UNV Youth Advocate for Nutrition

Preamble:

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers. In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long-established, ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development and peace together with co-workers, host agencies and local communities. In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging in volunteer activity can effectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, as well as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make the time they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.

1.  UNV Strategic Framework:  Securing access to basic social services

2.  Host Mission:  UNICEF - https://www.unicef.org/

3.  Duty Station: Beirut, based serving the field stations, to ensure cohesive approach in building the data base, and the analysis of data and trends on Early childhood and development, including Nutrition and early detection of disability, and delays.. Duty station can change in the course of assignment. The volunteer may be required to work anywhere in the area of operations, including in remote locations.

4.  Assignment Family Status:  Family Duty Station

5.  Expected Starting Date:  July 2018

6.  Organizational Context:         

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

07.  Description of duties:

UN 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. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the impact 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;
• Build relationships with a wide range of Youth Organizations, Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to support and/or participate in community-driven voluntary activities; reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking; raise awareness in communities that will increase knowledge of issues pertaining to the UNV programme’s mandate and tis role in supporting the Mission mandate;
• Encourage, mobilize and support co-workers and fellow UN Volunteers to better understand the connections between the UNV programme’s engagement within the Mission and voluntary action;
• Contribute articles/write-ups/stories on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• 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.

Under the direct the joint supervision of Chief Health and Nutrition, Child Survival and Development Programme the UN Youth Volunteer will:

• Contribute to the Adolescent Nutrition portfolio through interventions that create opportunities for adolescents to voice their priorities, promote adolescent Nutrition and provide recommendations to decision makers.
• Support modeling of new and innovative interventions to address infant and young child feeding practices in Lebanon and across nationality. This will include participation in joint field trips and support the documentation efforts required to advocate for national scale up of successful models.
• Contribute to the development of a strategic plan to influence national policy on EDDD (early detection of disability and developmental delay).Provide technical support in the building of data base, including disaggregated analysis to influence integration of children with disability in the UNICEF country programme implementation.
• Participate in the development process of policies and monitoring efforts of the implementation of policies, strategies and plans that have impact on the nutrition situation of women and children in the country. This includes exposure to international recommendations and assist in the desk review of socioeconomic, scientific and empiric/operational evidence to develop policy briefs and advocacy and communication materials. This will also provide exposure to the dynamics of the policy dialogue among the UN, National Assembly, Ministries and other stakeholders.
• Support with coordination of nutrition stakeholders and participate in global conference calls and webinar to learn about global experiences, innovations and best practices.
• Participate in the annual work planning and reporting with UNICEF and the UN Joint Programme Group for Health, including communicating results and examples in Delivering as One UN through annual reports, donor reports, human interest stories, concept notes, proposals, speeches and social media messages related to nutrition. This will further include exposure to programme planning, monitoring and evaluation processes for development of the next One UN Plan.

08.  Results/Expected Output:

• Documentation of the experiences with modeling of new and innovative interventions to address malnutrition in ethnic minority communities and hard to reach communities through field trip reports, programme reports, publications, human interest stories and social media messages.
• Contributions to available desk reviews of international recommendations, evidence and best practices to advocate for nutrition sensitive policies, plans and programmes.
• Contributions to annual work planning and reporting for UNICEF and the UN Joint Programme Group for Health, including annual reports, donor reports, concept notes, programme presentations and fundraising proposals.
• Active participation in monitoring and evaluation efforts of available policies related to nutrition at national and sub-national level together UNICEF and partners.
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed

09.  Qualifications/Requirements:

A) Qualifications, skills, experience: UN Youth Advocates must be between 18 and 24 years for the whole duration of their assignment.

• Demonstrated interest in and/or knowledge of nutrition development issues, early childhood , early detection of disability and developmental delays policies, social programme strategies, international development cooperation in the nutrition sector, field of development and volunteerism would be an added asset;
• Up to 2 years of experience in the area of nutrition, ECD , EDD, food security or related field an advantage;
• Motivated to contribute towards peace and development and to serve others;
• Good interpersonal, networking and communication skills;
• Willingness to contribute and work as part of a team;
• Flexible and open to learning and new experiences;
• Respect for diversity and adaptability to other cultures, environments and living conditions;
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;
• Computer skills (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, social media, and others);

B) Competencies and values:

• Integrity and professionalism: demonstrated expertise in area of specialty and ability to apply good judgment; high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures in a politically sensitive environment, while exercising discretion, impartiality and neutrality; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive and client-oriented.
• Accountability: mature and responsible; ability to operate in compliance with organizational rules and regulations.
• Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment.
• Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities.
• Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working.
• Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups;
• Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards the UN core values.

10.  Living Conditions:

As this is a national UNV assignment, the incumbent will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. This position is based in Lebanon, Beirut. National UN Youth Volunteers are expected to be culturally sensitive and adjust to the prevailing culture and traditions.

11.  Conditions of Service:

The contract lasts for the period indicated above with possibility of extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment. Moving travel to duty station (if applicable) and a Settling-In-Grant will be provided in the event duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment. A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) of LBP 1,530,637.50 is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Well-being Differential of 15% (WBD-A) or 30% (WBD-B) of the VLA will apply, paid on a monthly basis, depending on the ICSC classification of the duty station. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents), as well as return travel of (if applicable) and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service.

Disclaimer:

The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) is an equal opportunity programme which welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture.