Youth Innovation Consultant

Background

More than half of the world’s young people alive today, live on this continent. At the moment, roughly 68 of every 100 people in Asia are of working age. It is a region facing up to the challenges of extreme poverty and climate change, but brimming with economic dynamism and a youthful workforce to deliver on unfulfilled potential. What’s more, nearly a billion people in Asia are below the age of 15; which means by 2050 the region will have more working-age people, and fewer older and younger dependents than at any point in its history. This ‘youth bulge’ offers the region a unique opportunity for economic progress, to lift millions more out of poverty, and to ultimately close the gap with the developed world.

Young people in the region are 5-7 times more likely to be unemployed than their older counterparts at the same level of education. Women’s access to education and participation in the labour force remain stubbornly low across populous swathes of the region. The next wave of development gains as envisioned by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals must address the needs of those left behind. These are big issues and our solutions must be equally bold. UNDP’s Asia Pacific Human Development Report for 2016, examines these demographic trends and sets out clear policy directions that governments can harmonise with their national development plans and strategies.

UNDP and its partners believe that youth can make a real and positive difference and create their own opportunities by engaging with these challenges head on through social entrepreneurship and innovation, exploring dynamic approaches to mobilizing their peers and communities and creating adaptive solutions to addressing Youth economic marginalisation. Against this backdrop, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub together with its partners are developing a regional project on Youth Economic Empowerment and Social Innovation. With the great majority of Asia’s peak-era workforce still in their early years, now is the time to invest in interventions that will harness their potential. In not doing enough to ride this wave, we risk losing the most potent inter-generational opportunity we have had in ensuring the well-being of one-half of humanity.

Duties and Responsibilities

Event Coordination:

• Coordinate the inputs of UNDP, Citi Foundation and other implementing partners, and coordinate the event management for Youth CoLab National dialogue;
• Support UNDP, Baoshang bank and other key partners to engage youth, build the agenda and other necessary  logistic support to organize the Baotou Youth Forum
• Support to organize innovation and youth events such as conferences, camps, seminars, workshops, summits, etc.

Project Development and Implementation:

• Develop innovation and youth strategies linking with project portfolios within the office;
• Manage the implementation of a number of specific innovation and youth initiatives pertaining to diverse project portfolios and project units in close coordination with the Communication and Innovation Officer;
• Actively assist in managing innovation proposals as well as budgets and financial resources allocated to youth initiatives and maintain regular updates to the Communication and Innovation Officer for necessary revision and adjustment;

Partnership Management Communications:

• Support UNDP China in developing partnerships and the organization of meetings with the Youth Empowerment Alliance of Incubators with the objective to facilitate knowledge sharing, technology exchange, and access to finance;
• Mobilize partnerships and resources to support the UNDP Youth Programmes at both national and regional level. 

• Collect and keeps track of youth-related practices within UNDP China, including the innovation and youth partners database;
• Prepares outreach materials associated with innovation, youth and public-private partnerships  (i.e. PowerPoint presentations, brochures, etc.) as needed

 Expected Outputs and Deliverables 

The Youth Innovation Consultant is expected to work towards the following work plan, and timelines to achieve the stated outputs.

1. Coordinate partners to organize the Youth CoLab National dialogue event (December 2017)
2. Mobilize more partnerships and establish the Youth Empowerment Alliance of Incubator Chapter for China (July 2018)
3. Liaise with the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub, Baoshang Bank and relevant partners and provide coordination support to the Baotou Youth Forum (July 2018) on behalf of the UNDP China CO
4. Support to the design and implementation of the Country office’s innovation and youth initiatives

The Youth Innovation Consultant will report to the Communication and Innovation Officer at UNDP China and work in close collaboration with the UNDP CO and other contracted parties. The success of the project depends on the timely delivery of each component.  The Youth Innovation Consultant should ensure timely identification of potential risks and signal any delays in deliverables. 

Competencies

Competencies

• Good command of English and Chinese, written and oral;
• Demonstrates commitment to UN’s mission, vision and values;
• Demonstrates sound judgment, diplomacy and sensitivity to confidential matters;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Innovative forward thinking, good coordination and organizational skills, teamwork;
• Degree in development, international relations, media or related fields;

Application Procedure:

“Qualified and interested individual consultants are hereby requested to apply and must submit the following documents/information uploaded to their online application":

Documents to be included when submitting application

• Please provide Offeror’s Letter and proposal (download the format in below link) together w ith your CV while submitting application;
• Please note that the system will not accept the uploading of more than one document so please merge or scan all your documents into one prior to uploading;
• In the Offeror’s Letter and proposal, you will be asked to confirm your interest and availability for the assignment, and provide technical and financial proposal.

Offeror’s Letter and proposal Download Link

https://pan.baidu.com/s/1c24eif2 

Selection criteria:

Technical evaluation - 70%; Financial Evaluation - 30%; The final offer goes to the highest combined score winner.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Degree in development, international relations, media or related fields;

Experience

• 2 years of relevant work experience on Youth and Innovation field.
• Understanding of youth work and innovation methodologies is essential.
• Excellent organizational skills with a successful track record of planning and implementing innovation events;
• Participate effectively in team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
• Expertise and knowledge of the Asia and the Pacific region.
• Familiarity with the trend of new technology including IOT, VR/AR, Drone, AI, Behavior Insights, Big Data, Challenge Prizes etc. is preferred;
• Previous assignment in a similar position would be desirable;