Mission and objectivesThe mission of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is to advance human development. The goal is to contribute towards the expansion of opportunities, choice and freedom. The office works towards this goal by promoting innovative new ideas, advocating practical policy changes, and constructively challenging policies and approaches that constrain human development. The office works with others to achieve change through writing and research, data analysis and presentation, support to national and regional analysis and outreach and advocacy work.
ContextThe Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is a small multi-disciplinary unit located in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York. The mission of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is to advance human development. The goal is to contribute towards the expansion of opportunities, choices and freedom. The office works towards this goal by promoting innovative new ideas, advocating practical policy changes, and constructively challenging policies and approaches that constrain human development. The office works with others to achieve change through writing and research, data analysis and presentation, support to national and regional analysis and outreach and advocacy work. This assignment contributes to a major initiative led by the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aimed at addressing the sharp global decline in youth mental health and wellbeing recorded in our latest 2025 Human Development Report. HDRO, in partnership with Dartmouth College is organizing a global symposium that will bring together senior policymakers, researchers, civil society leaders, and youth advocates to explore the drivers of this trend and identify actionable responses across different sectors and regions. The symposium is part of HDRO's broader research agenda on human development and wellbeing and will feed into key knowledge products including the 2026 Human Development Report.
Task DescriptionThe online volunteer will support the organization of a global symposium on youth mental wellbeing. Specifically, the volunteer will be responsible for: • Identifying and maintaining a curated list of key organizations, thought leaders, and policymakers working on youth mental health and wellbeing globally, to support the development of an invitation list for the event. • Drafting formal event invitation letters tailored to different categories of invitees. • Conducting background research on the topic of youth mental health and preparing a short accessible policy brief to be shared with symposium participants. • Support liaising with symposium participants: sharing brochure, program agenda, relevant reading material, logistics note etc. for smooth organization. • Draft relevant material for symposium: speaker bios, background summary, briefing notes from meetings, to ensure alignment and informed follow ups
Competencies and values
Living conditions and remarks