UNV Programme Support Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

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 fulfil their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, UNICEF works for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

Context

Currently, 38% of people in Bangladesh are living in urban areas which are projected to reach 50% by 2030. Dhaka is the 5th largest city in Asia with close to 20 million inhabitants. Internal migration due to climate change, inadequate facilities in rural areas and job opportunities increase the population pressure in urban areas. A large proportion of migrants end up in urban slums and poor communities with no or limited access to basic services and infrastructure. In this situation children’s safety can be compromised in cities in several ways including exploitative and hazardous labour, living and working on the street, becoming a victim of violence and abuse, trafficking, pollution, unsafe infrastructure, vehicular traffic, overcrowding, unsafe passage to school, engagement in criminal gang activity, unsafe public places, violence at home, school and the community, drug addiction and environmental hazards. Millions of children including adolescents living on the street and public spaces, poor slum communities and hard to reach areas, most vulnerable and at risks including those with special needs and abilities. Findings from the Child Wellbeing Survey (CWS) in Urban Areas 2016 indicated that living conditions in urban slum areas are much worse than those in other urban areas in Bangladesh and do not offer a protective environment for children. In urban locations, only 32 per cent of children under five years of age in the slum areas have birth certificates; 9.6 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years old are engaged in child labour ; 88.9 per cent of children aged 1 to 14 years old had experienced psychological aggression or physical punishment; 34.8 per cent of women aged 15 to 19 years old were married; 4.4 per cent of children age 0 to 17 years old live without their biological parents. To address the issues, UNICEF is collaborating with the Department of Social Services (DSS) under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Local Government Division, City Corporation to deliver quality services to the children vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and violence, living on the street and poor urban communities. UNICEF is supporting DSS to strengthening Urban child protection systems through capacitating the UCDOs, city corporations; providing support to service delivery modeling through Child Protection Services hubs to support and protect children living on the street, conducting case management of vulnerable children living in the poor communities and in need to protection supports. The programs are implemented through deployment of Social Workers. UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF in Bangladesh, please visit https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh. The UN Volunteer will be supporting the capacity building through mentoring, monitoring and enhancing coordination at the DNCC and DSCC areas with various stakeholders such as Social Service Workforce and officials relevant for Birth Registration in different sector.

Task description

Under the overall guidance by the Chief of Child Protection and the daily supervision by the Child Protection Officer, the UNV will work with the Department of Social Services at Head Quarter, Divisional Office of Dhaka and concerned Urban Community Development Offices (UCDO) and will support the following tasks within the Child Sensitive Social Protection in Bangladesh Phase II (CSPB I) Social Service Workforce Strengthening and Child Protection Service Delivery for Children living in the street, the UN Volunteer will: • Support capacity building of UCDOs to deliver quality services to the children living on the street and in vulnerable poor communities in Dhaka and other cities as required. • Build capacities of Divisional Office in Dhaka on program monitoring, financial tracking, and reporting. • Monitor the program in the field in Dhaka urban locations including peripheries and Narayanganj city; • Provide on the job training to the frontline staff and monitor their works. • Support UCDOs and City Corporations in field level coordination with different stakeholders • Perform other tasks as required II) For strengthening Birth Registration mechanism at Dhaka urban areas including Narayanganj, the UNV will: • Maintain liaison with the Office of Registrar General for Birth and Death Registration, City Corporation Zone Offices responsible for birth registration and Urban Primary Health Care providers. • Support capacity development of all relevant officials and frontline workers linked with birth registration. • Strengthen coordination mechanism among responsible stakeholders for birth registration. • Produce capacity development contents, modules, and guidelines for front liners to improve birth registration. • Produce monitoring and progress reports and inform the manager of any issue related to program related decision making. • Perform any other task related to this and as required. III) Depending on the competencies and interests of the UNV, assignments will include to: • Lead the frontline staff engaged in case work and with the Child Protection Services Hubs • Stay abreast of key events in the relevant programmatic areas, and regularly share information with the Chief and CPO. IV) The UNV is also encouraged to strengthen his/her knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism as well as volunteerism-related policy frameworks by reading relevant UNV and other publications. • General understanding of the work and mission of the UNICEF programme, and of volunteerism’s contribution to peace and development effectiveness. • Insight and hands-on experience in UNICEF’s broad range of operational and programmatic issues on child protection. • Insight and hands-on experience in frontline staff management; and • Become more familiar with working in an International Organization and in a multicultural environment.