Adolescents and Youth Fellow

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s goal is to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health, realize reproductive rights, and reduce maternal mortality to accelerate progress on the ICPD agenda, to improve the lives of adolescents and youth, and women, enabled by population dynamics, human rights, and gender equality. In 2018, UNFPA launched efforts to achieve three transformative results, ambitions that promise to change the world for every man, woman and young person: 1.) Ending unmet need for family planning 2.) Ending preventable maternal death 3.) Ending gender-based violence and harmful practises UNFPA recognizes that innovation is a key accelerator to achieve these results. UNFPA will harness innovation to meet tomorrow’s challenges and boost its impact, especially in addressing furthest behind populations, and leverage opportunities, social capital, funding and technology by (a) strengthening the corporate innovation architecture and capabilities, (b) scaling up innovations that have proven to be effective and impactful, (c) forming new partnerships and connecting with relevant innovation ecosystems, (d) strengthening and leveraging financing for innovation, and (e) expanding communities and culture for innovation.

The Arab region is characterized by a youthful population, with four in ten people aged below 20 years. This generation represents a major promise for economic development and social change. However, challenges remain regarding unmet needs for family planning among adolescent girls, risks of rapid repeat pregnancies, and various forms of gender-based violence. The UNV - Adolescents and Youth Officer will support the Regional Office’s work on adolescents and youth, particularly focusing on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), youth-responsive health services, and adolescents and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights..

Under the direct supervision of the Adolescents and Youth Regional Advisor, the UNV will undertake the following tasks: 1. Programme Development and Knowledge Management - Assist in the creation and dissemination of knowledge products on adolescent trends in the Arab region, specifically regarding Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), adolescent pregnancy, and Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). - Manage the adaptation of the Global CSE Academy modules for the Arab region, ensuring content is contextualized to meet regional needs. - Support the identification and documentation of innovative approaches and lessons learned from Country Offices (COs) and youth-led organizations, leveraging findings from CSE evaluation roadmaps. - Help maintain a vibrant Adolescents and Youth Community of Practice by facilitating information exchange and sharing technical resources. - Support the development of adolescent girls' pregnancy profiles in Palestine and Egypt, and assist ASRO in developing multi-country proposals to tackle these issues. 2. Regional Partnership and Coordination - Assist in fostering partnerships with the League of Arab States (LAS), UN agencies, and youth-led organizations (YLOs) to advance the regional SRHR agenda. - Explore potential partnerships to develop knowledge products on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on adolescent health and development. - Support the Youth and SRH teams in the development of the Regional Healthy Lifestyles Framework in collaboration with LAS Member States. - Support the coordination and delivery of the regional ASRH and CSE Ideathon Lab and sustain the Social Practice Lab Network to address adolescent pregnancy, particularly in high-priority contexts such as Gaza, Yemen, and Sudan. - Coordinate the validation of the Global CSE in Humanitarian Settings Framework across six priority COs and develop roadmaps to integrate youth-focused responses into humanitarian action. 3. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Advocacy - Collect and compile data necessary for monitoring and reporting on youth programme activities, including the EMPOWERED and NORAD out-of-school CSE initiatives. - Collaborate with the communications team to draft human interest stories, press releases, and advocacy materials that highlight field experiences and youth-led initiatives. - Support the mapping of key regional and global events to leverage policy dialogue and advocacy opportunities for adolescents. - Contribute to UNV activities, such as International Volunteer Day, and assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived volunteers.