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For every child, the right to a champion.
Senegal, with an estimated population of 19.4 million in 2026, is facing a constrained macroeconomic and fiscal environment that is significantly affecting social sector investments and outcomes for children. Rising debt-servicing obligations have reduced fiscal space, limiting the Government’s capacity to sustain and expand development and social spending, including investments in essential social protection systems. These constraints arise at a critical juncture for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with limited time remaining to meet the 2030 targets. Progress in several priority areas — including education, gender equality, clean energy, sustainable cities, and environmental sustainability—has slowed down, requiring substantial additional financing estimated at over 13 per cent of GDP annually. While the Government has adopted a new National Development Strategy (SND 2025–2029), aligned with Vision 2050 and focused on human capital, employment, social protection, and equity, implementation continues to face challenges due to fiscal limitations and high financing needs.

Public financing for children remains insufficient in the face of needs. Although education accounts for approximately 15 per cent of public expenditure, allocations to health (4 per cent), WASH (2.1 per cent), and social protection (2.5 per cent) remain limited, while child protection and early childhood development receive minimal resources. Recent budget revisions suggest stagnation or reductions in key child-focused sectors, alongside increased reliance on indirect taxation, which risks exacerbating inequities.

Child poverty remains widespread and multidimensional, affecting nearly half of all children, with disparities most pronounced in rural and underserved regions. Deprivations in health, nutrition, education, and access to adequate social protection continue to constrain child well-being and human capital development. Chronic malnutrition affects approximately one in six children under five, and school dropout rates and youth exclusion from education, employment, or training are increasing, particularly among vulnerable groups.

Despite progress in water and sanitation, other critical deprivations persist, including inadequate housing, limited access to clean energy, gaps in civil registration, and insufficient coverage of social protection programmes. Climate-related shocks, particularly flooding, are further exacerbating vulnerabilities, disrupting livelihoods and essential services and disproportionately affecting children.

In this context—marked by fiscal constraints, persistent inequalities, and increasing exposure to shocks—UNICEF Senegal has strengthened its focus on upstream engagement, evidence-based policy advocacy, public finance for children, and systems strengthening, including the expansion of adaptive and inclusive social protection systems, to achieve equitable and resilient outcomes at scale. Reducing child poverty, expanding access to gender-transformative and inclusive social protection, improving the efficiency, transparency, and equity of public financing, and strengthening capacities at subnational level thus become critical priorities to accelerating the realization of children’s rights, in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Within this framework, the Social Policy, Planning and Monitoring Specialist (P-3) TA who also serves as OiC Chief of the Social Policy, Planning and Monitoring Section, plays a key role in advancing UNICEF’s agenda. The position contributes to strengthening evidence generation, national planning and monitoring systems, public finance for children, and social protection, while promoting accountability to ensure that limited resources are effectively aligned with the needs of the most vulnerable children.

How can you make a difference?

You, as the Social Policy, Planning, Monitoring (SPPM) Specialist (P3) TA will also serve as OiC Chief of the Social Policy, Planning and Monitoring Section reports to the Deputy Representative Programme for general guidance and direction. You will be responsible for providing technical support to the UNICEF Country Office programing and related advocacy from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable results.

This encompasses both direct programme work with government and civil society partners as well as linkages and support to different teams.

Tasks and responsibilities:

Evidence Generation and linkage with National Policies
Strengthening Social Protection coverage impact and public finance for children
Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation
Resource mobilization and donor engagement

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Download File Social Policy PM_SCO_Final-ws.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: Economics, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Science, or another relevant technical field.
Work Experience: At least 5 years of relevant work experience in Social Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning and any other related fields.
Skills: Knowledge of data collection, data analysis, child-focused investment and community engagement are required.
Language Requirements: Fluency in French and knowledge of English on an Intermediate level are required.

Desirables:

Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or a local language.
Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree is a strong asset.
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

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 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 male candidates 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.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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.

Social Policy Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist (P-3), TA (6 months), #138001, Dakar, Senegal - WCAR