Communication and Advocacy Assistant

Volunteering Communications & PR

Overview

Support UNDP's youth empowerment portfolio through communication and advocacy initiatives.

You have:

• At least two years of experience in communication, social media support, digital content creation, youth engagement, advocacy or a related field.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, with the ability to draft, edit and package clear, concise and audience-appropriate communication materials.
• Interest and familiarity with social media platforms and digital engagement, including how to prepare posts, visuals, and youth focused content.
• Practical experience in designing visual content using simple tools such as Canva or similar platforms, including the creation of youth-friendly social media assets, carousels, presentations, and simple publications.
• Excellent organizational and coordination skills, including maintaining files, content libraries, and simple databases.
• Ability to work collaboratively and respectfully in a multicultural environment and communicate effectively with colleagues and partners at different levels.
• Solid computer literacy, including proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and use of online collaboration tools.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work with minimal supervision, manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
• Motivation to learn and apply UNDP communication standards, branding guidelines, youth engagement approaches, and advocacy practices.
• Experience engaging with youth networks, youth organizations, or youth-led initiatives is an advantage.
• Familiarity with communication for development, youth empowerment, digital participation, or civic engagement is desirable.
• Exposure to the UN system or another development organization is an asset.
• Demonstrated interest in youth empowerment, democratic governance, digital rights, peace, inclusion or the 2030 Agenda.
• Affinity with the values of volunteerism and multilateral cooperation.

Contract

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UNDP Global Youth Team is embedded within the Open and Inclusive Public Sphere (OIPS) team of the Governance, Rule of Law and Peacebuilding (GRP) Hub, under the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS). As part of UNDP’s Global Policy Network (GPN), the Youth Team works across global, regional and country levels to advance youth empowerment as a core governance and development priority. Positioned at the intersection of governance, participation, peacebuilding and sustainable development, the team supports UNDP programmes and partners to strengthen meaningful, inclusive and safe youth participation in public decision‑making, with a particular focus on young women and young people from marginalized and under‑represented groups.

The Global Youth Team contributes to this approach by supporting youth‑inclusive policies, institutional frameworks and global processes; facilitating youth engagement in regional and global fora; and strengthening linkages between youth‑led action, policy reform and development impact across UNDP’s programmes and partnerships.

UNDP remains a key contributor to the UN Youth 2030 Strategy, supporting governments, civil society, and diverse partners to strengthen youth leadership, innovation, and participation.It partners closely with the UN Youth Office, and other UN entities working on and with youth, and participates actively in the Inter Agency Network on Youth Development, the Youth 2030 Working Group, and the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security.

Generation17 is a joint flagship initiative by UNDP and Samsung Mobile, launched in 2020 to empower and amplify young leaders driving solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It combines mentorship, global advocacy platforms, and access to technology with a strong storytelling approach that places youth voices at the center- using human-centered, digital-first content to inspire action and shift narratives. This is reinforced by the Samsung Global Goals App, installed on hundreds of millions of Galaxy devices, which educates users on the SDGs and enables everyday actions - such as ad-based contributions and donations- to support global development. Together, Generation17 and the app create a powerful model that connects youth leadership, storytelling, and technology to drive awareness, engagement, and scalable impact toward achieving the Global Goals by 2030. To date, UNDP and Samsung supported 20 young leaders coming from different regions through mentorship, networking and technology.

In this context, the Communication and Advocacy Assistant assignment will contribute to UNDP’s youth empowerment portfolio, including the flagship Generation 17 initiative, working closely with teams across the GRP Hub as well as the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the UNDP Youth Empowerment Specialist or their designated representative, the Communication, Advocacy Assistant will deliver the following tasks:

Content creation, graphic design and digital communications • Support the development of timely, youth focused and visually engaging content for UNDP Youth platforms, including contributions to UNDP.org pages, social media channels, and relevant digital spaces. • Design and develop original visual content and reusable templates using Canva, including social media carousels, cards, one‑pagers, presentations and short publications, in line with UNDP branding guidelines. Assist in drafting and visually packing communication products such as blogs, human interest stories, newsletters, and short updates reflecting the work of the Open and Inclusive Public Sphere Youth Team. • Gather inputs, photos, and basic multimedia materials from country offices, regional bureaus, and partners and translate these into compelling visual and digital storytelling products on youth empowerment. • Coordinate with UNDP communications experts to source, refine, and disseminate content related to youth empowerment activities, including highlighting the Generation 17 initiative.

Social media planning, design and engagement • Support social media planning and content preparation for global youth engagement initiatives, including preparing captions, visuals, and basic media packages. • Create original social media assets and campaign visuals (including carousel formats) to support advocacy, events and global observance days, including International Youth Day. • Assist with creating content, publishing, and monitoring social media activity and tracking engagement across UNDP4Youth corporate channels, while identifying youth-related trends to inform content and visual design development.

Campaigns and advocacy • Support the coordination and rollout of communication and advocacy activities and campaigns related to UNDP’s global youth initiatives, including those linked to the 2030 Agenda, civic engagement, digital participation, and the Open and Inclusive Public Sphere portfolio. • Contribute to global observance days relevant to youth, democracy, digital rights, peace, inclusion, and governance by co‑developing campaign narratives and visual materials, including International Youth Day (observed on 12 August). • Assist in gathering content and designing communication materials for youth related campaigns, webinars, and global or regional events. • Support the engagement of Generation 17 young leaders throughout the year, across global and regional platforms, both in-person and online, in close coordination with the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy. • Identify and engage with potential UNDP goodwill ambassadors or champions to amplify visibility and outreach of youth empowerment initiatives, including Generation 17.

Knowledge management and documentation • Support the preparation and visual layout of communication materials for knowledge products, training offerings, and learning events on youth empowerment and participation in governance. • Develop, maintain and update a set of Canva‑based templates for recurring Youth Team communication needs, ensuring consistency, accessibility and reusability. • Assist with maintaining a structured digital filing system for communication assets, including photos, videos, templates, and partner logos. • Upload and maintain youth related content on internal and external platforms, ensuring information is accurate, up to date and visually coherent.

Multimedia and production support • Provide basic support in the coordination of video content production, including gathering footage, drafting storyboards, supporting editing processes, and following up with service providers when required. • Design presentations, infographics, or visual assets using Canva and other standard tools, adapting content for different audiences and platforms.

Engagement with UNDP teams and partners • Coordinate with global, regional, and country level communications experts and focal points to collect youth related content and ensure alignment of both messaging and visuals with UNDP corporate communication and branding guidelines. • Support youth consultation processes by documenting outcomes, preparing summaries, and producing visually engaging communication materials that highlight youth voices.

Events and logistical support • Provide logistical and communication support for webinars, workshops, and global youth engagement events, including designing invitations, visual materials, support note taking, and content capture. • Assist with outreach to youth networks and partners to promote events, campaigns and knowledge offerings. • Support engagement and visibility of the Generation 17 initiative in global and regional events.

Administrative and other support • Maintain contact lists, partner directories, distribution lists, and youth engagement databases. • Provide any other communication, advocacy, design or coordination support required by the supervisor to advance the work of the OIPS Youth Team.

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management

• At least two years of experience in communication, social media support, digital content creation, youth engagement, advocacy or a related field. • Strong written and oral communication skills, with the ability to draft, edit and package clear, concise and audience-appropriate communication materials • Interest and familiarity with social media platforms and digital engagement, including how to prepare posts, visuals, and youth focused content, as well as an understanding of how content contributes to outreach and engagement. • Practical experience in designing visual content using simple tools such as Canva or similar platforms, including the creation of youth-friendly social media assets, carousels, presentations, simple publications and reusable templates. • Excellent organizational and coordination skills, including maintaining files, content libraries, templates and simple databases. • Ability to work collaboratively and respectfully in a multicultural environment and communicate effectively with colleagues and partners at different levels. • Solid computer literacy, including proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and use of online collaboration tools. • Self-motivated, with the ability to work with minimal supervision, manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines. • Motivation to learn and apply UNDP communication standards, branding guidelines, youth engagement approaches, and advocacy practices. • Experience engaging with youth networks, youth organizations, or youth-led initiatives is an advantage. • Familiarity with communication for development, youth empowerment, digital participation, or civic engagement is desirable. • Exposure to the UN system or another development organization is an asset. • Demonstrated interest in youth empowerment, democratic governance, digital rights, peace, inclusion or the 2030 Agenda. • Affinity with the values of volunteerism and multilateral cooperation

The assignment is to be performed remotely for UNDP The Global Youth Team based in Bonn.

Volunteer Living Allowance for remote assignments is based on the national entitlements of the country of residence.

You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator.

The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.”

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Potential interview questions

Added 28 days ago - Updated 12 days ago - Source: unv.org