Terms of Reference (TOR)
UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth (UN ECA PY)
Background
1. Young people occupy an important place in the national, regional and international development
agenda. The United Nations Secretary-General has included working for and with young people as one
of the five priority areas in his Five–Year Action Agenda. The General Assembly, in paragraph 8 (a) of the
World Programme of Action on Youth, as adopted in resolution 50/81 of 14 December 1995,
emphasized that “every State should provide young people with opportunities for obtaining education,
for acquiring skills and for participating fully in all aspects of society”. Twenty years after its adoption,
the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY), remains relevant as Member States reaffirmed their
commitment during the High-Level Event of the General Assembly marking the 20th Anniversary.
The Secretary-General's Five-Year Action Agenda also calls for deepening the youth focus of existing
programmes on employment, entrepreneurship, political inclusion, citizenship and protection of rights,
and education, including on sexual and reproductive health. The youth population cohort is the largest
in history1, and this significantly determines the extent to which countries will be able to harness their
demographic dividend and achieve the goals of the post-2015 development agenda.
2. Young people’s development in all regions of the world continues to be constrained by obstacles at
different levels. As a social group, young people face major challenges that are increasing in complexity,
with young men and women experiencing them differently. At the same time, young people in Europe
and Central Asia, as elsewhere, have much to contribute to building an inclusive, sustainable and
prosperous societies, provided they are given the opportunity to develop their skills through access to
education, decent work and adequate health care, and to participate in decision-making processes.
3. The process of globalization has had a profound impact on the lives of young people, causing tension
between traditional and modern expectations, values and norms. The support systems that youth have
relied upon in the past at times of difficulty have eroded because of changing family structures and
migration due to education and employment opportunities. The challenges posed by these changes are
compounded by inadequate access to education, employment, and health services including for mental,
sexual and reproductive health. Therefore young people are beginning to doubt that their lives will be as
good as those of their parents. At the same time, despite all the constraints, young people have
emerged as a tremendous resource for development in the region. The youth of today are in a position
to contribute to improving the social, political and economic fabric of society.
4. Given the importance of investment in young people’s human capital, which will be one of the most
direct determinant of countries’ future prosperity, and taking into account the critical process for
defining the post-2015 development course and in order to ensure that young people and their rights
and needs are adequately positioned and their development and wellbeing effectively monitored, the
1
State of World Population 2014, UNFPA –
http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/EN-SWOP14-Report_FINAL-web.pdf
Regional United Nations Development Group Team for Europe and Central Asia (ECA R-UNDG) agreed to
establish an Inter-agency Network on Youth Development in the region (UN Europe and Central Asia
Partnership for Youth in the following text) in an effort to jointly support the Member States in their
aspirations for building resilient, sustainable and equitable societies for all their members including for
the youth. This also responds to one of the enablers identified in the SG’s Five–Year Action Agenda
focusing on harnessing the full power of partnership across the range of UN activities to effectively
deliver on development agenda.
Objective
5. The overall objective of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth is to link global,
regional and country level policy and programme initiatives and support, in the Europe and Central Asia
region, the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth, the Secretary-General's FiveYear Action Agenda, the outcome of the Rio+20 Summit entitled “The Future We Want”, the ICPD
Programme of Action, the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), and of international conventions and legal instruments impacting youth, through working with
governments, development partners, civil society and young people themselves. The UN Europe and
Central Asia Partnership for Youth contributes to increasing the understanding and visibility of the UN
System’s work on youth development in the region.
6. In the spirit of UN coherence and cooperation, the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth
aims to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of UN work in youth development by strengthening
collaboration and exchange among all relevant UN entities, while respecting and harnessing the benefits
of their individual strengths and unique approaches and mandates.
7. It is envisaged that the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth efforts will focus on analysis
of regional trends and their impacts on young people, sharing regional good practices and policy options
and ensuring UN system-wide coherence and coordination at the regional level. The ECA R-UNDG
functions will advance national policy dialogue and strategy development and support the UN Country
Teams (UNCT) in their operational activities at the national level. The UN Europe and Central Asia
Partnership for Youth will ensure that the analytical, normative and operational work of the United
Nations system is closely aligned and responds to the emerging needs and voices of young people.
Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment approach will be mainstreamed and ensured
working on transformation of cultural norms which follows to gender inequality, discrimination and
gender based violence. Particular consideration will be given to the concerns of young people who face
vulnerabilities, giving particular attention to young women and girls, marginalized groups, including
youth in rural areas, youth with disabilities and young migrants taking into account the national social
and economic circumstances in each country. A transformative approach needs to be implemented in
order to ensure that young women and girls are empowered and considered as agents of changes at
local, national, and global levels. Young men should also be involved within interventions to eliminate
violence against women and girls as agents change within global movements (e.g. “Men Against
Violence” and “HeforShe” global campaign).
8. For the representatives of each entity, the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth:
 Provides a forum for cooperation and support;
 Provides an opportunity for on-going exchange of information on their work on youth
development, including through knowledge management initiatives and tools;
 Strengthens and supports cooperation to promote youth development, through joint advocacy
and initiatives and other forms of cooperation;
 Draws on the members’ networks and relationships with governments, youth-led and youthfocused organizations, donor agencies, civil society organizations, multilateral organizations and
others, to advance youth development; and
 Facilitates and supports youth involvement and participation in the UN System and its
programmes or initiatives at all levels.
Functions
9. The functions of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth include:
(a) Advocacy:
i) Undertaking joint advocacy for implementing policies that provide opportunities for young people to
build their capacity and contribute to development in the context of the region’s social, economic and
environmental challenges; for removing legal barriers to youth access to education, decent work and
adequate health care and their participation in decision-making processes; for enforcing the laws that
intend to eliminate harmful practices with regards to youth such as early and forced marriage, gender
based and domestic violence and all the forms of violence against girls and young women.
ii) Encouraging broad participation of young people in the United Nations system and its programmes
and commitment of participating sectors and civil society in dialogues on youth development.
(b) Analytical work:
i) Undertaking joint analytical work on policy options and on the status of young people in the region,
including issues relating to inequality and vulnerability, for evidence-based advocacy to benefit
governments and other stakeholders in the region.
(c) Information sharing, and networking:
i) Contributing to a better understanding and development of a common approach on the development
of young people in the region by strengthening mechanisms for information sharing of good practices;
ii) Establishing and maximizing the use of new and existing virtual platforms for information sharing of
experiences of countries, UNCTs, concerned UN agencies and civil society.
(d) Enhancing cooperation and coordination:
i) Enhancing cooperation among members of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth in
order to promote a more unified regional voice, enhance synergies and minimize duplication of
programmes and initiatives at the regional level;
ii) Providing coordinated technical support for regional and national policy dialogues and strategy
development, including the UNDAF and related processes, upon request of UNCTs;
iii) Creating synergies with existing initiatives, mechanisms and sub-groups, such as the Regional
Programme Advisory Group launched by R-UNDG that aims to facilitate and advance joint UN
positioning at regional level or the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth (DJ4Y)2.
(e) Promoting youth policies:
i) Organizing, as appropriate, intergovernmental meetings on national youth policies and on national
progress in meeting international commitments, as contained in the World Programme of Action on
Youth, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the SDGs and other
relevant internationally agreed goals;
ii) Organizing, as appropriate, stakeholder consultations to help formulate, improve, monitor and cost
national youth policies that respond to the emerging needs and voices of youth and protect them from
harmful practices.
Principles
The following principles will guide the work of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth:
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Autonomy – ensure that young people have freedom for self-determination
Beneficence – promote growth and development of young people and of the structures that
serve them
Competence – acquire and exercise effective skills and knowledge needed
Courage – act in favour of youth despite fears, risks and uncertainty
Empathy – communicate from a young perspective
Equity – give equal treatment to all young people, in a search for equality
Fairness – make decisions and undertake actions in a consistent manner
Humility – assess accurately and acknowledge strengths, weaknesses
Integrity – show commitment, straightforwardness, honesty, coherence
Non-maleficence – refrain from interfering with, competing against or marginalizing existing
youth structures
Resilience – work without being frustrated by “turnover”
Respect – show esteem for young people and their understanding of themselves
Sincerity – demonstrate personal commitment to youth issues
Wisdom – show the sound judgment expected of experienced professionals
The Initiative supports efforts in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the area of youth
employment and builds on past and on-going experience gained from joint action, lessons learned and good practice on youth
employment. The Task Team is chaired by the ILO and the core members are: FAO, ITU, UNDESA, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF,
UNIDO, UNWTO, UNRWA, UNEP, the World Bank Group (ex officio) and the Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth.
Membership and organization
10. The UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth is open to all ECA R-UNDG members.
11. The UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth will engage with external regional entities as
needed and will partner with civil society, as appropriate, within the framework of implementation of a
specific initiative and in accordance with the objectives of these Terms of Reference (ToR). Key
development partners operating at the regional level will be included, as determined by its members.
12. The participation of youth-led and youth-focused organizations and networks will be particularly
encouraged, as appropriate.
13. The regular online meetings of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth will be held
once every quarter, with ad hoc meetings as required.
14. For the first two years of operations (until September 2017), UNFPA and UNICEF will co-chair the UN
Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth - to ensure continuity and a smooth transition.
Thereafter, and based on a review of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth’s work, a
decision will be made by the members on future chairing arrangements.
15. Each member shall designate an official representative and an alternate to participate in the
meetings of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth. In case the designated
representative is unavailable for a given meeting, the alternate will attend.
16. The agenda for the meetings will be circulated at least 3 calendar days prior to each meeting. Items
for inclusion in the agenda may be proposed by any member.
17. News and updates from each member may be submitted in writing, in a form that can also be
distributed at the meeting, and where appropriate, placed on the website of the UN Europe and Central
Asia Partnership for Youth (to be developed).
18. A results-based work plan for the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth will be
developed and adopted annually.
19. The UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth adopted its ToR during the October, 2015
meeting in Istanbul. Any future changes to the ToR may be proposed by any member, and considered
and agreed upon by the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth by consensus.
Location
20. The location of the joint secretariat will be attached to the entities of the Co-Chairs of the UN Europe
and Central Asia Partnership for Youth.
Resource mobilization
21. Members of the UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth will contribute funds, as
appropriate and available, for the implementation of the work plan. Resource mobilization opportunities
will be sought by all involved entities through individual and joint proposals.
Reporting arrangements
22. The UN Europe and Central Asia Partnership for Youth will report to ECA R-UNDG in accordance with
the established policies and practices of the respective entities. The UN Europe and Central Asia
Partnership for Youth will also coordinate with other regional thematic groups and teams to share
relevant knowledge and information.