Result of Service

The final product of this consultancy will be a report submitted to the UNYO, as a compiled document of the conceptualization of the Youth in Politics Measurement Tool with a focus on the Middle East and Northern Africa Region, reflecting the insights and recommendations gathered through the workshops and consultations and results from the desk review and data analysis. An annex will compile more detailed information of the workshops and consultations.

Work Location

Remote

Expected duration

5 Months

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Setting, Purpose, and Objective: Background: Today, young people are consistently underrepresented in formal political decision-making. In February 2024, the data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) shows that only 1.8 percent of parliamentarians in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were younger than 30. If compared globally, the MENA region is the second region (after the Pacific) with less youth representation in the Parliament. In many countries, youth are entirely invisible in parliament. Additionally, when young people want to take part in decision making spaces, they face multiple cultural, structural, financial, and legislative barriers in exercising their political rights. This situation has fostered a sense of disappointment and even mistrust that some young people feel towards formal institutions and political systems. This trend of political disenchantment was further exacerbated in the MENA region after the MENA Spring outcomes and according to the research findings of the MENA Barometer’s, youth in the MENA region are evidently disengaged from both formal and informal politics. To meaningfully increase the representation of young people in public life and politics, more disaggregated data is necessary to inform the current status of the world on youth engagement in policymaking and decision-making processes, including in peace processes. A strong and reliable data framework can support better policies that ensure youth political participation by removing the existing barriers to their meaningful and safe engagement, making systems and institutions more inclusive and diverse. The Secretary-General’s report on Our Common Agenda calls for a renewal of solidarity across generations, particularly with youth and future generations, and puts forward several concrete recommendations to further that objective. Our Common Agenda recognizes the underrepresentation of youth in politics as a significant challenge and outlines several recommendations for initiatives to increase representation, such as lowering the voting age and the eligibility age for standing as a candidate for elected office, as well as strengthening youth participatory bodies at various levels. This includes, in paragraph 46, the following proposal: “Together with leading researchers and academic institutions, I will explore a “youth in politics” index to track the opening of political space in countries around the world that young people are so clearly demanding, as well as the participation of young people in these processes.” In 2022, the Office of the Secretary-General Envoy on Youth, now integrated into the UN Youth Office, launched, in collaboration with The Body Shop, the global Be Seen, Be Heard campaign. This campaign aims at amplifying the voices of young people and actively promoting young people’s participation in political life in more than 75 countries, including in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Some of the key objectives of the campaign are tangible efforts to lower the voting age, align the eligibility age to run for office with voting age or to increase youth representation in formal governance structures, such as through youth councils. Alongside the campaign, the Be Seen, Be Heard Global Youth Report offers concrete recommendations for policy and legislative improvements, and provides a strong basis for local advocacy efforts. Both the campaign and the report have been instrumental in building momentum and raising awareness on the question of youth political participation. It lays the foundation to further promote meaningful youth engagement in policymaking and decision-making processes as well as in removing the barriers that constraint youth participation in politics. Building on those initial results and based on the scoping exercises held in 2022 and 2023, the UN Youth Office is seeking to advance in the development of a measurement framework of the progress of States in the MENA region in removing barriers to youth political participation and bolstering their representation in formal political structures, including in peace and negotiation processes in the region. Indeed, participation being one of the five (5) pillars of the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, measuring the participation of young people in governance, including peacebuilding processes will also support the advancement of the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda. Objective and Scope of Work: This consultancy’s objective is to develop a Youth in Politics Measurement Tool Pilot with a focus on the Middle East and Northern Africa Region. The Youth in Politics Measurement Tool in the MENA Region has the potential to have a transformative impact, by providing timely information about progress regarding young people’s political participation and by tracking the opening of political spaces in countries in the region. Duties and Responsibilities: The consultant will apply the following approach, among others, to develop a Youth in Politics Measurement Tool with a focus on the Middle East and Northern Africa Region: 1. Taking stock: the consultant will support the UNYO to convene a technical workshop with UN entities together with youth groups, think tanks and academic institutions to define the scope and methodological approach of a Youth in Politics Measurement Tool. The workshop will facilitate technical discussions on the development of such a tool with the concrete aim to develop a roll-out plan for its operationalization with a pilot phase focusing on the MENA region. 2. Building Momentum: aligned with the key principles of meaningful youth participation, the consultant will lead a series of intergenerational and multistakeholder dialogues between policymakers, decision-makers and youth experts from the MENA region to discuss the barriers young people faced to participate in formal politics and how their representation can be strengthened. 3. Conceptualizing: the consultant will facilitate and coordinate the process of the conceptualization of the Youth in Politics Measurement Tool in the MENA region. With a collaboration with a research centre and/or academic institution, the consultant will conduct a desk review of available data, indexes, methodologies and relevant stakeholders on youth political participation, collect data, analyze it for the development of the Youth in Politics Measurement Tool in the MENA region with the potential for scale up at global level. 4. Stakeholder validation: the consultant will organize a hybrid (physical/virtual) validation workshop for stakeholders in the MENA region to provide inputs on the draft Youth in Politics Measurement Tool. Expected Outputs: 1. Technical workshop: will include convening a multistakeholder to define the scope and methodological approach of a Youth in Politics Measurement Tool with a focus in the MENA region. 2. Intergenerational and multistakeholder consultations: will include gathering inputs through dialogues between policymakers, decision-makers and youth experts from the MENA region on the barriers young people faced to participate in formal politics and how their representation can be strengthened. 3. Conceptualization: will focus on the delivery of a hybrid validation workshop for stakeholders in the MENA region to provide inputs on the draft Youth in Politics Measurement Tool. 4. Validation workshop: will include validating preliminary results with key stakeholders in the MENA region in order to provide inputs on the draft Youth in Politics Measurement Tool. 5. Final Report

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in international relations, law, diplomacy, peace and security, development, government, project management, Social Sciences or similar areas. A first-level university degree with a combination of two years professional experience and academic qualifications may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in project or programme management, administration, youth development/empowerment and political participation or related area is required. Proven experience with project management, strategic advocacy and data analysis is desirable. Proven experience in managing projects/initiatives on civic and/or political participation focusing on youth is desirable. Professional experience working in and/or for the Middle East and Northern Africa region is an added advantage. Experience with multi-stakeholder coordination and working with the UN on youth issues is desirable. Experience working with youth-led civil society and/or on youth rights is desirable.

Languages

Fluency in written and spoken English is required, proficiency of other UN Languages is an added advantage.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.