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 fulfil 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.

Context

Globally, UNICEF is one of the UN agencies, which has significant numbers of followers across all social media channels. UNICEF effectively uses its channels to advocate on important issues pertaining to children’s rights around the world. Within the scope of its mandate, UNICEF Myanmar is looking for additional external capacity to provide strengthening awareness on child protection, mental health and parenting through including social media as well to strengthen engagement of children, adolescents, youth and caregivers. Given the complex and challenging context of the country to disseminate messages related to children, in printed materials as traditionally been used, there has been an increased use of social media to deliver key messages and ensuring that child protection partners are well informed and utilizing the messages. In addition, adolescent and youth in the targeted project locations under child protection will be empowered through information sharing, peer to peer emotional support sessions and the implementation of adolescent kit. The youth volunteer will be supporting the implementation of adolescent kit, closely engage with adolescents and youth and work collaboratively with them to provide key information on importance of mental health while also gathering their inputs to develop content for social media. In such a context, UNICEF Child Protection team is seeking for a UNV Associate with skills focused on social media services and adolescents and youth engagement who can support UNICEF Child Protection team.

Task Description

Under the direct supervision of Child Protection officer, Child Protection Section, the national youth volunteer will carry out the tasks outlined below. The youth volunteer will be working in close coordination with Digital Engagement consultant of Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) team and Social Meida Management consultant and Youth Engagement consultant of Communications team. 1. Develop key messages on child protection, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and parenting In close collaboration with child protection team, and the respective consultants from the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) and Communications team working on non-digital engagement, social media management and youth engagement, develop key messages on child protection, the importance of mental health and positive parenting for children, adolescents, youth, parents and caregivers. Gather inputs from children, adolescents, youth and caregivers where feasible - by occasionally participating in activities for children and caregivers in the project targeted areas. Coordinate and consult with child pro-tection field officers to plan field visits and develop a concrete agenda for each trip. Key messages will be used for “Shii Nay Mal” social media platform and shared with targeted audiences in the project locations. Prepare user friendly/ child friendly versions of the messages for children and caregivers to be disseminated through the implement-ing partners. Develop a monthly content plan – with concrete objectives including themes, scripts, key target audience and ensuring alignment with the local context. Work closely with U-Report team, Communications and Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) team and receive feedback and technical input as needed. Finalize the content plan with feedback and input from Child Protection (CP) team before executing. Assist in content briefings and information sharing sessions with implementing partners with support from Child Protection (CP) team. Monitor daily and in timely manner of comments and messages received on social media and provide respond in consultation with the focal from Child Protection (CP). Immediately report on the messages identified as high risk and requiring urgent attention. 2. Promoting Adolescent and Youth Empowerment Support in rolling out of Adolescent Kit and provide necessary assistance to ensure targeted adolescents are positively benefiting and utilizing the kit. Facilitate and lead adolescent and youth sessions in community and camp settings, supporting peer-to-peer emotional well-being, working together with them in developing social media content, and identifying, reporting, and referring cases requiring specialized support. Coordinate with Communications U-Report team to strengthen the agenda of youth empowerment. Assist in setting up of adolescent support hub – including training, providing regular check-in for the youth Hub operators, and provide necessary supports on regular basis.

Competencies and values

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Working in Teams

Living conditions and remarks

Myanmar is second largest country in terms of land area after Indonesia in the South East Asia Region. It has population of over 54 million living across seven States and Seven Regions plus Union Territory, where all central government departments are located. On 1 February 2021, following the Myanmar Military took over a state of emergency was declared. Following the takeover, the security situation in the country worsened, leading to a “Level 2” emergency designation and in keeping with the relevant protocols triggering the activation of cluster system to respond to the worsening humanitarian situation. Increased security measures due to the deteriorating security situation, has led to many-fold increase in internally displaced persons (IDP) to more than 1,703,900 from 328,000 before February 2021. The country has since experienced a protracted humanitarian situation characterised by sub-optimal access to health services, increasing malnutrition due to deteriorating food security situation and worsening protection risks including risks to mine and other explosive remnants of war injuries. Apart from this, education services access has deteriorated, and the COVID-19 pandemic induced restrictions led to an almost continuous nationwide school closure from March 2020. The closures left over 12 million school aged children in Myanmar with limited access to materials for their learning and overall well-being, including education, mental health and psycho-social support and Covid-19 prevention materials. Following the military takeover in February 2021 the humanitarian crisis further worsened, and other dynamics such as an increasingly difficult economic situation continue, high inflation leading to reduced purchasing power of the local currency and access to markets. Generally, this disproportionately affected children and other vulnerable persons’ access to health, nutritious foods, protection, and education services. In this context, the humanitarian wide support needs to be strengthened and this includes information management functions to monitor the situation, evaluate response progress as per the humanitarian response plans targets and activities, promote advocacy and evidence-based program response.