YELL Community Volunteer for Rimba Ilmu Universiti Malaya

Contract

This is a UNV Community Volunteer contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV Community Volunteer contracts.

YELL is a joint programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), supported by Amanah Lestari Alam (ALAM) to reimagine youth participation in climate and environmental action, in Malaysia. With a focus on moving from awareness to action, empowering young people with the knowledge, skills and networks to address sustainability issues, YELL has two objectives: (1) To address the knowledge and resource gaps among local youth from diverse background by localising climate narratives through inclusion and emphasis on local and indigenous perspectives on nature and the environment, and (2) To strengthen the ecosystem of actors to support and hold the space for youth to engage as agents of change in environmental policy- and decision-making and in environmental actions. YELL’s objectives will be achieved through three programmatic pillars: the ‘Exploraction’ programme, the ‘Conservocation’ programme, and the YELL Network Resource Hub. YELL is expected to enable children and young people aged 7-30 years old to act on climate and environmental issues with structured entry points through the three programmatic pillars. In 2023, YELL is implementing a work placement pilot under one of its programmes - called Conservocation - that aims to encourage young people from different backgrounds an opportunity to embark on a viable green career, regardless of their educational level or background through a UN Community Volunteer exposure experience at a network partner organisation. The objectives of the work placement exposure are:

1. To provide a platform for young people to be exposed to and experience work in the environmental sector impacting their own community or of other communities, building an understanding of intersectionalities (human rights, social, economy) and the environment.
2. To build a network in the sector for future references and collaborations.
3. To widen young people’s perspectives about careers in sustainability and conservation, to help them assess their own interests and abilities.
4. To provide an opportunity for skills building that is relevant to the sector.

One such network organisation that YELL has partnered with is Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden (Rimba Ilmu), to provide the work placement and career exposure opportunity.

Rimba Ilmu ( FB: fb.com/rimbailmuum | IG: @rimbailmuum) Rimba Ilmu is a tropical botanic garden, set up in the Universiti Malaya campus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It aims to generate and promote awareness and knowledge of tropical plant life and its environment, ecology and conservation through the development and management of facilities and activities appropriate to its function in a university located within Malaysia's most developed and populated landscape.

The UN Community Volunteer is expected to be based full-time (5 days a week) for 6 months with Rimba Ilmu, from workstation(s) at Rimba Ilmu Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

The UN Community Volunteer is expected to work closely with and report to the assigned supervisor at Rimba Ilmu, who will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the UN Community Volunteer.

YELL Coordinator will be responsible for supervising administrative, operational and contractual matters of the UN Community Volunteer, and will conduct joint progress evaluations with the host supervisor at Rimba Ilmu.

The UN Community Volunteer is expected to use their own vehicles for project-related travels.

The UN Community Volunteer is expected to:

● To support the delivery of Rimba Ilmu programmes and activities (80%); and ● To support collection of grassroots and local content on environment and climate action that YELL can promote and advocate for through its platform, not limited to the YELL website (20%).

Rimba Ilmu activities (80%) Under the day-to-day supervision of the host supervisor at Rimba Ilmu, the UN Community Volunteer is expected to:

● To maintain the living plant collection at the Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden. ● To manage research materials in the herbarium. ● To produce interpretive materials for visitors. ● To assist & support organisation programs development and implementation. ● To assist in organisation monitoring and reporting work. ● To support on-going projects or operational tasks, as and when required. ● To support data and knowledge management work. ● To support in organising events, including event management and administrative and logistical support. ● Participate in relevant YELL fellowship activities with other UNVs of the Conservocation programme. ● Any other related tasks may be required or assigned by the assigned supervisor.

YELL activities (20%) With support from the YELL Coordinator or YELL designated personnel, the UN Community Volunteer is expected to produce at least one (1) type of content* for each YELL activity below, at a regularity of every 2 months:

● Document Rimba Ilmu’s programmes, activities, and area of advocacy. ● Collect human interest stories from stakeholders or communities. ● Document UN Community Volunteer’s experience / journey i.e. self-reports.

*Note: The type of content produced for each YELL activity, not limited to the following formats: ● Written materials i.e. Write-ups, articles, blogs. ● Visual-audio materials i.e. videos, photos, podcasts, etc. ● Other creative expressions i.e. drawings, poems, etc.

Furthermore, UN Community Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work.

Results/expected outputs:

Following are the indicative results / expected outputs that the UN Community Volunteer is expected for the duration of their placement at Rimba Ilmu. A work plan will be developed together with the UN Community Volunteer and the host supervisor of Rimba Ilmu and YELL Coordinator, where relevant, at the start of the programme.

● Maintain a minimum of 25% of an area of the living plant collection, every month. ● Administer a minimum 100 specimens for the herbarium, every month. ● Produce 20 interpretive materials for visitors, every month.

● Accountability ● Adaptability and flexibility ● Ability to work in a diverse group ● Creativity ● Excellent oral skills, i.e. communication skills ● Excellent written skills, i.e. drafting and reporting skills ● Judgement and decision-making ● Planning and organising ● Proactive and willingness to learn ● Professionalism ● Self-management ● Agile & Transparent ● Committed to documenting and following workflow implemented

/ no minimum working experience required, however having experience in working with the communities / social projects is an asset.

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