P4 Chief Technical Advisor

Vacancy No: IPEC/2008/11
Grade: P.4
Contract type: Fixed-term appointment
Duration of contract: 1 year fixed-term
Organisation unit: IPEC

The International Programmes on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is a technical cooperation programme of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The aim of IPEC is the progressive elimination of child labour by strengthening national capacities to address the problem and by promoting a worldwide movement to combat it. IPEC partner agencies in a country include ILO's traditional constituents, that is, the Ministries of Labour, employers' and workers' organisations, as well as other Ministries and concerned partners in the public and private sectors. IPEC support is given to partner organizations to develop and implement measures which aim at preventing child labour, withdrawing children from hazardous work, providing alternatives and improving the working conditions in non-hazardous and non-exploitative work for older children as a transitional measure towards the elimination of child labour.

IPEC has embarked on an African Sub-regional project to combat trafficking in children for labour exploitation. The objective of this Project is to have substantially reduced trafficking in children for labour exploitation through the development, implementation, and monitoring of effective and integrated sub-regional and national programmes and strategies. The project has fourteen outputs (to be reviewed once draft PRODOC sent to Donor) designed to meet the following three immediate objectives:

• At the end of the project the capacity of government, employers and workers organizations as well as regional institutions such as ECOWAS to implement model interventions of the project will have been strengthened;
• At the end of the project the national and regional legal frameworks will have been strengthened to ensure a more effective implementation and enforcement of child labour and child trafficking legislation;
• At the end of the project the knowledge on the trafficking of children, especially on the demand side of trafficking will have been enhanced.

The CTA of the project will operate under the technical and overall guidance of the IPEC, ILO Geneva and the overall supervision of the ILO Regional Director for Africa. The CTA will co-ordinate closely with the ILO Child Labour Specialist based in Dakar and the ILO Office Directors in Abidjan, Dakar and Abuja in the implementation of the project, and will collaborate with all concerned parties to ensure the effective provision of inputs and delivery of outputs.

Description of Duties:

1. Contribute to developing and implementing overall project strategies and policy;
2. Contribute to supervision of effective and timely project implementation in conformity with ILO policies, administrative and financial procedures, and in accordance with project strategies and IPEC programming and operations guideline;
3. Provide backstopping support to project staff, particularly in the design of project interventions and preparation of action programmes, monitoring and evaluation of project interventions and Action programmes in particular;
4. Initiate terms of reference for consultants, support project staff and conduct workshops and meetings, supervise the production of project publications and documentation, including good practices and training materials;
5. Participate into joint programming activities with UNDP, UNICEF, other UN Agencies and IO regional networks providing support and assistance to victims of child trafficking;
6. Provide training to the national staff members;
7. Prepare technical progress reports of the programme for ILO-IPEC every twelve months and other ad hoc reports as requested by the donor and/or IPEC management in English;
8. Prepare an annual report on the outcome of the programme in English;
9. Provide advisory services to governments, workers and employers organisations, NGOs and other project stakeholders;
10. Maintain appropriate contact with the media;
11. Undertake missions and provide advisory services to the development and implementation of any future activities in child trafficking;
12. Prepare and consolidate subregional technical implementation reports. Contribute to programme activities at the subregional level (including coordinating the organisation of subregional meetings, and subregional advisory committee);
13. Represent, when needed, the project in international and national meetings;
14. Promote ILO policies regarding child labour and the relevant International Labour Standards;
15. Carry out other duties as may be assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Advanced university degree in economics, management, social science or equivalent in experience.
• At least eight years of work experience at the international level, including field experience in project management and implementation, preferably in Africa.
• Familiarity with ILO policies and procedures would be an advantage as would experience in working on child trafficking issues and proven capacity to initiate and implement technical co-operation programmes and activities with ILO constituents and NGOs.
• Proficiency and ability to draft quickly and clearly in English and in French.

Competencies:

• Good communication skills, both written and verbal;
• Demonstrated ability to implement and manage technical co-operation projects of international organizations, including negotiations with governments, social partners and mobilising the support of international donor agencies;
• Ability to work in a team, and good interpersonal skills as well to work independently with a minimum of supervision;
• Ability to train and guide personnel; and
• Ability to work under time and political pressure and meet deadlines.

APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED DIRECTLY IF SELECTED FOR WRITTEN TEST.
APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED DIRECTLY IF SELECTED FOR AN INTERVIEW.
Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to ILO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

To Apply:

All applicants are encouraged to apply online as soon as possible after the vacancy has been posted and well before the deadline stated in the vacancy announcement.

Online applications are strongly encouraged to enable ILO to store your profile in a permanent database. Please visit ILO's e-Recruitment website at: erecruit.ilo.org. The system provides instructions for online application procedures.

Closing date: 07 December 2008.

Current and former IPEC officials will be given priority consideration.

We regret that due to the anticipated high volume of interest in this post, ILO will respond to short listed candidates only within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy notice. To check whether the vacancy has been filled, please refer to the vacancy status of the list of positions that you applied for.