Population Dynamics Policy Adviser, ESARO, Johannesburg, South Africa, P-5

The Position:

The Population Dynamics Policy Adviser position is located in the East and Southern Africa regional office (ESARO) of UNFPA. It is under the overall guidance of the Regional Director with direct supervision and reporting to the Deputy Regional Director. S/he is the principal adviser at the regional level for evidence-based policy advocacy and advice in the area of population dynamics and related development implications. S/he works in an integrated manner with the technical, policy, programme and operations staff in the ESARO.

UNFPA is charged with facilitating the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, a touchstone in the paradigm shift of development that mandates the protection and fulfillment of human rights, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights (SRHR) for all, especially women, young people and adolescents. While considerable progress has been made since its adoption in 1994 towards improving universal access to family planning, reducing maternal mortality, and eliminating gender-based violence and harmful practices, significant gaps remain across and within countries, particularly in light of economic, social, cultural, and demographic changes. The current pace of progress and the unfinished business of the ICPD PoA calls for acceleration towards 2030 and the post-2030 development agenda. Enabled by thought leadership and evidence-based policy advice, the position will ensure UNFPA, member states and partners promote the quality of life, well-being, and SRHR outcomes of present and future generations through tailored pathways that respond to the demographic, political, economic, social and environmental contexts across countries. The centrality of adolescents and youth, who shape and define the future prospects of nations will be critical.

In the East and Southern Africa region, megatrends are reshaping country contexts and prospects, including population change, inequalities, migration, aging, innovation, and digital technology, to mention a few. These trends impact societies and are a defining factor for the socio-economic transformation of nations, quality of life, well-being, and human rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Increased frequency of climate change and humanitarian situations increasingly impact lives, livelihoods and economies in East and Southern Africa, with exacerbated effects deepening inequalities, vulnerabilities, and unequal power relations. Collective actions are required to understand and address the impact of megatrends on SRHR outcomes of the population in order to accelerate towards achieving sustainable development and the ICPD Programme of Action in the region.

Evidence-based policy advocacy and advice, capacity development, evidence generation, systematic analysis of population dynamics and use for decision making, knowledge management, leveraging resources and partnerships is required to ensure delivery of the ESA regional programme action plan aligned with UNFPA Strategic Plan (2022-2025) and beyond. This will ensure people-centered development, realization of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, gender equality and empowerment of women and youth. to mention a few

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire, and deliver high-impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them, and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The Population Dynamics Policy Adviser position provides strategic technical and programmatic leadership for the region in the area of expertise to ensure that the ESA region (regional and country offices) remains abreast of the corporate policy and programmes, as well as current and emerging thought leadership on population dynamics, and implications for sustainable development and environmental sustainability as guided by the ICPD Programme of Action. S/He maintains primary responsibility for the provision of policy advice, technical assistance, and programme support to countries of the region, collaboration with counterparts across other regions, in particular in Africa. In this regard, s/he analyses continental as well as specific regional, cluster, and transboundary trends and uses the data and evidence to guide strategic actions in response to development frameworks and programmes, including the localization and achievement of the SDGs.

In all activities, s/he works within an interdisciplinary team and liaises with other business units, such as the Programme Division of UNFPA Headquarters, Technical and thematic communities of practice, towards ensuring the timeliness, adequacy, relevance, and quality of technical support to UNFPA programmes. The primary roles of the Population Dynamics Policy Adviser are:

1. Thought leadership and Strategic population policy advice
2. Capacity development at regional and country levels
3. Oversight of evidence generation, knowledge management, and related corporate practices  
4. Strategic Partnerships, Technical representation, and resource mobilization
5. Management and oversight of the Research Agenda

You would be responsible for:

A. Thought Leadership and Strategic population policy development advice

• Lead on analytical advice for decision-making, technical, programmatic, thought leadership, and research population dynamics, including the impact of emerging megatrends on population and development issues and the promise of the International Conference on Programme and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.
• Guided by population dynamics and population policy expertise, manage substantial inputs and provide support to the design and implementation of the ESA regional programme, grounded on evidence that is responsive to the regional context and country priorities. In relation to this, also contributes to the substantive elaboration of the UNFPA Strategic Plan and to its implementation in the region;
• Contribute to the development, implementation, and monitoring of regional population policy and demographic dividend strategies in the region, through identification and analysis of population dynamic and demographic trends, threats, and risks that may affect the ICPD and post-2030 development agenda in the region;
• Support the positioning of UNFPA and the ICPD agenda on the global and national climate change agendas, this includes supporting the fostering of strategic partnerships.
• Provide technical leadership, policy advice, and strategic support for emergency preparedness, humanitarian assistance, recovery and transition in collaboration with technical, operations, and programme staff in the ESARO;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the delivery of high-quality technical assistance and programme support in the region ;
• Identify requirements for and contribute to the development of new or updated policies, positioning, frameworks, guidance, standards, instruments and tools in the area of population dynamics;
• Participate in UNFPA global and cross-regional technical communities of practice in the substantive area of population policy across demographic diversities applicable across countries and regions, while also maintaining strategic communication and feedback loops on all substantive work;
• Coach and manage junior professional staff and associates, direct expert consultants, and facilitate working groups and task teams.

B. Capacity development at regional and country levels

• Advise the COs on the implementation and application of policy development and policy dialogue, strategies, guidelines, and tools on population dynamics-related work in the region, while also ensuring consistency and coherence in addressing strategic priorities in the region;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of a regional integrated technical, operations, resource mobilization, and programme delivery strategy to strengthen capacities in the region, and guide the management of this system;
• Ensure state-of-the-art thinking and research capacity is strengthened within the work of the ESARO and partnership networks;
• Provide technical support at key stages of UNFPA, UN, and national development planning exercises, including drafting of country programme documents(CPDs);
• Support the regional adaptation of training materials, manuals, and tools in the substantive area and ensure availability and use for capacity development;
• Organize or contribute to regional, sub-regional and country training activities in the substantive area for capacity development of COs, national and regional counterparts, in select areas of UNFPA’s mandate and specifically on the demographic dividend;
• Monitor the quality of the technical support received at the country level, in the area of expertise, for effective policy dialogue and programming and ensure course correct actions are undertaken to address gaps;
• Initiate, develop, strengthen, and monitor intellectual regional partnerships in the substantive area, including partnerships with academia, South-South and Triangular Cooperation to support country and regional programmes;
• Liaise with respective counterparts in Programme Division, UNFPA headquarters to identify opportunities for capacity strengthening at all levels in the field of population dynamics and implications for sustainable development;

C. Oversight of Evidence generation and knowledge management and related corporate practices 

• Lead the generation of cutting-edge technical knowledge, data and evidence on population and development issues, systematic analysis of population dynamics and development implications, specifically around the Transformative results, Demographic Dividend, impact of climate change, migration, policy development and public investments, and other new frontiers and global trends on SRHR. In addition support the formulation of follow-up actions from the analysis required to inform policies, programmes and corporate business processes as may be applicable. 
• Lead the  and synthesis of substantive trends in the region, emerging needs, and research findings in the region to produce new,
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize information/data and experience on programme priorities to be used in regional and global policy advocacy. In this regard, prepare position papers, briefing notes, and materials for evidence-based policy dialogues at the regional level, provide similar support at the request of country offices;
• Lead on the evaluation, capturing, codifying, synthesizing lessons and stimulating the uptake of best practices and knowledge, including the development of resource kits and other knowledge materials in the subject area.
• Provide oversight for generation, coordinating, and monitoring the regional knowledge management system, mechanism of learning and exchange of technical skills and knowledge within and among programme countries and/or other regions in the area of expertise;
• Facilitate and help maintain and make accessible databases on best practices, partnerships, and consultant rosters and help ensure ease of access, use and assessment to advance the body of knowledge in population dynamics and related fields;
• Monitor and analyze reports on humanitarian, economic, political, and social factors in the development and management of population and development programmes;
• Contribute evidence-based knowledge sharing in the area of work, and regional experiences of working with UN-wide frameworks and instruments related to the new aid environment.

D. Strategic Partnership, Technical representation, and Resource mobilization

• Participate in policy dialogue, and advocate for substantive issues in international, inter-governmental, UN, and other policy and technical meetings and fora;
• Represent UNFPA on substantive issues in the region and elaborate UNFPA’s substantive regional and global perspectives in the area of expertise; including serving as the focal point for inter-agency working groups in the substantive area.
• Foster substantive partnerships and collaboration in the area of responsibility, with other UN agencies including in the context of the UN Regional reforms and related platforms;
• Collaborate on substantive issues with academia, research and training institutions, think tanks, centers of excellence, and professional societies in the region; 
• Coordinate the provision of technical and programme support to member states, RECs and regional institutions such as the African Union and its organs, including the STC on Population, Health, Nutrition, and Drugs; AUDA-NEPAD, AfDB
• Identify and seek opportunities to generate resources to expand the work under this workstream. In this regard, collect, analyze, and synthesize information/data and experience on programme priorities to be used in regional and global advocacy and for resource mobilization;

E. Management and oversight of corporate regional research agenda

• Foster and provide oversight for the research agenda for the regional programme in collaboration with technical and programme colleagues. This includes serving as lead for the ESA regional office Technical Committee on Research with collaborations with the regional publications committee
• Identify sources of technical knowledge among regional and national institutions and consultants – keeping a robust and up-to-date vetted consultancy roster and professional research networks;
• Establish and maintain relationships with academic institutions and think tanks in the region ensuring top-notch and readily accessible expertise for research and development.

F. Carry out any other duties as may be requested by the Office of the Regional Director.

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

• Advanced university degree in demography and/or economics, or other field directly related to the substantive area identified in the title of the post.

Knowledge and Experience: 

• 10 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the substantive area of population and development and population policy, of which seven years at the international level;
• Demonstrated expertise in the substantive area of work; and programme experience;
• Strong track record of technical leadership, and proven ability to produce demonstrable results;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, especially for the transfer of knowledge;
• Demonstrated ability to network within the academic and development community including developing strong regional partnerships and mobilizing regional resources;
• Familiarity with management and monitoring tools is desirable;
• Familiarity with ICT/ERP is an asset;
• Multi-country field experience is strongly desirable.
• Proven track record of successful resource mobilization experience

Languages:  Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of other UN official languages is desirable.

  Values:

• Exemplifying integrity, 
• Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 
• Embracing cultural diversity, 
• Embracing change

Core Competencies: 

• Achieving results,
• Being accountable,
• Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
• Thinking analytically and strategically,
• Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,
• Communicating for impact 

Functional Competencies:

• Conceptual innovation in the provision of technical expertise;
• Leveraging the resources of national governments and partners;
• Building strategic alliances and partnerships;
• Adaptation/application of knowledge in different contexts;
• Job knowledge/technical expertise; and 
• Integration in a multidisciplinary environment.

Compensation and Benefits:

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.