Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Assistant

UNICEF in Turkey works to protect the rights of children and adolescents in Turkey since 1951. UNICEF's programme in Turkey focuses on the needs of the most vulnerable children in the areas of education, child protection, health care, social policy, adolescents and youth, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In Türkiye, there are approximately 13 million youth aged 15-24 years out of a total population of 84.6 million. UNICEF Türkiye's Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) programme supports government’s efforts to empower adolescents with necessary skills and promote their positive participation to the society.

Türkiye’s geographic, climatic, and socioeconomic conditions make it highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and other environmental hazards, making adaptation and resilience high priorities. According to the World Bank, Türkiye has high vulnerability in 9 out of 10 climate vulnerability dimensions. The country is experiencing food security issues, increasing water stress, and unprecedented disaster events, such as the 2021 forest fire season. Children and youth are the least responsible for climate change, yet they bear the greatest burden of its impact, and their voices are often not heard. When empowered, youth can lead positive change in society and promote just transition.

In 2022, Türkiye organized a National Climate Council, which resulted in key actions by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change towards its global climate commitments. As the first step, a separate Presidency on Climate Change was established to design and implement the national programmes and policies. Parallel to the national road map, a youth platform was initiated by the Minister - Youth Climate Envoys, with a representative from each university’s Climate Change Club. So far, the youth climate envoys participated in key national and international policy-level discussions and six youth climate envoys represented Türkiye in COP29.

The Youth Climate Envoys participated in the preparation process for Türkiye’s Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and they were mentioned in the Updated NDC Document as a key milestone of Türkiye’s inclusive policy-making process on climate change. Türkiye’s 2053 Long Term Climate Strategy includes dedicated sub-section on Youth Climate Envoys, as an initiative to strengthen youth participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in Türkiye in line with the country's 2053 net zero emissions and green development goals. In communities all over Türkiye, youth are already mobilizing, creating change through innovations and demanding action from all of society. In September 2024, the Youth Climate Envoys organized the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY). LCOY is an event under the umbrella of YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the UNFCCC, aiming to be a space to boost youth climate action locally and create an input into COP.

This UNV assignment will contribute to the work of UNICEF Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Programme, especially provide support to Youth Climate Envoys and accelerate Youth Climate Actions in Türkiye. The UN Volunteer will collaborate with community-based youth networks to enable more young people to participate in climate policy discussions and take youth-led climate actions in their communities. The UN Volunteer will also support the advocacy efforts to ensure development of child and youth friendly climate policies, promoting youth participation to the key climate policy development process.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of ADAP Programme Officer, the UNV ADAP Assistant will:
• Contribute to the design and implementation of environment and climate change related ADAP programmes.
• Contribute to the design, implementation and monitoring of the activities of the Youth Climate Envoys Platform.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of local, regional, and international climate and environmental initiatives, such as COPs, with a focus on engaging youth. This involves working in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change (MoEUCC), NGOs, and climate/environment-focused youth platforms of UNICEF Türkiye.
• Support youth representatives in local, regional and international forums and key discussions.
•Contribute and facilitate discussions, workshops, and events that bring together programme-relevant stakeholders such as youth, experts, and policymakers.
• Support the ADAP section with relevant information on youth climate-environmental advocacy strategies by monitoring and following up on national and international climate and environmental policy developments, including NDC 3.0.
• Contribute to the coordination of ADAP youth platforms such as the Youth Leadership Council, MoYS Youth Climate Volunteers, and other youth initiatives, including the MoEUCC Youth Climate Envoys Platform.
• Support to administrative and financial follow-up for CSO partners working on climate change and environment.
• Drafting speeches and briefing notes for senior officials.
• Compiling environment related data from adolescent and youth climate engagement programmes, international platforms, governmental and CSO partners.
• Any other related tasks may be required or assigned by the supervisor.


Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
•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;
•Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
•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.