Content Developer and Co-Host + Rapporteur for IKEA Foundation Adolescent Empowerment Forum – UNICEF South Asia

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a Future

How can you make a difference?

Rationale:

With a shared vision towards ensuring equal opportunities for all children, the IKEA Foundation and UNICEF committed to contributions towards adolescents in South Asia through the ‘Improving Adolescent Lives in South Asia’ programme, a multi-year (2015-2021), multi country initiative which was implemented in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. This is the first time that UNICEF had taken a regional approach to adolescent programmes – with common goals and technical approaches.

Known as a laboratory of ideas, the programme has been able to generate learnings in order to establish evidence-based approaches and effective strategies for engaging adolescents in diverse context and highlight the importance of investing in adolescents in the region. The ‘Improving Adolescent Lives in South Asia’ programme allowed for mining the wealth of information in relation to adolescent programming in this region. While the three country offices implemented the programme based on a common Theory of Change, and focused knowledge documentation work, several additional good practices in related adolescent empowerment work were also documented.

The key program learnings of this regional programme were around the implementation of convergent programming across Child Protection, Education and ADAP sectors in-country with a central focus on enhancing the agency and empowerment of adolescent groups.[1] The programme focused on integrated efforts for the elimination of child marriage, increasing access to secondary education or through Alternative Learning Pathways, and decreasing adolescent pregnancy, with adolescent voices at the center of solutions. The programme focused on context-based programming which helped in bringing in lessons on the different approaches used to reach the most marginalized and vulnerable adolescents in the three countries.

This year, UNICEF Regional Office in South Asial will conduct an Adolescent Empowerment Virtual Symposium supported by the IKEA Foundation which will highlight the learnings of all the IKEA Foundation-supported initiatives, as well as enable substantive discussions and agreement on the way forward from a policy and practice and institutional perspectives, on advancing adolescent empowerment agendas.

 

Purpose:

The UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) seeks to recruit a highly experienced and qualified content developer to assist the ROSA ADAP (Adolescent Development and Participation)  section with the preparation and facilitation of the High-Level Symposium scheduled for early June 2021. The content developer will recruit and work with a co-host to support the high quality delivery of the assignment The Symposium will include a diverse range of adolescents, UNICEF staff, government decision-makers, civil society organisations, international financial institutions, donors and philanthropists dedicated to adolescent development, media institutions and other relevant stakeholders. Emphasis will be placed on the inclusion of young people representing diverse rights-based affiliations, and social, economic, national, and sub-national contexts in order to bring to the Symposium the most critical and urgent voices that need to be heard for the formulation of recommendations.

Key Assignments and Tasks:

• Support ADAP ROSA in the preparation and co-hosting of the six-hour High-Level Symposium, provide guidance to group facilitators                                                               
• Work on a synthesis Forum document of existing knowledge material as agreed with ROSA on adolescent rights, engagement and participation and prepare communication mater   
• Hire and work with a skilled rapporteur for ensuring a high-quality forum report
• Ensure the facilitation of a preparatory meeting to review content and flow of the meeting with the co-facilitators and presenters                                                                                   
• Undertake quality review of the presentations to ensure consistency across all presenters and relevance to the thematic area of the Symposium                                                  
• Ensure timely and good flow of presentations; generate high level discussion and provide strategic orientation for translation of recommendations to concrete policy and programme initiatives                  
• Work closely with the Event Manager and ROSA team in ensuring smooth conduction of the High-Level Symposium

Deliverables I:

• Synthesis legacy document researched and developed
• Communication content developed in collaboration with ROSA ADAP and Communications teams
• Guidelines for guest speakers/presenters developed and ppt template developed
• Instruction for Rapporteurs developed
• Timelines developed for PPTs and close collaboration created for timely submission of speaker material

Note: Preparation will be home-based with close consultation with the ROSA ADAP team, ensure the development of the support documentation for the meeting. ADAP Advisor will provide outline and concept for legacy document and communications material

 Deliverables II:

• Pre-symposium meeting conducted;
• Feedback provided in a timely manner to ensure the quality of presentations
• Symposium facilitated as per plan;
• Key points and recommendations of symposium communicated to rapporteur

Deliverables III:

• Ensure the compilation of the meeting’s presentation in systematic order and notes with action points developed and shared

Note: Work closely with the ADAP Advisor, Partnership Specialist, Event Manager and rapporteur in ensuring the quality of the details in the Symposium Report. High level final report is written, reviewed and finalized.

Duration: 62 days (15 April – 09 July 2021)

Note: Consultant will work remotely. Please submit your applications with financial proposal. Applications without the financial proposal will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advanced to the next stage of the selection process.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

1. Education:

• Advanced university degree in youth development, social sciences or a relevant disciplines.

2. Work Experience:

• 10 plus years professional work experience in planning and/or management of social development, and/or second decade related programme; Adolescent Engagement and Participation related work, and/or social/behavioral programmes specifically in developing countries;
• Practical experience of defining and positioning cross sectoral programme strategic orientations;
• Extensive experience in organizing and facilitating High-Level Symposiums focusing on adolescent and youth development
• Knowledge of recent development in the field of Adolescent Development and Participation, social norms/behavioral change theories and the current Covid-19 situation and its impact on the young people in the region
• Extensive knowledge of UNICEF’s focus in terms of adolescent and youth engagement and participation related work area

C. Language Proficiency:

Excellent writing skills in English is required

Knowledge of additional South Asian language will be an added advantage

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Excellent computer skills and experience managing virtual meetings through the usage of tools such as TeamSite/Zoom or other advance platforms
• Experience working with UNICEF would be an asset;

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.