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Gender & Adolescents Programme Manager, (P-4) FT, #128711, Port Sudan, Sudan (open to non-Sudanese nationals only)

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Job no: 572611

Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment

Duty Station: Port Sudan

Level: P-4

Location: Sudan

Categories: Gender Development

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, strength.

II. Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Adolescence, a period of heightened vulnerabilities, also offers a window of opportunity for successful transition to adulthood, particularly for the most disadvantaged adolescents. Addressing barriers that limit their rights to development, protection, and participation is crucial for breaking cycles of deprivation and poverty.

Gender equality is essential to realizing UNICEF’s mandate. The UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2022–2025 operationalizes the Gender Policy 2021–2030, promoting gender equality across programmes and workplaces. The GAP outlines steps to accelerate progress on gender equality, incorporating lessons from previous plans and global consultations. It emphasizes the role of UNICEF as a collaborator with governments and partners in supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Recognizing gender discrimination's lifelong impacts, the GAP promotes gender equality throughout the life course, particularly advancing the leadership and well-being of adolescent girls.

As the conflict in Sudan continues, millions of children are displaced and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Currently, 1 in every 2 children, or 13.6 million children in Sudan, require urgent relief. The situation in conflict zones and IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) concentration points is dire. Women leaders, frontline service providers, and women-led and girl-centered CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) are at the forefront of responding to the needs of women and children. Gender-responsive humanitarian action across clusters and partnerships with women-led and girl-centered organizations is critical.

The Gender & Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Programme Manager, reporting to the Chief Education (P5), supports country office programming by providing technical advice and operational support, ensuring the integration of gender equality and adolescent development and participation into UNICEF’s work. This role involves planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programmes, advocating for children's and adolescents' rights, building capacity among staff and partners, and securing resources to support initiatives.

Purpose for the job: The Gender and Adolescent Development Manager reports to the Chief Education for general guidance and direction, with matrixed reporting to the Deputy Representative Programmes. The Manager supports country office programming processes by providing expert technical advice and operational support to country office colleagues and internal and external partners and stakeholders to ensure that gender equality in alignment with GAP and adolescent development and participation established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/framework and UN intergovernmental bodies, are integrated in UNICEF’s advocacy, policies, programmes and humanitarian work.

The Manager contributes to the achievement of sustainable and scalable results on gender quality and adolescent related programmes/projects according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

How can you make a difference?

III. Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Country Programme development and planning
• Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
• Advisory services and technical support
• Advocacy, networking and partnership building
• Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1.Country Programme development and planning

Design and update the situation analysis and conduct assessments to establish age and sex disaggregated evidence-based data for UNICEF advocacy and development of policies, frameworks and programmes to promote gender equality and adolescent development and participation in the country.

Assess national/regional/international development priorities to identify opportunities and strategies and courses of action to enhance the delivery of services and achievement of objectives on gender equality and adolescent development and participation. Work in coordination with Child protection, C4D, Gender, Communication, Education, HIV/AIDS, Health, Nutrition, Social policy, WASH, Planning, Emergency and Monitoring & Evaluation to support development of a strategic framework for gender equality adolescents, across all sectors.

Participate in CO crisis response programme formulation, planning and preparation to provide input, advice and operational support on the integration of cross sectoral policies and frameworks that promote gender equality and adolescent development and participation. This includes the processes of SMR and CPD formulation. Ensure alignment of gender and adolescent policies, frameworks and interventions with the UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and coherence/integration with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.

Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies and implementation plans for gender quality and adolescent development and participation programmes/projects across all sectors using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare relevant documentation for programme review and approval.

Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners and stakeholders to discuss strategies and methodologies that enhance the realization of gender quality and adolescent rights across all sectors and to promote partnerships and alliances on adolescent development and participation including partnerships with adolescents.

Ensure that the voices of women, girls, adolescents and children are systematically taken into consideration in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programme cycle

2.Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish age disaggregated benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of sustainable results on gender equality and adolescent development and participation programmes and projects.

Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results for adolescents, women and girls.

Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and weaknesses in programme and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.

Plan, monitor and oversee the use of programme resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity.

Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.

Provide technical leadership to generate knowledge on the situation of adolescents, support sector specific analysis of data on adolescents, women and girls, and improve utilization of sex and age disaggregated data within UNICEF monitoring and evaluation tools and among partners.

Submit/prepare proposals, programme/project reports to donors and other partners to raise resources for adolescent interventions and keep donors informed on programme progress and critical issues.

3.Advisory services and technical support

Participate in strategic discussions, meetings and other international/national meetings and workshops to provide evidence based papers and inputs on gender quality and adolescent development and participation to influence policy and agenda setting.

Provide technical advice and guidance to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on policies, strategies, best practices and approaches on adolescent development and participation to support programme development, conceptualizing, planning, implementation and delivery of results.

Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and consideration in development discussion and planning relating to adolescents.

Provide technical advice to internal sectoral staff and external partners on approaches to enhance adolescents’ participation into the policy, programming and humanitarian interventions.

4.Advocacy, networking and partnership building

Lead advocacy drive for gender equality and adolescent rights and programming within the country office, with other UN and government and non-government partners based on improved evidence and data.

Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, research institutes, youth led organizations and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on UNICEF’s gender equality and adolescent development and participation initiatives.

Contribute to the preparation of advocacy and communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and to ensure that gender equality and adolescent development and participation programmes and initiatives are adequately resourced and supported.

Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on gender equality and adolescent development and participation to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda setting process. Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues the UNDAF planning and preparation of programmes/projects including emergency preparedness.

5.Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Promote, document and disseminate critical thinking, innovative approaches and good practices on gender equality and adolescent development and participation initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.

Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices on gender equality and adolescent development related issues. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned to support development, planning, implementation and scale up.

Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices that promote the rights of adolescents and enhances their development and participation as active members of society and their community.

Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of a wide range of internal and external partners/stakeholders to achieve sustainable results on adolescent development and participation programmes and initiatives.

IV. Impact of Results

The strategic and effective advocacy, planning and formulation of gender equality and adolescent programmes/projects and the achievement of concrete and sustainable results from these programmes contribute to the achievement of UNICEF goals in the country to promote the full development and active participation of adolescents in determining their essential needs, promoting their rights to a safe environment and protecting their rights to survival, development and well-being in society. This in turn contributes to maintaining/enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to provide programme services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equality and inclusion in the country.

For more info, please review the complete Job Description here: JD Gender Adolescents Programme Manager Level 4.doc

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: anthropology, psychology, sociology, education or another relevant technical field.
• Experience:

A minimum of eight years of professional experience in social development planning and management in gender equality and adolescent development related areas is required.Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.

Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

ii) Core Competencies (For Staff with Supervisory Responsibilities) *

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Advertised: E. Africa Standard Time

Deadline: E. Africa Standard Time