Youth Participation and Advocacy Coordinator (Climate and Environment)

UNICEF works in the world's toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere.

Since 1964, child rights have been at the heart of the strong partnership between the Government of Malaysia and UNICEF. UNICEF’s work in Malaysia is driven by the ultimate aim of ensuring that every child, especially the most vulnerable, has a fair, equitable start in life. This means that all girls and boys – regardless of location, family income or disability – ought to enjoy equal access to quality services and an equal chance of developing to their full potential.

An upper-middle income and culturally diverse country, Malaysia is home to 32.7 million people of which 9.2 million are children. The country has witnessed tremendous progress over the years in poverty reduction, access to primary health care, education, and advances in Child Rights and wellbeing, social and cultural norms. However, gaps in the legal, regulatory and policy framework, comparatively low levels of public expenditure on social protection and social services, and limited capacity in the public sector to meet the demands of the equity agenda, constrain women and child rights. Further advances in education, health and nutrition, and social protection outcomes are needed if Malaysia is to achieve advanced nation status.

UNICEF Malaysia is a unique country office in that it is an upper middle-income country, but with significant remaining disparities and inequalities where both advocacy and programming approaches are required. UNICEF adds value by influencing the development narrative of the country through quality evidence generation, evidence-based advocacy and policy recommendations, supported by partnerships and alliances with civil society, academia, and think tanks. UNICEF Malaysia also has a highly developed Private Sector Fundraising Team (PSFR) which raises significant resources for children in innovative ways. In this context, the role of multi-faceted evidence-based communications and policy advocacy and partnership building play critical roles in advancing child rights.

Adopting a human rights-based approach, the UNICEF country programme in Malaysia has been designed in partnership with the Government of Malaysia and is aligned with the Shared Prosperity Vision for 2030 and the 12th Malaysia Plan. The programme responds directly to UNICEF’s and the UN’s global priorities, Agenda 2030, the Leaving No One Behind and Build Back Better agendas and forms an integral part of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework
(UNSDCF) for Malaysia 2021-2025.

Under the general supervision of the Programme Specialist (Climate and Environment) and the guidance of Programme Officer (Climate and Environment) and working collaboratively with colleagues
from other sections, the UNV Youth Participation and Advocacy Coordinator (Climate and Environment) will provide direct support building the capacity of programmes for and with young people, in three key areas: 1. Operationalization and coordination of the Children and Youth Council/Cluster under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability; 2. Coordination and support for capacity building on meaningful children and youth participation for child- and youth-sensitive climate policies and programmes; and, 3. Advocacy and communications support on child- and youth sensitive climate policies and programmes. The details are as follows:

1. Operationalization and coordination of the Children and Youth Council/Cluster under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability:
• Provides coordination and support to UNICEF and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, as well as children, youth and CSO stakeholders in the establishment and operationalization of the Children and Youth Council/Cluster
• Facilitates the recruitment of diverse members for the Children and Youth Council/Cluster, inclusive and representative of children and youth from marginalized and vulnerable groups including indigenous, low-income quintile, children and youth affected by migration, children and youth with disabilities, and beyond Klang Valley region
• Develops operational guidelines to define the Council/Cluster’s structure, processes and roles, ensuring clarity and consistency in operations, emphasizing sustainability and good governance
• Establishes key partnerships with governmental and legislative bodies, educational institutions, environmental organizations and private sector to support the Council/Cluster’s activities and enhance its resource base

2. Coordination and support for capacity building on meaningful children and youth participation for child- and youth-sensitive climate policies and programmes:
• Assists the UNICEF Climate and Environment and NRES Climate Change Division team in planning, designing and coordinating skills and capacity building workshops and other interactive sessions with meaningful participation of children and youth
• Supports and contributes to designing, coordinating and monitoring capacity building workshops via collaborative approach amongst Council/Cluster members
• Empowers the Council/Cluster members in initiating and proposing activities and programmes to build technical capacity of the Council/Cluster, and supports them in coordinating the members participation
• Supports coordination of knowledge management and produces appropriate documentation and reporting while ensuring the quality, standardization and consistency

3. Advocacy and communications support on child- and youth-sensitive climate policies and programmes:
• In coordination with the Communication Specialist, assists in operationalizing advocacy and communication strategies via crafting, info briefs, key asks, local narratives, and compelling
storytelling for digital and other audiences.
• Maps out key stakeholders for advocacy and engagement strategies for child- and youth sensitive climate policies and programmes
• In coordination with the Communication Specialist, identifies key advocacy moments for significant days and events/conferences for year (such as ASEAN, World Environment Day, COP etc.) and crafts communications plans and campaigns for advocacy
• In coordination with Communication Specialist (Digital and Content), supporting on digital content strategy to support climate and advocacy priorities

4. Other support areas:
• Seek out collaborative opportunities with the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) team and other units and relevant children and youth projects in the office such as Adolescent Development and Participation team via the Young Person's Advisory Group (YPAG), Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take an active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results, and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/Expected outputs:

As an active UNICEF Malaysia – Climate and Environment team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client–friendly and high–quality support rendered to the team and its beneficiaries in the performance of her/her functions, including:
• Strategic growth and involvement of our digital and traditional media audience.
• Lessons learned and best practices are shared.
• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counter-parts, including Implementing Partners (IPs);
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed