Meaningful Youth Participation Specialist

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

In recent years, UNICEF’s work to support the unique needs of young people has gained momentum, as the challenges facing them have come more sharply into view. UNICEF is committed to deliver for all children and adolescents through its overall impact goal of ‘realizing the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged. Building on the current work with, and for, adolescents, in line with the United Nations Youth Strategy, UNICEF is developing a new global partnership, Generation Unlimited (GenU), which is dedicated to expanding opportunity for young people from ages 10 to 24 years. Maximising the potential of the United Nations system, governments, civil society organisations, and the private sector, and of young people themselves, GenU is focused on finding new ways to ensure that every young person is in school, undergoing formal or informal learning or training, or is employed by 2030. The India version of GenU has been named YuWaah! It signifies catalytic partnerships to unleash the potential of adolescents and young people. YuWaah has been designed to allow co-creation of solutions that are relevant and scalable for ensuring that young people in India have opportunity and choices for learning; have avenues and spaces for functional and vocational training, and can choose between employment and entrepreneurship which are accessible locally.
Young people represent a significant proportion of India’s population and therefore have the right to access and influence programmes, schemes and investments that impact their lives. A World Bank policy paper on Returns to Investment in Education 16% average ROI (lifetime earnings) gained from each additional year of secondary schooling Education and training, improving earnings, life expectancy, and well-being. Thus, the cost of not engaging young people in design, policies and services, is a direct decline in the progress of a nation’s human capital, whose lived realities are inconsistent with the investments made on their behalf. Therefore, it is essential to evolve corporate strategies related to talent, and company culture, given youth form the largest employee base for corporates. Similarly, it is essential to evolve government schemes and policies towards embedding youth participation right from the design and development stages to ensure that they are relevant, responsive, and consistent to the lived realities of these youth communities, and thereby more effective.

Role of UN Volunteer:
The UN Volunteer will be placed with UNICEF in Delhi. The role of UNV Specialist will support YuWaah in the design, coordination, and operationalization of Yutopia: A Public-Private-Youth Collective, a pan-Indian Public–Private–Youth Partnership (PPYP) Alliance aimed at advancing the adoption of youth centrality across public and private sector systems. The UNV will be responsible for convening and enabling collaboration among Ministries, private sector partners, civil society organizations, and youth networks to facilitate cross-sharing and amplification of evidence-informed best practices, tools, and resources on youth-inclusive approaches. This will include seeking and integrating young people’s perspectives on policies and initiatives, supporting the generation, documentation, and dissemination of evidence on impact and learning, and translating insights into actionable guidance for partners. The role will also involve planning and delivering alliance convenings, partner meets, and knowledge-sharing forums, as well as developing high-quality documentation to strengthen youth-centric programmes and institutional practices across YuWaah’s public, private, and youth ecosystem.
The UNV will also support the recruitment and engagement of the Young People’s Action Team, enabling young people to engage as partners across UNICEF’s programmes, decision-making processes, and the broader YuWaah ecosystem.
Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Youth & Adolescent Development and secondary supervision of the Adolescent and Youth Development Specialist of YuWaah Secretariat, the national UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Support the implementation of UNICEF-YuWaah’s youth engagement priorities and activities for FY 2026–2027 in coordination with programme teams.
• Coordinate engagement activities for the 5th cohort of YuWaah’s Young People’s Action Team (YPAT), including supporting capacity-building sessions, team meetings, town halls, and interactions with leadership stakeholders.
• Support mentorship engagement opportunities for young people through coordination with YuWaah’s Governing Board members and Leadership Council representatives.
• Assist in drafting background notes, briefing materials, and stakeholder engagement plans for partnerships with CSOs, private sector, and government around youth-centric and youth-affirmative practices.
• Support in setting standards and benchmarks setting for public, private and youth organizations who are interested in adopting principles of youth centrality.
• Support amplification activities related to Yutopia alliance, partners and their commitments
• Support ongoing communications and social media engagement efforts to amplify youth centrality and meaningful youth participation initiatives.
Furthermore, 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 ofthe following suggested activities:
• 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;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• 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.
Results/expected outputs:
As an active team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and the YuWaah Secretariat in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:
• A youth engagement strategy note for YuWaah overall, and for 5th cohort of YPAT.
• A strategy note on Campaign and action for International Youth Day 2026.
• A social media strategy document for youth engagement in FY 2026–27.
• Creative A/V media outputs that compile SMART commitments, strategies and insights from across stakeholder groups of the Yutopia Alliance.
• A knowledge product consolidating benchmarks for youth-friendly workplaces based on consultations with employees and employers.
• A report carrying consolidated voices and recommendations of youth perspectives around youth-centric workplaces.