Social Policy Officer (Financial Inclusion and Livelihoods)

The Social Policy Officer (Financial Inclusion and Livelihoods) supports UNICEF's strategic objectives by strengthening financial inclusion and economic resilience components of social protection programmes. The role involves promoting safe, inclusive, and gender-responsive access to financial services and linking beneficiaries to livelihood and income-generation opportunities in fragile and humanitarian contexts.

Responsibilities

• Support the design and implementation of financial inclusion and livelihood components within social protection and cash transfer programmes, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Social Protection Framework, PF4C approach, and national policies.
• Contribute to the integration of financial literacy, savings, and responsible financial behaviours within MCCT+, HCT, and related programmes.
• Support the assessment, selection, and monitoring of financial service providers (FSPs), including banks, mobile money operators, and digital payment platforms, focusing on accessibility, consumer protection, and gender sensitivity.
• Promote safe and inclusive access to accounts, digital IDs, and payment mechanisms for women and vulnerable populations, coordinating with CIU, Supply, and Finance teams.
• Support identification and facilitation of appropriate livelihood pathways and economic linkages for beneficiaries, including referrals to skills development, income-generation initiatives, and complementary government or partner programmes.
• Coordinate with partners and line ministries to strengthen linkages between cash assistance and longer-term economic resilience interventions.
• Integrate financial inclusion and livelihood activities with GBV risk mitigation, PSEA, child safeguarding, and social and environmental standards, ensuring alignment with UNICEF and donor requirements.
• Support strengthening of grievance redress mechanisms related to payments, financial services, and partner conduct.
• Contribute to monitoring frameworks, PDMs, and analytical work related to financial inclusion and livelihood outcomes, including gender- and age-disaggregated analysis.
• Support donor reporting, lessons learned documentation, and knowledge products related to financial inclusion and economic resilience within social protection programmes.
• Support coordination with government counterparts, implementing partners, and financial service providers to strengthen national capacity for inclusive social protection delivery.
• Contribute to capacity-building efforts for partners, community structures, and field teams on financial inclusion, livelihoods, and responsible cash delivery.

Requirements

• Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in Social Science, Economics, Development Studies, Public Relations/Communication, Social Services, social policy, economics, development studies, public policy, finance, social protection or related fields.
• At least 2 years of relevant work experience in social protection, financial inclusion, livelihoods, cash transfer programming, or related areas.
• Experience working with government institutions, NGOs, or international organizations is required.
• Experience in financial literacy, financial services, multidisciplinary programming, risk mitigation, and writing skills is required.
• Fluency in both Arabic and English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Experience working with cash-based interventions, digital payments, or financial service providers, preferably in humanitarian or fragile contexts is desirable.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts is desirable.

Skills

• Social Protection Policies
• Financial Inclusion Knowledge
• Livelihood Programming
• Cash Transfer Programming
• Finance Literacy
• Financial Services
• Risk Mitigation
• Writing Skills
• Government Relations
• NGO Collaboration
• International Organization Experience
• Cash-Based Interventions
• Digital Payments
• Financial Service Providers
• Program Design in Fragile Contexts
• Economic Resilience
• Gender-Responsive Programming
• Social Policy Analysis

Languages

Arabic, English