Programme Officer Youth, Prevention Of Radicalization (Unscr 2250)

Details

Mission and objectives

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women is leading and coordinating United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.UN Women’s vision is a world in which societies are free of gender-based discrimination, where women and men have equal opportunities, where women and girls are empowered to lead the change that they want to see, and where women’s rights are upheld in all efforts to further development, human rights, peace and security.

Context

In 2020 UN Women supported the Government of Kenya on developing its second-generation National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 (KNAP II). The programme “prioritizes the implementation of Kenya’s Second National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 and UNSCR 2250, (Pillar Participation, Protection, Prevention and Relief and Recovery), including supporting women mediators and integrating gender in the prevention and countering of violent extremism (PCVE). It seeks to promotes inclusivity, cohesiveness, localizations, and resilience.In line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325, Kenya has committed to greater participation of women and youth (especially young women) in peace and security processes. Participation of women and youth in elections, politics and governance is a key strategy for implementing and achieving UNSCR 1325 and 2250. Evidence has also shown that when women and youth participate in political and decision-making processes, they tend to advance peace and conflict prevention . Conversely, when they are left out of political leadership positions and conflict prevention processes, the peace agenda becomes elusive, and the cycle of violence becomes harder to break as experienced in the Kenyan electoral cycles. Therefore, advancing the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda provides assurance and confidence for promoting sustainable peace and has a transformative potential to address inequalities.Youth meaningful participation in governance and peacebuilding processes is a key priority for UN Women. UN Women’s approach to youth empowerment and the Youth, Peace and Security agenda is indeed a co-creation approach, considering that young people must have a driving seat at the table and take an active role in decision making processes that affect them.UN Women through its extended network of youth-led organizations, supports initiatives and platforms that translate the Youth, Peace, and Security agenda into practice, improve and amplify evidence-based solutions, and advocate for young people’s meaningful participation in peace and security efforts globally, nationally, and locally. UN Women, through its programmes and interventions, seeks to strengthen youth engagement the Security Council Resolutions (SCR) 2250.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Women Peace and Security Team Lead, Programme Officer Youth, Prevention of Radicalization (UNSCR 2250) will undertake the following tasks: contribute to the work within the areas of Women Peace and Security and Youth Peace and Security, including coordination, capacity development, strategic partnerships and documenting impact and learnings.I. Provide programme support to the work related to the Women Peace and Security and Youth Peace and Security agenda in Kenya:•Support the implementation of the workplan of the country office WPS unit, in particular the outputs related to the implementation of Youth Peace and Security agenda in Kenya.•Develop new proposals to advance the youth, peace, and security agenda in Kenya.•Promote the YPS entry points in peacebuilding and governance programmes and strategies of UN Women.•Promote the YPS agenda in UN Women’s portfolios and programmes.•Support activities and interventions that enable the acceleration of the implementation of resolutions 2250, 2419 and 2535 of the United Nations Security Council to ensure young women and men are recognized, included and supported as partners of peace.•Support youth-inclusive conflict analysis and train other relevant team members on YPS.•Support the organization of youth and intergenerational dialogues around YPS.•Report on a regular basis on the implementation of the YPS agenda in Kenya.II. Support the development of mechanisms and policies, at the national levels, aiming at strengthening youth meaningful participation in conflict prevention and peacebuilding processes:•Encourage and support civil society organizations and other stakeholders for the establishment of national coalitions on YPS.•Support the development of national and local YPS roadmaps and action plans in Kenya.•Support the development of new projects or programmes having youth participation in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and social cohesion as a key priori-ty.•Document and share lessons learnt on YPS initiatives and identify potential for scale up.III. Support inter-agency coordination on YPS and build partnerships and engage with multiple stakeholders for the promotion of the YPS agenda in Kenya:•Contribute to relevant inter-agency meetings on YPS, to lift stories and lessons learned and formulate policy and programming recommendations.•Build and strengthen partnerships with UN agencies, civil society organizations, academia, and other partners and donors, and explore new ways of collaboration on youth, peace, and security in Kenya.•Coordinate YPS mainstreaming at Country Office (CO) level and represent UN Women in relevant interagency mechanisms advancing the YPS agenda.•Coordinate with other UN entities on YPS at country-level.IV. Support the development of knowledge products and contribute to capacity building of various actors on youth, peace, and security.•Support the development of innovative strategies and interventions that foster youth participation in peacebuilding and decision-making mechanisms.•Develop innovative tools for knowledge sharing on the YPS agenda in Kenya.•Support the roll out of a storytelling for peace initiative in Kenya.•Draft reports, briefs and notes, including on promising practices and lessons learnt directly linked to YPS initiatives, projects and programmes.•Identify ways to support and trigger youth-led research on YPS in Kenya.