Public Partnerships Officer

UNICEF Togo's Country Programme Document (CPD) for 2024-2026, approved by the Executive Board in September 2023 and subsequently extended to 2027, represents a strategic partnership between UNICEF and the Government of Togo to accelerate progress toward the realization of children's rights. The programme is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2026 and the Government's Roadmap 2020-2025. The Country Programme is structured around five key components: 1. Child Survival (Health and Nutrition): Ensuring that children and pregnant women have access to quality health and nutrition services 2. Education: Promoting inclusive, equitable and quality education for all children, especially the most marginalized 3. Child Protection: Strengthening systems to protect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and harmful practices 4. Social Policies: Reducing child poverty and strengthening social protection systems and public finance for children 5. Programme Effectiveness: Ensuring cross-sectoral coordination, communications, partnerships, and operational support.

Togo has maintained strong partnerships with the international community for over 65 years, particularly with the United Nations system. In 2024, over two million people—nearly a quarter of the population—benefited from UN support across various sectors. The UN's footprint in Togo includes 22 resident and non-resident agencies working collaboratively to support national development priorities. The country benefits from both bilateral and multilateral development cooperation. Traditional bilateral partners include France, Germany, China, Japan, and the United States of America, among others. France's Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has identified Togo as a priority poor country for bilateral development assistance, particularly grants. The United States, through USAID and other agencies, focuses on health, security, governance, and private sector development in Togo. Multilateral cooperation involves several institutions including the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union, African Development Bank (AfDB), European Union, Global Environment Facility (GEF), World Bank, and various UN agencies. These partners support diverse areas from migration governance and refugee protection to health, social protection, youth empowerment, and environmental sustainability. UNICEF Togo works within this broader partnership landscape, maintaining strategic relationships with bilateral donors, UN agencies, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, and the Government of Togo across multiple ministries and sectors. The Country Office's ability to effectively manage these partnerships, mobilize resources, coordinate with development actors, and demonstrate results is critical to delivering on the Country Programme's ambitious objectives. In the current global context, official development assistance (ODA) faces increasing pressures due to competing priorities, economic uncertainties, and geopolitical tensions. Simultaneously, the humanitarian and development needs in West Africa, including Togo, are growing due to climate change impacts, security challenges, population growth, and persistent poverty. This environment requires UNICEF Togo to strengthen its public partnerships function to: - Maintain and deepen relationships with existing bilateral and multilateral donors; - Diversify its funding base by engaging new government donors and exploring innovative financing mechanisms; - Improve the quality and timeliness of donor reporting and communications; - Strengthen coordination with UN agencies, NGOs, and government counterparts; - Demonstrate value and results to resource partners through effective knowledge management and strategic communications; - Ensure UNICEF's positions and priorities are effectively represented in inter-agency and inter-governmental processes; - UNICEF Togo maintains its reputation as a reliable, effective, and results-oriented partner that delivers tangible outcomes for children.

Under the direct supervision of the Partnerships Officer (International Professional Staff) and in close collaboration with Programme, Communications, and Operations sections, the UNV Public Partnerships Officer will provide comprehensive support to strengthen and expand UNICEF Togo's public partnerships. The incumbent will play a key role in partnership management, donor relations, proposal development, reporting, and coordination to ensure effective resource mobilization and strategic engagement with bilateral donors, multilateral organizations, UN agencies, and other public sector partners. The UNV Private Partnerships Officer will undertake the following specific tasks and responsibilities: - Support the Partnerships Officer with the implementation of the work plan for assigned area, to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of results, in accordance with UNICEF’s partnerships strategy. - Support the Partnerships Officer in building and maintaining UNICEF’s partnerships, by supporting the implementation of standards and guidance for UNICEF partnerships in line Partnership Unit’s workplan. - Maintain up-to-date information on partner and income trends, support the analysis of development assistance policies and keep resource partner profiles updated. - Track the office’s partner reporting requirements against key results for donors, with maintaining a coherent system for centralizing, recording and monitoring relevant documents. - Act as primary point for the drafting and first round of quality assurance of donor reports, and visibility and communications (as relevant to donor reporting) ensuring that all submissions are of high quality and provided in a timely manner. - Support the Partnerships Officer with the drafting and first round of quality assurance of donor proposals ensuring that all submissions are of high quality and provided in a timely manner. - Help the supervisor maintain effective relationships with member states, UN agencies, NGOs, host government and other partners, as well as UNICEF’s HQ, RO, PPD, PFP and other relevant entities, to keep them informed on important, strategic operational UNICEF issues. - Contribute to ideas for opportunities to develop new and existing synergies with other UN agencies to senior external partnership officers to support a more effective and efficient approach to programme delivery. - Assist with the preparation of information to provide to member states, UN agencies, NGOs, host government and other partners on the strategy, design, relevance and impact of programmes, to advocate the work of UNICEF. - Gather inputs from UNICEF that will contribute to inter-governmental/inter-agency work, to ensure that UNICEF positions are properly explained and considered in decision making. - Any other tasks assigned by either the Partnerships Officer or Senior Management (Representative, Deputy Representative). Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities: - Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); - Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; - Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities; - Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; - Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers; - Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.