Mission and objectives

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children’s rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behavior toward children. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Context

UNICEF supports the Government of Kazakhstan in strengthening mechanisms for the prevention, identification, referral and follow-up on cases of violence against children; enhancing state-run specialized services for child victims of crimes; and improving the monitoring and data collection on child protection, with a focus on violence against children. Communication for behavioural and social norms change interventions target the public to reduce and better address violence against children, in particular to condemn and report on violence against children, including gender-based violence and discrimination, to increase knowledge of non-violent discipline, and to prevent bullying and discrimination among children and from caregivers. UNICEF supports the development of programmes for strengthening parenting skills through the health and education systems. The digital environment is becoming increasingly important in most aspects of children’s lives as public functions, including education, health care, government services, and commerce, are increasingly reliant on digital technology. One in three internet users in the world is a child and children are accessing the Internet at very young ages across a diverse range of devices. While Internet opens up new opportunities for the achievement of children’s rights, it also increases risks of rights violation or infringement: harmful materials, unacceptable behaviours and potentially dangerous contacts online and offline. Online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) is increasingly becoming an issue of concern. The production, consumption, possession and sharing/distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has soared over the past decade. Therefore, children themselves, their parents, guardians, communities, professionals, the private sector and governments need to recognize, assess and find the balance between protecting children online while respecting their human rights and building their digital skills capacity. The international UNV support will be needed to advance child protection program in Kazakhstan in strengthening the national system for prevention and response to violence against children. This work will include specific focus on child online safety. Periodic, not regular business trips to the regions of Kazakhstan are possible.

Task Description

Under the direct supervision of Child Protection Specialist, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Support the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Protection pro-gram interventions related to violence against children (hereinafter VAC) prevention and re-sponse, in line with UNICEF’s Child Protection Strategy (2021 – 2030) and the UNICEF Country program for Kazakhstan (2021-2025). In particular, the UNV will support the data collection and analysis for planning and monitoring purposes, and provide all relevant sup-port to the design, budgeting and operationalization of programmatic activities, and will take part in field visits and missions. 2. Support the development of the Minimum Child Protection Package by assisting with stake-holder consultations, document review, and coordination with the programme team and na-tional counterparts.Contribute to the planning, implementation, and monitoring of program-matic activities related to strengthening the information management systems on violence against children and child-care. 3. Support the collection and organization of international good practices on child protection, online child safety, and violence prevention to assist in advocacy, knowledge sharing, and program activities.Support the design, planning, implementation, and monitoring of pro-grammatic activities related to child online safety and protection: 3.1 research dissemination and advocacy for acting on recommendations 3.2 Support the planning and coordination of social and behavior change communication campaigns, assisting with logistical tasks, content development, and stakeholder en-gagement.support to and leveraging ICT companies’ expertise and resources as part of UNICEF collaboration with business sector 3.3 contribute to holding events/consultations with youth on child online safety 4. Support Child Protection program in fundraising efforts: drafting fundraising briefs and con-cept notes; peer-reviewing thematic materials for digital individual giving campaign. General operating and coordination tasks 1. Attending partners events, office planning and coordination meetings 2. Ensuring daily communication with Social Policy & Child Protection team and other sectors 3. Providing inputs to donor reports and annual reports 4. Supporting correspondence with national counterparts 5. Supporting external and internal purpose documenting exercises 6. Supporting Child protection in communication and visibility efforts and events Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading rele-vant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host coun-try; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participa-tion in ongoing reflection activities; • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Competencies and values

Accountability Adaptability and Flexibility Communication Creativity Knowledge Sharing Planning and Organizing Technological Awareness Working in Teams For every Child, you demonstrate: UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and core competencies in building and maintaining partnerships, Working with People and Drive for Results. UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. 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.

Living conditions and remarks

Astana is the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan and located in the centre of the country in the dry steppe zone. Its population is more than 1,000,000 persons. The city consists of five districts: Almaty, Baykonyr, Saryarka, Yessil, Nura. The city’s economy is based on trade, industrial production, transport, communication and construction. Astana accommodates numerous business centres, theatres, museums, art galleries, exhibition halls and entertainment complexes (movie theatres, nightclubs, parks, restaurants, cafes etc.). Astana is a family duty station. As of January 2025 International UN Volunteer Specialist in Kazakhstan receive USD 2580/month as their Volunteer Living Allowance. Other benefits include: • Pre-assignment Entry lump sum – USD 4000 (one time payment) • Volunteer living allowance (as mentioned above) – USD 2580/month • Learning – Access to UNV’s learning and career development resources • Annual leave – 2.5 days per month • Insurance – Private insurance: 100% coverage by CIGNA • Exit allowance (paid on successful completion of the assignment) The above summary is provided as information only and is subject to change. For further information on the full range of entitlements and eligibility criteria, please read the UN Volunteer Conditions of Service.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements