The Position:
Under the supervision of the Head of the Middle Income Country (MIC) Technical Hub, the Gender and Youth Policy specialist will provide responsive and tailored technical advisory and programmatic support to country offices in forerunner MICs and relevant regional entities within the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region towards achieving the Transformative Results. S/he will also support corporate efforts to strengthen the capacity of country offices, governments, civil society and partners in gender and youth related dimensions of programming for the ICPD Agenda.
The Gender and Youth Policy Specialist as a member of the UNFPA ESA Regional office, will also be expected to collaborate and work closely with other global and regional specialists and advisers to ensure coherence in quality programming for results and contribute to organizational readiness across the humanitarian, development and peace contexts.
Job Purpose:
The UNFPA Regional Office for East and Southern Africa established a Multi-Country Middle-Income Countries (MIC) Technical Hub, based in Johannesburg, to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of its presence and programme support in the region. The MIC Hub provides unique technical expertise and programme advisory services to Country Offices based in middle income countries in Southern Africa, i.e. Botswana, Eswatini, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa.
The Gender & Youth Policy Specialist will be a member of the Technical Expert Team of the MIC Hub and will report to the Head of the MIC Hub. S/He is part of a multi-disciplinary team, which provides technical, policy, programme support and guidance to selected middle income countries in an integrated and coordinated manner, while ensuring collective actions with other Regional Advisers and Specialists.
The primary roles of the Gender and Youth Policy Specialist are:
- Policy and Programme Development
- Research and Knowledge Management
- Capacity development, Partnerships and Resource management
Required qualifications and experience:
Education:
Master’s Degree or equivalent in gender and development, demography, population studies, social sciences or other fields directly related to the substantive areas of this position.
Knowledge and Experience:
- 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the field of adolescents and young people, of which at least five years should be at the international level.
- Field experience is strongly desirable.
- Professional experience in Youth and Gender programming in humanitarian development and peace settings, including evidence of innovative approaches, will be essential
- Understanding of human rights and cultural dimensions of Gender responsive, and Youth development programming, including knowledge of the Human Rights monitoring and reporting will be essential
- Experience of managing initiatives on sexual reproductive health and rights and/or ICPD Agenda will be desirable
- Track record of technical leadership, contribution to technical knowledge management products and proven ability to produce demonstrable results;
- Demonstrated experience in advocacy, negotiations and/or policy dialogue, will be essential
- Demonstrated ability to mobilise and manage resources and foster partnerships to advance an agenda will be essential;
- Experience of working effectively with civil society, women groups, youth networks, academia, and diverse partners will be an asset
- Strong verbal and written communications skills in English is essential. Proficiency in other UN languages used in the region will be an asset
- Familiarity with management and monitoring tools, M&E and VfM is desirable with field experience;
Languages:
- Fluency in English is required (both verbal and written)
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
