UN VOLUNTEER DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
Preamble:
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism tosupport peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature ofdevelopment and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peaceand development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism
volunteeri
into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.
In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long
long-established,established, ancient traditions of sharing andsupport within the communities. In this context, UNV volunteers take part in various forms ofo volunteerism
and play a role in development and peace together with coco-workers,
workers, host agencies and local communities.
In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging involunteer activity can effectively aandnd positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, aswell as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make thetime they spend as UNV volunteers even more rewarding and productive.
1. UNV Assignment Title:

Programme Officer (Youth Programming)

UNV PRSF, Outcome 7 ‘Youth, women and marginalized groups’ voluntary participation in recovery
and development decision-making
making is enhanced’, output 7.1 Enabling environment for youth
volunteerism enhanced’
2. Type of Assignment:International UNV volunteer

3. Duration:

One Year (with possibility of extension)

4. Location, Country:

Nairobi, Kenya

5. Expected Starting Date:

As soon as possible

6. Assignment background:
Mirroring existing demographics across the continent, Somali youth make up approximately 70% of
the population and will continue to do so for the next 1010-15
15 years based on regional trends. As suchyouth priorities and challenges are of great importance fo
forr the country’s development. The majorityof young Somalis have known only conflict and hardship throughout their lives resulting in a large
cohort of uneducated, unemployed and marginalized youth, who have limited recreational
opportunities and poor accesss to health services and employment. The lack of opportunities to earna decent living means youth throughout Somalia (and in NorthNorth-Eastern
Eastern Kenya, especially Dadaab)are especially vulnerable to enrolment in militias, criminal organizations and extremist groups
gsuchas Al-Shabaab,Shabaab, whose ranks are predominantly made up of such recruits.
UNESCO seeks to advance programming which vviewing
iewing youth as key actors in peace anddevelopment,, rather than victims or potential per is a vastly different perspective that challengesctraditional thinking. UNESCO understands that young people are a heterogeneous group in
constant evolution and that the experience of ‘being young’ varies enormously across regions andwithin countries. With specific regard tto Somalia youth, the Organization is keen to solicit andintegrate their views and priorities and collaborate with them in setting up projects and programmes
in the areas off the Organization’s competence, to facilitate their partnering with like-minded
likeorganizations
nizations both in the region and internationally, and to support the integration of youth concerns
and issues into the policy agendas in education, the sciences, culture and communication, in orderto create spaces and opportunities for empowering young pepeople
ople and giving recognition, visibilityand credibility to their contributions.

7. Host Agency/Host Institute: Programme for Emergency Education and Reconstruction,
UNESCO Regional Office (Nairobi)

8. Organizational Context:
Housed within the UNESCO Regional Office in Nairobi, the UNESCO Programme of Education for
Emergencies and Reconstruction (PEER) was established in 1993 with the aim of providing
appropriate education as a humanitarian response to countries and regions devastated by complex
emergencies
encies and natural disasters. UNESCO PEER operations and interventions are mainly in theHorn of Africa and the Great Lakes Regions, and recently its mandate has extended to other regionsof Sub-Saharan
Saharan Africa. The Programme operates under UNESCO’s AfricAfricaa Department, situated at
the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. PEER's mission is to address urgent needs in the context ofcrisis and armed conflict and in the strategic areas of emergency education, recovery process andpost conflict reconstruction. UNESCO is currently the Chair of the UN Somali Youth Working Group.
9. Type
pe of Assignment Place: Nairobi - Family duty station
10. Description of tasks:
Under the authority of the Director of UNESCO Regional Office (Nairobi), direct supervision of theHead of the Office UNESCO PEER and the general guidance of the Programme Specialist(Education), the incumbent will perform the following duties:
Programme Development and Implementation
••••

••
•
•

Provide assistance and support to UNESCO’s youth
youth-focused
focused programming andoperations;
Backstop UNESCO’s role as Chair of the UN Youth Group for Somalia;
Liaise with the newly formed Youth Advisory Panels in Somalia;
Liaise with other offices of UNESCO, UN sister agencies, regional organizations (suchas the African Union Youth Division) and INGOs to obtain relevant information on youth
programming and provide feedback and advice to the Representative;
Prepare background papers/briefing documents at the requrequest
est of the Program
Coordinator;
Assist in the preparation of regional events within the area of Youth;
Draft proposals and project reports, contribute to their review, collate and provide
feedback.
Participate in UN Youth fora and work for UNESCO leadership.

Knowledge Management••••

Serve as Focal Point for the thematic area of responsibility (Youth), sharing knowledge
and information and liaising with UNESCO colleagues to assist in the development ofprogramme interventions in the thematic area;
Assist in coordination and maintain close communication with all organizational units on
issues and activities related to the particular thematic area of Youth, includingorganization of trainings; andProvide quality advisory services tthrough research on policy-driven
driven issues; synthesis ofbest practices and lessons learned; and support to policy and programme development
in collaboration with Governments, UN and other strategic partners.
Help document knowledge, good practices and lesson
lessonss learned in the area ofprogramming for youth.

Partnership and Resource Mobilization• Assist in development and maintenance of partnerships with the UN Agencies,
government institutions, bibi-lateral and multi-laterallateral donors, private sector, civil society
based
ased on strategic goals of UNESCO, country needs and donors’ priorities in the area ofyouth; and••

Analyze and research information on donors, prepare substantive briefs on possible
areas of cooperation, identify opportunities for initiation of new projects,
projects and actively
contribute to the overall office effort in resource mobilization.
Any other duties as assigned by the Programme Coordinator.

Promotion of the United Nations Volunteers Programme mandate

1UN volunteers are expected to integrate the UN Volunteers Programme mandate within theirassignment as well as promote voluntary action through engagement with communities (urban & rural)
during the course of their work. As such UN volunteers should dedica
dedicate
te a proportion of their working
week to the following in support of and in synergy with his/her primary role as UNV Programme Officer:•Strengthen knowledge and understanding of the influence and impact of voluntary action bycommunities through the following:ooo•••••

research of the subject matter,develop knowledge of nonnon-profit
profit community based organizations developing new orapplying traditional methods in engaging with communities,
undertake awarenessawareness-raisingraising (promotion) activities for increased community
communit
participation and action,encourage local people to volunteer thought and action to enhancing their community.

Build relationships with a wide range (private/public) local organizations, groups orindividuals and support and/or participate in communit
communityy driven voluntary activities andassist them to tell their stories to the World Volunteer Web site;
Encourage, mobilize and support coco-workers
workers and fellow UN volunteers to better
understand the connections between community participation and voluntarism;
Monitoronitor on a continual basis the impact of policy reform on voluntary action at thecommunity level;
Contribute to articles/write
articles/write-ups
ups on the findings from the monitoring process andexperiences from the above outlined activities and submit them to UNV
publications/websites,
cations/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
Promote and/or advise local groups in the use of OV (online volunteering), and encourage
relevant local individuals and groups to use OV whenever technically possible.

11. Results/Expected Output:
••••
•

1

Quantitative and qualitative iimprovement in UNESCO programming for Somali youth in Somaliaand Kenya.
Strengthened financial resources for youth programmingprogramming.
Somali youth associations linked with partners in the region, with youth frameworks in the Africanand internationally.
Youth issues and challenges adequately reflected in emerging social programming of the newSomali National Government.
A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment,such as reporting on
n the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities
developed.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was created by the General Assembly (GA) in 1970 through GA resolution 26/59.
26/59 Since then, UNV’s mandate has
been expanded by GA resolution 31/131 in 1976, GA resolution 56/38 in 2001 and others in the follow-up
up to the International Year of Volunteers in 2001.

12.. Qualifications/Requirements:
Education:
Post-graduate
graduate University Degree or equivalent in sociology, international development,
physical education or other related fieldfield.
Experience:
Two years of increasingly responsible professional experience in work related tointernational development.
Other Skills and competencies: Excellent command of English (Somali and/or French added value);
••

•
•
•
••
•
•
•
•

Ability to work effectively
ectively and harmoniously in a team with colleagues from varied cultures andprofessional backgrounds and ability to work with minimal supervision;
High level of interpersonal skills to handle delicate interactions with development and government
partners within a post-conflictconflict context. Specific knowledge and understanding of current Somali
context would be an advantage.
Sound understanding of the key issues and challenges related to youth and development;
development
Experience in programme management, budget control and evaluation;
Good organizational skills and excellent time management;
Ability to meet deadlines and willingness to take additional responsibilities
Good computer and IT skills and experience in the usage of office software packages;
Flexibility, team spirit and ability to work in a multi
multi-cultural
cultural team environment and be an effective
team player;
Sound judgment and excellent analytical skills;
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including tact, diplomacy and political sensitivity, tohandle delicate
elicate interactions with a wide range of partners;
Willingness and ability to undertake missions in the field.

13. Living Conditions: While in Kenya or Somalia, the incumbent to be subject to the overall direction
and guidance of the UN Designated Offic
Official (DO) for security. Incumbent will be incorporated into allapplicable security protocols and will be required to strictly adhere to the guidelines, security plans andother directives issued by the DO. If on mission to Somalia accommodation would be at
a UNCC both in
NWZ and NEZ that have been cleared by UNDSS.
14. Conditions of Service: Contract is issued for 6 months (renewable depending on mandate, availabilityof funding, operational necessity and/or satisfactory performance). Settling
Settling-In-Grant
Grant is provided. Monthly
Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) – intended to cover housing, utilities, and normal cost-of-living
costexpenses– ranges between US$ 1,976, US$ 2,226 and US$ 2,426 depending on the number of primary dependents.
Hazardous duty station supplementnt (HDSS) amounting to US$ 640 per months may be applicable in certain
duty stations. Life, health and permanent disability insurances are included, as well as periodic home leave,
final repatriation, and resettlement allowance. UNV will provide a copy of the UNV Conditions of Service tothe successful candidate together with the offer of assignment.

Description of Assignment prepared by the Project Manager/UN Agency:
Michael Croft, Coordinator, UNESCO Regional Office Nairobi
Description of Assignment appapproved
roved by UNDP/RR/CD or UNV Country Office Teams/Support
Office: Vidal Mahundla, UNV Programme Officer, UNDP Somalia
Date: 24/01/2013