UNV Jobs - 44011- Lead Facilitator for the Regional Youth Volunteeri

Lead Facilitator for the Regional Youth Volunteering Forum

Advertised on behalf of

UNV

Location :

Home based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

02-Mar-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

26 days

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

As a response to the present transformational change in the Arab region, the regional project Arab Youth Volunteering for a Better Future was launched by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program in five countries namely Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen in April 2013 to enhance youth’s social inclusion and active participation in socio-economic development through volunteerism. The project focuses on harnessing the energy and power of youth through volunteerism with the objective of strengthening the capacity of youth, enhancing their ability to contribute to and participate in sustainable community-centred development. In line with the regional strategies of the UN, UNDP and the UN Secretary General´s Five Action Plan, the regional project supports the establishment and the strengthening of the national and regional infrastructure necessary to build the skills and capacities of Arab youth through volunteering efforts, thereby enhancing their participation and inclusion in the socio-economic development of their communities and countries.

Particularly, the project focuses on four outputs:

Output 1 Awareness of the role of volunteerism in socio-economic development and participatory governance increased;
Output 2 Institutional frameworks for volunteerism in the target countries and the region strengthened;
Output 3 Capacity of youth organizations and civil society organizations to promote youth volunteering enhanced;
Output 4 Formal structures for youth inclusion through volunteerism strengthened.

Regional Youth Volunteering Forum

Under Output (2), the regional project will facilitate dialogues between civil society organizations, youth and governments across the region.
In this context, UNV will organize the first regional Youth Volunteering Forum , to be held in April 2014, in Morocco, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Belgian government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Center of Cairo and UNDP Morocco. This event will bring around 100 participants from three key project stakeholders together to dialogue on Arab Youth Volunteering: governments, civil society organizations and youth from the five target countries: Egypt, Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia and Jordan. Other vital participants will include UN agencies, representatives from the private sector and media from the region.

This first regional Forum will enable the participants to gain better understanding of the role of youth volunteerism in socio-economic development and participatory governance. It will also provide a great opportunity for the participants representing various sectors to share best practices, exchange information and learn from each other. In addition, the common challenges impeding active participation and volunteerism of Arab youth in development will be addressed during the event, with recommendations from experts on the best way to jointly tackle these issues.

The key objectives of the event are:

Engage the above mentioned three key stakeholders from the five target countries in UNV’s regional project; governments, civil society organizations and youth to discuss youth volunteerism, including strengthening institutional frameworks, volunteer management and youth volunteering mechanisms;
Encourage an open dialogue between youth, relevant civil society organisations and decision makers to highlight challenges and constraints at the national and regional level that hinder the active engagement of youth volunteers in development;
Strengthen networking, knowledge sharing and partnerships across the region;
Articulate future pragmatic interventions to enhance the promotion of youth volunteerism, and set the foundations for future regional forums.

The Forum is a three days event covering the following themes:

Institutional Frameworks:

To enable the participants to discuss the institutional frameworks including laws, policies, strategies and state volunteerism units pertaining to volunteerism in general and youth volunteerism in particular;
The current practices from the region as well as good practices from other countries i.e. laws on volunteerism in Belgium will be shared;
Representatives from the national ministries of youth, or their equivalent, will be leading the discussion, providing information, recommendations and suggestions on strengthening the presence of youth volunteering in public policies and strategies.

Volunteer Management:

To address the capacity needs of civil society and volunteer involving organizations and highlight the best practices across the region and beyond;
Representatives of the organizations who were trained during UNV’s regional Training of Trainers in Volunteer Management will be leading this session, providing them with the opportunity to share their experiences;
They will focus on how the training has impacted on their respective organisations, and by extension, on their volunteers, inspiring other associations to apply a more strategic and planned approach to volunteer management;
Arab Youth: Some sessions will be led by individual youth;
Those sessions will be carried out in a participatory manner, involving all partners and beneficiaries, but yielding the lead voice to the youth;
A group of outstanding young volunteers from across the five countries will be selected among a range of youth networks and associations;
They will be in charge of covering topics identified by the youth and for the youth regarding volunteerism and civic engagement in the Arab region.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

Under the overall supervision of the Regional Youth Project Manager, the lead facilitator will work in close consultations with UNV´s five Field Units and national partners in the five target countries including the National Advisory Committees and youth networks. The Lead Facilitator will design and facilitate the Forum to ensure the achievement of its objectives.

The scope of work will involve:

Designing the event in close coordination with the project team;
Developing, discussing and finalizing the participants´ list covering the five target countries;
Developing, discussing and finalizing the Forum´s Agenda;
Designing the relevant facilitation techniques for each session of the Forum;
The facilitation techniques will ensure an enabling environment for active participation and open dialogue among the participants including youth and women;
The number of the additional facilitators or moderators will be determined based on the facilitation techniques;
The lead facilitator will develop the terms of reference of the other facilitator(s) and be involved in the selection process;
Preparing guiding notes to the different facilitators;
Identifying regional and international speakers covering the themes of the Forum;
Preparing Bios for the Regional and International speakers as well as the facilitators;
Preparing all the necessary materials and tools to be used during the Forum.

Facilitating the Forum to ensure that the key objectives are met:

Facilitating the Forum as a lead Facilitator, ensuring that the participants clearly understood the objectives of the event and actively engage in the discussions;
Providing briefing and guidance to speakers and other facilitators in line with the Forum´s facilitation techniques prior to and during the Forum;
Guiding the participants to develop action-oriented recommendations to further promote youth volunteering and to sustain regional cooperation through effective mechanisms including Forums.

Producing the Forum´s report and conducting an evaluation:

Producing the Forum´s Report which will be an action-oriented document outlining the key discussions and recommendations including the follow-up actions (max 10 pages);
Designing and conducting the evaluation of the Forum to access how effectively the objectives of the event are met; The Facilitator will produce an evaluation report to outline the findings (Max 4 pages excluding attachments).

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Organizational awareness;
Proven ability to work in teams;
Excellent communication and facilitation skills;
Self-starting and ability to work independently;
Excellent reporting skills;
Ability to meet deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in International Human Rights, International Relations, Political Science, or related field. A higher post graduate qualification will be a distinct advantage.

Experience:

At least five (5) years of proven experience in designing facilitation techniques and facilitating regional or international events. Previous experience with the UN is an advantage;
Excellent command of common office software (MS Windows, MS Office etc.);
Extensive background and knowledge about volunteering, youth, the Arab States, the United Nations, civil society and other human development related areas is highly desirable;
Experience of living, working and/or volunteering in developing countries (preferably the Middle East) is an advantage;
Previous experience in working with a UN agency is an asset

Language:

Excellent spoken and written skills in English and Arabic. Knowledge of French is desirable.

Deliverables and terms of payments:
The lead Facilitator will be responsible for the following deliverables:

The Forum is designed including the facilitation techniques, final participation list, and draft agenda, list of speakers, materials and tools. (Due date 10 March, allocated days 20 days)
Facilitating the Forum as a Lead Facilitator and providing guidance to other facilitators and speakers. (Due date April 29-30, allocated days 3 days)
Final report (due date 31 May, allocated 2days)
Evaluation report (due date 20 May, allocated 1 days)

The consultant will collect the payment after delivering all outputs
Evaluation Criteria for Award of Contract

The consultant will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria. The score of the technical criteria will be 70% (70 points) whereas the financial criteria will be 30% (max 30 points). The candidates who will receive the highest technical score will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
The candidate who will receive the highest combined technical and financial score will be awarded the contract.

Additional Information Required
At least three references from previous clients: name, address, e-mail, and telephone number.
An up-to-date CV or brief description of relevant experience including contact name, telephone number and e-mail.
Proof of any previous relevant work carried out e.g. portfolio of similar work, links to websites, and evaluations of previous work.

A financial quotation, which includes breakdown of daily fees, travel expenses and any other possible costs associated with this consultancy.
A proposal (a maximum of 500 words) in English, on how you would approach and plan this consultancy to ensure its success.

Application process:

Applications should be submitted via email to fredrik.heldal@undp.org with “AYV4BF – Lead Facilitator” in the subject line any questions should also be sent to the same addresses. Interested consultants should submit their financial offer to same email address.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

If you submit an application, UNV expects that you have read and agreed with the TOR and UNV Terms and Conditions, available online:

http://www.unv.org/fileadmin/docdb/pdf/2011/procurement/UNV-IC_Terms%20%20Conditions.pdf