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UNICEF is one of the most prominent UN agencies that work to protect children and adolescents` rights. UNICEF is a complex, long-standing institution that carries out a wide range of functions and strategic objectives.
Therefore, it is common for candidates who are taking part in the various selection processes to have difficulties in understanding its structure, activities, and decision-making process
In this article, we will show everything you should know about UNICEF before applying for a work opportunity at the organization!
In pursuit of its mission, the OpenIGO network has prepared a comprehensive eBook (Landing your dream job at the United Nations), as well as support and guidance services, with the aim of highly increasing your chances of success in these competitive selection processes.
These services include revising your application documents (curriculum vitae/resume and cover letter) and a mock interview, as per the United Nations model. We also offer a range of packages that combine the eBook with different services!
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Would like to know more about UNICEF career opportunities? Then check our UNICEF Jobs overview right now:
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UNICEF’s Organizational Structure
UNICEF operates in 190 countries and is formed of the Bureau, Executive Board, regional offices, a Global Shared Services Center (GSSC), and UNICEF’s Office of Research:
Bureau
The UNICEF Bureau comprises the President and four Vice-Presidents, each representing one of the five regional groups. The Bureau members are elected by the Executive Board, and the presidency rotates between the regional groups annually, in order to ensure geographic representation. The Bureau Members meet monthly, and daily during the Executive Board sessions.
Executive Board
The body that governs UNICEF is the Executive Board, which has the function of supervising and providing support to the agency, based on United Nations General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) policy guidance. Thus, the body may establish policies, and approve UNICEF programs and its budget. The body is made up of 36 members elected by the ECOSOC for a 3 year term.
The Executive Board`s work is coordinated by the Bureau, and has an Executive Director, Deputy Executive Directors, and a Chief of Staff. The Executive Board meets three times a year in New York in February, June and September. Within this body, the Office of the Secretary of the Executive Board (OSEB) is responsible for maintaining an effective relationship between the Executive Board and UNICEF Secretariat.
In addition, the OSEB administers the Executive Board`s field visits and organizes the body`s documentation, reports and archives. The UNICEF organizational chart is provided below:
Regional Offices
Although UNICEF`s work is concentrated on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its strategic plan, the work of each regional office is adapted according to local challenges:
- In Eastern and Southern Africa, UNICEF seeks to support children who live in the poorest countries in the world, and among the main challenges of this region are armed conflicts and natural disasters.
- In East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF has implemented policies to support both children of the Rohingya ethnicity who have been affected by violence in Myanmar, and those in North Korea who have been affected by floods.
- In the Middle East and North of Africa, armed conflicts and social inequality exacerbate the vulnerability of thousands of children in this region.
- In Europe and Central Asia, the main challenge is ensuring the rights of children living in extreme poverty, and in rural areas. In this region, UNICEF has focused on protecting Roma children who suffer from greater vulnerability.
- In South Asia, the agency supports children who are victims of gender discrimination, and due to their ethnicity.
- West and Central Africa have experienced an increase in the population of children and young people and, therefore, UNICEF has invested in their development as a strategy to make West and Central Africa a region of opportunities for growth, and the reduction of poverty.
- In Latin America and the Caribbean, UNICEF has focused on children living in extreme poverty.
Lastly, UNICEF has 33 National Committees, which operate locally as independent non-governmental organizations. The aim of these committees is to raise funds from private sectors and to promote children`s rights.
Global Shared Services Center (GSSC)
The Global Shared Services Center (GSSC) was established in 2019, with the aim of centralizing financial operations for UNICEF human resources. Thus, the GSSC makes payments, hires staff and processes invoices. In addition, the center is also responsible for UNICEF`s accounts.
Thus, the center reduces the cost of these transactions, and identifies any irregularities or fraudulent activity within the system. The center currently has 150 offices around the world, and seeks to simplify financial transactions within UNICEF.
UNICEF’s Office of Research: Innocenti
Innocenti, the UNICEF global research center for children, opened in Florence, Italy, in 1988. Since the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) international treaty in 1989, Innocenti has conducted research based on human rights. Thus, Innocenti collects evidence and provides analyses for UNICEF.
Innocenti`s current mandate is to develop a research agenda focused on failures relevant to UNICEF`s strategic objectives. In addition, Innocenti also seeks to identify future challenges, and to offer policy proposals and solutions to emerging problems. For further information on Innocenti, the center published Children and Research at Innocenti: 25 years of UNICEF Commitment, in 2015, detailing its work and research in the last 25 years.
Would like to know more about UNICEF internship opportunities? Then check our UNICEF Internships overview:
UNICEF`s Working Areas
Adolescent development: provides a technical guide to promote adolescents` participation in societies, including them in policy decisions.
Communication for development (C4D): Social mobilization, activism and strategies for social change and behavior to reach children with communication difficulties.
Child Protection: provides technical support to various areas, such as violence against children, preventing female genital mutilation and child marriages, displaced or refugee children, the justice system, and training for basic social services.
Early Child Development: Direct support to governments with programs for young children and families on health and nutrition in emergency contexts.
Education: Support to guarantee that education systems develop skills to promote equitable learning, personal empowerment, engaged citizenship, gender equality, and employability.
Gender Equality: Tackling gender inequality is an activity inherent to all areas of UNICEF. Even in humanitarian contexts, UNICEF has specialists who develop innovative and effective evidence-based strategies, which seek to advance gender equality.
Health: Expands the scale of locations that receive basic services to mothers and newborns, including pre- and post-natal support, in addition to implementing immunization programs and accelerating the treatment of diseases.
HIV/AIDS: Seeks to ensure that children and adolescents have access to HIV/AIDS treatment. In addition to developing policies to overcome inequalities in HIV treatment for women, children and adolescents.
Nutrition: Support to prevent and administer various forms of malnutrition and anemia.
Social Policy: Has the aim of improving public policies to reduce child poverty, address the coverage of social protection, and increase the transparency of public financial investment. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): This area focuses on efforts to increase sustainable access to drinking water and basic sanitation, and to promote good hygiene practices. WASH programs are particularly important in humanitarian contexts, and have focused on girls with disabilities.
Working at UNICEF
Unlike the vacancies at the UN Secretariat, which are advertised on UN Careers, the UN agency, fund and program vacancies are advertised on their own sites.
Types of Entrance, Staff Categories and Appointment Types at the Organization
Among the main forms of entering UNICEF are:
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme
The United Nations Volunteers program, also known as UN Volunteers, has the main prerogative of promoting volunteering and mobilizing volunteers around the world, to contribute towards the promotion of peace, for disaster response, and empowering communities, with the construction of sustainable means of subsistence, and the promotion of long-lasting development.
Every year there are approximately 8,000 volunteers of 160 nationalities who work in 130 countries. United Nations Volunteering is for a minimum of six months, and does not exceed four years of service.
Internship Programme
UN System internships are usually seen as an opportunity for those interested in entering the world of diplomacy and public policy, obtaining the first experience at the start of their careers in these sectors.
The idea that underlies intern activities in the UN System is basically the same as in various other organizations: it is a time to learn for those who are starting to work in that segment, whether because there is the possibility of interacting with qualified people in job functions of a specific professional area, or because an intern can apply and enrich the knowledge obtained in their university education.
Consultants and Individual Contractors
Depending on organizational requirements, the United Nations will need to hire people to carry out short-term tasks, studies, and actions, etc., whether because holding a selection process to employ a permanent Staff Member is not cost-effective, or because there is a need for the support of specialists on a specific topic.
Thus, there is a large variety of roles that may be performed through this type of contract, ranging from translation to software development.
Junior Professional Programme (JPO)
This program is financed by countries that sponsor their citizens, but some also sponsor nationals from other developing countries. Among the requirements to apply for this program are the following:
- Being a national of the country that is sponsoring the program, or a national from one of the developing countries that are also eligible for application
- Be a maximum of 32 years old
- Hold a Master`s or doctorate qualification
- Speak English fluently
- Have a minimum of 2 years` relevant experience in the area of application.
In pursuit of its mission, the OpenIGO network has prepared a comprehensive eBook (Landing your dream job at the United Nations), as well as support and guidance services, with the aim of highly increasing your chances of success in these competitive selection processes.
These services include revising your application documents (curriculum vitae/resume and cover letter) and a mock interview, as per the United Nations model. We also offer a range of packages that combine the eBook with different services!
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR UN JOBS PRODUCTS & SERVICES?
UN Jobs – Products and Services
