Youth Empowerment Specialist

The Youth Empowerment Specialist is based in the Regional Service Centre for Africa and reports to the Governance and Peacebuilding Coordinator for Africa. The incumbent is part of the broader global BPPS Governance team and has a secondary reporting line to the Global BPPS Youth Specialist in New York. The incumbent will provide intellectual and strategic leadership as well as technical guidance on youth issues for UNDP in the region, and represent UNDP in the wider governance and youth communities of practice, including with UN system, bilateral partners, external experts, etc.  

Position Purpose:

In collaboration with other Advisors and Specialists in the Regional Hub, HQ, Country Offices, Global Policy Centers, and rosters of external advisors. The incumbent is responsible for leading the provision of technical expertise and policy and programme advisory services to Country Offices and supporting the implementation of the regional program as well as the UNDP Renewed Governance and Peacebuilding Framework for Africa (2022-2025) and, where appropriate, with key UN and external partners in the region. The incumbent closely collaborates with the Global BPPS Youth Specialist to respond to relevant corporate requests, contribute to the broader coherence of the UNDP youth and governance agendas and ensure visibility of African youth activities. The incumbent responds to relevant requests from Country Offices, the Regional Service Centre Director, and collaborates with other corporate support providers, including other parts of the Governance Team,  the SDG Integration and Climate teams, as well as relevant teams in the Crisis Bureau. Working to ensure quality and coherent policy and programme advisory services within the region, as well as alignment with the Strategic Plan, the Youth Empowerment Specialist advances the credibility and recognition of UNDP’s capabilities in this knowledge domain and associated community of practice(s). 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Substantive delivery of technical assistance, policy development and programme support

• Provide technical support for policy advisory and programming services primarily to COs within the region, that respond to country office needs, including through the provision of capacity development and backstopping to COs and UNCTs; 
• Work with the Regional Bureau’s Country Advisors and the HQ youth empowerment specialist to ensure relevant, timely and multi-disciplinary response to Country needs for policy services; 
• Collaborate substantively with COs and Regional Programmes to achieve regional/CO strategic goals and plans by supporting relevant regional initiatives and promoting synergies with the regional programmes; 
• Provide technical support to COs in project design, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and results reporting in line with RBM guidelines, and support quality assurance, risk management and due diligence processes;
• Provide technical support to COs in the development and implementation of projects funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
• Ensure risks are monitored across the portfolio of advisory engagements; 
• Contribute to developing the capacity of national counterparts in support of achieving the Strategic Plan and other internationally agreed development goals as related to the youth and governance knowledge domains;
• Advise on resource mobilization and coordinate approvals, as required. 

Substantive development of tools and resources, from across UNDP’s network of expertise

• Provide technical expertise in identifying tools, developing methodologies and producing knowledge management products linked to youth empowerment and the UN Strategy on Youth (Youth2030);
• Provide technical expertise on the content development for global/regional/CO knowledge products through the analysis of data, case evidence, and research findings in Africa, in accordance with corporate standards; 
• Contribute to the identification and scoping of technical issues warranting collaboration with HQ and regional teams to research, develop and share knowledge-based tools, such as policy positions/practice notes/concept papers and other research-based products to influence/advance policy dialogue in the knowledge domain and present UNDP’s knowledge assets and capabilities at global and regional forums; 
• Work closely with policy teams in HQ to advance research, testing and roll-out of newly commissioned policy/business development initiatives, by providing regional perspectives/specificities as well as experience-based insights on what is of most practical value for national counterparts and regional leaders; 
• Design and deliver training on programming tools including by developing training packs for COs to facilitate innovation learning, foster and encourage policy innovation and continuous improvement to enhance programme delivery.

Knowledge management and community of practice networking

• Contribute to the continuous analysis, documentation, codification of regional results/lessons learned;
• Review regional data, case evidence and research findings to distill pivotal lessons for UNDP globally; 
• Advocate and enable South-South facilitation of exchanges and experiences sharing where valuable;
• Coordinate the UNDP Youth Community of practice in Africa, and promote knowledge sharing and skills building across Country Offices, on youth empowerment and related issues;
• Support the capacity development of UNDP staff in application of tools and practices; 
• Develop and strengthen linkages within the youth community of practice, both inside and outside of the UN system, including by collaborating and delivering training with and for youth organisations, movements and networks.

Advocacy and partner engagement for effective policy positioning in the region

• Maintain a database of relevant stakeholders in the region;
• Advocate the application of ground-breaking youth empowerment approaches, especially by promoting youth empowerment as an integrated approach and an accelerator to achieving the SDGs, and with young women and men at the center of the peace and security agenda, in various regional and country fora with a view to deepen related political commitment and related reforms; 
• Contribute actively to inter-agency engagement and joint planning on youth empowerment.
• Represent UNDP in the region on partner engagements and interagency coordination in youth-specific policy areas; 
• Provide technical advice on relationship management of regional partners and resource mobilization in line with BPPS priorities and corporate guidelines; 
• Provide technical advice on mobilizing and fostering external partnerships behind regional initiatives; 
• Manage the building of strategic alliances and partnerships, especially with key think tanks and non-governmental organizations, in particular with youth-led entities; 
• Ensure UNDP/BPPS Representation at inter-agency meetings, academic conferences, donor consultations and other events.

Competencies:

Core Competencies CoreBehaviouralCompetencies.pdf (undp.org)

Achieve Results:

• Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact    

Think Innovatively:

• Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems  

Learn Continuously:

• Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences

Adapt with Agility:

• Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands

Act with Determination:

• Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results    

Engage and Partner:

• Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration  

Enable Diversity and Inclusion:

• Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found on the dedicated site. 

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

2030 Agenda: Peace: Conflict Prevention, Peacebuilding and Responsive Institutions

• Youth, Peace and Security

2030 Agenda: Peace: Governance

• Inclusion and Participation
• Youth socio-economic empowerment
• Youth leadership and participation

Business Development: Integration within the UN

• Ability to identity and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work; knowledge of the UN System and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practical situations

Business Development: Knowledge  Facilitation

• Ability to identity and integrate capacity and assets of the UN system, and engage in joint work; knowledge of the UN System and ability to apply this knowledge to strategic and/or practical situations

Business Management: Partnerships Management

• Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.