Youth Engagement Officer at Plan International

Role Purpose

• The purpose is to influence the achievement of positive impact in the lives of youths in communities of Mafa LGA with particular attention to adolescent girls’ rights.

Dimensions of the Role:

• Communicates within Plan International Nigeria, partners and related government institutions. The post holder combines variety of tactics and areas of work – such as communications, campaigns, media relations and youth engagement.

 Accountabilities
In collaboration with Youth Engagement and Advocacy Coordinator and the Field Team:

• Strategically develop young people over time to become highly skilled advocates
• With support of Gender Officer translate complex concepts (like gender inequality), campaigns and policy into workshops, training for young people
• Organise training for young people in campaigns and communication skills including media work, public speaking etc
• Ensure the young people involved are well informed and trained to a high enough standard to be able to take on the role of youth ambassadors in a meaningful way
• Bring new ideas and approaches to our Youth Engagement work
• Support young people to take part in campaigning activities and advocate for issues affecting them Coordinate the development, support and administration of Youth groups including supporting delivery training and capacity building.
• The role will include looking for new and innovative ways for young people to be meaningfully supported to articulate and do advocacy of their own issues
• Bring fresh ideas about how we can support young people to contribute to Plan International’s  support and empowerment of young people This will include training and encouraging youth blogs and digital content.
• Take on child safeguarding responsibilities for youth work and ensure child safeguarding policies are understood and followed. The post holder will work with staff across the organisation to encourage and embed the mainstreaming of child safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Ensure the voices of the vulnerable youth especially girls, IDPs, minorities and the physically challenge are represented and amplified
• Document all conversations and debates with young people in an accurate and neutral manner. Ensure these elements are fed back into strategies and work plans for effective youth engagement.
• Develop monthly report and contribute to quarterly report on youth activities for external consumption
• Engage the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and National Youth Council to drive the youth empowerment agenda forward
• Ensure key data from assessments could be used as a baseline for program evaluation.  If additional baseline data is required to evaluate children’s learning outcomes, then work with appropriate colleagues to collect this additional information.
• Ensure that issues of gender, protection, DRR, and conflict sensitivity are factored into the program design.
• Provide regular updates to Youth Engagement  and Advocacy Coordinator humanitarian unit and the rest of the CO on progress, priorities and constraints – verbally and in writing on an agreed frequency.
• Support the implementation of, and represent Plan International in any relevant cluster.
• Brief updates and reports on sectoral activities/strategies to donors and other stakeholders.

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• University degree or equivalent Social Science, International Development Studies or related fields
• Minimum of 3 years relevant working experience youth engagement/Livelihood
• Experience working in emergency settings
• Good knowledge and understanding of DO NO HARM principles and established international child protection standards (especially UNCRC)
• Experience with participatory approaches to education, emergency preparedness, crisis / emergency relief management, or other related area.
• Experience working with IDPs, refugees and other vulnerable populations (ideal)
• Experience in Youth Engagement programme desirable but not essential
• Experience in documentation and communication desirable but not essential
• Previous experience directly providing services to children at risk and victims of abuse, exploitation and violence

Skills & Knowledge:

• Creates strong sense of purpose and commitment within own part of operations and with stakeholders
• Holds self and others to account to deliver on agreed goals and standards of behaviour
• Demonstrates a high degree of professionalism / integrity
• Provides good and adequate administrative and logistical support to enable programmes to meet meets it’s agreed financial and program outcomes.
• Actively seeks for support in addressing difficulties in execution of duties.
• Strategic thinking and effective contribution to own work and Organizational development.
• Sound judgement and decision-making in complex situations
• Strong emotional intelligence including self - awareness.
• Leads by example to motivate high performance of others
• Very strong commitment to continuous learning