UNDP: YOUTH SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION CONSULTANT (HOME-BASED)

Deadline: 03 November 2020

Location: Home based with mission travels to countries in Asia and the Pacific region

Type of Contract: Indiviual Consultant

Project Description:

55 percent of the world’s youth (aged 15-24 years), or over 660 million young people, live in Asia-Pacific. This generation is at the frontier of multiple global challenges: the climate crisis; the impacts of COVID-19 on already high rates of youth unemployment and economic insecurity; shrinking civic space; and intolerance, including in digital spaces. At the same time, young people in Asia Pacific are more educated, more connected and more innovative than any generation before them. From climate action to COVID-19 response, young people are demonstrating their potential and leading the way in shaping a vision for a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future.

UNDP and its partners believe that young people can respond to the challenges facing their communities and their societies through innovative approaches and driving human development for themselves, their communities and their societies. Against this backdrop, UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub together with its partners is delivering a Regional Youth Project on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Youth Co:Lab). Co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth, so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. UNDP is seeking a consultant to support the youth economic empowerment components of this project.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

The consultant is expected to assist the following activities in completing the assignments:

Platforms and Methodologies Development:

• Develop and maintain platforms for Youth Co: Lab social enterprises development, catering for all stages of the business, from early start-up to scaling up;
• Create platform to engage and coordinate with partners in the ecosystem for the effective mentorship;
• Develop and implement methodologies to engage marginalized youth group, including but not limited to people with disabilities, LGBT+ and indigenous people, for youth innovation and entrepreneurship activities;
• Create digital platforms to engage mass youth group for entrepreneurship education and train the trainer

Project Development and Implementation:

• Develop and coordinate activities based on current regional youth project to provide on-going capacity development for young innovators;
• Support to develop innovation and youth strategies linking with existing project portfolios in UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub;
• Develop and maintain communities of youth innovation and entrepreneurship in development sector, bridging Youth Co:Lab with programmes in the ecosystem;
• Manage the implementation of a number of specific innovation and youth initiatives pertaining to diverse project portfolios and project units in close coordination with the Regional Youth Project advisor and project coordinator;
• Support on the developing framework and service line related to Future of Work for youth under Youth Economic Empowerment portfolio of UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub;

Partnership Outreach and Management:

• Support the UNDP BRH in developing partnerships and the organization of meetings with the Youth Empowerment Alliance with the objective to facilitate knowledge sharing, technology exchange, and access to finance;
• Mobilize partnerships and resources to support the UNDP Youth Programmes at both national and regional level.
• Collects and keeps track of youth-related practices in UNDP country offices in Asia-Pacific region, including the innovation and youth partners database;
• Prepares outreach materials associated with innovation, youth and public-private partnerships (i.e. PowerPoint presentations, brochures, etc.) as needed;

Event Coordination:

• Coordinate the inputs of UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub, UNDP Country offices and other implementing partners into the agenda, and coordinate the event management for Youth Co:Lab National dialogues;
• Support to organize innovation and youth events such as conferences, camps, seminars, workshops, summits, etc.
• Support Youth Co:Lab engagement with strategic partners on co-convening sessions related to youth economic empowerment development agenda.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

1. The consultant is expected to work towards the following work plan, and timelines to achieve the stated outputs.
2. Support to the design and implementation of the UNDP BRH’s innovation and youth initiatives;
3. Coordinate with UNDP country offices and their partners to develop and manage Youth Co:Lab national programme;
4. Develop methodologies for engaging marginalized youth groups;
5. Manage on-going capacity development platforms for Youth Co:Lab;
6. Mobilize more partnerships for the UNDP Youth programme;

Institutional Arrangement:

The consultant will report to the Regional Youth Project Manager and Coordinator at UNDP BRH and work in close collaboration with the UNDP country offices and other key parties. The success of the project depends on the timely delivery of each component.? The Consultant should ensure timely identification of potential risks and signal any delays in deliverables. The contract will be effective immediately upon signature by UNDP.

The Youth and Civil Society Team, UNDP BRH will have the following responsibilities: (i) Provide relevant documents; (ii) Discuss and agree on the methodologies of the assignment; and (iii) Monitor and evaluate the progress of the assignment. The contract and payments will be performance-based and regularly assessed by the Youth and Civil Society Team, UNDP BRH. All travel expenses to and from the target area should be included in the financial proposal.

The present ToR may be subject to modification, without changing the overall objective and the scope of work, on the basis of mutual consultations. UNDP will hold the copyright of the assignment deliverables.

Duration of Work:

The Consultant is expected to commit, a full-time basis, to a period of 16 December 2020 to 31 December 2021, up to a maximum of 225 working days over the contract period.

Duty Station:

The consultancy will be managed by the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. The consultancy is home-based with mission travels to countries in Asia and the Pacific region.

The consultancy’s travel will be managed by the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. Travels will be expected in relation to the national dialogues and required prior approval.

Competencies

• Demonstrates commitment to UN’s mission, vision and values;
• Demonstrates sound judgment, diplomacy and sensitivity to confidential matters;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Innovative forward thinking, good coordination and organizational skills, teamwork;
• Participate effectively in team-based, information sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant should possess the following expertise and qualifications:

Education:

Master’s degree in development, international relations, business management or related fields.

Experience and skills:

• Minimum 3 years of relevant work experience in the field of youth entrepreneurship and innovation (specifically social impact driven and SDGs-focused initiatives) with previous work experience in downstream (new venture creation, startups, social enterprises) and midstream (coworking spaces, incubators and accelerators)
• Excellent organizational skills with a successful track record of working with different stakeholders for programme designing, planning, coordination and implementation in Asia and the Pacific region (including proven experience in advocating inclusion and diversity in the field of youth, entrepreneurship and innovation)
• Minimum 3 years of experience and knowledge of facilitation methodologies, entrepreneurial community management inclusive of grassroots group, curriculum or training development, etc.
• Expertise and knowledge of youth empowerment work, social entrepreneurship ecosystems and innovation methodologies in Asia and the Pacific region
• Good command of relevant digital tools such as chatbots, automation tools, learning management systems, software integrations, etc. to scale-up youth initiatives and engage mass youth groups is preferred.
• Familiarity with the trend of innovation in Asia-Pacific including systems change, chatbot, blockchain, IOT, VR/AR, Drone, AI, Behavior Insights, voice technology, Big Data, Challenges and Prizes, etc. is preferred;

HOW TO APPLY?

Visit https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=94744