Education and Child Protection Assistant

UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.

By 2026, it is expected that a higher proportion of children, especially girls from disadvantaged counties, in-formal settlements, and those affected by humanitarian crises, will have access to quality, gender-sensitive early childhood development, primary education services, with increased transition into secondary education, and protection services. To achieve these goals, the education and protection programme emphasizes three key outputs:
(1) Parents, teachers, communities, and other partners will have increased capacity and accountability to boost enrolment and retention of girls and boys in pre-primary and primary education, particularly in the Arid and SemiA-rid Lands (ASALS) and informal settlements.
(2) The education system will be better equipped to transform the delivery of quality basic education, rapidly improving learning outcomes and fostering the development of transferable skills.
(3) Children and adolescents affected by emergencies, including refugees and asylum seekers, will have equitable access to safe, secure, inclusive, and quality learning opportunities.
(4) Government authorities have strengthened capacities to legislate, plan, budget and monitor to improve the quality and coverage of child protection and civil registration services.
(5) Government and other service providers are better able to deliver quality child protection and HIV prevention and response services in targeted counties.
(6) Parents, caregivers, children, including adolescents, and their communities in targeted counties are better equipped to reduce risks and respond to violence, exploitation and harmful practices.

Kenya has continued to host refugees and asylum seekers since 1991. The country remains the fifth largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, hosting 858,137 registered refugees and asylum seekers. Dadaab hosts 432,863 refugees and asylum seekers. Over half of this population are school-aged children. Increasing demand for education is projected over the coming years, due to the growing population of school-age children in both host and refugee communities.
UNICEF is implementing PROSPECTS 2.0, a 4-year multisectoral intervention in refugee hosting areas of Turkana and Garissa. The partnership aims to develop a new paradigm in responding to forced displacement crises through the meaningful engagement of development actors with the focus being supporting the Government of Kenya (GoK) to implement the new agenda (shift from parallel service delivery model to an inclusive/integrated model). This will include capacity, systems strengthening and institutional building support to National and County authorities This programme is underpinned by key assumptions, many of which relate to the legal and regulatory frameworks and the political will of the GoK.
The UN Volunteer will support the implementation and monitoring of PDs, conduct mapping activities as need-ed including for different cross-sectoral interventions within Kakuma/Kalobeyei

Under the direct supervision of the Education and Child Protection Officer Dadaab, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
•Assist in strengthening Early Childhood Education and Development (ECDE) systems at county level by supporting government and partner coordination to include refugee children in county development plans
•Support inclusive community engagement in ECDE by assisting partners in organizing parent dialogues, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) awareness sessions, enrolment drives, co-developing culturally appropriate learning/play materials and outreach to adolescent mothers through existing community networks and skills development initiatives.
•Support flexible learning pathways for out-of-school children, adolescents and youth by assisting partners in community outreach, joint engagement forums, and monitoring of Accelerated Education (AE) programme implementation including Basic Literacy and Numeracy (BLN), life skills and psychosocial support activities in AE and reception centres.
•Assist in promoting inclusive and participatory Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning by supporting partners in organizing inter/intra school competitions, science fairs, bootcamps, environmental awareness and mentorship activities; and by participating in school environmental clubs, technical teacher trainings, and psychosocial support initiatives.
•Support partners in delivering inclusive, market-driven skills development programmes by participating in youth-led innovation challenges, digital/media and social innovation trainings, documenting success stories and conducting field monitoring visits
•Assist in the development and delivery of age-appropriate educational and child -play activities at the reception and Furaha centres
•Support partners and the State Department for Children Services (SDCS) in arrangement of alternative family care for refugee children
•Support the engagement of parents, caregivers, and communities on positive parenting, early child-hood education initiatives to strengthen their participation and support to enhance access to education and prevent violence against children and harmful practices.
•Support partners and SDCS to deliver efficient and effective case management for children including unaccompanied and separated children.
•Participate in Child Protection and Education working groups, document good practices and linkages between child protection and education.
•Assist in conducting regular filed monitoring visits to provide technical support, assess implementation progress, follow-up by documenting best practices and recommend improvements across all partnerships, while also identifying local youth needs and gaps to inform programme relevance and impact.