Given the scale and the impact of the ongoing conflict, there are greater and urgent demands for data, information and analysis in the CP AOR. Parallel to the recent conflicts, Sudan communities are simultaneously hit with an on-going climate related events including heavy rain and floods. The humanitarian response requires high Information Management (IM) capacity with the operationalization of the inter-agency approach. The IM Specialist will support the CP AoR to make informed evidence based strategic decisions at the field level on: i) the scale/scope and coverage by the child protection partners; ii) responses to the ongoing crisis, as necessary; iii) the needs of affected populations; iv) prioritization of areas according to cluster indicators, as specified in the Flash Updates and Flash Appeal as well as the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP); v) what the key gaps in needs and response are; and vi) what capacity (human, material, financial) is required.
The Sudan-CPAoR IM Specialist will provide technical guidance to the CP AoR and UNICEF programming partners. She/he will contribute towards generating an overall emergency situation analysis and response coverage in the area of child protection. The IM Specialist will ensure consistent capacity strengthening of the CP AoR and UNICEF programming to obtain timely and accurate information about the needs, plans and crisis response.

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, knowledge.

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 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. Therefore, 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.

Job organizational context:

Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in Khartoum on 15th April 2023 and spread quickly to neighboring cities and states, Darfur, and other areas across Sudan. Over 500 people have been killed nationwide, at least 4,500 people injured and over 340,000  were forced to flee. Many more vulnerable children and families are trapped in conflict zones, with no means to leave and little or no access to essential services and necessities such as health care, water, protection, and food. Since the beginning of the conflict, WHO has confirmed 15 attacks on healthcare facilities. Significant learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic are being further exacerbated by the current conflict. Reports through service providers and initial assessments indicate increased levels of violence against women, girls, and boys, including sexual violence, with significant reduction in safe access to life saving services. Main emergency risk scenarios in Sudan are: escalation of an armed conflicts in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile States, floods, droughts and disease outbreaks. Emergency situations could potentially affect millions of populations. Emergency response is generally to be led by the Government while international support is coordinated by the Humanitarian Country Team and Humanitarian Coordinator.

UNICEF, is performing the functions of Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) coordination in Sudan.  The coordinator functions are covered by a Child Protection Manager (P4).  The IM position will therefore also be based in the UNICEF but providing services based in Port Sudan with the travel to the filed offices

Purpose of the job:

Given the scale and the impact of the ongoing conflict, there are greater and urgent demands for data, information and analysis in the CP AOR.  Parallel to the recent conflicts, Sudan communities are simultaneously hit with an on-going climate related events including heavy rain and floods.  The humanitarian response requires high Information Management (IM) capacity with the operationalization of the inter-agency approach.  The IM Specialist will support the CP AoR to make informed evidence based strategic decisions at the field level on: i) the scale/scope and coverage by the child protection partners; ii) responses to the ongoing crisis, as necessary; iii) the needs of affected populations; iv) prioritization of areas according to cluster indicators, as specified in the Flash Updates and Flash Appeal as well as the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP); v) what the key gaps in needs and response are; and vi) what capacity (human, material, financial) is required.

The Sudan-CPAoR IM Specialist will provide technical guidance to the CP AoR and UNICEF programming partners.  She/he will contribute towards generating an overall emergency situation analysis and response coverage in the area of child protection.  The IM Specialist will ensure consistent capacity strengthening of the CP AoR and UNICEF programming to obtain timely and accurate information about the needs, plans and crisis response.

How can you make a difference? 

III. Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks  

Summary of key accountabilities:

1. Information Management for the CP AOR in the coordination structure:

• Lead gap analyses at Sudan level for the CP AOR based upon agreed data sources, including through verification and support for information disaggregated by age and sex, vulnerable groups and severity scale locations.
• Lead the development and regular revision of UNICEF and Inter-Agency Information Management tools related to the CP AOR.
• Coordinate closely with other IMOs belonging to the protection cluster and other clusters located either remotely or in person, and ensure complementarity, harmonization and compatibility in the collection of information, format and the products that are used.
• Always ensure the security of data and observe the Information Sharing and Confidentiality Protocols.

• Contribute to UNICEF and Inter-Agency Information Management discussions including for data collection, quality assurance and clearance prior to dissemination, at field level as necessary.
• Represent the CP AOR in the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group IMOs activities and Support field level  coordination functions as requested by the Coordinators.

1. Data Collection, Compilation and Analysis

• Provide continuous support to the child protection monitoring working group and generate regular information products highlighting the humanitarian situation and current needs to support decision making, advocacy and resource mobilization efforts.

• Lead the data collection and reporting from partners in the emergency response tool and generate comprehensive documents in a way that is easily understood by various decision makers (maps, dashboards, infographics and resource analyses).

• Undertake Mapping including 4Ws/5Ws, Needs and Gaps analysis, Services and Infrastructure at field level, as required.
• Support inter-cluster efforts in generating Cross Sectoral Assessment Needs, Service Mapping, Rapid Assessments, Sitreps and Situation Analysis.
• Lead and maintain the suspension and relocation tool in coordination with the Protection cluster IMO.
• Strengthen Child Protection Cluster members capacity in data collection, monitoring, reporting and analysis.

IV. Impact of Results

The efficiency and efficacy of program preparation, planning and implementation contributes to and accelerates the humanitarian response scale up and national development efforts to scale up access to quality child protection in Sudan.  This in turn contributes to maintaining/enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF and the larger humanitarian community to continue providing program services for children.  This efficiency and efficacy are only possible with a clear documentation of progress, which is dependent on good information and data for in-depth analysis.  The standardization and harmonization of information (collection) and use of common indicators, ensured by the IM Specialist, plays a critical role in making progress.

The Child Protection IM Specialist facilitates and enforces the use of common tools and guidelines which facilitates analysis and appropriate programmatic response.  This eventually leads to informed prioritization, better targeting of vulnerable populations and better results for children.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  TORs_IMO_CPAoR_Sudan_07Aug2024.docx

For every Child, you demonstrate…

VI. Recruitment Qualifications

Education: Master’s degree or relevant combination of qualifications and experience, in information management or associated disciplines (computer sciences, geography/GIS, engineering, sciences).

Advanced knowledge of Excel, Access, Oracle and MySQL database applications as well as GIS (ArcGIS, QGIS, Google earth Pro. Basic Java and VB scripting) and social media management is an asset.

Experience: Five years of relevant professional experience in Information Management, GIS, data analysis or similar activities in humanitarian context. Experience in Sudan response or similar context is an asset.

Experience in conveying technical information and managing information and presenting in form of maps, useable matrices, as needed. Experience in facilitating training is an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of Arabic and another official UN language is an asset.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

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

V. Competencies and level of proficiency required (please base on UNICEF Competency Profiles)

Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

Core Competencies (For Staff without Supervisory Responsibilities)

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

 To familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as 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. 

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

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.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.