Adolescent Skills Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress. UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities. UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority. UNICEF aims, through its country programmes, to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social and economic development of their communities. UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realization of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Context

UNICEF recognises the importance of addressing the unique needs and vulnerabilities of adolescents in both Rohingya refugee camps and host communities. Adolescents and young people continue to face barriers to education, recreation and in participation in key decisions which involve them. This is derived from socio-cultural, religious and gendered norms in Cox’s Bazar which particularly impact adolescent girls. Adolescents also face heightened protection risks, such as child labour, early marriage and trafficking. Caregivers’ limited knowledge and capabilities to create a positive environment for adolescents, also impacts adolescents’ development and best interests. In the refugee camps the lack of space has been a huge obstacle for programming quality. Similarly in the host community, the availability of space which meets the needs of adolescents and young people is also missing. The UN International Volunteer will be part of the Education Section, to support adolescent programming in Cox’s Bazar Field Office but will work closely with the Child Protection Section to ensure integrated programming. This position will provide technical support to UNICEF adolescent and young person interventions in the Rohingya refugee camps and host community.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Education Manager (with close cooperation with the Child Protection Manager in Cox’s Bazar) the International UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Support to programme development and planning: • Support the implementation of the integrated adolescent programme including the delivery of the numeracy and literacy education, provision of skills development, employability readiness and lifelong learning for both the host community and Rohingya refugee community. • Provide technical and operational support throughout programme planning processes by preparing related materials, providing inputs to support results based planning and monitoring and evaluating results. This includes ensuring donor commitments are fulfilled according to agreed proposal documents. • Collect and prepare required data and documentation to facilitate the programme reviews and reporting. 2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results: • Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and implementing partners to discuss operational and implementation issues for programme improvement. • Report on critical issues/findings to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution. • Participate in regular joint monitoring and field visits for education and child protection to assess progress and provide on-the-spot technical feedback and to follow up on unresolved issues. • Ensure a youth database is maintained with the support of the Information Management Officer and validate the consistency of data. 3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation: • Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys and exchange information with partners to assess progress and provide technical support, to ensure application of best practices and the delivery of results. • Work with the Adolescent Officer (Education) and the adolescent programme focal person of other sections to set quality benchmarks and to review the efficiency, effectiveness, economy and equity of the adolescent programme. • With the Adolescent Officer (Education) strategise and operalisationalise improvements to the programme including post-training continuum of care, greater variety and levels of skills training and accreditation options. 4. Networking and partnership building: • Partner with adolescents, creating adolescent-initiated shared decision making. Ensure their detailed understanding, diverse range of experiences and perceptions are captured in every element of the programme cycle. • Identify community-sourced recommendations for improvements of the perceived gaps in programming according to adolescents. • Sustain effective close working relationships with government counterparts, implementing partners, other UN agencies, national and international stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation. • Build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on adolescent skills development including linkages with income-generating opportunities, mentoring and counselling. • Jointly with the communication section, support in the development of visibility materials, programme advocacy and resource mobilisation. • Research information on potential donors including Japan, partners and strategic partnership to enhance inclusive, relevant and quality programming for adolescents and young people. 5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building: • Assist in identifying, capturing, synthesising and sharing lessons learned on the adolescent programme for learning, to showcase best practices and to support the institutionalisation of the knowledge resources. • Research and report on national and international best practices in adolescent and young persons programming. Identify best practices which could be adapted, contextualised and applied in the Cox Bazar context. • Work directly with adolescents for adolescent-led innovation, monitoring and communication products. • Undertake field monitoring visits to document good practices, success stories, and lesson learnt. Participate as technical resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of stakeholders. Furthermore, the international UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of the volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publication and take active part in the UNV activities. • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities. • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases etc. • Asist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.