Youth Advocate for Adolescent/Health

Contract

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

In Sao Tome and Principe (STP), UNICEF within its new Country Program Document 2023-2027 focuses on multifaceted components, all mainstreaming adolescents and young people. In relation to Adolescent health and well-being, UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Public Works, Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoY) will support the implementation of adolescent-led solutions to promote healthy, protective behaviours among peers and communities, on HIV, violence, early pregnancy, nutrition, open defecation, influence of climate change on the development of young people and adolescents, and hygiene, including menstrual hygiene management.

In this respect, different platforms will be used to engage and capacitate adolescents, including those who are out of school, with skills to act as agents of positive change. showing the importance why young people need to be at the forefront in the response to these issues.

Aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023–2027 (UNSDCF), UNICEF in collaboration with WHO and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will support the development of a strategy to address adolescent pregnancy, violence, mental health, and nutrition. In addition, interpersonal skills of health workers will be strengthened to deliver adolescent-friendly, gender-responsive and quality health-care services in a supportive, respectful, and non-discriminatory manner, encouraging the demand for essential health services. UNICEF will also implement social behaviour change (SBC) interventions, through adolescent-led innovative approaches, in coordination with WHO, UNDP and UNFPA, and with Government stakeholders, to ensure that girls and boys, embrace safe and healthy behaviours and take better decisions to prevent climate change.

Investing in adolescent health and well-being and climate change is crucial to ensure the future of current and next generations. In Sao Tome and Principe, efforts have been made to address adolescent access to quality services and prevention of risky sexual behaviours. However, data disaggregated by sex, age, and sector for example adolescent mental health and well-being, teenage pregnancy, nutrition and physical (in) activity among adolescents, drug and alcohol abuse is lacking. This set of data is important to better understand adolescent’s knowledge, attitudes and practices related to potential risky behaviours and create prevention initiatives.

In light of the above, UNICEF seeks to recruit a UNV – Youth Advocate to support for the development of a multisectoral Adolescent Health Strategy, including a Policy Brief, with stakeholder involvement, leading to improve adolescent health outcomes and well-being in the country. This strategy will support the development and implementation of trainings for healthcare professionals to improve interpersonal skills in providing adolescent-friendly healthcare services on HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, vaccination, and nutrition. It will also support the design of effective social behaviour change interventions to address potential risky behaviours and promote positive healthy practices among adolescents.

Under the supervision of the Youth and Adolescent Officer, the National UNV Youth Advocate will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Support to Adolescent Health Strategy Development and Planning:

- Contribute to the gathering of relevant information on adolescent health and well-being through research, data collection and analysis. - Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues from different programme sections: Health and WASH, Education, Child protection and Social Inclusion for technical and operational support throughout all stages of strategy development, preparing related materials and documentations. - Support on the Creation and dynamization of National Multisectoral Committee for the Development and Implementation of the Adolescent Health Strategy. - Monitor and report all stages of the strategy development to keep all the relevant stakeholders informed of programme progress.

2. Technical and operational support to programme implementation and monitoring:

- Support to conduct regular meetings and trainings with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support. - Undertake field visits and surveys and share information with stakeholders to assess progress and refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks, and potential problems for timely action to achieve results. - Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and under-standing of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes to support Strategy development. 3. Support Advocacy, Networking, and partnership building: - Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate strategy development and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results - In collaboration with the Communication Section, draft communication, and information materials for advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and alliances, and support fund raising for the development and implementation of the Adolescent Health Strategy - Participate in inter-agency meetings and events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners on UNDCF operational planning and preparation of adolescent health programmes. - Research, collection of relevant information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

• Diversity and inclusion: Treats all people with dignity and respect; shows respect and sensitivity towards gender, cultural and religious differences; challenges prejudice, biases and intolerance in the workplace; encourages diversity wherever possible.
• Integrity: Maintains high ethical standards; takes clear ethical stands; keeps promises; immediately addresses untrustworthy or dishonest behavior; resists pressure in decision-making from internal and external sources; does not abuse power or authority.
• Commitment: Demonstrates commitment to UNICEF’s mission and to the wider UN system; demonstrates the values of UNICEF in daily activities and behaviors; seeks out new challenges, assignments and responsibilities; promotes UNICEF’s cause.
• Communication: Speaks fluently; expresses opinions, information, and key points of an argument clearly; presents information with skill and confidence; responds quickly to the needs of an audience and to their reactions and feedback; projects credibility; structures information to meet the needs and understanding of the intended audience; presents information in a well-structured and logical way.
• Working with people: Shows respect for the views and contributions of other team members; shows empathy; listens, supports and cares for others; consults others and shares information and expertise with them; builds team spirit and reconciles conflict; adapts to the team and fits in well.
• Drive for results: Sets high standards for quality of work; monitors and maintains quality of work; works in a systematic, methodical, and orderly way; consistently achieves project goals; focuses on the needs and satisfaction of internal and external partners; accepts and tackles demanding goals with enthusiasm.

Required education: Technical/vocational diploma

17. Required skills and experience:

- At least 3 years of experience working in adolescent health at community and school levels. - Good oral and written skills; very good drafting, formulation, reporting skills. - Accuracy and professionalism in the development of documents, reports, and briefing notes. - Excellent interpersonal skills: ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels. - Familiarity with the child rights agenda, especially in adolescent development and participation. - Good computer literacy, including proficiency in various Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, among others), email, and internet. - Teamwork skills and capacity to work within tight deadlines.

Officially, the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is a Portuguese-speaking island country located in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about 140 kilometers (87 miles) from each other and about 250 and 225 kilometers (155 and 140 miles), respectively, at off the northwest coast of Gabon. Since the 19th century, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture. At the time of independence, Portuguese plantations occupied 90% of the cultivated area. After independence, control of these plantations was transferred to various state agricultural enterprises. The main crop in São Tomé is cocoa, which accounts for about 95% of agricultural exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernel and coffee. The islands of São Tomé and Principe are the second smallest country in Africa. Both are part of Cameroon's volcanic mountain line, which also includes the Annobón islands in the southwest, Bioko in the northeast (both part of Equatorial Guinea), and Mount Cameroon on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. At sea level, the climate is tropical, hot and humid with average annual temperatures of about 27 ° C (80.6 ° F) and small daily variations. The temperature rarely exceeds 32 ° C (89.6 ° F). At higher altitudes in the interior, the average annual temperature is 20 ° C (68 ° F), and the nights are generally cool. Annual precipitation ranges from 5,000 mm (196.9 in.) On the southwest slopes to 1,000 mm (39.4 in.) In the northern lowlands. The rainy season runs from October to May. The total population of São Tomé and Principe is approximately 194,000 and the majority live on Sao Tome Island. About São Tomé, the city and capital, the population is about 53,300 inhabitants. The inhabitants of Sao Tome and Principe descend from various ethnic groups who have migrated to the islands since 1485. Sao Tome and Principe is a country in the same time zone as GMT and a duty station with family. The Dobra (STD) is the local currency and according to the UN exchange rate system, 1 USD equals 21.52 STD and 1 Euro at 24.50 STD in August 2019. Some commercial banks are active in the country and Visa cards are accepted in a very limited number of hotels.