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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a voice

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

How can you make a difference? 

Background

Specific Tasks

Emergency preparedness and response

• Assists in the formulation of plans of action in preparation and response to emergencies. Gathers information on best practices in emergency situations for the preparation of contingency plans. Monitors compliance of all sectors with emergency plans of action.
• Identifies formal and informal sources of information. Collects, interprets and analyses all available data on the evolving emergency situation and its implications to the emergency operation. Keeps the effective flow of information and communication crucial for the planning and implementation of emergency measures. Identify availability of resources in emergency prone areas
• In the event of an emergency, promptly assists in implementing the initial operational tasks relating to emergency assistance. Immediately collects reliable information to verify the nature and extend of the emergency with staff, government officials, other UN agencies or local organizations and media.
• Participates in the implementation of plans of action and workplans for emergency project. Undertakes field visits to emergency project areas, to assess local conditions and monitor project progress.
• Regularly monitor budget implementation against approved plans, provide timely updates, and flag any delays or underperformance. This should include close follow-up with field offices, as well as organizing housekeeping meetings with them to assess progress, address challenges, and ensure alignment with both financial and programmatic targets.

Information Management/Reporting

• Draft regular and emergency report in consultation with project officers, program and operational sections as well as the planning / M&E section. Edits reports before submitting them to donors, ensuring that they satisfy appropriate UNICEF guidelines, are grammatically correct and clear written and match funding utilization agreements and guidelines.
• Produce situation reports (sitrep) and donor updates related to the humanitarian assistance and emergency responses in the country following the standard reporting scheme/format being revised. Collates, verifies and circulates as required, all UNICEF regional reports and sitreps and makes adequate follow-up of urgent points of action.
• Maintains a good archive of all internal and external documents received, both hard & electronic copies. Organize the most relevant documents for the local intranet, EW/DP home page, facilities access all UNICEF section. Organizers an effective database of useful tools and information on emergency issues, references documents, publications, etc. in collaboration with the Communication Section
• Participates in implementation and monitoring missions as required, gathered information to be included in reports. Participants in donor visitations to project sites and documents project site reports.
• Participants in other report writing functions and missions assigned by the Head of Office.

Expected Deliverables

• Produce bi-monthly Field Operations and Emergency Situation reports.
• Publish high-quality, thematic Humanitarian Situation Reports every other month, with guidance from the Deputy Representative Programme.
• Conduct field monitoring missions to improve the quality of humanitarian and Field Office (FO) reporting, ensuring use of standardized reporting templates.
• Support ECO humanitarian coordination through active participation and facilitation of Emergency Management Team (EMT) and Chief of Field Office (CFO) meetings.
• Manage ad-hoc information requests, including input for Global EMTs, regional meetings, end-of-year reports (RAM, CSI), and donor relations reports.
• Collaborate with field offices and sections to identify data collection and recording gaps, and support improvements in methodology as needed.
• Participate in external coordination meetings, ensuring advocacy for children and women’s needs. This includes EPR, EFPRP, assessments, IM working groups, and other ad hoc meetings.
• Support internal and external coordination and assessments, ensuring quality of UNICEF and partners’ responses, including the nexus approach.
• Manage UNICEF prepositioning supplies in alignment with the response plan from field offices
•  Support emergency communication and information management systems based on evolving country and field office needs.
• Manage the sections’ document library and online resources.
• Enhance results reporting and monitoring through development of SOPs, templates, and workflow processes.
• Decide on documentation scope and visual content (photos, images, etc.) to produce compelling reports aligned with UNICEF’s accountability standards. Provide recommendations for future fundraising directions to improve results for children and women.
• Conduct timely analysis to identify emergency-prone situations, contributing to early warning and preparedness.
• Ensure emergency preparedness and response plans address gender issues that may intensify during emergencies.
• Ensure timely collection, cleaning, and visualization of field data to support evidence-based decision-making, including dashboards and mapping tools.
• Support inter-agency coordination by preparing and sharing relevant information products for humanitarian clusters and working groups.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• A first-level University degree (BA) in one of the following fields is required: communication, information management, social science, or a relevant technical field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of three [3 years] of relevant professional experience in reporting, producing information products, or another relevant technical field.
• Experience in emergencies is an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (or a local language is an asset.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts. 

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Builds and maintains partnerships (1)

Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)

Drive to achieve results for impact (1)

Innovates and embraces change (1)

Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Thinks and acts strategically (1)

Works collaboratively with others (1)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates and persons with disability are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

UNICEF staff members holding fixed-term, continuing, or permanent appointments who are considered to be on abolished post status may apply for this temporary position and, if selected with a start date before 31 December 2025, may take it up as a temporary assignment, in line with UNICEF guidance on separation due to the abolition of posts or staff reduction. They will retain their fixed-term entitlements but will not hold a lien to their abolished post. For other scenarios where a Temporary Assignment may be possible, please refer to Additional guidance on IP to IP temporary assignments after completion of the full TOD.pdf (accessible to UNICEF personnel only).

The conditions of a temporary assignment, including relocation entitlements, will depend on the status of the staff member’s original appointment and may be limited in accordance with applicable UNICEF policies, procedures, and practices in force.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.