Youth Officer(Adolescence and Young People) at UNDP

Background

Organizational Context/Project

 For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

The Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) based in Nairobi, Kenya, provides oversight and guidance to UNICEF’s work in 21 countries. Led by the Regional Director (RD), ESARO provides oversight, policy advice, programme and operational guidance, management and technical support to the 21 UNICEF Country Offices (COs) in the region. ESARO also coordinates UNICEF's engagement at interagency level and in representation of the organisation in the region, and guides country office humanitarian preparedness and response, partnership and resource mobilization efforts.

Living Conditions

The Republic of Kenya is an equatorial nation on the coast of East Africa, neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Indian Ocean. Kenya has two levels of Government; National Government and 47 sub-national Governments called Counties. Counties are further divided into sub-counties. Kenya is a multi-party state with Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Kenya’s population of more than 40 million is growing at an annual rate of 2.2%. The country’s GNP per capita estimated at purchasing power parity (PPP) is $975, and the GNP is growing at an average rate of 0.1% annually. More than 26% of Kenya’s people live below the international poverty line of $1 per day. Kenya’s main food crops are “maize, wheat, pulses, roots and tubers.” (FAO).

Nairobi is a modern metropolitan city where most basic goods and services, health facilities, public transport, telecommunication and banking services and educational facilities are readily available. The city is widely connected through its main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the smaller Wilson Airport. Air transport is also available to many up-country destinations. The city is home to some 5,000 UN personnel mainly attributed to the fact that it serves as the headquarters for both the UN HABITAT and UNEP.

The socio-economic and cultural background of the immediate society the Youth Advocate would be living and working in is diverse and prevailing security conditions at the place of assignment is modest. The topographic and climatic features of the assignment location is highland cool and warm tropical climate.

Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers

A 12 months contract; with subsequent contract extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment.

Travel to duty station (if applicable) and a Settling-In-Grant will be provided in the event duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment. A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) of KES 80,541 is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents), as well as final repatriation (if applicable) and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Regional Advisor Gender, the national UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Contribute to the implementation of adolescent and young people related activities: equality and social cohesion strengthened;
• Support the coordination and implementation of regional policy and/or programme activities related to emerging issues on adolescents and young people;
• Support innovative research with children and young people, including adolescent’s participation in enhancing their protection;
• Support the collection of data on adolescents in ESAR;
• Contribute to resource mobilization activities, draft reports, project proposals, TORs, advocacy materials and other relevant documents as required; 
• Support the production and/or reviewing of social media content focusing on adolescent and or young people;
• Support documentation of best practices and lessons learned directly linked to regional and country program goals and activities related to adolescents and young people;
• Support with coordination of partners and participate in regional and global conference calls and meetings and support with follow-up;  

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:

• 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 IVD);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• 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.

Results/Expected Output:

• UNICEF’s Adolescents integrated programming best experiences and achievements are well documented and shared with the partners, donors and wider public;
• Strategic report and recommendations noting the enhanced progress in the mainstreaming of emerging issues across UNICEF programme areas;
• Improve programme planning, monitoring and evaluation data collection and analysis. 
• End of assignment lessons learned and best practices are shared with other UN Volunteers.
• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs);
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.

Competencies

• Demonstrated interest in and knowledge in issues related to adolescents and young people
• Motivated to contribute towards peace and development and to serve others
• Good interpersonal, networking and communication skills
• Willingness to contribute and work as part of a team
• Flexible and open to learning and new experiences
• Respect for diversity and adaptability to other cultures, environments and living condi-tions
• Fluency in spoken and written English language is require
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded
• Computer skills (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, social media, and others) 

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Social Development/ Social Work/International Development/or similar background.
• Minimum years of experience: 2-4 years
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in programme design, develop-ment and implementation, information and/or knowledge management is an advantage