UN VOLUNTEER DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT

Preamble:

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programmeis the UN organization that promotes volunteerism to support peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature of development and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peace and development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers.

In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long-established, ancient traditions of sharing and support within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various forms of volunteerism and play a role in development and peace together with co-workers, host agencies and local communities.

In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging in volunteer activity can effectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, as well as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make the time they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.

1. Type of Assignment:National UN Youth Volunteer (2positions)

2. Type of Assignment Place:Family Duty Station

3. Assignment Title:Innovation Lab Associate

4. Link with UNV Strategic Framework : Youth

5. Duty Station, Country:Dhaka, Bangladesh

6. Duration (in months):12

7. Expected Starting Date:September 2016

8 Host Agency/Host Institute:UNV Field Unit

9. Organizational Context/Project:The UNV office is located in UNDP in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the largest country offices of UNDP in the region. The UNV presence in the country has been steadily increasing over the recent years valuing volunteerism as catalyst for indicidual, institutional, and social change through the mobilization of both national and international UN Volunteers. Through volunteerism and civic engagement, UNV contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) positioning itself at the center of Partnerships for Development by proactively promoting mindset change at individual, institutional as well as social level.

UNV in Bangladesh consists of the Programme Officer and Programme Assistant supported by a UNV University Volunteer Communication Specialist and an Intern. In development partnerships and networks, on a regular basis UNV Bangladesh works with UN Partners, various international Volunteer Sending Organizations as well as the the Ministry of Youth and Sports, , and it is starting engaging proactively with the private sector.

In February 2016 UNV Bangladesh started to pilot a UNVInnovation Lab – an accelerator to mainstream youth and volunteerism within UN Agencies as well as fostering innovation in project development to increase the impact of youth projects by leveraging the innovative potential on youth and volunteerism in horizon scanning, piloting and prototyping. The Lab operates as collaborative working space. This space aims at being the missing link between Innovation Labs outside the UN system andtheUN Agencies by facilitating horizon scanning, piloting and prototyping, as well as involving the youth – V-Act! Volunteers, online volunteers, and users of UNV platforms – in development projects from the planning phase. This unique repositioning of UNV aims at consolidating a new approach to population data collection and insight trhough real time monitoring and a proactive approach to data science and crowdsourcing. University students supported the re-design of the UNV Office space under the theme of ‘green and recycle’ to send a strong message to UN partners and local youth: innovation can start today sustained by youth and volunteerism creativity and sustainability. The first prototype that the UNV Innovation Lab developed successfully has a strong focus on online civic engagement linking entrepreneurship and volunteerism to transform social challenges into opportunities trhough a bottom up approach to social change and advocacy, The pilot was successfully pitched to UNDP and it is currently becoming a joint UNV and UNDP project. The lessons learned from the Innovation Lab in Bangladesh will also feed into the UNDP/UNV Regional Youth Project along with other innovation lab processes involving youth in other countries in the region. The most successful prototypes of the labs and solutions will be scaled up and will be used to leverage partnership wit the country and regional stakeholders.

10. Description of tasks:

Under the direct supervision of the UNV Programme Officer the two Innovation Lab Associateswill be responsible to ensure the development of IT solutions that can support the long term sustainability of the Lab within the time constraints of the the UNV Field Unit staff (UNV Programme Officer, UNV Programme Associate, UNV Communication Volunteer, UNV Intern) and they support constant and easy communication and engagement of the different counterparts: from V-Act! Volunteers to UN Agnecies. Currently the UNV PO is acting as Lab Programme Officer and it will be supported shortly by a UNV Programme Associate. The methodology of the Lab is inspired by the definition and practice of innovation of Fahrenheit 212: an innovation strategy is ‘a choice or set of choices that bring new focus to a growth space and the winnable opportunities within it.’ A key aspect of the Lab methodology is moving from a ‘brainstorming approach’ to a ‘pitching approach’ both in the development of projects and solutions as well as for internal management. The two Innovation Lab Associates will work as a twin-team pitching to each other possible strategic solutions to support the development of the Lab, A similar management approach was already successfully utilized in the UNV Field Unit pairing a UNV University Volunteer and and Intern to boost youth empowerment in the office place under the mentoring and supervision of the UNV PO. TheUN Volunteers will undertake the following tasks:

  • Support tostrengthenthe start-up phase of UNV Bangladesh Innovation Lab:
  • Support the set up IT solutions and Standard Operating Procedures to ensure the long term sustainability of the Lab;
  • Supporting coordinating and recruiting V-Act! and online volunteers – mainly by identifying and drafting technical IT skills requirements - to support the design of pilots and prototypes ofLab projects with IT focus (i.e. upcoming APP on volunteer engagement in disaster management).
  • Propose tech-based solutions to ensure booking of the Lab space and well as continuous engagement and support of the differnet UN partners and youth that will utilize the Lab;
  • Act as consultantand advisoron the feasibility of the pilots that will be submitted by the different UN agencies to the UNV Lab;
  • Act in close cooperation with the UNDP Innovation Team to develop shared solutions to reduce costs of adopting IT solutions for effective communication and monitoring and evaluation.
  • Support the development of online activities to foster civic engagement in close collaboration with the UNDP and the Team of the UNV-UNDP Online Platform for Civic Engagement– one international UN Volunteer Project Coordinator and two national UN Volunteers project Associates:
  • Strenghten IT solutions for online civic engagement;
  • Support UNV-UNDP to promote online civic engagement.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers arerequired to:

  • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark IVD);
  • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
  • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
  • 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.

11. Results/Expected Output:

  • Ensuring effective communication, pilot and prototyping of the UNV lab,IT solutions and online activities feeding into UNDP/UNV Regional Youth Project.
  • Fostering continous online and offline civic engagement via online platforms.
  • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.

12. Qualifications/Requirements:

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

  • Bachelor’s degree in ICT or its equivalent is preferred
  • Job Knowledge & Experience:Proven ability to reach out effectively to large groups of people and being able to facilitate continuous online engagement/mobilization.
  • Experience in developing guidelines on online engagement is an asset.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in teams and in harmony with persons of different national background and cultures
  • Language Requirements: Excellent oral and written skill in English and Bangla.
  • Computer Skills: Proficient in computer applications such as MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint; In Design, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Coral Draw, Adobe Flash, Animation, Strong Programming Skill in ASP.NET, C#, Java, PHP, OOP, HTML (XHTML Strict & HTML5) CSS (CSS2 and CSS3), Must be very good in raw PHP (5.5+), Expert in CodeIgniter 3.0, Skilled on SQL, AJAX, SQL Query, JavaScript , jQuery, XML, WordPress, MySQL/ SQL Server database, Expert in SQL query design and code optimization for TB-scale data size, solid understanding of Object Oriented Programming concepts, familiar with MVC design pattern.Providing a portfolio of previous work is highly desirable.

13. Living Conditions:

The incumbent will be based in Dhaka. The averagetemperature in Dhaka, Bangladesh is 26 degrees Celsius. The highest monthly average temperature is 34 degrees Celsius in April. And the lowest average temperature is 14 degrees Celsius in December. Nearly 80% of the annual reainfal occurs between May and September. Power outage is very common at any time of the day. There is easy access to schools health facilities and good accommodation. There are taxi cabs, and local means of transportation. Colleagues in the office and national staff are useful resources of information on accommodation, shopping, etc.. The local UNDSS will provide the needed information regarding security.

14. Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers

A 12 - month contract; with subsequent contract extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment.

Travel to duty station (if applicable) and a Settling-In-Grant will be provided in the event duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment. A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) of BDT 41,981 is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities and normal cost of living expenses. Life, health and permanent disability insurance are included (health insurance for up to 3 dependents), as well as final repatriation (if applicable) and resettlement allowance for satisfactory service.

Description of Assignment prepared by the hosting project/UN Agency:Linda Germanis, UNV PO

Date: 31st July 2016

Description of Assignment approved by UNDP/RR/CD or UNV Field Unit:Tania Haque, UNV PA

Date: 31st July 2016

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme which welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture.