Sr Programme Specialist “child resilience building”

Introduction to the assignment
On September 6, 2017, a Category 5 Hurricane made landfall on Sint Maarten, causing significant destruction throughout the country. UNICEF The Netherlands has been active on Sint Maarten since September 2017 implementing a programme comprising disaster preparedness, psychosocial support, child protection, public campaigns and research. In collaboration with the Government of St. Maarten and the World Bank Trust Fund, we are implementing a Child Resilience and Protection project. For this project, we are recruiting a Programme Specialist.

The objective of the US$5 million Child Resilience and Protection Project (CRPP) is to strengthen (a) the resilience of students and staff to the emotional and physical impacts of natural disasters and (b) the child protection systems and services to improve preparation and response to natural disasters. This will be done through four components: (1) Nurturing children and adolescents’ well-being by enhancing the system’s capacity to manage students, parents and school staff’ psychosocial needs and strengthening their resilience; (2) Strengthening Child Protection systems; (3) Strengthening schools and the Ministry of Education’s resilience to disasters; and (4) Project Implementation Support.

Purpose of the job The senior programme specialist will have the overall responsibility for the planning, design and implementation of the activities planned under Component 1 of the Project: nurturing learning environments and safe spaces for children and adolescents. The Youth Department of the Ministry of Education Culture, Youth and Sport is responsible for these areas. The work shall contribute to the Sint Maarten Integrated Youth Policy. In close collaboration and alignment with the Government of Sint Maarten and other key stakeholders, the Specialist shall be responsible for the attainment of the following key results by mid-2024, as defined in the Project’s results framework:

• “Positive parenting program implemented”, targeting professionals, parents, children and the general audience. Activities include: develop a pedagogical vision with stakeholders, identify or design method for positive parenting, capacity building in positive parenting among professionals, instigate, manage and oversee the organization of learning opportunities for parents (workshops, seminars), awareness campaigns and parent-child events: structured activities to address psychosocial concerns (with civil society partner), Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis of the Sint Maarten Early Childhood Development association (SECDA)

• “Violence prevention program implemented in schools and centres for early childhood development and after school programmes.” Activities include: needs identification, reviewing existing methods, method design, pilot, roll out, training, capacity building, awareness raising and information dissemination. Lead the development of campaigns towards behavioural change to contribute to violence prevention.

• “Youth resilience and life skills (2022): activities include: workshops on problem-solving, communication, managing emotions, and teamwork, which will help adolescents seize future opportunities, such as those related to transition to the job market, as well as promoting positive coping mechanisms among peers and within the community to deal with external shocks. An adolescent consultant will design and prepare the activities, the senior programme specialist will be responsible for the implementation.

• The senior programme specialist is expected to provide technical support, ensure complementarity and effective coordination with other activities in the Project, especially those related to building youth resilience, child protection and data collection and analysis.

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Function, accountabilities and tasks**

1. Support to project development and planning

• Contribute to the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey (baseline) and support overall data collection so that information is available to guide UNICEF The Netherlands’ policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on care, resilience and child wellbeing.

• Assessment of existing psychosocial support and violence prevention programs and best practices on Sint Maarten and in the region to inform programme planning and design.

• Responsible for the formulation of specific goals, objectives, strategies, and (financial) implementation plans for component 1, using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM).

• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues, the Government of Sint Maarten and civil society partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities and competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results. Participate in regular coordination meetings.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Responsible for monitoring, programme reviews and annual reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required actions and interventions to achieve results.**

• Actively monitor programmes/projects through field visits, surveys and exchange of information with partners to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems. Take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.**

• Prepare and assess monitoring reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management. Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for planning and timely intervention to achieve goals. Prepare input for (donor) reports.**

• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with rules, regulations, procedures applicable to the Project, donor commitments, as well as standards of accountability and integrity. **

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Together with MECYS, lead the programme activities. Responsible for the provision of technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners and other partners and donors on the interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, best practices, and approaches on child resilience to support programme management, implementation and delivery of results.**

• Strengthen communication for development strategies with the co-creation and review of materials, tools and processes related to child resilience, violence prevention and positive parenting.**

• Make use of (knowledge) resources in UNICEF and arrange and coordinate the availability of technical experts with the Regional Office/HQ as required to ensure timely and appropriate support throughout the programming process.**

4. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders, and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best practices in management and information systems. Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.

• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results in “child resilience building” and related programmes/projects.

Requirements **

• Advanced university degree in education, pedagogy, behavioural science, psychology or other relevant field.

• Minimum five to eight years of relevant professional work experience in similar roles in various contexts.

• Experience in working for UNICEF, familiarity with UNICEF programming and best practices in child development, child resilience.

• Experience in capacity building with governments and/or civil society organisations.

• Proven track record to plan and execute work independently.

• Excellent command of English.

• (Online) communication and presentation skills.**

• Knowledge of Sint Maarten culture and context or knowledge of Eastern Caribbean culture and context, including the impact of hurricanes, is strongly desirable.**

• Experience in post-emergency contexts is strongly desirable.**

Our Offer
The successful candidate will be offered a temporary contract of 12 months, with possible extension. The position is based on Sint Maarten, depending on COVID-19 developments it may initially be home-based. The contract is administered by the Netherlands National Committee for UNICEF in The Hague. For remuneration and conditions the HR policies and the International Mobility Guidelines of the National Committee apply. The Senior Programme Specialist reports to the Project Manager in The Hague and maintains day to day working relations with the Team Coordinator based on Sint Maarten.
A reference check is part of the procedure and the successful candidate shall present a Certificate of Conduct, in line with UNICEF The Netherlands’ Child Safeguarding Policy.
The employee shall adhere to this Policy and to the Code of Conduct of UNICEF The Netherlands. Due to current COVID-19 travel restrictions, the consultant will perform the assignment home-based making use of video-calls as needed.

For information about UNICEF The Netherlands, please visit our website Unicef.nl and SINT MAARTEN TRUSTFUND PROJECT

More Information

For more information, please contact Marieke Roelfsema, Project Manager Sint Maarten, [email protected] or by phone on 30 December 2020 from 14-16h or on 5 January 2021 from 14h-16h Central European Time (CET). The phone number will be provided upon request.