IDP Solutions Associate

Host entity: UNRCO MMR

Volunteer type: International

Areas of expertise: Communication, advocacy, public information, Community development, Emergency preparedness, crisis response

Application deadline: 05/10/2026

Mission and objectives

The Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) supports the United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC), the highest‑ranking representative of the UN Development System at the country level. The RCO enables effective coordination of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) to support national priorities and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The RCO’s core objective is to ensure coherent, coordinated, and effective UN engagement at country level through strategic planning, partnerships, data and results monitoring, and advocacy. In contexts where conditions allow, the RCO works in close consultation with national authorities and stakeholders to support the design, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), which defines the collective UN response aligned with national development priorities.

In countries or situations where conditions are not conducive to formal cooperation with the Government, the RCO supports the UN system to develop and implement alternative cooperation or transitional planning frameworks, such as a Transitional Cooperation Framework or equivalent arrangements. These frameworks enable continued, principled UN engagement focused on sustaining essential services, maintaining development gains, and supporting people and communities, while ensuring UN coherence, coordination, and accountability in complex and fragile contexts.

Across all contexts, the RCO promotes UN values and principles, including human rights, gender equality, and the commitment to leave no one behind, and strengthens partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders to enhance the collective impact of UN support at country level.

Assignment context

Myanmar is a highly complex multiethnic operating environment shaped by long-standing ethnic and religious grievances, inter-communal tensions and overlapping conflicts, with deep humanitarian needs and structural under-development in several areas. Following the February 2021 military takeover, the country has faced a protracted crisis marked by widespread conflict, economic crisis, shrinking civic space, protection risks, access constraints, and displacement, compounded by localized climate shocks. Internal displacement is large-scale and highly fluid: as of 26 January 2026, there were 3,685,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs), including people displaced prior to February 2021, with returns often fragile and driven by livelihood pressures rather than sustained improvements in safety and conditions. In parallel, the UN operates in a context of continued non-recognition of the military de facto authorities and therefore engages with limited interaction.

Against this backdrop, the UN Country Team (UNCT), supported by the IDP Solutions Global Hub, is developing a UNCT-owned IDP Solutions Strategy (2026–2028) as a key step to strengthen coherence and prioritization around solutions in Myanmar. The Strategy will define a shared UN framing for IDP solutions suited to fragmented governance; identify priority geographies and feasible area-based pathways (including local integration, settlement elsewhere, and transitional outcomes where durable solutions are not yet achievable); clarify roles/coordination arrangements; and set out minimum, protection-centred monitoring and data governance recommendations. The Strategy will also generate structured inputs to inform the new Transitional Cooperation Framework (TCF) design for 2027–2028/29 and support mainstreaming of solutions priorities into UN planning.

Task description

Supervision / reporting lines: The UN Volunteer will have a dual reporting line:

1. Primary day-to-day supervision by the Triple Nexus Specialist, RCO Myanmar; and
2. Second reporting line / overall direction by the Head of Office, RCO Myanmar.

Tasks: As the UNCT-owned IDP Solutions Strategy (2026–2028) is expected to be finalized ahead of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will primarily support coordination and early im-plementation/operationalization of the Strategy, including by:

• Supporting the RCO to service and maintain inter-agency coordination around imple-mentation of the IDP Solutions Strategy (meeting preparation, agendas, minutes, fol-low-up tracking, and maintaining an action tracker), in close collaboration with relevant UN entities and technical focal points.
• Assisting with roll-out planning and internal dissemination of the Strategy across the UN system, including preparing short internal briefs/one-pagers and consolidating UN entity inputs on responsibilities, sequencing, and feasible operational entry points con-sistent with area-based, protection-centred and risk-informed approaches.
• Supporting translation of Strategy priorities into implementable steps, such as helping compile workplans, timelines, and consolidated inputs linked to priority geogra-phies/pilot areas and the Strategy’s minimum monitoring approach (as guided by the RCO and relevant leads).
• Supporting implementation of the Transitional Cooperation Framework (TCF) as it re-lates to IDP solutions, including coordinating UNCT and development partner en-gagement on IDP-solutions priorities, sequencing and messaging; preparing back-ground notes, briefing lines, and meeting readouts for partner engagements (do-nors/IFIs/pooled funds); tracking follow‑up actions and commitments; and supporting TCF Thematic and Results Groups’ engagement on IDP solutions by preparing meet-ing materials, identifying cross‑pillar synergies, attending relevant meetings, and doc-umenting decisions and next steps.
• Supporting regular exchange with field offices and the humanitarian area‑based coor-dination architecture on implementation of the IDP Solutions Strategy, including col-lecting and synthesizing field inputs, highlighting emerging operational con-straints/opportunities, and ensuring feedback loops between sub‑national coordination forums and UNCT/RCO processes.
• Supporting evidence consolidation for implementation tracking, including organizing and summarizing relevant displacement/solutions analyses and monitoring inputs, and helping maintain reference folders/products (as appropriate and in line with infor-mation‑sharing sensitivities and data ownership).
• Contributing to partner engagement documentation and coordination with civil society and partner organizations on IDP solutions, including mapping key stakeholders; or-ganizing and facilitating consultations (in-person or remote, as appropriate); preparing consultation/briefing materials; taking and consolidating notes from consultations; summarizing implementation constraints and opportunities; mapping feasible, risk‑aware modalities; and synthesizing inputs to inform UNCT coordination and im-plementation follow‑up, under guidance of the RCO.
• Support other tasks in line with the mandate and objectives of the RCO, as guided by the supervisors.

During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work closely with his/her supervisors to finalize an agreed-upon work plan. The work plan should outline key objectives and activities and include regular check ins with the supervisor to review progress and receive performance feedback.

Skills and experience

Demonstrated interest and/or experience (ideally one year) in:

• Displacement related programming, research/analysis, or programmes supporting cri-sis-affected populations.
• supporting the coordination of a wide range of stakeholders with diverse mandates, in-terests, and backgrounds (e.g., UN entities, NGOs/CSOs, development partners) in complex or fast-changing settings, including facilitating inclusive processes, maintain-ing effective communication and follow-up, and helping build shared understanding and trust across different perspectives.
• working collaboratively and solution oriented in a sensitive operating environment.
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;

Skills in:
• Strong interpersonal and relationship‑building skills, with the ability to build trust, bridge perspectives, and foster consensus among diverse stakeholders and within diverse teams.
• Coordination support (planning, action tracking, follow‑up management)
• Strong writing and synthesis (drafting short briefs/background notes, summarizing dis-cussions, consolidating inputs)
• Stakeholder engagement and communication
• Information management
• Analytical skills (identifying themes/synergies across inputs; flagging constraints and opportunities in a structured way)
• Teamwork and professionalism in sensitive contexts (discretion, reliability, intercultural communication, ability to work with guidance and learn quickly)

Competencies and values

Accountability
Adaptability and Flexibility
Building Trust
Client Orientation
Commitment and Motivation
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Communication
Creativity
Empowering Others
Ethics and Values
Integrity
Knowledge Sharing
Planning and Organizing
Professionalism
Respect for Diversity
Self-Management
Technological Awareness
Working in Teams

Living conditions

Yangon is Myanmar’s largest city and its most important commercial and logistics hub, located at the confluence of the Yangon and Bago Rivers. Yangon has a rich and diverse cultural life with major cultural landmarks such as Shwedagon pagoda. Day-to-day living is more service-accessible than elsewhere in the country, with availability of basic goods and services relative to other locations. The city experiences a tropical monsoon pattern with intense rains; during the monsoon, parts of the city can be exposed to flooding, exacerbated by drainage limitations and the city’s wetland geography. In the current operating context, travel from Yangon to other parts of Myanmar is severely restricted and can change at short notice due to conflict and access constraints. Living conditions include heat and humidity, seasonal flooding, periodic power cuts, and occasional unavailability of certain imported products. The health-care system is limited; while private hospitals exist in Yangon, cases beyond routine care may require medical travel (commonly to Bangkok).

Conditions of Service

The Conditions of Service, available here: https://explore.unv.org/cos, outline the policies and rules governing UN Volunteer assignments. Full information on entitlements at the duty station can be accessed here: https://app.unv.org/calculator.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.