Job Description

Purpose of the Post: Accountable for effective engagement in social policy dialogue with the Government for programme development, advocating for increased public resource allocation and budgeting towards the social sector and sustainable decentralization of social services and local capacity building in support of the goal of universal coverage of essential social services and the creation of a protective environment for children; responsible for quality researches and analysis focusing on implications of and policy options to address child poverty; supports internal UNICEF capacity building to ensure upstream work of UNICEF-Iran. Major Duties and Responsibilities: Social policy dialogue and programme development Participates in social policy dialogue and development with the Government, engages in and establishes constructive dialogue and partnerships between international and local stakeholders to support the development of social policies and programmes contributing to the progressive realization of children's rights and strengthening of implementation and monitoring mechanisms at all levels of society, and ensures that the services reach out in innovative, effective ways to those most vulnerable pockets of children and families that have been previously left out; Monitoring state budget resources Monitors and updates current information on state budgeting and spending patterns for social programmes and decentralization status of social services on an on-going basis to support advocacy for greater public resources and budget allocation for social development, the prioritization of resource allocation for children, and universal coverage of essential services for children, to ensure that they reflect the best interest of children. Sustainable decentralization and capacity building Where the national decentralization process is taking place, collaborates with the central and local authorities to assist in planning, policy discussion and service delivery closely responding to the needs of local communities; Provides on-going support in making decentralization sustainable through adequate local support while keeping decentralized services both accessible and effective; Collaborates with the central and local authorities to strengthen community-based capacity on quality data collection, analysis for policy development, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring of social policy and programmes; Develops programme plans of action for children at provincial and district/municipality levels; supports development of coordination between sectors and between different levels of government structures for policy implementation. Data collection, analysis and results-based approach Coordinates systematically qualitative data for the sound and up-to-date assessment of the situation of children and women to provide the base-lines for result-based decisions on interventions and evaluations. Supports development of information systems for monitoring child indicators, with emphasis on community and child participation; Provides timely, regular data-driven analysis for effective prioritization, planning, and development; facilitates results-based management for planning, adjusting, and scaling-up specific social policy initiatives; Supports maintenance of information system for monitoring gender/sex disaggregated data; Analyzes the macroeconomic context of social policy programmes and its impact on social development, emerging issues and social policy concerns, as well as implications for children, and proposes and promotes appropriate responses in respect of such issues and concerns, including government resource allocation policies and the effect of social welfare policies on the rights of children Partnerships Establishes effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Millennium Development Goals and the World Fit for Children (WFFC) agenda; Identifies other critical partners, promotes awareness and builds capacity of partners, and actively facilitates effective collaboration within the UN family. UNICEF Programme Management Supports and contributes to effective and efficient planning, management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the country programme; Ensures that the social planning project enhances policy dialogue, planning, supervision, technical advice, management, training, research and support; and that the monitoring and evaluation component strengthens monitoring and evaluation of the social sectors and provides support to sectoral and decentralized information systems.