Health Equity Associate Officer

Contract

This is a UNV International Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Youth contracts.

Description of task

Under the direct supervision of UNFPA Head of Office (HOO) and overall guidance by Country Director, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support in developing tools, guidelines, background materials, working papers in the area healthy ageing, ageing, health equity, intergenerational solidarity.
• Draft, review and proofread the documents, reports, analysis, and advocacy material written by the Country Office (CO) and ensure a healthy ageing process, longevity and the ability to experience healthy ageing (a range of functional abilities, spanning physical, cognitive, and social) and health disparities are reflected through the documents.
• Support the advocacy and promotion of positive ageing agenda (housing, participation, health, lifelong learning, active ageing, volunteering and philanthropy, age discrimination).
• Support CO to promote intergenerational dialogues in national and regional context and implement Joint Programme on Ageing (JPA) in Serbia with partners (Red Cross of Serbia and Help Age International).
• Provide support to the sub-regional center on ageing, if/when one gets established
• Support reach out activities to maintain and enhance intergenerational solidarity, by enhancing stronger intergenerational relationships.
• Support CO to gather and analyse existing evidence and knowledge on key topics related to ageing, healthy ageing, intergenerational solidarity, health equity.
• Support CO in removing barriers to older people participating in society, and in changing negative stereotypes about older people.
• Perform any other duties as agreed with UNFPA Head of the Office and UNFPA Sexual and Reproductive Health and Youth Analyst.
• Familiarity with research and analytical methods.
• Support the organization of conferences / roundtables and trainings organized by UNFPA Serbia CO;
• Analyse potential opportunities to ensure safety and dignity of ageing individuals; and enabling people as they age to maintain their contribution to support sustainable development, activity in the formal and informal sectors, and to their communities and families.
• Support drafting of new programme documents in the domain of healthy/active ageing and inter-generational cooperation and support relevant resource mobilization efforts of the office

Qualifications/Requirements

Required degree level:

Bachelor degree or equivalent

Education - Additional Comments:

Degree in sociology, medicine/public health (vulnerable categories and sensitive topics), demography, economics, international relations, international development, public administration, management or any other related field.

Required experience:

Experience remark:

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience (up to 2 years) in supporting strengthening equity and reducing health disparities through the prism of healthy and active ageing and aged care policy.
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in supporting analyses of health impact on social, economic disadvantage/privileges; understanding different life-course trajectories, which shape opportunities and chances as people age; and recognizing intergenerational transmission of health inequities that alter healthy ageing trajectories from birth. Foster linkages between factors that contribute to levels and distribution of health in older age, to improve healthy ageing and reduce health inequities.
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience in different culture context, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;
• Familiarity with health-related data collection and experience in desk research on the social determinants of health, health disparities and linkage with healthy ageing.
• Familiarity with UN procedures and working methods, particularly with UNFPA’s agenda, policies and procedures is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with policies targeting older persons and ageing, promotion of healthy ageing, policies that address gender equality (in the context of population ageing),life-cycle approach and intergenerational solidarity
• Familiarity with sexual/reproductive health issues and youth engagement opportunities
• Understanding/interest in EU accession procedures and related health/social policies as parts of the EU Acquis
• Understanding/interest in Covid-19 crisis impact on older persons in Europe and Western Balkans

Language skills:

• English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent
• Serbian(Optional), Level - Working Knowledge

Area of expertise:

Other development programme/project experience

Area of expertise details:

Learning Expectations

Learning and development are a central part of the UN Youth Volunteer’s assignment and take place before, during and after his or her assignment in the field. Ideally, offering diverse opportunities for learning and development aim to strengthen the volunteer’s skills and competences, improve the quality of the assignment and keep the volunteer’s motivation high.

Learning elements for the UN Youth Volunteer include the development of:

• Professional skills: including specific competencies and reflection on assignment-related abilities; and on-the-job skills such as time management, problem solving, team building; project management, coordination and communication, and career preparedness such as interview skills, CV preparation, job searching.
• Inter-personal skills: including communication and listening skills; multi-cultural awareness and cultural competency; and conflict and stress management.
• Volunteering-related skills: including leadership; civic responsibility; and engagement and active participation.

Beyond the learning opportunities provided by UNV, the host agency will support knowledge and capacity development in the technical areas that are relevant to the UN Youth Volunteer’s assignment. The host agency will provide, at its expense, UN Youth Volunteers with equal opportunity to participate in training courses and workshops offered to its personnel.

Driving license:

No

Competencies values:

Accountability, Adaptability and Flexibility, Building Trust, Commitment and Motivation, Commitment to Continuous Learning, Communication, Creativity, Ethics and Values, Integrity, Knowledge Sharing, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity, Self-Management, Technological Awareness, Working in Teams

Application procedure:

This assignment is funded by the Government of Sweden, therefore only Swedish nationals are eligible to apply. Moreover, candidates must be between 18 and 29 years of age throughout the assignment.

Please apply via the link below. You can then either log in if you already have an account or register via ‘Candidate Signup’. You may apply to a maximum of three assignments per advertisement and indicate your order of preference in the ‘Additional Remarks’ section of your profile.

Application deadline: 15 March 2021

Selection process

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment. Interviews will be conducted by the UN Host Entity between 29 March and 16 April. Usually these interviews are competency-based.

Assignment Preparation Training

Prior to deployment, the selected candidate will be required to attend a mandatory preparation training from 7 to 11 June 2021 organized by Sida.

COVID-19: In case of travel restrictions, assignments may start remotely or start dates may be postponed.