Vacancy Announcement: Regional Focal Point for Youth Participation and Leaving Care

Job Ref: SOS/08/04

Context of the Position

SOS Children’s Villages International (SOS CVI) is non-governmental and non-denominational organization working with communities, partners and states to ensure that the rights of all children are fulfilled in every society. SOS CVI is a global federation working to protect and care for children who have lost parental care, or who stand at risk of losing the care. We respect all religions and cultures and work with trusted partners in places where we can contribute to social development. Everything we do is made possible through the generous support of sponsors and donors, institutional and corporate partners, and loyal friends worldwide.

Envisioning that every child belongs to a family and grows up with love, respect and security, we exist to build families for children in need, we help them shape their own futures, and we share in the development of their communities. Everything we do is guided by the firm belief that no child should grow up alone and that we need to improve care for children who are at risk, enabling them to overcome precarious conditions and to succeed in life. To achieve our mission, our strategy for the upcoming decade focuses on ensuring the best care of children, innovation, and effective collaboration with more partners. Our core values guiding who we are and what we do include courage to take action, commitment to keep our promises, trust to believe in each other, and accountability to be reliable Partners.

The Purpose of the Position

The Mission of the Regional focal point for Youth Participation and Leaving is to help the MAs in the region in designing strategies mainly related to youth participation and leaving care processes in the context of rights based approaches and as described in the internal frameworks, e.g. SOS Care Promise, Youth Development user guide and You Participation user guide.

The aim of the position is to lead and strengthen youth participation and leaving care processes across the region. The position holder will support member associations in the region in establishing sustainable youth participation as well as leaving care processes, using rights-based approaches, as described in global internal frameworks like SOS Care Promise, Youth development user guide and Youth participation user guide. These efforts will lead to increased program quality and empowered SOS program participants and care leavers. The position holder will become an integral part of the IOR program development team.

Main Clients

• Regional PD director and PD team, especially Youth development focal point and Advocacy advisor
• Member associations in the region, especially with youth coordinators and, if applicable, national participation and leaving care focal points, as well as national advocacy advisors
• Team leaders and members of Youth & ICT4D team at the International Office (IO)
• Key external stakeholders (involved in projects)

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strengthen youth participation / support the implementation of the Youth participation user guide across the region

• Support member associations to establish robust and sustainable processes, methodologies and tools on how to work in partnership with young people in matters that affect them (e.g. program design, implementation, evaluation and advocacy campaigns)
• Support member associations to create a national strategy/concept and/or action plan on youth participation
• Build the capacity and strengthen the culture of youth participation in member associations by

identifying, sharing and scaling best practices within the region,

Developing and running capacity building methodologies and activities for staff and young people on youth participation and youth-led initiatives in MAs, eg an annual regional training on youth participation,

• Connect with other organizations and externally join forces on the issue of youth participation
• Closely cooperate with the International Youth participation Advisor to

build a global youth participation network,

co-develop tools and resources to mainstream youth participation across the federation and contextualize them for the region,

• Strengthening youth participation structures and youth-led initiatives in member associations by

Supporting MAs to establish solid and sustainable youth-led structures and networks (eg Youth Councils) and facilitate discussions at regional level between them,

Strengthening the transition of young people to interdependent adulthood across the region

• Support MAs to establish robust and sustainable processes to support young people transitioning to interdependent adulthood (preparation, transition and aftercare). This includes a regional mapping of national leaving care processes and working in partnership with care leavers
• Build capacities of youth workers on leaving care issues by

identifying, sharing and scaling best practices within the region

co-developing and running capacity-building methodologies, tools and activities

• Jointly with young people, and in close cooperation with advocacy focal points, advocate for improved leaving care services in the region, by

Support building up/strengthening national and regional care leavers’ networks

Offering skill development opportunities and expert support on the creation / development of care leaver networks

• Closely cooperate with the leaving care focal point in the global Youth&ICT4D team to

Exchange and share on good practices,

Knowledge, Experience, Competencies and Skills

• University degree in social sciences, social work, psychology, or any other relevant field
• 5 years’ of experience in a similar position involving implementation of youth development and participation policies and practices in alternative child care and prevention projects, desirable related to the leaving care process
• Proven track record of project management and experience in leading roles or ownership of projects/processes
• Experience in conducting training, workshops and other capacity building activities of staff in the area of youth development, youth participation and leaving care
• Relevant work experience in iNGOs or international organizations is a plus

We offer

• A diverse range of interesting tasks in a leading INGO multicultural working environment
• As a responsible employer we provide a range of training schemes and encourage educational enhancement
• A salary that will be commensurate with experience and qualifications

“SOS Children’s Villages International holds strict child safeguarding principles and a zero-tolerance policy for conducts of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse in the workplace and other places where the organization’s activities are rendered. Parallel to technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring decisions will give due emphasize to assessing candidates value congruence and thorough background checks, police clearance reference check processes”.