Mission and objectives

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. This is why 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. UNICEF in Belarus cooperates with government of Belarus and other national stakeholders, as well as with civil society organizations and the private sector and the media. The overall goal of the country programme (2026-2030) is to support national efforts to promote and protect the rights of all children and to give all children equal opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF’s work in Belarus focuses on promoting and supporting inclusive society, inclusive policies and inclusive services for the most marginalized children and adolescents – with strong overall progress on child well-being. UNICEF’s work spans from early childhood development, a healthy childhood, inclusive education, alternative care and deinstitutionalisation, prevention of violence against children and health and development of adolescents.

Context

Belarus Country Office is operating in an Upper Middle-Income Country context with a pro-gramme throughput of US$ 4 million per year. One of the leadership (crosscutting) areas where UNICEF Belarus is positioning itself as a partner of choice for the government is social inclu-sion. Within Country Programme 2026-2030, UNICEF has identified the Leadership area “In-clusive society, policies, and services” – reflecting its commitments to focus on programming deeply-rooted in the principles of social justice, inclusiveness, and human rights where children and young people are able, regardless of gender, ability, religion, migration status and socio-economic status to access essential services and fully participate in society. In Belarus, in recent decade, there is progress towards an inclusive society, which continues progressively. Unfortunately, barriers and bottlenecks remain, including beliefs and attitudes of exclusion, which hamper the achievement of an inclusive society. Children with disabili-ties and special needs are particularly affected or at risk of being excluded. They still experi-ence differential access and low coverage by quality inclusive services in all sectors. These children and adolescents, when they come from families of disadvantaged socio-economic situation, and particularly those ‘at social risk’, are at increased risk of being deprived of parental or family-setting care. Many children already living in institutions, who face particular issues to learn productive and social-emotional skills, and transition to adulthood, from learning to earning, are children with disabilities. UNICEF support national and local partners to develop and implement inclusive policies, and promotes inclusive services, with the aim to increase access to quality delivery of intercon-nected services (health, nutrition, education, skills development, participation, and child pro-tection) for all children and their families. UNICEF programming focuses on sustainable results at scale for a society and services inclusive of the at-risk and disadvantaged children above.

Task Description

Under the direct supervision of Deputy Representative, the Inclusion Associate will undertake the following tasks: 1. Support to program development and planning on inclusion · Contribute to the development of strategic documents including work plans and project documents with government and CSOs partners for 2026-2027, ensuring cross-sectoral linkages and focus on inclusion of the most at risk and disadvantaged children, particularly those with disabilities or special needs, across all programmes · Support system strengthening and capacity building of social workforce; through the inte-gration of a family-centered approach and best interest of the child principle into social work. Support the development of a minimum service package for vulnerable families with children with disabilities and/or special needs to prevent institutionalization. · Map successful inclusive education practices and approaches, and support partners in their scaling-up, contributing to programming and project design on inclusive education, for sustainable results at scale building on recent achievements. · Support design of projects to scale up social-emotional skills integration in technical voca-tional education at national level; explore opportunities for scaling up career guidance and learning to earning programming for children with disabilities / with special needs in Bela-rus. · Work closely with UNICEF Health Officer to advocate for and design project to improve outreach and targeting of health services – particularly early childhood interventions and youth friendly health services targeting children with disabilities, young children with devel-opmental delays, adolescents with special health needs. 2. Technical and operational support to program monitoring and reporting · Facilitate organization of technical meetings and inter-agency consultations, including with partners and donors, prepare agendas, briefing and follow-up notes, and talking points. · Compile data, evidence, success stories and lessons learned for inclusion in annual reports, donor updates and knowledge products and for advocacy purposes, working closely with the Communication team. · Conduct regular program field visits and/or surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and bottlenecks, provide practical recommendations related to social inclusion of most vulnerable children. · Provide support to government counterparts, CSOs, UN partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on social inclusion of the most vulnerable children, particularly those with disabilities or special needs. · Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts, other UN agencies, through active sharing of information and knowledge, building capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results built on for social inclusion best practices. Evidence-based advocacy, communication and partnership · Collaborate with communication team on advocacy efforts to change policies and systems to improve inclusion of the most vulnerable children. Jointly with communication team, de-velop communication and information materials to promote awareness on gaps in inclusion and UNICEF and partners programming, for a wide range of audience. · Contribute to research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership purposes. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: · Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant 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 country; · Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation 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

Adaptability and Flexibility Commitment and Motivation Communication Ethics and Values Integrity Knowldge Sharing Planning and Organizing Self-Management Working in Teams

Living conditions and remarks

Belarus is an upper middle-income country located in the centre of Europe, with a total population of 9.8 million people. Belarusians are generally known to be friendly and willing to support, though not a large portion of the population speaks fluent English (particularly when it is the case of being outside large cities). Younger people (below 30 years) in larger cities, such as Minsk speak or understand more English. The official languages are both Russian and Belarusian, though Russian is the language predominantly used by most people. Security situation in Belarus is usually calm, though there is the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. Crime rate is quite low. Traffic is well operated and general driving style is not aggressive. Currently there are no direct threats to UN personnel or operations within the country. You are advised to take normal safety and security precautions. There is some history of UN personnel or assets being directly targeted by the authorities since the August 2020 Presidential elections so, use caution of what you publish on social media and while taking pictures/shooting video in public areas. The cost of living is moderate with housing (in large cities like Minsk) being largely accessible and affordable. (Estimation of costs of living for basic goods can be found at this site: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Belarus). Public transportation in large cities like Minsk is good as is city infrastructure. Internet is largely accessible with penetration in country at over 90%. There are ample opportunities for those who love sports: biking tracks, swimming pools, hiking locations, jogging clubs, etc. Expats in Belarus can expect four distinct seasons, made up of warm summers, long cold winters and mild springs and autumns. Snowfall is abundant throughout winter, and temperatures average below freezing during these months. Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park which is the oldest wildlife refuge in Europe, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site is located within a 4-hour drive from the city of Minsk. UN Volunteer entitlements and allowances: The purpose of the allowances and entitlements paid to UN Volunteers is to enable UN Volunteers to sustain a secure standard of living at the duty stations in line with United Nations standards without incurring personal costs. The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward, or salary in exchange for the UN Volunteer’s service. Contingent on specific eligibility criteria, location of the volunteer assignment and contractual type and category, the payment of allowances will begin from the date of Commencement of Service For more information on entitlements please read the Condition of Service (https://explore.unv.org/cos). Please note that the amounts can vary according to fluctuations of the monthly post adjustment. Monthly Living Allowance (Per month): USD 2306.17 Entry lump sum (one-time payment): USD 4000 Exit allowance (for each month served, paid on completion of contract): USD 225 Medical and life insurance: Cigna Private Insurance Leave entitlements: Annual leave: 2.5 days accrued per calendar month Certified sick leave: UN Volunteers are entitled to up to 30 days of certified sick leave based on a 12-month cycle. This amount is reset every 12-month cycle. Uncertified sick leave: 7 days for 12 months and 4 days for shorter assignments Learning leave: 10 working days per consecutive 12 months (shorter assignments are prorated) Maternity Leave: 16 weeks Paternity Leave: 10 days