Programme Specialist Digital United Nations Children's Fund Experience: 5 to 10 Years Geneva, Switzerland Apply By: 19-11-2024

The BECR work plan aims to effectively support UNICEF efforts to achieve child rights outcomes in the digital environment, with a focus on influencing and fostering responsible business practices and accelerating actions in the business ecosystem to safeguard and protect all children’s rights in digital contexts.

Join UNICEF as a Programme Specialist under the Senior Adviser, Child Rights and Business, where you’ll develop and support implementation of impactful strategies and policies to safeguard children’s rights in the digital environment. Focusing on engaging with industry and influential stakeholders, you’ll lead initiatives that motivate businesses of all sizes to respect children’s rights and accelerate meaningful action in their operations. Collaborating with diverse teams across UNICEF, you will  provide evidence-based policy guidance and capacity building on responsible business which will inform UNICEF programme, partnerships and other efforts related to achieve child rights outcomes in the digital context.  Through this role you will oversee knowledge management and communication efforts while driving resource mobilization to support program implementation in various country offices. Based in Geneva, this position may involve relocation as UNICEF transitions to its new Strategic Plan by the end of 2025. If you’re passionate about making a difference for children in the digital age, we want to hear from you!

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

Implement the Child Rights and Business (CRB) initiatives within the digital environment, ensuring that results are delivered in a timely and cost-efficient manner aligned with UNICEF’s Strategic Approach and with UNICEF Strategic Plan priorities. This involves providing strategic support to senior management in engaging withthe tech industry and other stakeholders, ensuring that efforts are integrated with organizational commitments and efforts  such as the Child Online Protection Framework and UNICEF’s digital transformation strategy. To strengthen policy advocacy and thought leadership, the plan emphasizes the consolidation of insights from existing work on child rights and technology. This includes advancing the understanding of business responsibilities regarding children’s rights in the digital sphere and aligning these concepts with both internal and external agendas. The initiative also seeks to enhance organizational support through technical assistance, capacity building, and knowledge exchange, while fostering collaborations with diverse stakeholders. Additionally, it aims to develop communication products that effectively convey trends in the digital landscape and inform decision-makers, ensuring that UNICEF’s influence and visibility in advocating for child rights are maximized.

The following minimum requirements:

• An advanced university degree (Master) in one of the following fields: social sciences, human rights, international relations, political science, communications, international development, or a related field is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience at the international level in business and human rights, , child online protection programming, or a related field, with at least two years of experience on topics related to responsible technology, child online protection, or work in the private sector in related areas.
• A technical background in child rights or human rights approaches to business impact, including with specific focus on  the digital environment.

Desirables:

• Experience in developing or implementing human rights reporting and due diligence mechanisms for children, especially in a business context.
• Proven skills in producing, editing, and uploading online content.
• Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines.

Assets:

• Experience advocating with industry and multistakeholder platforms, investment institutions, governments, NGOs, or within the corporate sector, including coordinating advocacy efforts with others.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is considered an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/576961