Org. Setting and Reporting

This position is located in the ESCAP Subregional Office in North and Central Asia (SONCA) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and is under the Sustainable Demographic Transition Section, Social Development Division. The Social Affairs Officer reports to the Chief of Sustainable Demographic Transition Section in the Social Development Division at ESCAP.

Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Section in the Social Development Division and overall supervision of the Director of the Social Development Division, the Social Affairs Officer will be responsible for the following duties:

Social Analysis

•  Proposes, designs and carries out substantive, technical research projects on population and development issues, analyzing key trends and changes in socio-economic structures and related issues as they relate to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other United Nations major guiding documents on social development (e.g., population and development, poverty, migration, ageing, family, youth gender issues, etc.) at regional and national levels; assesses implications and develops proposals with respect to social development and social welfare policies and interventions.
•  Applies, develops and adapts new lines of theoretical analysis and research methodologies for the analysis of population and development issues as they relate to major transformations in socio-economic structures.
•  Develops and maintains databases on population and development indicators, including policy information.
•  Liaises and partners with other experts in the field (e.g. governments, research institutes, academia, other international organizations, etc.) to discuss issues related to social development, exchanges views on latest findings, policy guidelines, new models of development, etc.; helps ensure that lessons learned are disseminated and incorporated into development programmes and other initiatives, including gender-related activities.
•  Plans, organizes and provides substantial servicing of intergovernmental meetings, ad hoc expert group meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. to include identification and selection of participants, development of background documentation, preparation of reports, documents, policy recommendations and analytical briefs based on the outcome of such meetings.
•  Prepares a variety of technical studies, reports, background papers, parliamentary documentation, etc. on a wide range of social development and related issues.
• Intergovernmental Support
•  Provides substantive support on social issues, particularly on population and development issues, to intergovernmental bodies (such as the ESCAP Committee on Social Development, the ESCAP Commission session, other regional intergovernmental meetings in population and development, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Population and Development and the Commission for Social Development).
•  Represents the organizational unit at international, regional and national meetings.
•  Organizes panels, round tables, etc. on social development issues for intergovernmental processes.

Technical Cooperation

•  Provides technical assistance to ESCAP member and associate members and regional and subregional bodies in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes related to socio-economic development with a focus on population and development concerns.
•  Designs, monitors, backstops and assesses the implementation of technical cooperation programmes and projects.
•  Undertakes missions to member States, either alone or as a participant in a diverse team, as part of the Organization’s technical cooperation activities and/or in support of the work programme.
•  Prepares global, regional, national or sectoral analyses that provide a basis for advising national governments on social development issues.
•  Conducts training seminars and workshops for government officials and others.
•  Formulates technical modalities for the evaluation of individual technical cooperation projects.

General

•  May participate in planning and preparation of unit budget and work program and in the administration of the day-to-day operations of the unit, including personnel responsibilities of the unit.
•  Provides leadership and work direction to assigned work team, and/or mentors and supervises the work of new/junior officers.
•  Prepares statements on social and economic issues with a focus on population and development concerns for the Director of the Division, the Deputy Executive Secretary and the Executive Secretary of ESCAP, as required.
•  Performs other related duties as required.

Requirements

Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in sociology, demography, statistics, economics, public policy, other social science or related field. A recognized first-level university degree in the above fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience: A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in socio- economic development, policy analysis, and report-drafting with a focus on population and development is required. Demonstrated experience in providing support to intergovernmental work on population and development at regional and global levels is desirable. Experience in working at the regional or international level on issues related to population and development within the framework of sustainable development is desirable.

Languages:

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Russian is desirable.

Source:https://inspira.un.org/psc/UNCAREERS/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/UN_CUSTOMIZATIONS.UN_JOB_DETAIL.GBL?Page=UN_JOB_DETAIL&Action=A&JobOpeningId=140145