Are you a young Kenyan citizen aged between 18 and 24 years, passionate about Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and keen to contribute to the health and wellbeing of adolescents and youth in the Kenya through volunteer ship? The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Kenya Country Office is looking for 15 highly motivated young volunteers to be part of its Youth Advisory Panel.
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for ensuring that every young person’s potential is fulfilled. In realizing this mandate, UNFPA works with a pool of young people under the Youth Advisory Panel to ensure that its programmes are responsive to the needs of young people and to give young people an opportunity learn and contribute to policies and programmes on issues affecting them. In a continent and country where the youth population (below 35 years of age) is approximately 70%, programming and development work requires young people to be at the center.
The UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel is therefore a mechanism that allows young people to exercise their currency; their age and their lived realities to contribute to the achievement of health outcomes under SDG 3. In this sense, the Panel attests to UNFPA’s vision and conceptual shift, moving away from working for young people, to working in partnership with young people to ensure youth-friendly approaches and action.
Objectives of the Panel
- To ensure that UNFPA’s programmes are responsive to the needs of young people
- Create a platform for young people to participate in policy, advocacy and implementation of programmes within the country
- Facilitate the exchange of information, learning and knowledge sharing with experts in health with the next generation of change makers in the area of SRHR, Gender, population and development
- Advise the UNFPA Country Office on methodologies of enhancing youth participation in the development of national policies, programmes and activities in areas of their mandate
Eligibility Criteria
To apply, applicants must:
- Be between the ages of 18-24 as of the day of application
- Be able to speak, write in, and read English and Kiswahili with proficiency
- Be passionate about adolescent and youth SRHR
- From the following 12 UNFPA Focus counties as follows: Nairobi(Kibra-Sub county), Homabay, Kilifi, Narok, Kitui, Turkana(Refugee camps-Kakuma and Kalobyei), Lamu, Mandera, Migori, Wajir, Isiolo, Marsabit.
All interested young people should submit a motivation letter expressing their interest (max 200 words) and a curriculum Vitae with at least two referees (max 2 pages) to the Adolescent and Youth Focal Person at UNFPA Kenya through panelunfpa@gmail.com cc Kenya.recruit@unfpa.org not later than 19th January 2021 at 10:00 am EAT. Young people within Nairobi, disabilities, living with HIV, in humanitarian situations and key populations are strongly encouraged to apply.
