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Job Title:  Assistant Education Officer (Fresher UN Jobs)

Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Duty Station: Adjumani / Pakelle, Uganda

About US:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCR’s mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Job Summary: The Assistant Education Officer will support the roll-out of Refugee Education 2030, the UNHCR Refugee Education Strategy, in line with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which calls on States and relevant Stakeholders to contribute resources and expertise, to expand and enhance the quality and inclusiveness of national education systems, to facilitate access by refugee and host community children and youth to primary, secondary and tertiary education. Providing inclusive and equitable quality education is central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Assistant Education Officer will ensure UNHCR’s programming is in line with the SDGs, in particular SDG 4.

The incumbent will provide direction and technical support for UNHCR regarding education and advocate on all issues related to education programmes and strategic directions. S/he will maintain close contact with Country Office(s) on the overall education policy direction of UNHCR and on the adaptation of Refugee Education 2030 to the particular country context, as well as providing technical support (on early childhood, learning achievement, primary education, accelerated education, secondary education, non-formal education, scholarships and tertiary education, education in emergencies etc.) to all staff, including senior management, as well as to those representing education issues on behalf of UNHCR.

This will require maintaining close contact with other Country Offices in the region and Divisions, particularly the DRS, on the overall education policy direction of UNHCR, on monitoring and assessing impact, on provision of external technical assistance, and on liaising with partner agencies. The incumbent is normally supervised by the Senior Protection Officer, Protection Officer, Senior Programme Officer, Programme Officer or a higher grade Education Officer, depending on the office context.

The incumbent will ensure that consistent and technically sound advice/recommendations are given within the Area of Responsibility (AoR), including through drafting of guidelines and supporting the training of staff, in collaboration with the Education Section at HQ. S/he will also ensure active exchange of information and best practices within the AoR. The incumbent must be an authority on technical issues relating to education and will also provide specialist advice for other sectors such as child protection, livelihoods/economic inclusion, shelter, and water and sanitation as relates to education. The Assistant Education Officer may also act as focal point/coordinator/advisor for staff at all levels in Country Office(s), including senior management, as well as Policy and Development staff.

Externally, the Assistant Education Officer will help promote the inclusion of refugees and other persons of concern into national education systems through effective partnerships and advocacy with relevant government line ministries, development actors, private sector, UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs, research institutions and universities, both at the regional and country levels. This includes supporting or leading coordination with regional and global education networks and keeping abreast with international developments in education, where necessary this may include representation with international and regional organizations through, for example, UNICEF, UNESCO, the Global Partnership for Education and the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). Representation with NGOs, academic institutions, and the private sector may also be required. The incumbent is regularly called upon to train staff and partners, including Government authorities, to provide/negotiate drafting advice, to give presentations, to participate as a member of expert groups on education, to represent UNHCR and to ensure UNHCR’s direct involvement in numerous settings designed to promote increased access to quality education at all levels to both refugee and host communities, in line with the GCR.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Translate global education objectives and strategic directions into regional or national guidance, strategies and priorities, in collaboration with the supervisor and the Education Section in HQ, to ensure coherence with UNHCR’s education policy and strategy.
• Engage, promote and foster partnerships/collaboration with national education stakeholders and bodies in line with GCR.
• Provide technical advice and support on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions, in line with UNHCR education policy and regional priorities, including through remote support and field missions.
• Support and provide technical advice to senior management and Policy and Development staff allowing for advocacy activities with States and international organisations on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions, including supporting national planning processes, such as the development of SDG4 plans at national levels and ensuring inclusion of refugee, returnee, asylum seeking, internally displaced and stateless children and youth in SDG4 plans and Education Sector Analyses and Plans.
• Participate in national humanitarian and development sector working groups to support that all refugee education support programming at country level is extended, amplified and reported against sector development goals and humanitarian partners and funding serves system strengthening.
• Assist the Country Office(s) to elaborate and implement strategies to address issues related to education access, quality and data, in cooperation with other UN agencies (UNICEF, UNESCO, WFP, etc.) and other key education stakeholders.
• Undertake direct dialogue at the national level on the implementation of education programmes in line with strategic directions, integrated with SDG4 and Education Sector Plans, including with Ministries of Education/Higher Education, education partners and coordination networks (Global Partnership for Education, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and Local Education Groups, etc.).
• Foster inter-sectoral linkages and coordination with child protection, GBV, gender, community services, livelihoods/economic inclusion and health, among others, and provide specialist advice for other sectors, to ensure that they fully integrate education related concerns in their planning.
• Assist the supervisor in monitoring the implementation of education programmes and provide guidance on orientation.
• Support the supervisor in monitoring the implementation of Global Refugee Forum pledges within the AoR.
• Assist in the planning and coordination of UNHCR’s role concerning education, represent UNHCR at national consultations, and represent UNHCR’s education strategy and policy to other UN bodies, NGOs, interlocutors, institutions and organisations.
• Train UNHCR staff, sister UN agency staff, NGOs, and Ministry of Education officials on refugee education priorities and identified topics.
• Assist with the development and dissemination of relevant tools to support UNHCR staff and partners within the AoR.
• Support active exchange of information and that best practices are identified, documented and disseminated both within the AoR and beyond.
• Join joint assessment missions in emergencies to minimise the time refugee children and youth spend out of education (ideally a maximum of three months after arrival).
• Prepare and draft education input in key internal and external documents and reports.
• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
• Perform other related duties as required.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The ideal candidate for the UNHCR job must have one year of relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree in Education; Social Sciences; or other relevant field.
• Strong inter-personal skills in collaboration and coordination.
• Excellent analytical skills and drafting skills.
• Strong communications/presentations skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to work with minimum supervision.
• Experience with educational research, teaching or education administration.
• Language Requirements: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

Desirable:

• Field experience in education programme implementation and coordination in humanitarian and/or development contexts.
• Experience working with Governments, Ministry of Education and other line Ministries.
• Demonstrated work experience in refugee education programmes.
• Knowledge and experience of UNHCR policies and standards.
• Experience in the area of child protection.
• Demonstrated work experience in education programmes.

Functional Skills

• *PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
• PR-Community-based Protection – Planning, implementing and analysing surveys/assessments
• ED-Education programming design and quality assurance
• ED-Global EiE standards and implementation
• ED-Technical support to education programmes and proposals
• TR-Training Design and Material Preparation
• PR-Convention on the Rights of the Child / International Legal Framework
• TR-Training – Virtual and face to face

NB: Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates who wish to join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should apply online at the link below

Click Here

Deadline: 14^th December 2023

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