CSE & Youth Development Program Assistant

Details

Mission and objectives

UNFPA is the lead agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2022-2025), reflects a changing world, and as we accelerate our efforts, transform our pro-grammes, and motivate new partners we will prioritize the needs of people left furthest behind – particularly those living in poverty or with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people and the most vulner-able women, girls and young people. And these results cannot be achieved without an in-creased focus on the rights and inclusive participation of women, adolescents and youth as agents of change. UNFPA remains firmly committed to achieving the three transformative re-sults by 2030 – ending the unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal deaths and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices. In order to achieve this bold and ambitious goals, we need to accelerate progress and transform how we do business in light of global changes including megatrends' that have changed the conditions under which we operate.

Context

With approximately 59% of PICTs’ population below 29 years and 28% of PICTs’ population between 10 and 24 years , the Pacific is a very young region. The percentage of the adolescents and young people i.e. 10-24 years is highest in the Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Nauru where it exceeds 29% of the total population. The lowest is observed in Palau and Niue where it is less than 25% of the total population but still higher than 19%. Adolescents & young people are often not well informed about the challenges of transitioning through adolescence, making it difficult to break down the social and culturally harmful practices that limit their access to information and services. Adolescent girls who become pregnant often do not complete school, face social and familial exclusion, and are at increased risk of poverty, and sexual and gender-based violence. The concept of youth empowerment and meaningful involvement in decision making at all levels is far from a normal reality in the region and young people are often not part of identifying solutions to their social challenges. The UN volunteer will support implementation of Adolescent & Youth programs on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) /Family Life Education (FLE), innovations and youth leadership.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Chief of Adolescents & Youth, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Contribute to establishment of a community of practice for Comprehensive Sexuality Education/FLE through a moderator role that provides updates, shares resources and engages members for active participation in the identified platform. 2. Provide secretariat support to the Inter Agency working group on Adolescents & Youth including but not limited to development of a database for partners and programs, monitoring implementation of the 2024 work plan, participation and taking notes in all working group set and adhoc meetings, organisation of events and consolidation of inputs from members on joint document development. 3. Contribute to development of initiatives & programs on advancing youth leadership and development through digital and programmatic innovations. This task will involve taking stock of innovative initiatives in the region, identifying and informing the unit head, opportunities for expanding these initiatives for purposes of mainstreaming adolescent sexual reproductive health, GBV prevention and youth empowerment. 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 International Volunteer Day); • 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. The UN volunteer should be enrolled into a University programme in Development, Gender Equality, International relations, health, population, demography and/or other related social science discipline, and have good written English language skills, good drafting skills, ability to write reports, and the ability to organize and plan work following the established timeframes. Proactivity and good emotional intelligence are essential, as well as proficiency in the use of standard MS Office packages and the Internet.