Sr. Social Inclusion Officer

Leveraging the current ‘youth bulge’ in Pakistan, where almost 29% of the population is considered part of the youth segment 15-29, is certainly one of the more formidable and complex challenges facing the country right now. Understanding the needs, the challenges, the opportunities, and the aspirations of Pakistani youth and finding channels to catalyze youth capacities and potential is essential if Pakistan is to succeed in its efforts to promote a sustainable, inclusive development process and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals as outlined in the Government of Pakistan’s Vision 2025 Roadmap. In line with the youth centric development initiated by the Government of Pakistan in recent years (the provincial youth policies, the Prime Minister Youth Programme, and the general inclusion of youth in the political process) all point to the active role of young people in the future development trajectory of Pakistan. 

As part of our engagements in more 170 countries, UNDP partners with young people, youth organizations and actors from civil society and private sector to governments, and members of the UN family to promote youth-focused and youth-led development. With the 2030 Agenda as a guiding thread, we work to advance young people’s participation in civic and political life, their economic empowerment and their role as resilience-builders.  In Pakistan, UNDP has been at the forefront of promoting youth-focused development programming. As part of the UNDP National Human Development Report, UNDP led Nation-wide consultations with youth and key stakeholders to determine the challenges youth are facing in the areas of engagement, education and employment and consequently designed a set of policy recommendations to address these challenges. As a result of this extensive consultation and analysis, we have devised the Youth Empowerment Programme, Kamyab Jawan (successful youth) a framework programme which seeks to support the Government of Pakistan with the implementation of the key recommendations of the Human Development Report.

The Youth Empowerment Programme under the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Unit is specifically seeking to promote civic and social engagement of youth for effective and inclusive policy-making and implementation, support specific target groups of youth in public and religious educational establishments to acquire the critical life skills necessary to succeed in an inclusive society and lastly to promote economic empowerment of youth through employment and entrepreneurship.

Regarding the social empowerment of youth, UNDP aims to address key challenges faced by youth across the developing world including structural barriers faced by youth in accessing and informing key policy makers in the government, lack of space for participating in constructive social activities like sports and debates, and absence of a robust empirical knowledge base to inform policy formulation and development action on youth issues.

In this respect, the project is seeking the services of a Senior Social Inclusion Officer to provide research, policy, contract management, and resource mobilization to the Youth Empowerment Programme. The Senior Social Inclusion Officer will report to the National Programme Coordinator and Programme Specialist, and the Youth Engagement and Social Cohesion Specialist in the Youth Empowerment Programme.

Summary of Key Functions:

• Provide research and programmatic support to the social engagement/inclusion component of the Youth Empowerment Programme.
• Manage research and social engagement contracts as and when required.
• Provide technical support to the Programme Specialist/National Programme Manager as and when needed.
• Support the Programme Specialist and National Programme Coordinator in resource mobilization, proposal development, and project reporting (if required)

1. Research, Policy, Resource Mobilization Support

• Develop and operationalize the research design and methodology for the programme under the guidance of the national project manager and social cohesin specialist.
• Manage research contracts under the programme and provide technical advice to the project management for final approval and publication of researches.
• Draft background thematic concept notes and other related documents as requested by the Youth and Social Cohesin Specialist/National Programme Manager
• Coordinate and liaise with existing and potential partners and other stakeholders (identified by the Programme Specialist/National Programme Coordinator)
• Write sector/thematic reviews, concept papers and proposals, policy briefs, and undertake other related tasks
• Identify, assess and coordinate with relevant partners for research and policy support,
• Document lessons learned through best practices and interactions, and disseminate information through active participation in programming networks
• Formulate and contribute to project designs, proposals, reports, and other documents that support strategic recommendations
• Consolidate baseline studies, research, and project case studies for policy dialogue

1. Contract Management

• Conceptualize specific project interventions and draft ToRs.
• Ensure timely completion of project interventions in line with quality criteria and expectations of UNDP.
• Approve project reports and provide regular feedback to implementing partners to integrate lessons learned in project implementation.
• Coordinate with the monitoring and evaluation officer to organize monitoring visits during project implementation.

3. Identifying, building and managing new partnerships 

• Identify and develop partnerships to ensure the achievement of the objectives set out under the social inclusion component;
• Initiate agreements/MoUs with civil society organizations, academic institutions, and research firms
• Liaise with social sector and research partners through regular coordination and follow-up to ensure effective partnership management

4. Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion

• Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work
• Ensure sensitization of stakeholders and partners on gender mainstreaming social inclusion
• Deploys socially inclusive approaches to ensure participation and inclusion of all segments of society in project activities
• Build partner and stakeholder capacity on social inclusion

Functional Competencies:

• Seeks, shares and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside UNDP
•  Ability to perform a variety of standard specialized and nonspecialized tasks and work processes that are fully documented, researched, recorded and reported.
• Ability to review a variety of data, identify and adjust
•  Leadership and self-management
• Focuses on results and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Excellent command on written and spoken English is essential.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity
• Self-development, initiative taking
• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control
• Managing conflict
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.

 Informed and transparent decision making