Partnership Associate

L’UNFPA est l’agence directrice de l’ONU pour la réalisation d’un monde où chaque grossesse est désirée, chaque accouchement est sans danger, et le potentiel de chaque jeune est accompli. Le nouveau plan stratégique de l'UNFPA (2021-2025) met l'accent sur trois résultats transformateurs : mettre fin aux décès maternels évitables ; mettre fin aux besoins non satisfaits de planification familiale ; et mettre fin aux violences basés sur le genre et aux autres pratiques néfastes.

Dans un monde où les droits humains fondamentaux sont menacés, nous avons besoin de personnel intègre, partageant les valeurs et principes promus par les Nations Unies, qui incarnent les normes et standards internationaux, et qui les défendent avec courage et conviction.
L'UNFPA recherche des candidats qui transforment, inspirent et produisent des résultats durables et à fort impact. Nous avons besoin de personnel transparent et engagé pour atteindre l'excellence dans les résultats de programme.

Côte d'Ivoire has experienced significant demographic growth, with its population rising from around 3 million in 1960 to 29.4 million by 2021. This population is largely youthful — 75.6% are under the age of 35, and 38.2% are under 15 — and increasingly urban, with 52.5% living in cities as of 2021. This growth is primarily driven by consistently high fertility rates, although the average number of children per woman declined from 5.0 in 2012 to 4.3 in 2021.

Economically, Côte d'Ivoire stands as the 9th largest economy in Africa, having maintained robust growth averaging 6.7% between 2013 and 2023. With a GDP per capita of $2,500 (World Bank, 2022), the country is categorized as a lower-middle-income economy, largely powered by its cocoa, coffee, and cashew production.

Since 2011, Côte d'Ivoire has achieved greater political stability, creating conditions favorable for economic development. However, it remains vulnerable to instability in the sub-region, particularly due to sociopolitical unrest and security crises in the Central Sahel. This situation has led to the arrival of nearly 70,000 asylum seekers in the northern part of the country.

The changing development context in Côte d'Ivoire may limit access to direct financing. Nonetheless, this also presents an opportunity to enhance collaboration with International Financial Institutions. By leveraging credit instruments and innovative funding mechanisms, the country can secure resources to advance its development priorities. The fragile regional security situation highlights the need to integrate humanitarian concerns into programme objectives and resource mobilization strategies. Asylum seekers — often located in vulnerable areas — have urgent needs, especially regarding sexual and reproductive health services.

Reducing women’s vulnerability to poverty remains a key challenge. The National Development Plan (NDP) aligns with UNFPA’s three transformative results, placing emphasis on the most vulnerable populations while promoting the inclusion and empowerment of women and young people. UNFPA will continue its advocacy for the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action and seek additional funding to accelerate its realization through the NDP.

The programme will further assist the Government in building on achievements related to women’s and girls’ empowerment by tackling vulnerabilities and eliminating harmful practices — including child marriage, early pregnancies, gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and school dropout.

To help reach these goals, a focus shall be made on mobilizing more resources, particularly through enhancing partnership with donor countries, leveraging funds and synergies with International financial institutions, strengthening the country office capacity to raise resource through UN to UN Funds mechanism, featuring strategic partnership with the private sector, engaging with the European Union and forging innovative south-south and triangular partnerships.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of the Communication, Partnership and Resource Mobilization Unit, the UN Volunteer Partnership and Resource Mobilisation Program Associate, will undertake the following tasks:

● Support the implementation of UNFPA's partnership and resource mobilization plan;
● Prepare and update an inventory and accompanying analysis of the various funding and financing modalities and potential donors available for the country for both a developmental and humanitarian context with a focus on traditional donors and private sector ;
● Explore opportunities for financing with IFIs and other domestic partners for leveraging of resources towards UNFPA’s mandated areas;
● Contribute to the development of concept notes and project documents with a view to mobilizing resources from potential donors.
● Provide technical support for project development, report and donor visibility;
● Build capacity of UNFPA country offices on resource mobilisation (with traditional donors) and strategic partnerships (with private sector) , and when relevant, conduct donor negotiations for contributions to regular and co-financing contributions demonstrating UNFPA's comparative advantage and reflecting priorities of donor countries;
● Assist the country office in the development of country-specific resource mobilisation and partnership strategies and as required, undertake specific missions to support related fund-raising and partnership building efforts of the country office;
● Work with program units to develop specific strategies aimed at exploring potential South-South and triangular collaboration;
● Facilitate, maintain and make accessible a database on best practices for resource mobilisation and strategic partnerships;
● Participate in the office's innovation programs and initiatives, supporting the development of innovative approaches to resource mobilization and partnerships;
● Disseminate and promote evidence, lessons learned and success stories to improve the effectiveness of UNFPA resource mobilisation and financing of its programmes; 

During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed-upon work plan. This plan will include regular meetings with the supervisor to review progress and receive feedback on performance against agreed objectives. The final work plan will be discussed and mutually endorsed by both the UN Volunteer and the supervisor.