The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is 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.

Organizational context and brief project description

UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled ensuring rights and choices for all. The three transformative results for UNFPA are ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning and ending gender-based violence and all harmful practices including child marriage. UNFPA’s India Country Programme 9 focuses on empowering young people with critical life skills and invests in adolescent health and well-being; ensuring universal access to high quality sexual and reproductive health and rights; addressing gender discrimination and harmful practices such as gender-biased sex selection and child marriage, and using population data to maximize the demographic dividend.

The monitoring, evaluation and reporting functions of the Country Programme comply with the Results-Based Management (RBM) principles. The overall framework and measurement of the results of the key interventions is an important function of the country programme. Quality assurance are instrumental for all monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities. The role of the M&E unit is to formulate results of various outputs of the country programme, implement the system to measure results. In particular, it supports the advocacy and policy dialogue efforts of the County Office with national counterparts to position the SDG and ICPD agenda in the national context and feeds into the resource mobilization efforts. Tracking progress of the various interventions requires analysis of the information captured though the management information system (MIS) and providing feedback to the programme managers to inform the project implementation. Hence, application of innovative and strategic thinking to deliver the desired results efficiently under resource constraint condition is an important aspects of M&E activities. 

Living Conditions

New Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region is a large and bustling metropolis of some 14 million people undergoing rapid changes. The capital city is an administrative, cultural and commercial center with modern amenities and well connected by air. It is a safe place with large expatriate community drawn from embassies, UN agencies, MNCs and foreign businesses. It has short moderate winter and long hot summer.

Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers

The contract lasts for the period indicated above with possibility of 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 the duty station is not within commuting distance from the place of recruitment. A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) of Rs. 42,473.67 (Rupees Forty-Two Thousand Four-Hundred Seventy-Three and Paise Sixty-Seven only) 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.

Furthermore, in non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the ICSC, a Well-Being Differential (WBD) will be provided monthly.

Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative and the direct supervision of the M&E Specialists, the NUNV M&E Associate will perform the following tasks:

• Support in promoting a results based approach and integrates innovative M&E approaches in the areas of reproductive health, population and development, youth and gender
• Provide substantive and strategic support to the CO’s overall Monitoring and Evaluation framework, by undertaking analysis of data on reproductive health, gender and emerging areas of population and development
• Support CO’s efforts related to policy and advocacy by providing robust evidences based on relevant and latest information
• Facilitate integration of substantive methodologies and RBM tools in programming and project design and implementation
• Support to ensure substantive monitoring of interventions of various components of the country programme by coordinating with programme staff and analysis of regular information from the field implementation
• Liaise with the implementing partners of various interventions for monitoring key indicators and support tracking the progress of the projects
• Assist in analyzing data and reports on programme and projects in terms of achieving results using existing monitoring and evaluation tools
• Support capacity building initiatives on RBM and improving data quality systems for relevant stakeholders
• Support strategic research initiatives by collating, compiling and analysis of data from various sources and support dissemination of such research for advocacy and policy level discussions
• Support in preparing research briefs on the basis of systematic analysis of processes and outputs derived from the UNFPA supported interventions
• Undertake any other tasks as assigned by the Representative.

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 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 team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNFPA M&E unit in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:
  • Support building  a solid evidence base for UNFPA engagement in national policy dialogue and advocacy on its mandate areas
  • Support preparation of briefs and dissemination for policy advocacy
  • Work closely with the country and state offices teams and national counterparts to ensure M&E aspects are well internalized and applied
  • Support in monitors progress by coordinates with  national and state levels technical and managerial team
  • Support establishing a results-based information management system associated to the output indicators of the CP Results Framework and the monitoring and evaluation frameworks of the Work Plans
• 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

• Support building  a solid evidence base for UNFPA engagement in national policy dialogue and advocacy on its mandate areas
• Support preparation of briefs and dissemination for policy advocacy
• Work closely with the country and state offices teams and national counterparts to ensure M&E aspects are well internalized and applied
• Support in monitors progress by coordinates with  national and state levels technical and managerial team
• Support establishing a results-based information management system associated to the output indicators of the CP Results Framework and the monitoring and evaluation frameworks of the Work Plans

Professionalism: demonstrated understanding of operations relevant to UNDP; technical capabilities or knowledge relevant or transferrable to UNDP procedures and rules; discretion, political sensitivity, diplomacy and tact to deal with clients; ability to apply good judgement; ability to liaise and coordinate with a range of different actors, especially in senior positions; where appropriate, high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; resourcefulness and willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive and client-oriented;

Integrity: demonstrate the values and ethical standards of the UN and UNDP in daily activities and behaviours while acting without consideration of personal gains; resist undue political pressure in decision-making; stand by decisions that are in the organization’s interest even if they are unpopular; take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour; does not abuse power or authority;

Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; excellent interpersonal skills; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, mixed-gender environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity; sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age; commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of UN operations; ability to achieve common goals and provide guidance or training to colleagues;

Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment.

Planning and organizing effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;

Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups;

Flexibility: adaptability and ability to live and work in potentially hazardous and remote conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort; to operate independently in austere environments for protracted periods; willingness to travel within the area of operations and to transfer to other duty stations within the area of operations as necessary;

Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNDP’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values. 

Bachelor’s degree in statistics or related field

Two years in data analysis, programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation 

Proficiency in MS Office, and other software packages such as SPSS

Fluency in spoken and written English and Hindi is Mandatory

Strong team skills including ability to establish effective working relations with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor own work plan and those relevant to the team members

Resourcefulness, efficient in taking initiative, maturity of judgment, tact;

Good analytical, organizing and planning skills;

Good communication and negotiation skills;

Ability to work independently;

Knowledge of the region;

Willingness to travel to project sites and other areas as needed

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.

United Nations Volunteers reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this opening for other openings with United Nations Volunteers with similar assignment description, experience and educational requirements.

Contract Duration: One year with possibility of extension