Dear IFSA World!

Would you like to become more involved with what happens in IFSA? A new opportunity is here – you can now apply to become an IFSA Official for the 2019-2020 period!

We are on the search for an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual who will serve IFSA in the capacity of Head of UNFF Sub-Commission. The term of this position will be for the remainder of the current IFSA year (until IFSS 2020). This individual should be from one of IFSA’s local committees.

The Head of UNFF Sub-Commission is a focal point position for the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Major Group for Children and Youth. This role has the important duty of stepping outside of IFSAs mandate to represent the membership and delivering on the mandate of all global citizens under 30 years of age. Furthermore, the UNFF Sub-Commission is situated under the International Policy Commission which means the position holder is accountable for reporting to the Head of International Policy Commission. Additionally, this position works in a tandem-system, meaning that there is a second position holder to collaborate with. For further information regarding the position please find the full list of duties, responsibilities and tasks beneath.

Being as the Head of UNFF Sub-Commission is a very exciting and rewarding role placed at the heart of IFSA which allows you to grow personally and professionally while gaining a deeper understanding of IFSA. You are a vital component within the IFSA network and we welcome your application!

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

The position holders are to act as the global focal point for the UNFF Major Group for Children and Youth (UNFF MGCY). This carries with it several important responsibilities:

  • Mandatory attendance at the UNFF session each year (May in New York City).
  • Build a diverse delegation of youth to participate in the UNFF session and support children and youth policy position.
  • Preferred attendance at intersessional events including expert group consultations, and other relevant UN processes (e.g. High-Level Political Forum).
  • Sit on the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) Coordination Team – supporting cohesion and coordination across all UNMGCY’s thematic and institutional work (UN system-wide).
  • Consult broadly across all forestry-related entities, students, children and youth, and those in related disciplines.
  • Using this consultation, develop youth policy proposals for the UNFF and other UN organs.
  • Provide youth input to the Major Groups Partnership on Forests (MGPoF) work
  • within the UNFF including board meetings, e-mail communications, and joint policy papers.
  • Produce content for UNFF MGCY social media pages (Facebook and Twitter).
  • Implementation of the UNFF MGCY Work Plan.
  • Time responsibilities for this role vary depending on the time of year; but given the increasing scope and responsibility of this role, it may require upwards of 15-20 hours a week commitment.
  • You must be able to travel for this role and be able to obtain a visa (or equivalent) for entry into the United States.

Collaboration (Relationships):

The holder of this position will collaborate across the IFSA network to inform policy development and advocacy and help with the coordination of events. This will include:

  • Second Head of the UNFF sub-commission
  • President
  • Councillor for External Affairs
  • Liaison Officer of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
  • Commission(s) responsible for communications and outreach (Communication Commission)
  • Commission(s) responsible for other UN-related international processes (International Policy Commission)
  • Collaboration may be required with any and all other Officials, particularly those who engage with members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.

Desired Skills and Attributes:

The following skills and knowledge are required for this role:

  • Strong English competency in both verbal and written form
  • Leadership and collaboration skills
  • Strong communication skills
  • Knowledge of the international forest policy landscape and the United Nations

The following skills and knowledge are desirable for this role:

  • Social and professional networking abilities
  • Policy writing ability
  • Risk identification and mitigation

Upcoming work:

The position holder will need to continue work to deliver the UNFF MGCY Work Plan 2018-2022 as detailed at https://ifsa.net/unffworkplan. This will include collaboration within IFSA and external partners to finalize concept notes for projects, identify supporters and donors, and establish projects. The next twelve months will require the UNFF position holders to take the lead on broadening the scope of the UNFF MGCYs work and consultation base, as well as integration into the UNMGCY. This may include:

  • Establishment of a new core team for UNFF MGCY work – supporting greater engagementUNMGCY.
  • This may include processes and procedures to elect Science-Policy Interface Focal Points
  • to better support the UNMGCY system.
  • This may include processes and procedures to elect Regional Focal Points to provide a more informed representation of children and youth.
  • Engaging with UNMGCY to discuss the future direction of development.

Major events will include:

  • UN ECOSOC Youth Forum: Anticipated January 2020, New York City, USA.
  • UNFF 15th Session: Anticipated May 2020, New York City, USA.

How to apply:

You must provide the following documents. Both documents (1 & 2) must be submitted as a SINGLE PDF file.

  1. A letter from your Local Committee (LC) President verifying that you are a member of the LC.
  2. A motivation letter and strategy for the position (not more than 1 page, font size 12)
  3. A three (3)-minute video about your motivation and the strategy for the position.

Your letter of motivation must answer:

  • Why do you think that this position is important for IFSA?
  • Why would you want to become an official for this position?
  • How would you achieve this positions main tasks?
  • Do you think you have the right skills for this position? What are they?
  • What international events are relevant for your position, and will you be able to attend them?
  • What would your key goals for the year be?
  • Why do you think that this position is important for IFSA? How much time will you be able to commit to carrying out this position’s tasks?
  • What, from your understanding of the role (and in case of Liaison Officers, the understanding of the partnership) do you think your work will be focused on?

All applications must be sent to: council@ifsa.net

All applications must use the subject: HEAD OF UNFF application – YOUR NAME

Any application which does not meet the requirements and instructions listed shall be disqualified.

DEADLINE: 7th -09- 2019 – 23:59 CET