Adolescent Programme UNV Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF works in the world's toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere.

Context

Since 1964, child rights have been at the heart of the strong partnership between the Government of Malaysia and UNICEF. UNICEF’s work in Malaysia is driven by the ultimate aim of ensuring that every child, especially the most vulnerable, has a fair, equitable start in life. This means that all girls and boys – regardless of location, family income or disability – ought to enjoy equal access to quality services and an equal chance of developing to their full potential. Malaysia’s population of children and young people comprise of approximately 43% of Malaysia’s 33.5 million population, which disaggregates to around 26% (8.7 million) of children aged 0-14, and 16% (5.4 million) young people aged 15-24. Young people have been some of the hardest hit in the wake of, and, recovery of COVID-19 across Malaysia, as underlying issues already prominent for young people were further exacerbated. These include the considerable learning loss due to the closure of educational institution, an increase in youth unemployment compared to the national unemployment rates, skills-related unemployed graduates also rose as mismatch of skills for student’s future readiness was already a gap faced by student graduates, the increased prevalence of mental health among adolescents in Malaysia and the shrinking of civic spaces for young people due to the political instability in the face of the pandemic The country has witnessed progress over the years, transitioning out of the pandemic era and to a government administration with stated national priorities and programmes to better support young people’s development, participation and foster unity. However, gaps in the legal, regulatory and policy framework, and limited mechanisms and spaces for inclusive participation constrain child and young people’s rights and their capacity to advocate openly. UNICEF Malaysia is a unique country office in an upper middle-income country, but with significant remaining disparities and inequalities where both advocacy and programming approaches are required. UNICEF adds value by influencing the development narrative of the country through quality evidence generation, evidence-based advocacy and policy recommendations, supported by partnerships and alliances with young people, civil society, academia, and think tanks. UNICEF Malaysia also has a highly developed Private Sector Fundraising Team (PSFR) which raises significant resources for children in innovative ways. UNICEF’s Malaysia Country Office (MCO) is in final phase of completion of the current Country Programme (2022-2025) is in its final phase of completion, the development of the new Country Programme Document (CPD) 2026 – 2030 is underway, and the 13th Malaysia Plan is at the early stages of formulation, involving UNICEF’s participation. In light of this, the Adolescent Programme UNV Officer position will play a crucial role in supporting the Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) team by effectively backstopping coordination, knowledge management and documentation efforts. The Adolescent Programme UNV Officer’s role will contribute to the forward thinking and documentation of good practices and lessons learnt to support the ADAP team’s work during a period of strategic thinking and development, as well as contribute to informing the new CPD’s development process.

Task description

Under the general supervision of the Adolescent Development and Participation (ADAP) Officer and the Lead of ADAP, Disability and Gender, the UNV Adolescent Programme Officer will be responsible for contributing to and providing direct support to programmes for and with young people, in three key areas as follows: 1. Project coordination and support for young people’s participation, civic engagement and advocacy programmes: • Provide coordination and support to UNICEF and implementing partners on key programmes including: UNICEF’s Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG), the Youth Led Advocacy Initiative and the @KitaConnect Programme, which are initiatives supporting young people-led advocacy, participation and civic engagement • Support the team in liaising with relevant young people networks, children and youth councils, CSOs, human rights bodies and potential partners • Support to the team with the review and analysis of issues and trends pertaining to young people’s participation, freedom of expression and civic space in the national context, to inform strategic interventions, policy recommendations and information briefs as required • Engage UNICEF’s programmatic sections on identifying and coordinating opportunities for young people’s participation and engagement in programmatic and advocacy interventions 2. Coordination and support for capacity building on meaningful participation: • Assist the team in planning, designing and coordinating skills and capacity building workshops and other interactive sessions with partners and young people • Support and contribute to designing, coordinating and monitoring capacity building workshops on meaningful participation principles and practices to internal and external stakeholders working with and for young people • Support the team in liaising and coordinating with relevant stakeholders including national and subnational government, young people networks, CSOs and business sectors on capacity building initiatives 3. Knowledge Management and Documentation Support: • Support the team with a rapid mapping exercise of girl-focused and young people led organisations, and, institutions actively promoting and supporting meaningful participation and young people-led advocacy • Support the team with monitoring and drafting programming results to inform periodical reporting and knowledge sharing sessions • Support the team in documenting and amplifying young people-led impact, through curation of stories, multimedia asset development, contributing to dissemination plans and identifying social media and communication channels to reach target audiences effectively • Support the team with data management systems and tools to effectively track data and outreach mechanisms engaging young people • Assist the team with the development of a resource repository for ADAP resources and guidance for external and internal stakeholders • Support with monitoring and curating current affairs, information, statistics and data on young people on key thematic areas and issues 4. Other Programme Areas: • Provide coordination support toward initiatives commemorating Youth Skills Day, International Youth Day and World Children’s Day as required • As necessary, provide support in the implementation of the ADAP programme in support of country programme delivery. 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 should 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 an 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: As an active UNICEF Malaysia ADAP team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client–friendly and high–quality support rendered to the team and its beneficiaries in the performance of her/his/their functions, including: • Strategic growth and involvement of our digital and traditional media audience, • Lessons learned and best practices are shared, • The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counter-parts, including Implementing Partners (IPs), • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed