Programme Officer (Skills and TVET)

Ghana is a peaceful, stable, multi-party democracy and a lower-middle-income country. The nation experienced steady socioeconomic development progress until 2020. Children under 18 comprise a significant portion of the population. Urbanization is a continuing trend. Disparities exist between regions, particularly regarding poverty. Many children in Ghana experience multidimensional and monetary poverty. In addition to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, several ongoing challenges, including health concerns, increased exposure to climate change, and regional security risks, pose threats to child well-being and overall development. The national medium-term development policy framework prioritizes areas such as economic growth, urbanization and infrastructure, digitalization, science, technology, innovation, pandemic preparedness, public health, climate change, emergency preparedness, and youth empowerment.

In Ghana, UNICEF cooperates with the Government and other partners to defend the rights of children and help them fulfil their potential. With offices in Accra and Tamale, the UNICEF team seeks to achieve results in strategic programme areas. The overall goal is for every child to survive and thrive, to live in a safe and clean environment, to learn, to be protected from violence and exploitation, and to have an equitable chance in life. The current Country Programme of cooperation is aligned with the Government priorities, the UN Sustainable Development Partnership (UNSDP), and Key Results for Children (KRCs) in the West and Central African Region (immunization, nutrition, learning outcomes, ending child marriage, and ending open defecation). UNICEF main strategies include Social protection and public financing for children, Advocacy and partnership, Social and Behavior Change and Innovation, Evidence and Knowledge management.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfil their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.
Ghana faces persistent challenges with youth unemployment, underemployment, and skills mismatches. Despite a growing demand for skilled labor across various sectors, employers often struggle to find adequately trained workers, while many young people remain unemployed or underemployed. Nationally, youth unemployment hovers around 20%, with nearly half of employed youth considered underemployed. Furthermore, employers report that many TVET graduates lack essential skills, particularly soft skills like problem-solving and creative thinking, which will be in demand by 2027。
UNICEF Ghana, by working with partners, try to close the gap between youth and the labour market by helping equip young people with the 21st century skills, tools and opportunities they need to thrive. This includes work to strengthen the TVET sector which includes institutional capacity building and improving M&E systems, coordination, evidence generation and research, invest in public service infrastructure for skilling, and improve the quality and safety of training environments. UNICEF will also expand foundational learning by promoting remedial education programming for older children and youth, including “soft” skills. Also, through evidence-generation and advocacy campaigns, UNICEF also support gender-responsive TVET to improve uptake and social perception of TVET for girls by breaking gender-stereotypes and bringing more girls into heavily male-dominated TVET fields.
The National UN Volunteer Specialist will be integral to the Education Section, providing crucial support to the skills development and TVET strengthening portfolio. This role focuses on project management, evidence generation, partnership coordination, and advocacy to ensure TVET systems are safe, equitable, financially sound, and responsive to labor market needs.

a) Support to Regional Skills Assessment:
•Provide support to the Education Specialist in the planning, project management, and monitoring of the supply-demand side skills assessment in the designated regions of Ghana.
•Assist in coordinating with research partners and stakeholders to ensure the timely and quality delivery of assessment activities, including data collection, analysis, and report finalization.
•Help organize stakeholder validation workshops and disseminate findings to inform TVET planning and policy.
•Maintain detailed project plans, track milestones, and support report writing on project progress.

b) Support to TVET Budget Brief:
•Provide logistical and programmatic support to the budget brief consultant, including facilitating access to key documents and data produced by UNICEF and partners, and helping to organize meetings with government counterparts and other stakeholders.
•Support the Education Specialist in reviewing and providing feedback on draft versions of the budget brief, ensuring alignment with UNICEF's objectives and standards.
•Assist in the preparation and dissemination of the final budget brief for advocacy and policy dialogue purposes.

c) Promotion of Safe and Gender-Responsive TVET:
•Safe TVET: Contribute to scale-up and promotion of UNICEF’s Safe TVET package by working with partner and follow-up safety in TVET research to inform policy and interventions.
•TVET for Girls: Contribute to gender analysis of TVET programmes and relevant advocacy campaigns and help integrate principles of gender equality and social inclusion across all activities.

d) Coordination and Partnership Management Support:
•Serve as a key liaison for day-to-day coordination with national TVET partners, including Commission for TVET(CTVET) and Ghana TVET Services (GTVET).
•Support the Education Specialist in convening the TVET Development Partner Working Group(UNICEF as co-chair)
•Prepare background documents, agendas, and minutes for partnership meetings, and track follow-up actions.
•Facilitate effective internal coordination within UNICEF, ensuring collaboration between the Education, Child Protection, Social Policy, and Gender, etc. on cross-cutting TVET issues.

e) Knowledge Management and Reporting:
•Document best practices, lessons learned, and human-interest stories from the TVET portfolio.
•Support the drafting of donor reports, briefing notes, and sections of annual reports related to TVET.
•Maintain an up-to-date repository of key documents, data, and resources on the shared team drive.