Youth Engagement and Volunteers Analyst (NPSA-9), UNDP, Poltava

UNDP in Ukraine is recognizing youth as key agents of change in the recovery and development process, and in the longer term, building of a sustainable peace. As a strategic priority during and in the aftermath of the war, UN RPP will apply substantive experience of working with youth engagement and social cohesion and focus on promoting participation of youth in decision making processes at all levels in the recovery efforts and leveraging the positive role young people play in preventing and resolving conflict, and strengthen social bonds across the country, in line with the Youth Peace and Security agenda (UNSCR 2250).

In line with this identified priority, UNDP Ukraine invites applications from highly qualified and experienced Ukrainian professionals for the post of the Youth Engagement and Volunteers Analyst (YEVA) to apply innovative development approaches to the engagement of youth and volunteers in civic life, and involve them in the drafting/consultation/revision of policies/strategies/services related to youth engagement and to the strengthening of the youth infrastructure at hromada and oblast level.

The incumbent will accelerate gender equality and women’s empowerment with all implementations and promote UNDP’s mandate as a gender-responsive organization with zero tolerance to any kind of discriminatory and abusive behavior, including sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide substantive input to the RPP outputs and ensure timely implementation of Programme activities, including reporting on progress vis-a-vis planned activities and expected outputs;
• Provide the platform for networking and partnership building with youth and volunteers networks, national and local authorities, non-governmental, private sector and international development organizations or projects.
•  Organize and facilitate activities aimed at the development of youth and volunteer movements; co-facilitate peer-led activities; facilitate evidence-based programs and workshops on youth engagement and volunteering, additional pro-social and recreational activities;
• Collect, analyse and interpret data on youth and volunteers’ networks’ development in the country, region, and globally. Ensure availability of up-to-date information on all critical issues related to youth development and volunteers related areas;
• Advocate and support the participation of youth CSOs, leaders, and networks in Community Security Working Group meetings and consultations with regional and local administrations, departments of state institutions and city/town councils; promote establishment and building capacities of youth CSOs for the monitoring of local policies, budgets and development of respective advocacy plans;
• Pilot innovative instruments for strengthening civic engagement, activism, volunteerism, and direct participation of youth in community development (including “Team of Teams” approach, enhancing youth’s fundraising opportunities through gamification/edutainment approach, etc;
• Support engagement of youth, specifically young women and girls, in decision-making processes through building leadership and life skills, developing civic competencies for active citizenship, connecting them with regional and national civil society organizations;
• Sensitize decision makers on youth’s situation and advocate for young people’s meaningful participation, through training activities and advocacy efforts;
• Promote innovative approaches for youth engagement by setting up of innovative civic education programmes, developing STEM education, distance learning, and promoting informal education in the region; contribute to the development of extra-curricular civic education courses in schools (based on best practices), with the goal to integrate these courses in the local schools’ curriculum;
• Support youth to gain critical understanding of societal problems through workshops: facilitate the creation of evidence-based narratives as tools for influencing policy making at community and national levels, and priorities setting; initiate public information forums as needed;
• Sensitize local authorities and train youth workers (based on UNDP’s Civic Education trainings for youth worker), to promote young people’s activism for social cohesion and peacebuilding and participation in community development;
• Coordinate activities related to the Programme implementation with other UN agencies (in particularly UN Women, UNFPA). Ensure the development of cross-project linkages with other relevant UN projects and programmes and other stakeholders’ projects for mutually reinforcing impact;
• Coordinate and supervise the work of relevant experts and consultants, including the preparation of the terms of reference, facilitation of recruitment and monitoring of work/results;
• Supervise work of a Social Cohesion Associate;
• Ensure full compliance of Programme activities with UNDP rules, regulations and procedures;
• Any other task as assigned by the supervisor.

Institutional Arrangement

The Youth Engagement and Volunteers Analyst (YEVA) will work under the direct supervision of the Community Security and Social Cohesion Specialist (Component Lead), operational supervision of Community Security and Social Cohesion Coordinator and overall supervision of the Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme Manager and is responsible for providing support to the implementation of the programme activities. The YEVA will also be required to support close coordination with Community Mobilization Specialist, Civil Society Engagement and Capacity Development Specialist, Community Mobilization Officers and substance experts from other portfolios in UNDP Ukraine, in activities related to giving young people a voice to articulate their needs and participate in policy decisions and implementation, developing and promotion of the model of civic engagement of young people.

Required Skills and ExperienceEducation:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Social Development or other relevant area.
• Bachelor’s degree with additional 2 years of extensive relevant experience will be given due consideration in lieu of Master’s degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years (with Master’s degree) or 4 years (Bachelor’s degree) of proven experience in youth mobilization and engagement, coordinating the development of youth-related policies, methodologies, guidelines, knowledge products or other related areas.

Desired experience

• Familiarity or previous experience with national legislative bodies in the area of youth development and volunteers, including in the development or revision of policies related to youth and volunteers’ engagement would be desirable;
• Demonstrable experience in the implementation of innovative models for youth and volunteers’ engagement would be a strong asset;
• Experience in delivering capacity development, advisory and advocacy services to civil society in the area of youth and volunteer engagement would be a strong asset;
• Familiarity or previous experience in conducting community-level conflict analysis would be an advantage;
• Previous experience with a multilateral or international technical assistance or development organization would be highly desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in Ukrainian, Russian and English is required.

Required skills:

• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:

• Knowledge of group dynamics, customer retention techniques, influencing skills, and the ability to effectively implement programs is an asset

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

1. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.
2. A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.
3. Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 30 November, 2022.
 If you wish to apply for this or other positions with UNDP, please visit UNDP in Ukraine website, section Jobs and apply online:

https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/6923/?utm_medium=jobshare

UNDP will use a transparent and competitive screening process, though will only contact those applicants in whom there is further interest.

Applications may only be submitted for specific vacancy.

Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.