration, Justice for Children, Migration, as well as other child protection indicators.
• Building on in-depth mapping and analyses of IM systems and data strategies underway, provide technical support to COs to streamline the data/information flows and to develop, improve, and automate (where possible) tools for data collection, analysis and visualisation.
• Support COs to strengthen Information Management Systems to collect key geographical information for UNICEF-supported activities, and activities of partners, and support to sub-clusters, so that coverage can be accurately mapped.

2. Support to regional and country office data analysis

• Finalize regional data strategy for child protection, and as per this strategy, compile data and keep updated database of most recent data on situation, results and performance indicators by region, country, from COs, data from Data for All, MICS/DHS, SitReps, and RPM (HRP online tracking tool), ensuring that high-quality, most recent data is available for internal and external use (press releases, briefing notes, partners, proposals, management meetings)
• Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key program performance and management indicators, provide professional input to management reports, including relevant sections of the annual reports.
• Support on in-depth analysis for presentations, regional workshops, etc. based on needs of the CP Specialists
• Advocate and support COs on the use of harmonized indicators (MHPSS, ESNA, ENA and EAFGA) and other relevant indicators across programmes
• Review CO regular Sitreps and perform quality control of reported data (including data reported in RPM), following up on data concerns with countries as required
• Together with the M&E Specialist, provide direct support to countries on data from surveys, studies and needs assessments. For those with HRPs and HACs, provide mid-year and annual review of data and analysis of humanitarian needs overviews (HNO), of estimated people in need (PIN), targets, funding requirements, as compared with the previous years and taking into account new changes in humanitarian contexts, to ensure scale according to need, for RO and CO review and use.

3. Data visualization

• Ensure that needs of children and results and of child protection interventions are visualized and shared, through the development and refinement of visual information products (regular dashboards, infographics, and factsheets) to support both humanitarian and regular programme planning, monitoring and decision making.
• Ensure that COs have the necessary capacity to visualize results, as needed (CO dashboards, infographics, maps).

4. Support and lead on technology-based IM initiatives

• Provide technical guidance to COs on the roll out and use of technology-based innovations for data collection in emergency and non-emergency settings (ex. PRIMERO/CPIMS+, RapidPro, Kobo, Data For All)
• Liaise with the regional and global leads (ex. PRIMERO, Innovations Unit) for regular updates on ongoing technology-based projects and coordinated deployments

5. Coordination

• Act as IM focal point for UNICEF's Regional Child Protection section in technical forums (working with the sub-clusters in the countries and with the regional sub-group CPiE)
• Participation in UNICEF and OCHA led IMWGs, inter-cluster meetings, regional CPiEWG; regular liaison with OCHA, UNHCR, etc.
• Support regional bodies, such as ECCAS and ECOWAS, on strengthening the child protection information management system

CONDITIONS OF WORK

Position is based in WCARO Child Protection Section, Dakar, Senegal. When deployed in support of response in Country Offices, the incumbent will also report to the Country Representative or Head of Child Protection Section, as appropriate.

To qualify as a champion for every child you will have

• Advanced university degree, preferably in the social sciences, political science, law or other relevant field
• A minimum of five (05) years of relevant work experience relevant experience developing and supporting information management systems in humanitarian and non-humanitarian settings
• Strong background in mobile data collection is an asset
• Ability and willingness to travel to emergency countries in the region
• Fluency in French and English is required

For every Child, you demonstrate

UNICEF's core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The technical competencies required for this post are:

• Leading and Supervising II
• Formulating Strategies and Concepts
• Analyzing II
• Applying Technical Expertise II

• Planning and Organizing III

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.