Reference: 110900348
Location: London, UK
Duration: Three years
Closing Date: 21 Oct 2011
General Information
With half of the Commonwealth’s population under 25, young people are the future of the association, and it is the Commonwealth’s task to make itself relevant and credible in both unleashing young peoples’ potential, and in responding to the mounting social, economic and political challenges faced by them.
The Commonwealth has been and must remain a pioneer in safeguarding and promoting young people’s interests. Its Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) was established by Heads of Government in 1974 to support the activities of member governments investing in young people aged 15 to 29, through the development of policies and programmes in youth enterprise, youth work education and training, youth participation, and youth networks and governance.
The CYP currently addresses the concerns of young people in gender, poverty, health and sustainable development. Its objective is to help member governments establish and strengthen Youth Ministries and independent youth networks to support policy and programme development based on the active participation of young women and men.
The Commonwealth Youth Programme assists fifty-four member countries of the Commonwealth. It is managed by the Youth Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and is supported through four regional centres in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.
The Youth Affairs Division is responsible for taking forward new mandates given by Heads of Government, and guidance from Commonwealth Ministers of Youth Affairs, as well as from the Secretariat’s Board of Governors and Executive Committee. The Division’s major focus at present is on continuing to promote the ‘mainstreaming’ of youth policies and programmes in the Secretariat and in member governments, as well as expanding the CYP’s initial pilot youth micro-financing activities to promote new and more comprehensive models of youth enterprise support, leveraging private sector funding and expertise. The CYP therefore needs to develop new partnerships and innovative approaches to achieve these ends. It also needs to maximise the capacity, reach and impact of work in the four regional centres.
The Youth Affairs Division is also mandated to promote the role of sport as a tool for peace and human development. Sport is to be integrated wherever possible into the work of the CYP and the wider Secretariat, and member governments are to be offered models of best practice for ‘mainstreaming’ it in their own actions, and also in committing to meet quantifiable targets for young people’s involvement in sport.
Job Summary
The Director of Youth Affairs Division is the lead officer within the Commonwealth Secretariat on matters pertaining to youth development, and is responsible for progressing the Secretariat’s work plan in this field. Reporting to the Deputy Secretary-General, the post holder will work with all other Secretariat Divisions to mainstream youth into their work and will provide expert strategic advice.
The Youth Affairs Division incorporates the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) with its four regional offices covering Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. The post holder will take the lead in the advancement of the CYP work and will have overall management and leadership responsibility for the four regional centres and their staff, as well as staff of Youth Affairs Division. The regional centres employ local staff to support their work, and the post holder has overall responsibility for their terms and conditions of service, in liaison with the Corporate Affairs Division and Human Resources Section of the Secretariat.
The CYP and Youth Affairs Division are in the process of being reformed to sharpen their impact and contemporary relevance. The post-holder will lead in delivering on this reformation.
Key Accountabilities
Provides overall strategic direction and leadership in the Youth Affairs Division and the Commonwealth Youth Programme, including development and implementation of the youth-related aspects of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Strategic Plan, including by:
- Keeping abreast of and incorporating the changing demands of governments and young people in the Commonwealth in partnership with other stakeholders and agencies for youth development and sport-for-development;
- Organising and providing advisory input into the Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meetings and Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meetings, and providing guidance to the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS), CYP Regional Advisory Board and Regional Youth Caucus meetings, as well as to the Secretariat’s Board of Governors and Executive Committee;
- Translating and developing the mandates from Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM), Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meetings (CYMM) and Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meetings into the Secretariat’s Strategic Plan and Division’s work programme;
- Leadership by example, including a rational policy on duty travel for him/herself which responds to objective evaluated needs and which respects the need for substantial presence at headquarters.
Manages the Youth Affairs Division and the Commonwealth Youth Programme, with Sport as a component, to ensure the effective delivery of programmes that will progress the work of the Commonwealth in the field of youth by:
- Heading and coordinating a decentralised structure: managing and aligning the CYP’s governance, financial, human resources and administrative policies and procedures with those of the Secretariat; and leading, developing and motivating staff based in London and in the regional centres;
- Provide leadership and oversee the day to day management of the Youth Affairs Division and CYP staff, creating a conducive work environment that ensures a motivated team;
- Ensuring that the relevant work plans for the Division and CYP, including individual staff work plans and objectives, are agreed, effectively monitored and delivered;
- Designing strategies to raise extra-budgetary resources.
Reports on the progress and developments of the CYP to ensure that all stakeholders are kept fully briefed of current developments by:
- Preparing and producing timely management reports for the Secretariat’s senior management and governing bodies;
- Promoting public outreach and profile raising initiatives;
- Providing strategic advice to the Secretariat’s senior management on youth development and ‘sport for peace and development’ in the Commonwealth and, as requested, to member governments and other stakeholders;
- Representing the Commonwealth Secretariat and its youth work.
Providing a strategic advocacy-brokerage-catalytic role to ensure the progress of the youth development and ‘sport for development’ agenda, ensuring that the Secretariat remains at the forefront of international thinking, initiatives, and leadership by:
- Interacting with Youth and Sport Ministers and other senior stakeholders;
- Providing advice to member governments on policy and initiatives including cross-border initiatives;
- Creating networks and maintaining close liaison with other international organisations on youth development and sport for development;
- Building regional cooperation between governments, NGOs and other international organisations;
- Promoting the coordination, information dissemination and consolidation of work by youth agencies and member governments;
- Promoting strategic partnerships between the Secretariat and other international leaders and stakeholders in youth affairs which advance Commonwealth youth-related goals;
- Promoting models of best practice and the Secretariat’s Youth Programme;
- Supervising the scope, operations and content of youth-focussed aspects of the Commonwealth portal ‘Commonwealth Connects’, particularly its ‘Youth as Nation Builders’ platform.
Undertaking other duties as may be assigned by the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General.
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