Youth Empowerment Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

The UNDP Sierra Leone Country Office was established in 1978 and has over the years grown to a total staff strength of over 140 and with an average annual delivery of USD 25 million. UNDP has established a Planning and Support Unit (PSU) to provide effective and efficient management advisory support services to senior management and to programme and operations Units. It specifically leads on programme quality assurance, results-based management, resource mobilization, and donor relations and reporting.
Under the overall guidance of the Resident Representative and direct supervision of the Team Leader of the PSU, the Donor Relations and Reporting Specialist leads on partnership building and ensuring donor compliance and high-quality donor reporting. He/she will: (i) identify and explore potentials for strategic partnership and programme synergies, (ii) coordinate donor relations and development assistant (iii) ensure donor reporting compliance and consistency with UNDAF/CPD and other corporate documents (iv) develop and enhance partnerships and (v) mobilize resources. He/she will also support knowledge management and information dissemination in a coordinated, systematic, client-oriented and timely manner for all programmes. The Donor Relations and Reporting Specialist works in close collaboration with Senior Management, Team Leaders in the Programme and Operations Units. He or she is expected to coordinate with relevant colleagues in other UN Agencies.

Context

Sierra Leone is a low‐income country with a youthful population. According to Statistics Sierra Leone, the majority of the population in Sierra Leone is young, with eight out of ten people being under 35 years old. There is a dearth of good‐quality jobs, particularly amongst the youth. According to the country’s most recent labour force survey, 55.7 percent of individuals ages 15–35 participate in the labour force, deriving labour income mainly from self‐employment. One of the avenues of creating employment is skilling unemployed and unskilled youth for improved employability. Additionally, entrepreneurship as another option that presents a suitable and empowering alternative to the persistent challenge of unemployment and underemployment amongst youth. These options offer significant scope to increase job opportunities and income diversification.
One of the key focus areas for UNDP Sierra Leone Country Office is Youth Empowerment through dedicated Programmes and Projects. In this vein, UNDP Sierra Leone through the Sustainable and Local Economic Development (SLED) Portfolio is supporting the Government of Sierra Leone’s efforts working with other partners to create economic opportunities in high potential sectors of agriculture, digital economy, tourism, and blue economy, targeting youth and other most vulnerable populations including women and persons with disabilities.
The Sierra Leone Country Office is seeking services of an experienced and competent Youth Empowerment Officer to support the implementation of its Youth Programme. The Youth Empowerment Officer who will support the Youth Technical Specialist and report to the Team Leader of Sustainable and Local Economic Development Portfolio with overall guidance from the Resident Representative and Deputy Resident Representative.
Sustainable Development Goals:
– No Poverty (SDG 1)
– Zero Hunger (SDG 2)
– Gender Equality (SDG 5)
– Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8)
– Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9)

Task description

• Support the implementation of Country Office Youth Programmes and projects including both the administrative and programmatic management aspects of designing new youth empowerment initiatives, planning, monitoring, and others) while adhering to the procedures, rules, and regulations of UN;
• Preparation of documentation for Youth Programmes and Projects, these shall include but will not be limited to, relevant terms of references, concepts, proposals, and synthetic briefs.
• Follow up on the Youth Programmes and Projects progress in line with the approved work plans;
• Provide support in the monitoring and evaluation of the Youth Programmes and Projects;
• Support field level monitoring of Implementation partners of the Youth Programmes and Projects;
• Provide support and follow up with the Implementing Partners and Responsible parties on matters regarding the implementation of the Youth Programmes and Projects;
• Identify and disseminate best practices on youth empowerment, with a focus on employability, entrepreneurship, and youth-led actions.
• Provide briefings highlighting the substantive issues arising, risks, and others regarding the implementation of Youth Programmes and Projects that may require attention of the UNDP senior management.