Stretch Assignment- Regional Advisor Partnership, Public, P-5, 3 months, WCARO Dakar, Senegal

In the context of the transition towards the Centers of Excellence and a revised Regional Office structure focused on political leadership, resource mobilization, regional intergovernmental engagement, and strategic positioning, WCARO has integrated its Partnerships, Communications, and Advocacy functions into a streamlined section, with the emphasis on strengthening UNICEF's partnerships agenda and footprint in West and Central Africa. This integration reflects the interconnected nature of these areas, recognizing that effective communication and advocacy are essential to expanding partnerships and impactful resource mobilization and resource mobilization and leveraging strategies at scale and on a sustained basis. The integration is designed to elevate the role of partnerships (across all its streams: public, private, philanthropic, foundations, and individual giving); strengthen coherence and efficiency across partner engagement, public advocacy, and increased visibility; and optimize limited core resources while expanding strategic capacity.

The partnerships landscape in West and Central Africa has evolved significantly over the past five years and is expected to do so over the duration of the next ROMP cycle, 2026-2029. Whilst this region saw a slight increase in Other Resources (largely from traditional donors such as the US, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and the UK) between 2022-2023, the proportion of humanitarian funding has significantly decreased contributing to many underfunded emergencies. Recent elections resulting in a shift to more conservative governments and a stronger focus on defence and security spending has had a negative impact on funding flows to the region. This is complemented by the increase in donor conditionalities and/or withdrawal from politically sensitive sub-regions such as the Central Sahel. More recently, the crucial decisions by the US administration to scale back and/or cut development assistance and to rescind its Regular Resources contribution has led UNICEF to a deep analysis resulting in the Future Focus Initiative. This is leading UNICEF to fundamentally recalibrate its strategy towards influencing national governments to prioritize children's issues and social development through increased domestic financing. In addition, UNICEF is stepping up its engagement with emerging non-traditional partners such as China, Russia, Turkiye, and the Arab States.

The private sector is changing rapidly in the region and is increasingly positioning itself as a growing sector in support of children's issues. Whilst individual giving is still in its nascency in the region, WCARO has been successful in launching a regional digital platform to allow individuals to make direct donations to UNICEF in most of the region's currencies. This sub-sector presents great growth potential. Foundations are also representing a growing sub-sector of influence, especially as the top global entities, such as the Gates Foundation and the Master Card Foundation, have begun to decentralize their operations and programmes to the region presenting important opportunities for partnership building. Equally, the steady growth of homegrown foundations and philanthropies, especially in Nigeria and increasingly in other strong economies, is presenting UNICEF with solid opportunities.

The post, beyond the critical element of resource mobilization and leveraging (across all streams and categories), will also continue to lead in the development of strategies of engagement with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and will also develop similar strategies for new entities such as the Alliance of Sahelian States (following the withdrawal by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from ECOWAS). The post will also be the regional lead in the engagement with the African Development Bank and ensure that regional priorities are well represented in the dialogue with the African Union through UNICEF's Liaison Office.

Under the guidance of the Deputy Regional Director, and working closely with PPD, and PFP, the post- in addition to the public partnership role - will also act as supervisor of the two interconnected cones of Partnerships, on one hand, and Communications and Advocacy, on the other, and lead the development of integrated annual workplans in support of the delivery of products and outputs under each cone, as well as those that are of an integrated nature. It is expected that the post will devote 90% on the strategic public partnerships, resource mobilization/leveraging, and regional institutional engagement agendas, and the remaining 10% on overall team leadership, coordination and management. The function will ensure an integrated partnerships and visibility approach to the development of regional advocacy campaigns, and effective contribution to global initiatives and campaigns related to priorities in WCAR.

1. Lead on the strategic public partnerships, resource mobilization/leveraging, and regional institutional agendas (90%), and coordinate the overall team and management of public and private partnerships, advocacy, and communication (10%).
2. Design and manage engagement strategies and plans with the objective of increasing the quality and quantity of resources for UNICEF core priorities in the region; identify all possible sources of new and continued funding from the public sector; monitor and evaluate, and as needed, recalibrate existing fundraising channels.

• Lead design and implementation of the Regional Resource Mobilization and Leveraging Strategy and Action Plan, in close consultation with country offices and Centers of Excellence.
• Ensure that dialogue and relations are maintained in a well-coordinated manner with priority donors and potential public sector partners, including IFls.
• Ensure clear policy direction for all public fundraising and partnership activities in compliance with UNICEF guidelines, rules and regulations.

1. Ensure the provision of technical guidance and support to country offices to strengthen the capacity for partnerships and resource mobilization and leveraging and management of public partnerships.

• Oversee the development and use of tools and resources to support resource mobilization and the management of partnerships.
• Ensure proper staff capacity and skills level training and development within the region on public sector partnerships.
• Assure effective knowledge management, including sharing of lessons learned and taking good practice to scale.

1. Facilitate and maintain relations with embassies, missions, and other public sector partners based in Dakar/Senegal and in the region, in close cooperation with concerned Headquarters Divisions, notably PPD, as well as with country offices and Centers of Excellence

• Supervise the preparation of comprehensive and substantive briefs and reports for the Regional Director's high-level meetings with these partners
• Ensure regular dialogue and information exchange with PPD, especially on the evolution of new and emerging partnerships that could benefit the region.

1. Advocate for strategic public partnerships with key stakeholders, including ECOWAS, ECCAS, the Alliance of Sahelian States, and other regional intergovernmental bodies, as well as with other relevant programmatic partners (including key regional civil society networks).

• Coordinate and oversee the dialogue with regional intergovernmental bodies on common child rights priorities, drawing on the inputs from country offices and Centers of Excellence.
• Foster collaboration with new and existing civil society networks and partners to advance the cause of children's rights in collaboration with country offices and Centers of Excellence.

1. Collaborate with country offices, Centers of Excellence, and relevant HQ divisions in the development of regional multi-country and multi-sectoral funding concept notes and proposals and manage the provision of quality assurance to regional office and country office donor proposals and donor reports.
2. Support regional and country level fundraising and resource mobilization activities with quality advocacy and communication strategy and activities.

• Organize specific events, field missions, launches dedicated to develop and/or reinforce relations and engage public partners with joint and engaging communication.
• Identify and develop alliances and partnerships with youth networks to strengthen youth capacities to raise their voice and take actions for child rights.
• Expand the partnership and engagement with Li-Reporters to boost youth's participation and engagement for child rights.

• An advanced university degree (Master's) in political science, internal relations, or other related fields of disciplines
• A minimum of ten (10) years of relevant progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience in the areas of development of strategic public partnerships, donor relations, engagement with traditional and emerging partners, and intergovernmental organizations.
• International and national work experience in both developed and developing countries, with specific experience in West Africa an asset.
• Background/familiarity with emergency situations is an asset.
• Fluency in French and English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language is considered an asset.

Funding arrangement
This is a temporary development opportunity and there will be no changes to the staff member’s status (position number, level, etc.).

The Office will cover the ticket for economy class travel and 100% of the UN DSA rate during the first 30 days, and 50% DSA for the remaining time.

Interested UNICEF staff should discuss this opportunity with their supervisor and seek the approval of their management before applying.

Candidates considered potentially well-matched for the stretch assignment will be contacted for an informal interview. Supervisors may also be contacted for references.

Advertised: 08 Jun 2026 Greenwich Standard Time
Applications close: 19 Jun 2026 Greenwich Standard Time

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