Mission and objectives

UNICEF works to protect the rights of children and adolescents. UNICEF's programme focuses on the needs of the most vulnerable children in the areas of education, child protection, health care, social policy, adolescents and youth, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Context

The UN Secretary-General has made non-discrimination a key part of his agenda and wider UN reform, and the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) has put workplace disability inclusion at the forefront. Centered on efforts to realize the rights of all children, UNICEF's 2026-2029 Strategic Plan (SP) complements and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda by committing to improve the life of disadvantaged children and adolescents today and enhance prospects for their well-being tomorrow. Multiple references to disability inclusion and intersectionality are made throughout the SP, and disability is mainstreamed across all Goal Areas. In 2023, the UNICEF Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy (DIPAS), https://www.unicef.org/unicef-disability-inclusion-policy-and-strategy-dipas-2022-2030, which includes both programmatic and operational/management targets and priorities. All this demonstrates UNICEF's renewed commitment to promote inclusion and accessibility throughout the organization, across all functional areas. While UNICEF has made considerable progress to strengthen disability inclusion both in programming and operations, the commitments to the new Strategic Plan and DIPAS require an intentional and sustainable effort to further advance disability inclusion as part of our collective work. This UNV assignment is part of UNICEF’s strategy to become a more disability inclusive workplace and an employer of choice for people with disabilities. The UN Volunteer will support the coordination and technical support for the implementation of the operational and management commitments of the UNICEF Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy (DIPAS) https://www.unicef.org/unicef-disability-inclusion-policy-and-strategy-dipas-2022-2030. Under the supervision of the Disability Inclusion Project Manager, and in collaboration with the wider Organisational Culture team and the Disability team in Global Programme Division (GPD), the UN Volunteer will need to work with numerous stakeholders in that have responsibility for operationalising the institutional aspirations of the DIPAS. This will require supporting the provision of regular disability inclusion technical advice to headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional and Country Offices, and contributing to an intersectional approach to non-discrimination lead by the Organisational Culture team in the Division of People and Culture (DPC).

Task Description

Under the direct supervision of the Disability Inclusion Project Manager (Organisational Culture Team, Division of People & Culture), the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: Coordination and Integration of Disability Inclusive Workplace Commitments Across UNICEF’s: Policy and Strategy Implementation and Reporting • Support the implementation and reporting of the management and operational commitments of the Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy (DIPAS) 2022-2030, using an intersectional approach. • Support the Organizational Culture team (DPC) and the Disability team (GPD) with efforts to meet UNDIS requirements linked to indicators (https://www.un.org/en/content/disabilitystrategy/assets/documentation/UN_Disability_Inclusion_Strategy_Entity_Technical_Notes.pdf) 6 (accessibility), 7 (reasonable accommodation), 13 (employment), 14 (capacity building) and 15 (communication), as needed, and other activities to increase mainstreaming of disability inclusive workplace approaches into UNICEF’s work. • Support and contribute to annual UNDIS and DIPAS reporting across the organisation. Especially indicators that the Organizational Culture team are responsible for collating, i.e., UNDIS indicator 7 (reasonable accommodation) and 13 (employment), and DIPAS targets linked to 7% representation of employees with disabilities in the workforce by 2030. • Coordinate intersectional work on remedial actions stemming from the annual UNICEF UNDIS Report, the bi-annual Global Staff Survey (GSS), the annual Pulse Survey, the Core Standard Indicators (CSIs), Staff Separation Report, the Recommendations for Action on Anti-Racism and Discrimination, recommendations from the Evaluation of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and organizational culture related recommendations from the Evaluation of the Division of HR. Accessibility and Inclusion • Support the development and dissemination of guidelines on accessibility and inclusion, such as the Reasonable Accommodation, Managers Guide to Nurturing Neurodivergence in an Inclusive Workplace and updated UNICEF Procedure on Disability Inclusive Communications and Advocacy. • Support the coordination of the Global Accessibility Helpdesks (Digital and Physical branches) and global accessibility capacity building webinars. • Support UNICEF’s Digital Impact Division’s (DID) actions to remediate accessibility and inclusion issues in UNICEF’s digital platforms. • Support UNICEF’s Supply Division’s (SD) actions to make procurement procedures and supply purchases more disability inclusive. • Support UNICEF’s Division of Financial and Administrative Management (DFAM) actions on implementing accessibility initiatives in UNICEF premises globally. • Provide ongoing technical advice to headquarters, Centre of Excellence, regional, and country office-level activities on accessibility of premises, security considerations, and overall disability inclusion elements in operations. • Support the coordination of capacity building activities on disability inclusion for all employees in headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional, and Country offices. • Support the continual updating, knowledge management and communication systems, including design and development of the Organizational Culture team’s SharePoint site and collaboration sites; including the dedicated Disability Inclusive Workplaces content. Employment • Support the development of tailored resources on recruitment, onboarding, and workplace disability inclusion for headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional, and Country offices. • Support UNICEF’s Division of People and Culture (DPC) actions to make the employee life cycle from recruitment to separation more disability inclusive. • Support the design, coordination and piloting of new initiatives that strengthen capacity on disability inclusion in the workplace in headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional, and Country offices, i.e., Disability Inclusive Workplace Focal Points etc. • Support UNICEF’s initiatives to increase hire employees with disabilities. • Provide onboarding support for offices hiring employees with disabilities. • Support the continuous updating of various guides on disability inclusive employment and socialization with headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional, and Country Offices. • Support the Integrated Talent Management team and People and Culture practitioners in headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional, and Country offices with targeted or mainstreamed initiatives for creating pipelines for employees with disabilities, including the UN Volunteers with disabilities programme and more. • Provide Support to UN inter-agency collaborations on Disability Inclusive Workplaces, i.e., High Level Management Committee (HLMC) Subgroup on Disability Inclusive Human Resources. Reasonable Accommodation • Support the management of reasonable accommodation (RA) requests (via Service Gateway), queries (via the RA email inbox), and facilitation of the RA Committee and RA Advisory Panel. • Support implementation of the reasonable accommodation evaluation management response recommendations for action and the updating of the EISI (evaluation management) platform to capture progress. • Support the continuous updating of the Reasonable Accommodation Guide, SharePoint and Careers page and socialization with headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional, and Country offices. • Support the design and coordination of capacity building activities on reasonable for all headquarters, Centres of Excellence, global divisions, Regional and Country offices. Employee Engagement and Wellbeing • Support regular liaison with Employee Resource Groups and implement actions to increase the wellbeing and engagement of employees with disabilities and employees with dependents with disabilities with senior leadership. • Support the development of tools to measure the engagement of and proportion of employees with disabilities in the workforce more accurately in global staff surveys and so on. Non-discrimination and Intersectional Approaches • Actively support and contribute to the Organizational Culture team’s Culture Pathways During the Future Focus Initiative and Whole of Diversity approach with an intersectional focus on disability inclusion. • Provide input and support to other activities carried out by the Organizational Culture team, particularly on social and behavioural change, communications, policy, performance management, learning, recruitment, and staff wellbeing. • Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best and cutting-edge practices in disability inclusive workplace management and contribute to the development of innovative global policies and initiatives.

Competencies and values

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1) • Works Collaboratively with others (1) • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1) • Innovates and Embraces Change (1) • Thinks and Acts Strategically (1) • Drive to achieve impactful results (1) • Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Living conditions and remarks

This is a volunteer assignment, not employment. By sharing your time, energy, and talents, you can support communities in need and become part of something greater than yourself — a global movement for peace, development, and humanitarian aid. Volunteering strengthens trust, solidarity, and reciprocity among citizens, and it can promote a sense of belonging and purpose. The assignment will be based in Istanbul and required full-time engagement. The UN Volunteers are responsible for arranging their own housing and other living essentials. The Summary of UNV Entitlement National UN Volunteer (Expert): All paid in local currency • Current Monthly Living Allowance (MLA): USD 2,260.64 (disbursed in Turkiye Lira) • Private insurance: Health, dental, life, and dismemberment coverage by CIGNA (includes the eligible dependents of UN Volunteer) Note to citizens of Türkiye: As per UN’s diplomatic mission status, it is not included in National Security Institution’s (SGK) system but can be only initiated on private basis. • Entry allowance (one-time payment): USD 400 • Relocation costs: USD 200 - at beginning, and end of assignment, if duty station is outside of commuting distance (as determined by UNV) • Exit allowance: USD 134.56 per month and upon the satisfactory completion of assignment • Annual leave: 2.5 days accrued per calendar month • Free access to different learning platforms and the UN & UNV network Notes: 1) The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward or salary in exchange for the volunteer work. 2) It's important to note that UNV assignments are volunteer assignments, not employment. 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. 3) You can check full entitlements at the duty station: https://app.unv.org/calculator 4) Please read the complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos For assignments with UNICEF, mandatory: In addition to duty station specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts. UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.