Mission and objectives

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Context

The 2025 Voluntary National Review (VNR) consultations, led by NITI Aayog and supported by the UN in India, prioritized 13 “Leave No One Behind” (LNOB) groups, including Scheduled Tribes and Adivasis, highlighting the urgent need to build capacities, ensure access, and foster meaningful representation for tribal youth. The consultations identified critical gaps in skills, leadership opportunities, and systemic support for marginalised youth, emphasising the need for targeted career pathways and inclusive development strategies. UNICEF works with various ministries of the national government and recently the Ministry of Tribal Affairs too has expressed interest in partnering with UNICEF especially to support design implementation of the national schemes, PM- JANMAN, Dharti Abha and Adi Karmayogi programmes focused on addressing culturally sensitive programming and building positive social norms. The current Terms of Reference is to support the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on social and behaviour change across different sectors outcomes that support the realization of SDG outcomes. India has a population of 10.45 crore Scheduled Tribes (STs), as per Census 2011, which constitutes 8.6% of the total population. Some tribal communities, especially the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) who live in remote forest areas, do not only have low socio economic and health indicators but suffer from high vulnerability compared to other tribal communities. Access to basic services, demand for quality services is bound by stringent norms, cultural practices and behaviours that act as barriers in accessing services and entitlements provided to them by the government. Furthermore, these social cultural practices also hinder the practice desirable behaviours that impact the development wellbeing of these groups. UNICEF seeks engagement of young volunteer from the tribal community to support the Program Specialist – Passport to Earning, in managing operations related to implementation partners, program monitoring and data management, supporting communication and documentation requirements. Passport to Earning (P2E) is a flagship skilling platform which provides young people (14-29 years old), especially from backward and marginal communities, with free, job-relevant skills, and position them for job opportunities. It is a Public-Private-Youth Partnership (PPYP) hosted by UNICEF, through Generation Unlimited, which aims to connect youth to opportunity by upskilling them towards employment and social impact. Since October 2022, P2E has skilled more than 4 million learners in India with 50% young women. To ensure providing skilling opportunities to young people at large scale, the program works with a wide range of government and non-government agencies. P2E recently also started focusing on the learning-to-earning pathways for the young people, especially young girls. These initiatives are focused on building and delivering solutions that provide easy skilling opportunities and access to relevant employment opportunities for young people. The UNV Adi Yuva Fellow is proposed to be hired for 12 months who will support the program management and documentation components to ensure achievement of the programmatic vision.

Task Description

Under the overall guidance of the Chief of GenU, Youth Development Partnerships and secondary supervision of Program Specialist – Passport to Earning, the UNV Adi Yuva Fellow will undertake the following tasks: • Support the planning, coordination, and implementation of the Passport to Earning (P2E) program, ensuring alignment with agreed targets and timelines. • Support effective management of multiple program platforms like Learning Management System (LMS), Dashboards, MIS systems, through efficient coordination with digital learning partners. • Support coordination with implementing agencies to facilitate youth mobilization, course enrolment, skilling activities, and placement support. • Support strengthening the interventions focused on skilling of young people from tribal communities. • Support in documentation of success stories, case studies, and lessons learned, especially for the tribal communities. • Assist in organizing review meetings, field visits, capacity-building sessions, and promotional events related to P2E. • Collaborate with UNICEF/YuWaah teams to ensure effective knowledge management and sharing of best practices. • Any other related tasks as assigned by the supervisor. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required 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 International Volunteer Day); • 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.

Competencies and values

• Adaptability and Flexibility • Commitment and Motivation • Commitment to Continuous Learning • Communication • Empowering Others • Ethics and Values • Integrity • Knowledge Sharing • Respect for Diversity • Vision • Working in Teams

Living conditions and remarks

The assignment will be based in New Delhi. New Delhi is the capital city of India, experi-ences a diverse climate and has distinct living conditions influenced by its weather, infra-structure, and culture. A melting pot of cultures, languages, and cuisines, reflecting the di-verse nature of India. Overall, living in Delhi offers a mix of modern urban life with deep-rooted traditions and challenges typical of a large, bustling metropolis. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for ar-ranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. This position is based in New Delhi. National UN Volunteers are part of the malicious insurance plan. National UN Volunteers are expected to be culturally sensitive and adjust to the prevailing culture and traditions. You can check full entitlements at https://app.unv.org/calculator • Monthly Voluntary Living Allowance (VLA): INR 51,969.20 • Entry lump sum (one-time payment): USD 400 (equivalent in INR) • Relocation costs: $200 at beginning and end of assignment if duty station is outside of commuting distance (as determined by UNV) • Exit allowance (paid on successful completion of the assignment): INR 5,413.46 for each month served, paid on completion of contract • Insurance: Comprehensive coverage for health, life and malicious acts • Annual leave: 2.5 days per month • Learning: Access to UNV's learning and career development resources NOTE: This position is open exclusively to candidates from Scheduled Tribe communities. The Scheduled Tribe certificate issued by the Government must be uploaded at the time of application.