Associate – Tribal Development

Madhya Pradesh offers a significant opportunity to establish a strategic partnership with the Tribal Development Department and strengthen linkages between UNFPA’s state-level work and the national Adi Yuva Fellows initiative, which was also implemented in Madhya Pradesh with the Tribal Welfare Department. The assignment will support efforts to build a comprehensive national–state partnership focused on tribal adolescents and youth, while exploring opportunities for resource mobilization and scale-up of the Umang Youth Programme within the Tribal Development Department.

Based on initial engagement with the Department, there is strong interest in and appetite for collaboration on life skills education and Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues among adolescents in tribal schools. The position will support UNFPA in developing an inter-sectoral model, identifying opportunities to leverage existing government platforms and resources, and building a sustainable partnership that can be taken to scale.

Under the direct supervision of the State Head of Office, Madhya Pradesh, the UN Associate Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support mapping and strengthening of linkages between national Adi Yuva Fellows initiatives and state-level tribal youth programmes.
• Support engagement with the Tribal Development Department to develop a strategic partnership focusing on adolescent life skills and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) issues in schools/ hostels in Tribal areas.
• Contribute to the development of an inter-sectoral model for integrating life skills and SRH within tribal education and youth programmes.
• Support identification of government schemes, platforms and resources that can be leveraged for programme financing and scale-up.
• Support documentation of emerging opportunities, partnerships and models for resource mobilization and replication.
• Assist in stakeholder coordination, evidence generation, presentations and communication materials to strengthen the partnership and scale-up agenda.

The assignment will therefore provide strategic and operational support to establish a sustainable Tribal Development–UNFPA partnership, while creating opportunities to leverage government resources and scale adolescent and youth-focused interventions.