Youth and Inclusive Associate

UNFPA is formally named the United Nations Population Fund. The organization was created in 1969, the same year the United Nations General Assembly declared “parents have the exclusive right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.”

UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services – including voluntary family planning, maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education.

Since UNFPA started its work, the world has seen progress: The number and rate of women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth has been halved. Families are healthier. Young people are more connected and empowered than ever before. But too many are still left behind. More than 760 million people are mired in extreme poverty. Sexual and reproductive health problems are a leading cause of death and disability for women in the developing world. Young people bear the highest risks of HIV infection and unintended pregnancy. Many millions of girls face the prospect of child marriage and other harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM).

Much more needs to be done to ensure a world in which all individuals can exercise their basic human rights, including those that relate to the most intimate and fundamental aspects of life.

Zambia’s youthful population presents an opportunity for accelerated economic development. However, this can only be attained if appropriate investments are made in the development needs of young people, taking into consideration the heterogeneous needs of the different age groups. Further, the participation of young people in development decisions that affect them is critical for sustainable development. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in line with its global strategy on Adolescents and Youth underscores the need for priority investments to meet the development needs of Adolescents and Youth. UNFPA will partner with the Government, non-state actors and the international community in this regard, in recognition of the potential socio-economic return on investments accruing from youth-focused programmes.

As a contribution to efforts by the country to attain its development objectives, UNFPA Zambia will, in its 9th Country programme support the following interventions:

(i) strengthening and scaling-up availability and access to youth responsive integrated SRHR/HIV/GBV services especially for young people with disabilities and those in underserved areas;
(ii) strengthening strategic partnerships for investing in education of adolescent girls;
(iii) advocacy and scaling up in-and-out of school comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and social behavioural change;
(iv) Empowering young people with life skills (health, social and economic assets) to exercise their agency, prevent and advocate against adolescent pregnancy, child marriage, GBV and other harmful practices; (v) enhancing young people’s leadership and meaningful participation in national development issues including SRHR/HIV/GBV; vi) capacity building of civil society and community influencers to eliminate discriminatory gender and harmful socio-cultural norms affecting adolescents and young people, including child marriage; vii) promote positive masculinity to challenge discriminatory norms, including those that increase vulnerabilities of adolescents and youth people.

Under the direct supervision of the ASRH/Youth Programme Specialist, the Youth and Inclusive Associate will undertake the following tasks:

• Assist in providing technical support for evidence-based and innovative development planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of youth-focused health and development programmes supported by the Country Office;
• Provide technical backstopping support to implementation partners in the implementation of the programmes;
• Support the development of evidence-based advocacy packages and investment cases for increased climate change responsive investments by the Government of Zambia on adolescent and youth programmes;
• Assist in the development and implementation of inclusive training programmes, conflict prevention, community-based planning, and leadership skills with a strong focus on the youth;
• Assist in development of transformative community-based youth programmes to pro-mote the culture of tolerance and co-existence among youth and to enable them to be more active and responsible members of society;
• With the guidance of the Youth Programme Specialist, liaise with relevant Government Ministries and UN agencies and other stakeholders to facilitate effective implementation of the Youth health and development programmes;
• Participate in capacity building activities for UNFPA’s implementing partners aimed at improving disability inclusive capacities aimed at responding to leaving no one behind principle;
• Support UNFPA’s partnership and resource mobilization efforts for the adolescent and youth programme;
• Support innovative knowledge management processes in the Country Office, including documentation of lessons learnt and best practices that enhance the effectiveness of adolescent and youth programme interventions.