YouthConnekt Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations' global development network. UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience to sustain development results.

Context

Over the years, UNDP has been supporting youth development initiatives across the globe and including Uganda. In realization of the key role played by different stakeholders, efforts to consolidate and streamline provision of support to youth development in Africa have gained momentum resulting to establishment of a coordinated regional platform i.e., YouthConnekt Africa. This platform designed to connect the youth for socio-economic development transformation and empower young people through enhancing their knowledge, experiences and skills while investing in their ideas, innovations, and initiatives. Before it became continental in 2017, YouthConnekt was launched by the Government of Rwanda in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a multifaceted initiative aimed at providing a comprehensive answer to the several challenges faced by the youth. With the support of national governments, UNDP, and other partners, YouthConnekt has scaled up beyond Rwanda to about 17 African countries. In view of the important role played by YouthConnekt - Africa, the government of Uganda through the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD), and with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), now wishes to formalize the establishment of a YouthConnekt - Uganda chapter; a platform focus on enhancing youth entrepreneurship and promoting the youth innovation ecosystem in Uganda by enabling Ugandan youth participate effectively and benefit from the regional youth development initiatives; and facilitating the identification and resolution of systemic business challenges and connecting young people to key stakeholders such as government; business enterprises; financial institutions; BDS providers; academia; markets; and knowledge and information. Through this initiative, the ministry will promote mentorship, provide training, information-sharing, and networking opportunities. Besides, the YouthConnekt - Uganda will assist young entrepreneurs to get information on enterprise development and knowledge about funding and how to implement innovations. It is through this Platform that existing business incubators will be identified, leading to the formation of an Alliance of Business Incubators. This will not only aid in identifying best practices, problems, and solutions, but will also record the impact of interventions. Reports highlighting the innovative ideas, interventions and impact updates on the SDGs' implementation shall be produced and shared. It is against this brief background that UNDP Uganda is seeking to recruit a National UNV to support the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development in the operationalization of the YouthConnekt - Uganda Chapter. Focused on promoting employment and productivity, positive cultural values, rights of vulnerable groups and gender responsive development, the MGLSD mobilizes and empowers communities to harness their potential while, protecting the rights of vulnerable population groups with the overall aim being to achieve a better standard of living, equity, and social cohesion. To achieve this, amongst other initiatives, the Ministry promotes capacity building and participation of youth in development process.

Task description

Under the technical supervision of the Commissioner, Youth and Children Affairs or his/her designated mandated representative(s) and the administrative supervision of the Team Leader for the Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Programme at UNDP Uganda. The UNV YouthConnekt Officer will: a) Linkages and Development of strategic documents • Support the formulation of a YouthConnekt - Uganda strategic plan • Draft workplans and support coordination of approaches to support the implementation of the YouthConnekt Uganda Chapter • Support Ministry in establishing and developing strong partnerships with relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations and relevant projects. • Draft monitoring schedules • Enhance collaboration at the national, regional, and global level b) Mobilize youth and support implementation • Prepare youth events and provide operational support, • Mobilize, organize and enhance participation of youth in development processes and including national and regional youth events • Promote decent employment by connecting young people to potential stakeholders, markets and employment opportunities through skills development, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and networking opportunities. • Promote rights, gender equality & equity and youth empowerment in the development process. • Assist young entrepreneurs to get information on enterprise development and knowledge about funding. • Identify existing business incubators and support the formation of Alliance of Business Incubators in Uganda c) Knowledge Building and management • Support development of content for setting up a YouthConnekt - Uganda website • Draft progress reports highlighting the innovative ideas, interventions, and impact updates on the SDGs' implementation etc. • Support development and sharing of information and knowledge products including lessons learnt. d) Undertake any other related tasks as may be needed or assigned by the Commissioner of Youth and Children Affairs and or Team Leader for the Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Programme at UNDP Uganda 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 shall 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. Results/Expected Outputs: • An operational YouthConnekt Uganda Office • Fully functional youth entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem