Mission and objectivesThe mission of the UN Volunteer is to support the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) Unit at the Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA) in fostering partnerships, advancing youth engagement initiatives, and promoting knowledge sharing. The objectives include contributing to the implementation of strategies related to partnership building and planning and implementation of activities for youth engagement while strengthening UNDPโs relationships with African diplomatic entities mainly based in Japan, the African diaspora communities in Japan, Japanese youth groups, academia and the private sector. The role also involves facilitating existing flagship initiatives for TICAD9 with youth engagement like the \"Model AU\" and \"Youth Drive\", leading communication and outreach, and producing knowledge management products to enhance UNDPโs visibility and impact in Japan and Africa. With the extensive network of Country Offices, expertise in key development areas such as Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Growth, Good Governance, Environment and Climate Change, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, and Gender, as well as the integrator role for UN development assistance, UNDP has been partnering with the Government of Japan to support and enhance the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), initiated in 1993, as one of the key forum for the advancement of dialogue and collaboration on African development. UNDP, as one of the co-organizers of TICAD along with Japan, UN-Office of Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), the World Bank and African Union Commission (AUC), has hosted a Special Unit for TICAD, which has been progressively integrated into the UNDP Regional Bureau of Africa (RBA) with a view to enhancing integrated UNDP support for the TICAD process. Through the Special Unit for TICAD, UNDP has consistently supported the successful expansion and evolution of the TICAD process and provided critical support in all relevant areas, including strategic, substantive, programmatic, technical and operational. TICAD unit builds and promotes partnerships and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, development organizations, private sector, civil society organizations, media, and academia.
Context TICAD unit is located at UNDP headquarter. A team of the TICAD Unit is outposted to UNDP Tokyo representation Office-TRO, where the UN Volunteer will be posted. The TRO brings diverse staff from different UNDP Regional offices. Thus, the UNV will lead to the development of an extensive human network within UNDP, with support from UNDP representation office in Japan and the TICAD Unit. In addition, since practical experience in youth engagement and partnerships is valued by any development agency or UN organization, regardless of UNDP, gaining skills and experience that can be deployed laterally can give the UN Volunteer a significant advantage in their future career in the development industry. Since the first TICAD welcomed 1,000 participants in Tokyo in 1993, TICAD has steadily grown into a major global platform for African development. TICAD VI was the first TICAD summit held in Africa (Nairobi, Kenya), brought together 11,000 high-level participants, the largest ever recorded. TICAD 8 was successfully held on 27 and 28 August 2022 in Tunisia. It welcomed Japan and African countries (48 African countries including 20 heads of state and government) and was successfully conducted in person with the adoption of the Tunis Declaration. Most recently the TICAD Ministerial Meeting was held from 24-25 August 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. The Meeting was attended by Ministers and the delegation of Japan and African Union Member States, together with representatives of TICAD co-organizers, namely the United Nations, the UNDP, the World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC), as well as international and regional organizations, the private sector and civil society organizations from Japan and Africa. The Ministerial Meeting was an opportunity to also highlight the importance of mutual exchanges between African and Japanese youth to promote creativity and sustainable socio-economic change and to co-create transformative solutions. In parallel to the Ministerial Meeting, two youth-centred initiatives were launched by UNDP in partnership with JICA, AUC, UNV, private sector. The Model African Union, engaging close to 300 university students from Japan and Africa, and the Youth Drive which resulted in the launch of the vision of the future they want as responsible actors for change. The Model African Union conference is the first attempt to ensure mutual understanding of Africa's potential and challenges youth delegates who assumed the roles of heads of state and ministers to craft innovative solutions for key continental development issues. Similarly, the Youth Drive highlighted the role of youth in setting the vision for the future they want. Using a future design approach, youth organizations from Japan and Africa based in Japan reflected on the future of the Africa-Japan partnership, including climate justice, employability, peace and security. Both initiatives exemplified the spirit of TICAD through peer-to-peer exchanges, with participants learning through dialogue and proposing concrete solutions aligned with Agenda 2063. Looking ahead to the 9th TICAD Summit in August 2025, UNDP is committed to supporting youth groups in leveraging these two initiatives, organizing the second edition of the Model African Union, and finalizing the Youth Drive Agenda and Action Plan 2055.
Task DescriptionThe UN Volunteer will be posted at the UNDP Representative Office in Tokyo under the direction and supervision of TICAD Partnership Specialist and will undertake the following tasks: Summary of the tasks: - Contribute to mobilization of wide-ranging youth-related organizations across Japan and in Africa. - Contribute to visibility of youth engagement activities by UNDP for Africa Facilitate Partnership Building - Identify, mobilize, and facilitate networking of youth-related organizations across Japan and in Africa in support of two youth-led initiatives supported by UNDP, leading to TICAD9 Coordinate Youth Engagement Initiatives - Coordinate the timeline and deliverables out of the Youth Drive initiative, in close contact with the network of Japanese NGOs, CSOs, and the African Diaspora Network in Japan to ensure the successful formulation of the Youth Agenda and Action Plan 2055. Communicate Youth Initiatives - Develop a communication plan for the youth engagement initiatives for TICAD9 - Work closely with JICA to enhance visibility of the two youth-led initiatives for TICAD9 - Ensure an effective usage of social media to inform and influence youth communities Results/expected outputs: As an active UNDP team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNDP and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including: - Contribution to initiatives aimed at fostering youth participation between Japan and African youth. - Support networking of youth communities - Active involvement in communication and outreach on youth-led initiatives
Competencies and valuesโข Accountability โข Adaptability and flexibility โข Creativity โข Judgement and decision-making โข Planning and organizing โข Professionalism โข Self-management
Living conditions and remarksAs this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. UN Volunteer allowances and entitlements: - National UN Youth Volunteer receives approximately JPY 308533.33 as Monthly Living Allowance. - Entry Lumpsum amount of USD 400 - Enrolled in health, life, disability insurance. - Applicable dependents (primary family unit, up to 3) are eligible for health insurance. - Entitled to annual leave, 2.5 days per month. - Exit allowance (paid on successful completion of the contract) for each month served