Programme Specialist, Population Dynamics & Youth, Dili

## Programme Specialist, Population Dynamics & Youth, Dili - Organization:UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund - Office:UNFPA Timor Leste Description of assignment title:Programme Specialist, Population Dynamics & Youth Assignment country:Timor-Leste Work location:On UN premises Expected start date:10/01/2026 Duration:12 months(with possibility of extension)Long-term benefits and allowances Sustainable Development Goal:3. Good health and well-being Volunteer category:Expert UCoS from Apr2026 Work schedule:Full-time Number of Assignments:1 Mission and objectives: - UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health and rights agency, expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives. It is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. - Since 2003, UNFPA Timor-Leste has supported the Government of Timor-Leste to conduct Census and has strongly promoted sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality as key elements to achieve human rights and human dignity. Over the past decade UNFPA assistance has contributed towards establishing basic social services and generating baseline socio-demographic data for Timor-Leste. - The main focus of the programme is to support national efforts to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, in line with the UNFPA transformative results to end maternal deaths, unmet need for family planning, and gender-based violence and harmful practices -- responding to the principle of leaving no one behind, focusing on women, adolescents and youth, particularly those living in rural areas, people with disabilities and key population groups. - According to the 2022 Population Census of Timor-Leste, the country has a population of 1,341,737. The total fertility rate declined from 6.4 to 3.6 live births per woman between 2010 and 2022, while the life expectancy has increased, from 62.9 years in 2000 to 68 years in 2022. With 62 per cent of the population under the age of 25, Timor-Leste’s youthful demographic presents both opportunities and challenges. Although harnessing a demographic dividend is possible, nearly 29.3 per cent of youth are not in education, employment or training (NEET), underscoring the urgent need for investment in education, vocational training, job creation and gender-inclusive labour policies, as well as meaningful youth engagement and leadership. - UNFPA’s fifth Country Programme (CP5) in Timor-Leste covering 2026-2030 is aligned with the UNFPA Strategic Plan (2026-2029), national development plans and strategies, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2026-2030). The programme is aimed to achieve the interlinked four outputs, one of which focuses on empowering young people through coordinated multisectoral programmes and strengthened evidence-based policy advisory towards harnessing the demographic dividend. The country programme also envisages a technical data working group with the Resident Coordinator, the World Bank, other UN agencies, and INETL (National Institute Of Statistics Timor-Leste) to strengthen the quality and use of demographic and socio-economic data for planning, monitoring, and evaluation, and supporting periodic demographic analysis for policy and advocacy engagement. This IUNV position was established to work with the UNFPA Country Office team in Timor-Leste and deliver dedicated technical and programmatic leadership on population dynamics, harnessing the demographic dividend, youth investment and development issues. - Under the overall guidance of the UNFPA Representative and direct supervision of the International Programme Coordinator, the International UN Volunteer will lead UNFPA’s technical work on population dynamics, demographic dividend and youth development, translating demographic evidence into policy dialogue, multisectoral youth programming and programme results, and ensure linkages with UNFPA’s programmatic outputs and initiatives in sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, prevention and response to gender-based violence, and climate change. - Within delegated authority and under the overall supervision of the International Programme Coordinator (IPC), the IUNV Programme Specialist, Population Dynamics and Youth will: - ? Analyse and assess relevant political, economic and social trends, population dynamics, age structure trends, and their socio-economic and environmental implications, and provide inputs to national development frameworks. - ? Lead and manage the planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the Population Dynamics and Youth Development portfolio under the Country Programme, in close collaboration with relevant ministries, the National Institute of Statistics, civil society organizations (CSOs), and youth groups. - ? Lead development of youth investment cases and demographic dividend analysis in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, National Institute of Statistics and other partners, to integrate youth development issues into national and local plans, and advocate for investment in youth development issues - ? Produce decision-ready policy and programme briefs for government counterparts, UN partners, UNFPA, and other partners to support efforts to harness the demographic dividend and strengthen evidence-based policies and programmes. - ? Support policy dialogue and technical coordination with the Government of Timor-Leste, line ministries, INETL, UN agencies, and development partners, including co-facilitation of the inter-agency technical working group on Data for Development. - ? Represent UNFPA’s technical position on population dynamics in interagency forums, national policy dialogues and planning processes as delegated. - ? Lead resource mobilization and partnership development for population dynamics and youth development by preparing funding proposals, concept notes, conference papers, donor reports, and other relevant resource mobilization and partnership materials. - ? Support strengthening of multisectoral youth coordination mechanisms to enhance intersectoral coordination, monitoring, reporting and financing of the National Action Plan for Youth (NAP-Youth). - ? Provide guidance and support to strengthen youth programme implementation, including improving comprehensive sexuality education for in-school and out-of-school adolescents and youth, youth empowerment, and strengthening youth networks. - ? Provide capacity-building support to national counterparts and Country Office staff on demography, population dynamics, megatrends, and the use of population and youth data through training, mentoring, and knowledge-sharing. - ? Perform other related tasks as required by the Country Office management. - Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment. Assignment requirements - English, Level: Fluent, Required Required education level: - Master's degree in Advanced degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Demography, Population studies, Population and development, Statistics, Economics, development studies, or a related field. Competencies and values: - ? Adaptability and Flexibility - ? Commitment and Motivation - ? Commitment to Continuous Learning - ? Judgement and Decision-making - ? Managing Performance - ? Planning and Organizing - ? Respect for Diversity - ? Technological Awareness Skills and experience: - ? Minimum of eight years of progressively responsible professional experience in population dynamics, demographic analysis, population and development, youth development, or related fields. - ? Demonstrated ability to conduct data analysis, research, policy analysis, and apply demographic methods and translate quantitative analysis into policy-relevant outputs. Experience working with national statistics systems is an asse