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Youth & Adolescent Development Specialist, NOC, Thimphu, Bhutan (Fixed Term Appointment) #00085938

Thimphu

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: Thimphu
  • Grade: Mid level - NO-C, National Professional Officer - Locally recruited position
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Youth
    • Children's rights (health and protection)
    • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Closing Date: 2024-05-05

Under the direct supervision of the Education Specialist, the Youth & Adolescent Development Specialist in close collaboration with the Regional Advisor Adolescents, and other programmes in Bhutan, will lead the strategic and technical work on System Strengthening and institutionalization of youth and adolescent engagement in Bhutan to achieve the results in line with UNICEF country programme.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
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Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, Education

How can you make a difference?

Youth & Adolescent Development Specialist reports to the Education Specialist, P3 while working closely with the education team and other sections. The focus of the programme is young people’s skills development and activation through UPSHIFT programme, young people’s volunteering for social impact, and young people’s civic engagement. The Specialist will promote and coordinate collaboration with UN agencies and other partners working on the young people’s agenda, including notably UNDP, UNFPA, World Bank, private sectors, Financial Institute, National Partner, and CSOs.

The Specialist contributes to the achievement of concrete and sustainable results on adolescents’ development related programmes/projects in the light of plans, using results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and keeping in view UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.
 
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
 
Support to programmes development and planning
  • Participate and/or conduct/update situation analysis and assessments to establish age and sex disaggregated evidence-based data for UNICEF advocacy and development of policies, frameworks, and programs to promote adolescent and youth development and participation in the country.
  • Assess national/regional/international development priorities to identify opportunities and strategies and courses of action to enhance the delivery of services and achievement of objectives on adolescent and youth development and participation.
  • Work in coordination with Child protection, SBC, Gender, Communication, Education, Health, Nutrition, Social policy, Social Protection, WASH/Climate, Planning, Emergency and Monitoring & Evaluation to support development of strategic framework for adolescents and young people.
  • Participate in CO program formulation, planning and preparation to provide input, advice and operational support on the integration of cross sectoral policies and framework that promote adolescents’ and young people’s development and participation. This includes the processes of SMR and CPD formulation.
  • Ensure alignment of adolescent policies, frameworks and interventions with the UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and coherence/integration with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), and regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
  • Lead on establishing specific goals, objectives and strategies and implementation plans for adolescent and youth development and participation programs/projects across all sectors using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare relevant documentation for program review and approval.
  • Work closely and collaboratively with internal/external colleagues and partners and stakeholders to discuss strategies and methodologies that enhance the realization of adolescents and young people’s rights across all sectors and to promote partnerships and alliances on adolescent development and participation including partnerships with adolescents and young people themselves, and partnerships with the private sector.
  • Ensure that the voices of adolescents and children are systematically taken into consideration in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programme cycle.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

  • Provide technical leadership to generate knowledge on the situation of adolescents and youth, support sector specific analysis of data on adolescents and improve utilization of sex and age disaggregated data within UNICEF monitoring and evaluation tools and among partners.
  • Submit/prepare proposals, program/project reports to donors and other partners to raise resources for adolescent and youth interventions with focus on young people’s transition from learning to earning, volunteering for positive social impact and civic engagement, and keep donors informed on program progress and critical issues.
  • Plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish age/sex disaggregated benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of sustainable results on adolescent development and participation programs and projects.
  • Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results for adolescents.
  • Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
  • Plan, monitor and oversee the use of program resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity.
  • Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources

Advisory, technical and operational support for programme implementation

  • Lead on providing technical advice and strategic guidance to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on policies, strategies, best practices and approaches on adolescent development and participation to support program development, conceptualizing, planning, implementation and delivery of results in adolescents’ and young people’s skills development and learning to earning transition and civic engagement.
  • Participate in strategic discussions, meetings and other international/national meetings and workshops to provide evidence-based papers and inputs on adolescent development and participation to influence policy and agenda setting. This will include close technical collaboration with specialized agencies such as the World Bank and international financial institutions.
  • Lead on preparation of policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials for management use, information and consideration in development discussion and planning relating to youth and adolescents.
  • Lead discussion with local government, community leaders, and national partners to promote concept of child/youth participatory planning in the national, district and community level including promotion of civic engagement and participation of young people in community development.

Advocacy, networking and partnership building

  • Lead advocacy and policy drive for adolescent rights and programming within the country office, with other UN and government and non-government partners based on improved evidence and data. In collaboration with UNCT Youth group, lead on the initiation of a Public-Private-Youth Partnership to support young people’s learning, skilling, social inclusion and transition to decent work.
  • Work in close collaboration with the UNICEF Regional Youth and Adolescents’ team and the global UNICEF Generation Unlimited team to generate learning and evidence to support further fundraising and mutual learning.
  • Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organization, research institutes, youth led organizations and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on UNICEF’s adolescent development and participation initiatives.
  • Contribute to the preparation of advocacy and communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and to ensure that adolescent development and participation programs and initiatives are adequately resourced and supported.
  • Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on adolescent development and participation to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNSDCF development planning and agenda setting process. Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues the UNSDCF planning and preparation of programs/projects including emergency preparedness.
  • Build networks and connections with other youth volunteers including scout volunteers, climate change organizations, and government agencies to advocate for youth involvement in climate change decision-making processes and to amplify the impact of climate change initiatives.
  • Design and implement programs that educate and engage adolescents in climate change, environmental conservation, and disaster risk reduction, considering their unique needs and interests.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

  • Promote, document, and disseminate critical thinking initiatives, innovative approaches and good practices on adolescent and youth development and participation initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory, with focus on adolescents’ and young people’s skills development, learning to earning transition and civic engagement.
  • Contribute to fostering and nurturing an “intrapreneurial” and innovation-focused mind-set in the team, in partnerships with other sections and the wider UN and private sector partnerships, actively exploring, developing and promoting promising new ways of addressing bottlenecks in young people’s skills activation and civic engagement,
  • Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting-edge practices on adolescent and youth development related issues with focus on skills development and activation. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned to support development, planning, implementation and scale up.
  • Contribute to the development of policies, procedures and programmes and introduce innovation and best practices that promote the rights of adolescents and youth and enhances their development and participation as active members of society and their community. This would include innovative partnerships with the private sector and exploring possibilities for innovative/impact financing of adolescents’ and youths’ initiatives.
  • Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of a wide range of internal and external partners/stakeholders to achieve sustainable results on adolescent development and participation programs and initiatives.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education: An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: anthropology, psychology, sociology, education, or another relevant technical field.

Work Experience: A minimum of five years of professional experience in social development planning and management in adolescent development related areas is required.

Demonstrable, documented experience in program/project development and management in the areas of young people’s skills development, transition from learning to earning and young people’s civic engagement is required.

Evidence of “intrapreneurial” mindset, experience in developing innovative programming approaches and internal and external partnership building strongly desired.

Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
 
Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Core Competencies:

  • Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
  • Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
  • Works Collaboratively with others (1)
  • Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
  • Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
  • Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
  • Drives to achieve impactful results (1)
  • Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable  candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

[CO/ HQ specific: visa residence requirements: i.e.: UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.]

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.