Programme Coordinator of the UN Theme Group on Youth (UNTGY)

Host entity: UNFPA

Volunteer type: National

Areas of expertise: Communication, advocacy, public information, Project management, programme development, strategy, Public health, immunisation

Application deadline: 11/10/2026

Mission and objectives

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.

UNFPA is formally named the United Nations Population Fund. The organization was created in 1969, the same year the United Nations General Assembly declared “parents have the exclusive right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.”

UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services – including voluntary family planning, maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education.

UNFPA in China has been working with the Government of China and other national counterparts for more than four decades and implementing programmes for improving women’s health, prevention of maternal deaths, conducting research on health and population issues, promotion of healthy and productive ageing, prevention of women’s cancers, and enhancing reproductive health, information and education for young people.

UNFPA China works with governments, CSOs, the private sector, youth networks and young people themselves to improve adolescents' sexual and reproductive health (ASRH), including life-skills based sexuality education through innovative and participatory approaches both in China and abroad through South-South Trilateral Cooperation (SSTC).

UNFPA China is currently the Chair and the Secretariat of the UN Theme Group on Youth, which is a platform for dialogues and coordination within the UN system and with youth stakeholders to support the fulfillment of China’s international and national commitments to youth engagement, empowerment, and development.

Assignment context

The UNSDCF 2021-2025 for China, signed between the Government of China and participating UN entities, represents the strategic and programmatic framework for the UN to support the Government in its implementation of national development priorities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To ensure an integrated and coordinated UN response to UNSDCF implementation, the UN in China established an internal coordination architecture consisting of cross-cutting Theme Groups and Results Groups. Overall, the coordination architecture aims to facilitate joint planning and programming under the UNSDCF outcome areas, enable more effective results reporting, and provide a platform for information exchange and identification of synergies in key areas in which multiple UN agencies work.

Youth development and youth engagement are cross-cutting issues in the UNSDCF implementation and the SDGs. The UNTGY is established as an integral part of the UNSDCF implementation to ensure that all UN agencies and their youth stakeholders can advance their strengths in all contexts, so that the UN’s work on youth issues is pursued in a coordinated, coherent, and holistic manner while involving dynamic youth voices, thus delivering as one.

The UNTGY is also an accountable body at the country level to best apply the UN Youth Strategy, which was launched in 2018 as an umbrella framework to guide the UN as it steps up its work with and for young people.

As of March 2024, the UNTGY members include (in no particular order): United Nations Resident Coordinator Office (RCO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Labor Organization (ILO), UN-Habitat, UN Women, The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Volunteers (UNV), World Food Program (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and United Nations University (UNU).

Specifically, the UNTGY aims to:
• Provide opportunities for strategic discussion and exchange of information on the UN’s work with youth in China;
• Ensure the operationalization of the UN Strategy on Youth through ongoing agency-led initiatives, as well as through the development of new joint knowledge management, advocacy and partnership initiatives;
• Facilitate meaningful youth involvement and participation in all outcome areas of the UNSDCF.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the UNFPA Youth Officer, the National UN Associate Volunteer will:

Programme Coordination:
• Provide coordination, communication and administrative support to the Chair, the Secretariat, and members of the UNTGY to jointly deliver the annual work plan for the adolescent and youth programme, including but not limited to online and offline event organisation, advocacy activities, knowledge products, and youth engagement, etc.
• Provide assistance with coordination, communication, liaison, and administration to regular and ad hoc UNTGY meetings and joint activities.

Cross-agencies programme management:
• Provide technical and administrative support on knowledge products management such as the development of a youth situation analysis in coordination with youth, various UN agencies and external experts.
• As part of the UNTGY team, work across UN thematic and results groups on certain topics and occasions.
• Provide translation support for meetings and relevant documents from Chinese to English and vice versa.

Partnership Management:
• Support the development and partnership building on the Joint UN Youth Programme, including but not limited to event organization, resource mobilization, liaison with partners in diverse backgrounds, and document drafting and reporting.
• Assist the operationalization of the UN Strategy on Youth through ongoing agency-led initiatives, as well as through the development of new joint knowledge management, advocacy, and partnership initiatives.

Others:
• Perform other duties as required by the UNTGY Secretariat and the Chair.
• Support Adolescent and Youth (A&Y) programmes at UNFPA as required by the UNFPA Programme Analyst on A&Y.

Skills and experience

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience (up to 2 years) in programme/project design, coordination, implementation, administration, event organization, communications, and/or research.
• Proven knowledge of the United Nations system and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with interests in working in international development, youth development, leadership, and participation.
• Experience with the non-profit sector in the capacity of studies, volunteer work or internship would be highly regarded.
• Strong analytical and writing skills in both English and Chinese.
• Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members from different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Excellent skills in communications, event planning and implementation, with an innovative, can-do attitude and detail-oriented work approaches.
• Fluency in spoken and written Chinese and English is required.

Competencies and values

• Accountability
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Creativity
• Judgement and decision-making
• Planning and organising
• Professionalism
• Self-management

Living conditions

The duty station of the national UN Volunteer is located in Beijing. The volunteer will receive a standard volunteer living allowance (VLA) as well as other entitlements. You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator.

The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.

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