YOUTH VOLUNTEER TRAINING AND LEARNING CONSULTANT

Background

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges, and it can transform the pace and nature of development. Volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for recognition of volunteers, working with partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing an increasing number and diversity of volunteers, including experienced UN Volunteers, throughout the world. UNV embraces volunteerism as universal and inclusive, and recognizes volunteerism in its diversity, as well as the values that sustain it: free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity. In 2013, UNV developed a global Youth Volunteer Programme.  The programme aims to facilitate the engagement of youth in global peace and sustainable human development through volunteerism, bringing the voice of youth into the development discourse and helping young people to realize their full social, economic and human potential. In the context of the global Youth Volunteer Programme, UN Youth Volunteers will be established as a new UNV modality: thousands of young people, aged 18 to 29, will be mobilized as UN Youth Volunteers with a wide range of UN agencies on crucial peace and development projects and programmes.  To support the advancement of young people around the world, UNV is widening its selection criteria so that young people with a broader range of skills can volunteer in the field and online and introducing new mechanisms to encourage South-North, South-South, and North-South volunteering exchanges. Learning and development are a central part of the UN Youth Volunteer’s assignment with UNV and take place before, during and after his or her service in the field. Ideally, offering diverse opportunities for learning and development aim to strengthen the volunteer’s skills and competences, improve quality of the assignment and keep the volunteer’s motivation high. UNV has already a learning strategy for all the UN Volunteers it mobilizes, however, the UN Youth Volunteers modality requires specific components given their formative age and the fact that learning is an integral part of the UN Youth Volunteer’s assignment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Working directly with the KM and Learning team and in close coordination with the Youth Team, the consultant will help with the development of specific learning and training content for the youth programme.  The consultant will:  Desk review of UNV’s volunteer learning strategy and UN Youth Volunteer Policy Note as well as similar functions in other organizations, including learning policy development; learning results setting & reporting; learning coordination and work planning; ie., VSO, Peace Corps etc.; Identify learning mechanism and that are attractive to UN Youth Volunteers; Propose and develop modules that are designated specifically for the UN Youth Volunteers. Based on the UNV Volunteer strategy and the UN Youth Volunteers policy note, the consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables: Deliverable 1. Provide recommendations on Youth specific considerations based on the UNV Core Learning: Standard Induction which includes: Pre-assignment learning package as well as standard briefing in the field; Peer to Peer and networking mechanism; Post-assignment` including job readiness sessions; Potential specific learning policy, learning design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation paths (training architecture), resource requirements and need for evaluation. Deliverable 2. Articulate a core training curriculum with learning objectives and activities that are suitable for youth volunteers. The programme should focus on core standard content for maximum one week of training, coordinated by the UNV Field Unit and delivered by partners who will sign agreement with UNV). The curriculum should propose a series of training modules that are designated specifically for the UN Youth Volunteers and which can be adapted to local context. Curriculum should include for each module, learning objectives, content and proposed methodology and tools. The curriculum should take into consideration blended learning approaches. Deliverable 3. Mentoring and coaching programme and guidance notes. A mentoring programme design and guidance notes for mentors/ coaches to provide volunteers with a valuable learning experience which enhances their work and personal skills and their understanding of peace and development. The mentoring programme should be based objectives of the youth programme, good practices from other organizations and include, when feasible, online volunteers. Specific deliverables include the following: Desk review of internal relevant documentation as well as research on existing training and learning strategies for youth volunteers.Report with recommendations on youth related specific considerations by 15 February 2014; Objective and Outline for the Training programme for youth.Draft outline of the youth Training programme by 28 February 2014; Review mentoring programme and propose mentoring programme that would suit the Youth Volunteers programme.Draft mentoring programme design by 15 March 2014; Final training programme curriculum and mentoring programme design and guidance notes by 31 March 2014.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies: Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNV; Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; Treats all people fairly without favoritism; Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment. Functional Competencies: Proficiency in the use of MS Office Suite; Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks; Demonstrated willingness to work as part of a team in a multicultural environment; Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks; Knowledge and experience of youth volunteerism with its diverse manifestations and cultural settings; Knowledge and experience with international agencies and their youth volunteer learning approaches would be a distinct advantage; Knowledge of UN agencies and their learning approaches would be an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Advanced university degree in education, organizational development, social sciences, or other relevant field. Experience: Minimum 5 years’ experience in youth training management working with larger organizations; Proven track record with training development and review; Relevant knowledge of modern training principles and techniques (including online-learning). Language requirement: Fluency in written and spoken English is an absolute requirement. Ability to work in Spanish and French is an asset. Application procedure: Applicants have to provide a technical and financial proposal. The technical proposal shall describe the methodology and the approach how to fulfill the required deliverables as well as outline the major components of its implementation. The financial proposal shall consist of all-inclusive lump sum for the whole duration of the contract period. The financial proposal shall contain a breakdown of all costs and indicate the number of off-days the consultant wants to take during the contract period (if any).  The lump sum/contract price is fixed regardless of subsequent changes in the cost components. Criteria for Selection of the Best offer: The selection of the best offer will be based on the combined scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted – 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted 30%. Key selection criteria are: Relevant work experience and knowledge of modern training principles and techniques (including online-learning) for young people (30%); Experience in youth training management working with larger organizations (25%); Proven track record with training development and review (15%); Price offer (30%). Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via the UNDP website. Interested candidates are advised to carefully review this ToR and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described above. Applications should contain: A brief cover letter, a short summary of relevant qualifications a technical proposal and a sample of applicants written work in English. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application. A current completed and signed P11 form/ UN Personal History Form in English. Blank form can be downloaded from www.sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc Please also include your CV. Contact details for 3 references. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you provide all requested materials. All documents should be scanned and attached in one pdf format document. Financial proposal should be sent in a separate e-mail and addressed to : procurement@unv.org  clearly marking the job title in the subject line. If you submit an application, UNV expects that you have read and agree with the TOR and the UNV Terms and Conditions, available online: http://www.unv.org/fileadmin/docdb/pdf/2011/procurement/UNV-IC_Terms%20%20Conditions.pdf Requests for further information must be sent in writing to the e-mail indicated above.

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.

https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=43022