Youth Engagement Associate

The Youth Engagement Associate will strengthen local dialogue and trust-building by fostering inclusive participation of young women and men in decision-making and recovery planning. The role supports youth networks, civic activism, and volunteerism to enhance community resilience and social cohesion in war-affected areas of Mykolaiv oblast, Ukraine.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to and support local dialogue and trust-building within communities, with a special focus on engaging young women and men and fostering interaction between them and local authorities through joint decision-making, public consultation, and hearings, especially in communities most affected by the war and displacement.
• Support the establishment of local platforms for networking, knowledge sharing, and partnership building with youth and volunteer networks, national and local authorities, non-governmental, private sector and international development organizations or projects.
• Support advocacy effort to ensure the participation of youth CSOs, leaders, and networks in meetings and consultations with regional and local administrations, departments of state institutions and city/town councils, including but not limited to community engagement mechanisms supported by UNDP; promote establishment and building capacities of youth CSOs for the monitoring of local policies, budgets and development of respective advocacy plans.
• Support organizing and carrying out regular regional and local consultations on youth inclusion and youth-led recovery planning and its implementation in partner oblasts and provide substantive inputs for the preparation and publishing of analytical reports as needed.
• Assist efforts geared towards supporting the authorities at local, district and oblast levels to implement youth-oriented communication strategies and public awareness approaches.
• Contribute to the development of civic activism and a culture of volunteerism among young people.
• Contribute to the recovery, development and overall sustainable functioning of student self-government bodies, youth councils, youth-led CSOs, youth activists, and other relevant youth-oriented stakeholders through capacity-building initiatives that enhance local capacities to monitor the fulfilment of local development programs, projects and strategies and their adaptation to current realities in relation to the preservation and strengthening of the social fabric, inclusion, and local recovery in broad sense.
• Support the activities of social, cultural, volunteer networks and informal interest groups at the community level, including but not limited to local recovery planning and response to the war through a range of tools and mechanisms (including managing grants).
• Facilitate and provide full support to development of the educational institutions’ curriculum and recommendations on extra-curriculum activities in schools to promote tolerance education, self-governance and proactive engagement into civil life.
• Identify, synthesize and document best practices and lessons learned that are generated from the project and implementing partners.
• Ensure the mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment considerations in the field of expertise; promote a safe and enabling environment free of discrimination and abusive behaviour corporate standards.
• Assist with ensuring the project contributes to the promotion of gender equality by reaching, involving, and benefiting both women and men.
• Use the principles of gender-responsive communications in line with the UNDP corporate standards.
• Be aware of relevant gender issues and concerns in the field of expertise.
• Support the promotion of team culture of gender equality and zero tolerance to any sexual misconduct in the team through leadership and personal example.
• Demonstrate respect for gender equality in professional interactions, identify and address sexism and gender discrimination.
• Assist with informing and briefing personnel and partners about corporate sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse policies.
• Perform other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree - 3 year(s) experience OR High School certificate- 6 year(s) experience
• Fluency in Ukrainian and English is required.
• Secondary Education is required.
• University degree (bachelor´s degree) in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, Psychology, Youth Work, or other relevant areas will be given due consideration, but it is not a requirement.
• A minimum of 6 years (with secondary education) or 3 years (with University degree) of progressively responsible project experience in youth work and engagement or other related fields.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems.
• Ability and willingness to travel to the field sites in Mykolaiv oblast (Ukraine) on regular basis.
• Demonstrated experience in organizing and monitoring workshops, roundtables and similar activities aimed at facilitating community dialogues, especially those promoting the inclusion of young people from vulnerable or marginalized groups.
• Proven experience in supporting the implementation, delivering training or facilitating community-based projects focused on youth and volunteers’ engagement.
• Previous experience working within or in collaboration with youth infrastructure such as youth centers, youth councils, youth led civil society organizations or other relevant organizations.
• Prior experience working with UN/UNDP or other international and national civil society organizations.

Skills

• Youth Engagement
• Project Management
• Workshop Facilitation
• Community Dialogues
• Training Delivery
• Volunteer Coordination
• Youth Work
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Data Management
• MS Word
• Excel
• Web-based Management Systems
• Field Travel
• Community-based Environmental Projects
• Civil society collaboration
• UNDP Collaboration

Languages

Ukrainian, English