Vacancy
Announcement from UNICEF
Education Officer (UNV)
Assignment
country: Nepal
Expected
start date: 01/08/2024
Sustainable
Development Goal: 4. Quality education
Volunteer
category: National UN Volunteer Specialist
Host
entity: UNICEF
Type: Onsite
Duration: 12
months
(with possibility of extension)
Number
of assignments: 1
Duty
stations: Janakpur
Details
Mission
and objectives
UNICEF promotes the rights
and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners,
we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into
practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and
excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
In all of its work, UNICEF
takes a life-cycle based approach, recognizing the particular importance of
early childhood development and adolescence. UNICEF programmes focus on the
most disadvantaged children, including those living in fragile contexts, those
with disabilities, those who are affected by rapid urbanization and those
affected by environmental degradation.
UNICEF was created with a
distinct purpose in mind: to work with others to overcome the obstacles that
poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path. We advocate
for measures to give children the best start in life, because proper care at
the youngest age forms the strongest foundation for a person’s future.
We promote girls’ education
– ensuring that they complete primary education as a minimum – because it
benefits all children, both girls and boys. Girls who are educated grow up to
become better thinkers, better citizens, and better parents to their own
children. We act so that all children are immunized against common childhood
diseases, and are well nourished: no child should suffer or die from a
preventable illness. We work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young
people because it is right to keep them from harm and enable them to protect
others. We help children and families affected by HIV/AIDS to live their lives
with dignity.
We are UNICEF, the United
Nations Children’s Fund.
Context
The UNICEF Education
programme is aimed at enabling children to complete a full course of good
quality education in an equitable, inclusive, and safe environment, with a
particular focus on children from the most disadvantaged communities. UNICEF
will contribute to Nepal’s School Education Sector Plan within the framework of
the education Sector Wide Approach and UNSDCF Outcome.
In collaboration with federal, provincial and local governments the programmes
have been intensifying efforts to address chronically low levels of learning in
Nepal as well as recover the pandemic learning loss. The programmes have also
been helping children to equip with the foundational skills needed to complete
their education, by prioritizing early grades literacy and numeracy,
particularly among girls, children with disabilities, from disadvantaged
minorities and migrant families, and those with a different mother tongue.
UNICEF advocates for greater policy commitment and enhanced resource allocation
for equitable and inclusive education.
To support federalization, UNICEF supports three tiers of government to develop
comprehensive policies, common framework for capacity development and costed
education plans. The programme strengthens education capacities and systems to
support children’s school readiness, improve children’s learning and create
safe and child-friendly schools. UNICEF will develop alternative pathways and
digital offerings to help out-of-school children to re-enter school or acquire
essential life skills. The programme addresses harmful social and gender norms
in education to enable more girls, children with disabilities, and those from
disadvantaged communities to have an equitable education chance.
The School Education Sector
Plan (SESP) for Nepal was developed to facilitate the country’s long-term goal
and ambitions for education within the highly decentralized institutional setup
in the sector that emerged over the past years in line with Nepal’s 2015
Constitution. As per the provisions in Nepal’s Constitution, a federal system
has been established comprising of federal, provincial, and local tiers of
government. While establishing a legal basis to facilitate the enactment of
exclusive and shared powers under the mandates of the federal government, seven
provincial and 753 Local Governments (LGs), the 2018 Compulsory and Free
Education Act and 2020 Compulsory and Free Education related Rules have been
introduced, with the 2019 National Education Policy providing guidelines for
key functions and provision of services across the government tiers.
Responding to the needs of
these children, UNICEF continues to support implementation of education
programmes including common education package in Madhesh, Lumbini, Karnali and
Sudur Pashchim Province
Task description
Within the delegated
authority and under the supervision of the Education Officers in UNICEF Field
Offices and technical supervision from Education Specialists in the Education
Section-Kathmandu, the Education Officer (UNV) will:
- Provide technical and operational support to
implementing partner(s) and local governments to formulate evidence based,
GESI-responsive, inclusive, disaster and climate-resilient school
education sector plans and budgets.
- Support local governments to coordinate
with education and other sectoral stakeholders, by strengthening existing
coordination structures and mechanisms to design and implementation of
education programmes aligned with the local government education sector
plan and budget prioritized and needs.
- Support local governments and schools in
strengthening IEMIS and its use in planning, implementation, and monitoring.
- Provide support to implementing partners
and local governments for implementation and monitoring of the Common
Education Package.
- Provide capacity building support to implementing
partners, schools, and local governments on SESP and other interventions
in Common Education Package.
- Support in collection and recording of
human-interest stories, case studies and lessons learned for office use.
- Assist in monitoring visits, missions, end
use monitoring and any other assessments or studies.
- Contribute to the provincial and local education
clusters strengthening and for any response during emergency situations.
- Contribute by providing inputs and contents
for the situation analysis of the sector for necessary use by the field
office and the Education Section.
- Work closely and collaboratively with
sectoral colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information
on implementation issues.
- Participate and represent UNICEF in appropriate
inter-agency discussions on education and related issues.
- Introduce and apply innovative approaches
and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and
to support in implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable
programme results.
- Any other related tasks as may be required
or assigned by the supervisor.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers
are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their
assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in
the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of
their working time to some of the following suggested activities.
- Strengthen their knowledge and
understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and
external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance
in events that mark International Volunteer Day).
- Be acquainted with and build on traditional
and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
- Provide annual and end of assignment
self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
- Contribute articles/write-ups on field
experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters,
press releases, etc.
- Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly
arrived UN Volunteers.
- Promote or advise local groups in the use of online
volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to
use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.
- Strengthened capacity of local government to
develop education sector plans and budgets.
- Strengthened local governments capacity to
establish child-friendly systems for modelling CFS.
- Increased capacity of schools and communities for
evidence-based educational planning and provide quality services that
promote equitable access and learning in pre-school and school.
- Recovery of learning losses and
acceleration of learning in the wake of COVID19 and humanitarian
situations.
Eligibility
criteria
Age: 18 – 80
Nationality: Candidate
must be a national or legal resident of the country of assignment.
Requirements
Required
experience
3 years of experience in
communication and presentation skills; coordination, networking and advocacy
skills; technical expertise in the area of education sector planning and
programming; monitoring, evaluation and reporting skills; excellent
interpersonal skills; ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively
in a challenging working environment; ability to work effectively in a
multicultural team of international and national professionals; proficiency in
MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.), have affinity with or interest in
UNICEF core values and volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and
the UN System.
Working knowledge of local
languages is an advantage.
Area(s) of expertise
Education
Driving license
–
Languages
Nepalese, Level: Fluent,
Required
English, Level: Fluent, Required
Required
education level
Bachelor degree or
equivalent in Education or Social Science. Early Childhood Education and
Development, Formal Education and System Strengthening, Adolescents and Life
Skills, Safe Schools including education sector planning is an asset.
Competencies
and values
Competencies: (1) Builds and
maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5)
Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works
collaboratively with others.
Values: Care, Respect,
Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability
Other
information
Living conditions and
remarks
The security situation in
all locations is normal and have both road and air access. Moreover, all basic
services/facilities are also available in the assigned duty stations. As this
is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for
arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.
Inclusivity
statement
United Nations Volunteers is
an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified
professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care
protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all
UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to
promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction
of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin,
sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or
other status.
Reasonable
accommodation
UNICEF offers reasonable
accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for
example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal
attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your
application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment
process and afterwards in your assignment.
Note
on Covid-19 vaccination requirements
In addition to duty
station-specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation
of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health
Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the
appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are
not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations
or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to
perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts.
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end date:17/10/2024
