Regional Demographic Resilience and Policy Adviser

The Position:

The Regional Demographic Resilience and Policy Adviser serves as the principal adviser at the regional level for substantive analysis, rights and evidence-based advocacy, policy dialogue/advice, capacity building and technical assistance in population and development issues. The Adviser focuses on incorporating demographic dynamics within development policies and highlighting the implications of population issues for environmental, economic, and social trends and policies in the region. This includes leadership on demographic changes of societies in all stages of demographic development – population growth, population aging, population decline, low fertility, migration and urbanization – by focusing on the human capital over the life course as well as on the linkages with other megatrends – including climate change, inequality and digitization.

The Adviser will assume substantive leadership of EECARO’s Demographic Resilience Programme, The Demographic Resilience programme in the region, assists countries in strengthening their capacity to anticipate, assess, and address demographic changes they are experiencing, and ensure they have the skills, tools, political will and public support to manage them.

The Adviser supports country efforts to address demographic change and related population issues to promote sustainable development – and inter alia the implementation of Agenda 2030, as well as the ICPD Programme of Action – and to support the formulation of national development strategies. 

To these ends, the Adviser works with the EECARO, EECA Country Offices, UNFPA HQs and other Regional offices. The Adviser will work under the overall guidance and leadership of the Regional Director and report directly to the Deputy Regional Director. 

Job Purpose:

The Advisor 

• provides outstanding  technical and programmatic leadership and policy direction on population and development issues, as well as social, economic, and environmental development, and unfolding megatrends;
• provides guidance on the impact of demographic change on poverty, inequality, and sustainable development; as well as on evidence- and rights-based policy responses with a focus on social policies, social policies, human capital, sexual and reproductive health, gender, and youth;
• ensures that EECARO and the UNFPA Country Offices in the region play a leadership role in advancing UNFPA’s Strategic Plan, ICPD Programme of Action, the 2030 agenda and the Demographic Resilience Programme. 
• provide guidance on how UNFPA Country Offices can support governments to use population data to assess the impact of demographic change on top development priorities;
• supports countries in the formulation of rights-based development strategies that take into consideration demographic change, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights;
• collaborates with sister agencies and other development partners at the global, regional and country levels, and supports the engagement in common country assessments (CCAs), as well as United Nations Sustainable Development Frameworks (UNSDCFs), and country programmes (CPDs); 
• leads technical cooperation with key stakeholders, including partners in the scientific community, civil society, governmental institutions, sister UN agencies, and the IFIs; as well key donors of the region;
• ensures that technical knowledge is updated, generated, disseminated and utilized for effective technical, capacity building, policy dialogue and advocacy; contributes to knowledge sharing across countries, regional and Headquarters levels, 

The primary roles of the Regional Demographic Resilience and Policy Advisor are:

1. Evidence Generation and Analyses

• Analyze the interactions between demographic changes, other megatrends, and sustainable development, and their implications for countries;
• Identify and analyze demographic trends –-including population aging, population growth, population decline, fertility, mortality, migration, displacement and urbanization –, that may affect the achievement of UNFPA’s transformative results, ICPD PoA and SDGs within the region at the regional, subregional and country level; 

1.  Strategic Population and Sustainable Development Policy Advice 

• Demonstrate the value of demographic analysis  for sustainable development, and advise on the importance of integrating and addressing demographic dynamics and changes within rights-based policy responses at regional and country levels;  
• Provide evidence-based analysis on the drivers of demographic change – notably very low fertility, accelerating migration, population aging and population decline -- as well as rights-based policy responses to demographic change.
• Contribute to the development of new or updated evidence and rights-based population, social and development policies at the country level, as well as regional position papers and policy products;    
• Participate in UNFPA technical networks, symposia and its global reference groups on demographic diversity, resilience and policies; 
• Develop and synthesize policy briefs and publications to better target public investments in the region toward sustainable development and demographic resilience;

1. Quality technical support and capacity development

• Support capacity strengthening on technical tools and approaches, including population projections, the use of the UNFPA Population Situation Assessment (PSA), National Transfer Accounts (NTAs), and related tools, ensuring consistency and coherence in addressing priorities for UNFPA;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of a regional integrated strategy to strengthen capacities pertaining to population and development issues in the region, including regional and sub-regional institutional capacities for supporting and sustaining high-quality technical work by governments;
• Support the creation of more inclusive societies – including the inclusion of women, migrants, minorities, youth, older persons, and persons with disabilities – and to promote investment in human capital throughout the life course.

1. Evidence and knowledge management

• Conduct analyses, prepare reports and policy briefs to advise country offices and senior management on issues related to demographic resilience scale-up, social equality and policy development and civil society participation in the region.
• Coordinate the preparation of white papers, policy briefs and related materials for promoting the Demographic Resilience Programme, and provide similar support at the request of country offices;
• Share knowledge-based tools, such as policy positions/practice notes/concept papers and other research papers to help influence/advance policy dialogue on further promoting Demographic resilience programming at global, regional and country levels.
• Identify regional experts and institutional sources of technical knowledge on population dynamics, demographic intelligence and dividends, and population policies and establish and maintain a consultant roster for the region;
• Support the development and utilization of programme indicators and indicator databases;
• Ensure incorporation of evaluation results, lessons learned and new knowledge in the updating of strategies, policies, tools and approaches aimed at the incorporation of an economic perspective to population issues in the national development plans and strategies, social policies and expenditure frameworks,

1. Technical Representation, Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Positioning

• Develop and coordinate partnerships and collaboration on population dynamics and resilience, demographic dividends, and population policies with other UN agencies and global partners, including in the context of the UNDG and theRegional Collaboration Platforms and Issue Based coalitions, for the region, the Regional Economic Commissions, the IFIs,  and other regional institutions;
• Foster technical collaborations with academia, research and training institutions, think tanks, centers of excellence, professional societies in the region, as well as key donors to the region;
• Represent UNFPA on relevant technical fora in the region, and elaborate UNFPA’s substantive regional and global perspectives in relevant international, inter-governmental, and other policy and technical meetings;
• Initiate, develop, strengthen and monitor substantive partnerships in population dynamics, demographic resilience, demographic dividends and population megatrends, including with counterparts in UNFPA’s HQ and ROs to identify opportunities for South-South cooperation and study tours to enhance technical excellence in the population development ecosystem in the region;      
• Carry out any other duties as may be required by the Regional Director or Deputy Regional Director;

Qualifications and Experience
 

Education:  

Advanced degree (doctorate level preferred) in demography, economics, development studies, population statistics, or other population and policy fields directly related to the substantive area.

Knowledge and Experience: 

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively  responsible professional experience in the substantive area, with emphasis in the linkages between population, economic development, and social policies Demonstrated expertise in the substantive area of work including a track record of high-quality analyses and related publications;      
• Demonstrated ability to translate evidence and research findings into actionable policy programmatic recommendations;
• Familiarity with methods and tools to examine population dynamics, including especially NTAs/NTTA and Population Situation Analyses;
• Experience working with a diverse range of countries, and with national leaders including government partners;
• Strong track record of technical leadership, and proven ability to produce quality and timely results;
• Experience in coordination, facilitation and reporting on high level events
• Substantive knowledge on, understanding of, and practical experience in population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and gender
• Knowledge of substantive areas of UNFPA’s work
• Excellent verbal and written communication, especially for the transmission of technical knowledge to non-experts;
• Demonstrated ability to network within the academic and development community;
• Familiarity with management and monitoring tools is desirable;
• Familiarity with ICT/ERP is an asset;

Languages: 

Fluency in English is required; knowledge of Russian is desired
 

Required Competencies: 

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

• Identify opportunities for enhancing effectiveness and efficiency
• Actively contribute to the setting of organizational priorities in a consultative process
• Revise goals and plans to reflect changing priorities or conditions

Managerial Competencies (if applicable):

• Providing strategic focus; 
• Engaging internal and external partners and stakeholders;
• Leading, developing and empowering people, creating a culture of performance; 
• Making decisions and exercising judgment.

Compensation and Benefits:

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