Youth Advocacy Officer

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

The Opportunity

This is a Fixed term role from April to September 2025.

In this role as the Youth Advocacy Officer you will deliver the She Leads activities for Plan International within the global level programme. This includes facilitating opportunities for GYW-led groups to engage at the Geneva level (under the “Change Agents” objective of the UN Strategy) and advocating for girls’ and young women’s participation to be included in relevant policy documents (under the “Changing Policy”. Specifically, this role is responsible for the smooth running of the She Leads UN Youth Cohort.

The role will also work with other functions within the UN Team, to integrate key She Leads programme activities into the work and priorities of the team, supporting colleagues in identifying opportunities to further GYW-led advocacy as part of the broader work of the UN Team. Furthermore, the role will work together with key internal teams (GH Policy Advocacy Campaigns Engagement (PACE), LEAD Network, among others).

The role will contribute to monitoring and evaluation requirements for the She Leads project, as well as monitor expenses related to the cohort.

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge

• Good understanding of the UN system and its human rights mechanisms in particular, including how these can advance national level advocacy;
• Knowledge of gender equality, women’s, children’s and girls’ rights, feminist principles, and familiarity with the Sustainable Development Agenda;
• Previous experience with conducting multilateral advocacy;
• Able to influence human rights system through strengthening language and use of mechanisms;
• Knowledge of current political trends and events affecting children’s and girls’ rights;
• Ability to communicate complex issues in an accessible and simple manner;
• Excellent writing skills – especially for policy-related documents;
• Good understanding of youth activism, advocacy and young feminist organizing;
• Excellent level of oral and written English;
• Good organisational, and project and time management skills;
• Skilled and confident user of Microsoft Office applications (including Excel);
• Desirable - completion of a Master’s degree programme in human rights, political science, gender studies, international law, international development or any other specific field relevant to Plan International’s work;

Please follow this link for a full role profile; Youth Advocacy Officer_Dec2024.docx

Please respond to the requirements of the role in your cover letter.

Location : The location of this role can be flexible, preferably closer a She Leads country (Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Jordan and Lebanon), or where Plan International has an office

Type of role : Fixed Term Contract from April to September 2025, this could be considered a secondment opportunity.

Salary : We will be happy to disclose the salary and applicable benefits to applicants as part of this process, however, please kindly note that the salary and employment benefits will be set according to your location and therefore it is not possible to include full details here.

Closing Date :  16th March 2025 (UK midnight)

Applicable locations include : Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and / or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.