Supporting Social Protection Landscape and Stakeholder Mapping in Sri Lanka

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress. UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities. UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority. UNICEF aims, through its country programmes, to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social and economic development of their communities. UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realization of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

The assignments are part of UNICEF Sri Lanka’s efforts to strengthen its social protection programming and evidence base, particularly in the context of ongoing economic recovery and social protection reforms. The findings of this research will support UNICEF’s strategic engagement with Government and development partners and contribute to coordination under the UN Social Protection Working Group.

In Sri Lanka, UNICEF is actively supporting efforts to strengthen social protection systems as a key pathway to reduce child poverty, enhance resilience to economic and climate-related shocks, and ensure more equitable access to essential services. This includes advancing child-sensitive, nutrition-sensitive, and shock-responsive social protection approaches, as well as supporting system reforms related to targeting, delivery, and coordination. As part of this work, UNICEF plays a leading role in convening and coordinating partners under the UN Social Protection Working Group, with a focus on strengthening alignment, evidence-based dialogue, and collective impact. We are looking for two Online Volunteers with strong research and analytical skills and excellent writing ability to support a social protection mapping exercise in Sri Lanka. The two volunteers will work collaboratively, with clearly defined and complementary responsibilities as outlined below. Online Volunteer 1: Social Protection Research and Analysis The first volunteer will focus on analytical work related to the social protection system. Key responsibilities include: - Conduct a structured desk review of relevant literature, including policies, reports, and programme documentation; - Develop a structured overview of Sri Lanka’s social protection system, including social assistance, social insurance, and social welfare services; - Analyze key system features, including coverage, adequacy, targeting, and delivery mechanisms, and with attention to effectiveness, equity, and system coherence as well as linkages to other social sectors - Identify key gaps, bottlenecks, and system-level challenges, including issues related to fragmentation and coordination; and - Contribute to drafting the Social Protection Landscape Summary Note, particularly the analytical sections. Online Volunteer 2: Stakeholder and Development Partner Mapping The second volunteer will focus on stakeholder mapping and partner analysis. Key responsibilities include: - Identify and compile information on key stakeholders involved in social protection, including UN agencies, IFIs, bilateral partners, and NGOs; - Map ongoing and planned social protection interventions by different actors; - Analyze stakeholder roles, thematic focus areas, geographic coverage, and comparative advantages; and - Develop and maintain a Stakeholder Mapping Matrix; Support synthesis by identifying partnership opportunities and areas for collaboration Joint Responsibilities (Both Volunteers): - Align on research scope, structure, and analytical framework at the start of the assignment; - Participate in regular coordination and weekly check-ins; - Ensure consistency and alignment across outputs; - Contribute to identifying strategic entry points for UNICEF engagement; - Support the development of final outputs, including the summary note and synthesis of findings - Support to knowledge management for the documents, datasets, and references in a structured social protection SharePoint folder; Estimated Workload: The assignment will involve reviewing approximately 40–60 documents (e.g. policy papers, analytical reports, and programme materials) over the duration of the assignment. Learning Opportunity: The Online Volunteers will work closely with the Social Policy team at UNICEF Sri Lanka and gain exposure to how research and evidence directly inform policy engagement, programme design, and UN coordination in social protection.