Programme Officer, Adolescent Girls And Gender Equality

Details

Mission and objectives

The Child Protection Programme of UNICEF Ghana is committed to ensuring that by 2022, Girls and boys in Ghana, especially the most disadvantaged, increasingly benefit from an equitable and integrated child protection system that better protect them from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. The system is focus on the establishment of effective structures, functions and capacities that can prevent and respond to all child protection issues. It also seeks to integrate the actions of families (and children including adolescents), communities, formal and informal laws and practices together to protect children. To achieve these, strategic investments are made to: i) Bringing relevant policy, legal and regulatory framework in line with international standards and good practices ii) strengthening the capacity of formal and informal service providers actors to prevent and respond effectively to protection issues; and iii) supporting interventions aimed at behavioural and social change among girls, boys, families and communities.Among all children, Adolescent Girls in Ghana are disproportionately affected by child protection concerns, including exposure to gender discrimination, child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting, sexual violence, unsafe migration and trafficking, among others. The purpose of the proposed UNV assignment is to provide assistance to the Child Protection section of UNICEF Ghana in further developing and strengthening its interventions for better protection of Adolescent Girls, by working closely with particularly vulnerable group of girls, their families and communities, service providers and other key local and national stakeholders.

Context

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, 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.The Gender Policy 2021-2030 and Gender Action Plan 2022-2025 (GAP) define how UNICEF will contribute to Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls in delivering its mandate on children. The GAP incorporates both programmatic and institutional priorities, integrating a change strategy for Gender Equality across internal policies, practices and accountability mechanisms. Building on past successes and lessons learned, the plan specifies three areas of commitment: 1) Integrating Gender Equality results across the life course of our programmes and Strategic Plan goal areas, including health and nutrition; education; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); child protection; and social policy; 2) Prioritizing the leadership and well-being of Adolescent Girls; and 3) Strengthening our policies and systems for more gender-transformative workplaces and practices

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Gender Programme Specialist/AGY Team Lead or designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer Programme Officer, Adolescent Girls and Gender Equality will be in charge of:Program/project development, planning and reporting•Provide technical support in evidence-based programme/project planning on gender, incorporating robust measurement and evaluation of results.•Support the integration of gender and Adolescent Girls’ considerations into country programming phases, including strategic planning, mid-term reviews, annual reviews, and programme component strategy notes.•Support the incorporating of Adolescent Girls and Gender indicators and measures in programme/project and policy initiatives, funding proposals, and advocacy efforts.•Support the Country Office in reporting results on gender and Adolescent Girls, through donor reports and routine annual reporting.•Provide technical and advisory support to the cross-sectoral cluster of Adolescent, Gender, and Youth within the UNICEF Ghana Country Office to design gender-responsive and targeted office-wide initiatives and interventions.Program coordination, monitoring and evaluation•Participate in cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination on programmatic results on Adolescent Girls and Gender, ensuring coherence and synergies•Provide coordination and documentation support in the implementation of cross-sectoral programmes on Adolescent Girls and Gender Equality.•Support the data collection to monitor and evaluate progress on Adolescent Girls and Gender results, including the implementation of the country office gender strategy.•Support gender analysis, reviews and evaluations and ensuring that recommendations are integrated into appropriate processes.•Participate in relevant inter-agency and partner coordination bodies on gender as required.Advocacy, networking and partnership building•Support programme convergence, and partnerships in gender programming in liason with sections and external partners (civil society, NGOs, private sector, development partners)•Support the mapping of potential partnerships to accelerate GAP implementation at the country level and resource mobilization•Promote Adolescent Girls’ leadership through UNICEF partnerships and advocacy engagements•Support donor engagement activities (e.g. Project Steering Committees, field monitoring visits, coordination meetings etc.) and ensuring wide internal and external visibility of UNICEF’s gender and Adolescent Girls results.•Support the design of gender-responsive policy and public advocacy initiatives.Knowledge management and capacity building•Support documentation and dissemination of knowledge and experience in gender programming internally and externally.•Support the planning and implementation of research, evaluations and KAP surveys related to Adolescent Girls and Gender and tracking of the follow up recommendations.•Support the capacity strengthening of staff and implementing partners on gender and meaningful engagement of Adolescent Girls.•Disseminate best practices in gender programming and measurement internally and gather information on capacity building opportunities on gender and adolescents for staff.