Young Innovator Fellow

Contract

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

UNFPA Young Innovators Fellowship Programme 2022

Enabling young people to realise their full social, economic and human potential is a key aspect of UNFPA’s mandate. Our Fellows are innovative young people from around the world who have demonstrated commitment to development issues within their communities. The Young Innovators Fellowship programme brings young people into UNFPA with a dedicated focus on both providing a youth perspective and driving innovation. This exciting opportunity sees fellows undergo leadership training and support innovation efforts in UNFPA Regional or Country Offices in a capacity relevant to their experience. Our goal is to provide fellows with the tools, skill sets, international experience and exposure to innovation to empower them to realise their career goals, thus building national capacity. Fellows in turn provide innovative insights and ideas that will enable us to be better aligned with development issues in their community.

The UNFPA Young Innovator Fellow will contribute to UNFPA’s innovation priorities in a number of ways, including: strengthening the innovation architecture; supporting the scale-up of innovations; forming partnerships; strengthening financing for innovation; and expanding the communities and culture for innovation.

The overall objective is to develop and test youth-led innovative approaches to promote meaningful and sustainable youth participation and consultation, especially those most marginalised and furthest behind youth in regional programming; enable effective youth participation in processes such as the UPR, VNR and CEDAW and strengthen interaction with regional youth organizations.

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Youth Specialist, the Fellow will undertake the following tasks:

• Support innovative youth participation with a particular focus on the outputs of the “Regional Youth Hackathon - Leave no one behind, Innovating to go beyond inclusion - 2018”
• Develop novel approaches to engaging young people left behind and other young people, reaching new constituencies to participate in UNFPA supported processes, including the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development.
• Develop innovative and scalable means for quickly consulting young people’s opinion, in a national and regional context to inform programming, participation and policy.
• Support participation of young people left behind, and other young people in CPD and UNSDCF boards and consultative mechanisms.
• Facilitate the inclusion of innovative approaches in the processes of strengthening youth networks and regional youth organizations. Promote youth voices in UNFPA regional programming.
• Facilitate capacity building on participation and the use of innovation methodologies for youth organizations and networks in the region, particularly in Central Asia.
• Find innovative methods for inclusion of young people, especially those most marginalized and furthest behind, to enable their participation in the VNR, UPR and CEDAW processes.
• Review UNFPA EECARO’s 2022 – 2025 regional programme, identifying challenges and opportunities with a view to infuse additional perspectives, innovation and creativity.
• Review the annual work plan, support the implementation of Youth and HIV activities by facilitating the use of innovative methods.
• Advise on youth participation, mobilization, advocacy, and engagement.
• Support the dissemination of evidence to support youth-led advocacy.   The assignment will include mission travel to New York, once for a capstone to conclude the fellowship.    Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

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

(or demonstrated interest and dedication to) development issues in areas of UNFPA’s mandate through either volunteer experience, work experience, or youth network affiliations. Preferably, up to 3 years of experiences are welcomed. - Demonstrated, or clear idea of, delivery of UNFPA’s mandate in an innovative way - Ability to identify and propose innovative solutions to problems - Prior experience engaging with different stakeholders or entities, such as with the private sector, social enterprises, academia, the media, a plus - Open to candidates aged between 18 years to 26 years old - Special consideration will be given to indigenous people, persons with disabilities and LGBTQI candidates

The UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia is located in Istanbul. Istanbul is the most populous city in Turkey and the country's economic, cultural and historic centre. Istanbul is a transcontinental city in Eurasia, straddling the Bosphorus strait (which separates Europe and Asia) between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical centre lies on the European side, where UNFPA EECA Regional Office is, and about a third of its population lives in suburbs on the Asian side of the Bosporus. With a total population estimated at around 17-20 million residents in its metropolitan area, Istanbul is one of the world’s most populous cities. Istanbul is characterized by one of the highest levels of seismic risk. The climate is influenced by the Sea of Marmara to the south, and the Black Sea to the north. It experiences cool winters with frequent precipitation, and warm to hot in August, depending on location, moderately dry summers. Spring and autumn are usually mild.