SENIOR CHILD PROTECTION ADVISER

These positions are located in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Special Political Missions. The focus of these jobs is to provide political advice, strategic guidance and substantive support to the mission leadership and oversee the effective implementation of the child protection mandate in line with the relevant Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict and as laid out in the DPKO-DFS-DPA Policy on Child Protection in United Nations Peace Operations.

The Senior Child Protection Adviser usually serves as the Head of the Child Protection Section and typically reports to designated official at D1 or D2 level and/or Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG)/Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), depending on the mission structure.

Within the limits of delegated authority, the Senior Child Protection Adviser will be responsible for the following duties:
• Leads the identification of the protection needs of children in the mission area, and advises the mission leadership in devising the strategy for the implementation of the child protection mandate of the mission in line with the DPKO-DFS-DPA Policy on Child Protection in UN Peace Operations, the Mission’s mandate and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict;
• Ensures that the mission leadership is apprised of the full array of child rights and protection issues and advises on ways and strategies to address them;
• Ensures that child protection is mainstreamed in all aspects of the UN mission’s activities, policies and strategic planning processes, including but not limited to conflict prevention, peace and political processes, peace consolidation, protection of civilians and stabilization; Provides training on child protection to all peacekeeping personnel;
• Works collaboratively with UNICEF and/or other UN agencies to ensure that the rights and protection of children are on the agendas of all relevant conflict resolution and peacebuilding entities, UN coordination mechanisms, international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the international donor community;
• Works collaboratively with other UN peace operation components, including UN police and military, Human Rights, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Rule of Law to integrate child protection in their work, activities and strategies; Ensures the implementation of mandated tasks as per relevant Security Council resolutions (SCRs) on children and armed conflict, and, where relevant, the conclusions of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict;
• Leads the implementation of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) under S/RES/1612 (2005) in close coordination with UNICEF through the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting, and supports and coordinates as appropriate the mission-wide monitoring and reporting on the six grave violations;
• Oversees or collects reliable, accurate and timely data on the six grave violations identified by the UN Security Council and other violations committed against children and, where necessary, leads and conducts investigations on these violations; Oversees the analysis on trends and patterns of grave violations against children to support response strategies;
• In coordination with the Mission’s leadership and the UN Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting, engages in dialogue with State and non-State parties to the conflict and perpetrators of grave violations against children, and develops strategies/mechanisms to address these violations through the signing and implementation of national action plans;
• Ensures regular and timely reporting on child protection issues in line with the DPKO-DFS-DPA Policy and reporting guidelines, including inputs to periodic country-specific reports to the Security Council and relevant DPO analytical products as requested, and submit timely reports to the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict, including, but not limited to, Global Horizontal Notes, country-specific SG reports on children and armed conflict, and annual SG reports on children and armed conflict;
• Advises and supports the Mission leadership in advocating with appropriate national government authorities as well as other parties to the conflict to ensure adequate responses to violations committed against children;
• Engages with national stakeholders to promote inclusion of rights and protection of children in national and regional policies and advocate for the allocation of national resources to this end;
• Assists the Mission leadership to advocate for the allocation of funds or technical support for the separation and reintegration programmes for children formerly associated with armed forces and groups, as well as for child-sensitive humanitarian and development programmes;
• Establishes and maintains constructive partnerships with other experts and stakeholders (including host governments, the UN system and other international organizations, NGOs, the private sector, research institutes, etc) to discuss emerging topics related to child protection;
• Works collaboratively with, and acts as the primary interface between, the UN mission and child protection actors to ensure a coherent approach and to leverage, as appropriate, political and other resources of the mission to prevent and address violations of children's rights;
• Represents the mission in relevant inter-agency coordination mechanisms, including but not limited to the UNCT, humanitarian clusters, especially to ensure adequate response to violations committed against children in armed conflict;
• Supports DPO Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training’s Child Protection on Child Protection policy, guidance and training materials, including identification of best practices.
• Functions as the Head of the Child Protection Unit and provides leadership, guidance, and overall supervision to the staff of the Child Protection team as assigned;
• Participates in the recruitment of new Child Protection Officers, manages staff performance, and develops and coaches new and junior staff;
• Formulates the work plan and budget of the unit and participates in the overall administrative matters concerning the unit or mission;
• Performs other duties as required.

• PROFESSIONALISM: Demonstrates knowledge of institutional mandates, policies, guidelines and methodologies relating to child protection, including the legal framework for the protection of children, relevant Security Council resolutions and mandates related to children and armed conflict; Demonstrates capacity to maintain effective working relationships with other UN, NGO, state and/or government stakeholders; Demonstrates ability to advise senior officials on highly complex issues and to influence others to reach agreement on difficult issues; Shows pride in work and in achievements; Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

• PLANNING AND ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; Identifies priority activities and assignments; Adjusts priorities as required; Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; Uses time efficiently.

• ACCOUNTABILITY: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

• LEADERSHIP: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow; Empowers others to translate vision into results; Is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives; Establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support; Anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions; Drives for change and improvement, does not accept the status quo; Shows the courage to take unpopular stands; Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work; demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing.

• JUDGEMENT/DECISION-MAKING: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; Gathers relevant information before making a decision; Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; Checks assumptions against facts; Determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; Makes tough decisions when necessary.

An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in political science, international relations, law, human rights, social sciences or a related area. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience at the national or international levels, of which at least five at the international level, in human rights, political affairs, international relations, or law, including in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child in accordance with international standards, is required.
A minimum of three years of experience in managing a team is required.
Experience working in or in support of a field operation of the United Nations Common System or a comparable international organization is desirable.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position(s) advertised, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required; working knowledge of French is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

The United Nations Secretariat maintains rosters of qualified and available candidates to fill anticipated job openings in peacekeeping operations, special political missions, and other field operations.

The purpose of this job opening is to generate a list of qualified candidates for inclusion in the Senior Child Protection Adviser, P5 roster. The entire assessment process takes an average of six months; all applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application (whether successful or unsuccessful) within 14 days of the conclusion of the process. Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently will be invited to apply for field mission vacancies open only to roster members. Roster membership does not guarantee selection.

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.