Technical Specialist

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. 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 personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, Protection

UNICEF’s mandate is grounded in promoting the rights of every child and ensuring equitable access to opportunities for survival, development, and protection. In Cameroon, despite ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols, persistent gaps hinder full realization of these rights. Limited awareness, lack of systematic training, and insufficient integration of child rights in education systems, particularly at the basic and higher education levels, continue to challenge national progress. The scarcity of child-centered data and research further constrains policy development and effective implementation.

As part of the 2022 to 2026 UNICEF and Government of Cameroon Country Programme, a strategic initiative was launched to address these gaps through the creation of Child Rights Centers within public and private universities. These centers serve as platforms for academic engagement, capacity building, interdisciplinary research, and integration of child rights into university curricula. The first center opened in 2024, and additional centers are in various stages of development across the country. This initiative contributes to national efforts to institutionalize child rights education and strengthen policy dialogue. Partnerships with academic institutions are central to this approach, ensuring that future professionals across sectors are equipped with the knowledge and skills to apply child rights principles in their work.

To learn more about UNICEF Cameroon, use the link below

https://unicef.sharepoint.com/sites/CMR/SitePages/AboutUs.aspx

How can you make a difference?

The integration of child rights education within Cameroonian universities currently faces significant limitations, characterized by fragmented and narrow approaches largely confined to legal perspectives within specific disciplines such as law, education, and social sciences. Child rights are primarily addressed as elective courses, emphasizing legal frameworks such as international conventions or public policy, which restricts a holistic understanding of child rights as a multidisciplinary field encompassing social, psychological, developmental, and policy dimensions. Consequently, graduates from critical sectors such as education, health, social work, and governance levels may lack comprehensive training to effectively advocate for and implement child rights within their professional roles.

• Develop and validate a comprehensive 6-month professional development programme to become professors of children’s rights for university professors, designed in close collaboration with UNICEF Heads of Sections and participating universities and Child Rights Centers
• Lead the implementation of 6 months professional development programme, actively facilitating related activities, including training sessions and workshops
• Coordinate the development and expansion of interdisciplinary child rights syllabi through participatory discussions and formal validation processes with universities.
• Provide tailored technical support and guidance to universities with established Child Rights Centers to successfully integrate validated child rights syllabi into their academic programmes.
• Provide support for the dissemination and intensive use, including capacity building of teachers on the newly developed guide on the teaching of rights and duties of the child in primary schools in the two sub-systems of education.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:Final Child Rights Education Specialist TA ToR 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

Minimum requirements:

• Education: A Master’s degree in one of the following fields is required: education, social and humanitarian sciences, sociology, anthropology, law, or another relevant technical field. A PhD is an asset based on the full engagement of this post with academia.
• Work Experience: A minimum of five years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required:
• developing curricula on child rights education and promoting the teaching of child rights in academic settings.
• designing and delivering capacity-building programmes, preferably in the context of academic settings.
• Teaching experience at university level.

• Skills:

• Expertise in Child Rights and International Frameworks
• Experience in academia and curriculum development
• Interdisciplinary approach to Child Rights
• Research and evidence-based knowledge generation
• Stakeholder engagement and institutional collaboration
• Capacity building and pedagogical expertise
• Excellent communication and writing skills

• Language Requirements:  Fluency in English and French is required.

Desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergencies.

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.