Education in Emergencies Officer (HER Roster)

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) has established the Humanitarian Emergency Response (HER) Roster to support speedy recruitment of qualified and motivated UN Volunteers for potential emergency response assignments. Candidates will be pre-screened based on their qualifications, experience, and suitability for the specific thematic or functional areas described in this Description of Assignment (DoA). Shortlisted candidates may remain in the UNV HER Roster for up to 6 months and be contacted should an emergency arise. Inclusion in the UNV HER Roster does not guarantee recruitment as a UN Volunteer. Selection and recruitment timelines will depend on the emergency occurrence, availability of candidates, and final approval by the UN host entity in accordance with Conditions of Service for UN Volunteers.

Viet Nam is highly vulnerable to climate-related and natural hazards, including typhoons, floods and landslides, which frequently disrupt children's access to education. In 2024 and 2025, multiple emergencies affected schools and learning continuity across several provinces, highlighting the need for timely, coordinated and inclusive Education in Emergencies (EiE) responses.

UNICEF Viet Nam works closely with the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Departments of Education and Training (DOETs), Education Sector Group members and other partners to support emergency preparedness, response and recovery in the education sector. Guided by UNICEF's Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs), UNICEF supports the provision of learning materials, education-related humanitarian assistance, capacity building, sector coordination, and monitoring and reporting of education responses.

This assignment is part of UNICEF Viet Nam's EiE programme and will support the planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting and coordination of emergency education interventions. Working closely with government counterparts, partners and UNICEF programme teams, the Education in Emergencies Officer will contribute to ensuring that crisis-affected children can continue learning and that education systems are better prepared to withstand future shocks.

Under the direct supervision of the Education Specialist, the Education in Emergencies Officer will undertake the following tasks:

Task 1: Provide technical support for timely implementation of UNICEF education response implemented by partners, including DOET(s) in the targeted affected provinces.
• Support and assist the management of the EiE supply plan, its timely procurement, distribution, and monitoring in close cooperation with the Supply Unit, and the Education Team as well as coordination with the national and provincial governments.
• Maintain close contact and coordination between UNICEF, MOET and DOET in the province(s) and sector members to arrange meetings, workshops and training courses pertaining to programme development.
• Facilitate the implementation of communication plans for education related activities as needed in close collaboration with Social Behavior Change (SBC) Focal Point.
• Travel to the fields in support of EiE programme on behalf of the Education team, consolidate and report actionable findings from trips as relevant.

Task 2: Monitor the UNICEF EiE response to ensure it is in full track as per the agreed target and plan in coordination with other sectors (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) , Child Protection, Health, Nutrition, etc.) and cross cutting working groups (Accountability to Affected Population, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Gender Based Violence, etc.); Prepare situation analysis updates and emergency-related donor reports throughout the emergency response.
• Develop and maintain systemized records, documents and plans for the monitoring of EiE interventions within the Humanitarian Performance Monitoring (HPM) System.
• Support monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the UNICEF supported EiE activities (Humanitarian Cast Transfer (HCT) distribution, learning supplies, EiE trainings and awareness raising activities) in the respective assigned province(s).
• Support providing quality concise inputs for Situation Reports (SitReps) and other reports of UNICEF Response Plan in coordination with the Education Team and Planning Monitoring and Evaluation/Emergency Unit.
• Undertake field visits to assigned provinces to join needs assessment missions, monitor EiE implementation and provide technical assistance to DOETs and sector members as required.
• Coordinate, consolidate required information, and provide drafts and input for donor reports relevant to emergency response in collaboration with the Education team.

Task 3: Assist EiE communication/visibility and resource mobilization.
• Assist the preparation of data, information and relevant figures, as well as provide inputs, for the development of EiE donor proposals.
• Support the preparation of events, including donors’ visits for UNICEF-supported EiE activities, ensuring proper UNICEF visibility and the field level;
• Support and facilitate the collection and documentation of human-interest stories from the field in coordination with the Communications and Advocacy team to demonstrate good practices and challenges of EiE interventions to be used for visibility and resource mobilization.

Task 4: Support the EiE coordination of Education Sector Group (ESG) and UN joint response team with national and provincial partners to ensure an inclusive response and accountability to affected populations, including monitoring the response and recovery implementation.
• Prepare ESG coordination meeting under the guidance of the Education Sector Coordinator.
• Draft actionable meeting minutes in timely manner aiming to be shared with members one day after the meeting is concluded.
• Assist with 5Ws(Who, What, Where, When, and for Whom) of the ESG for consistency and coordination of efforts to avoid duplication.
• Maintain the most-updated contact and mailing list of the Education Sector.
• Assist data collection/assessment of education sector group at provincial levels.
• Support the roll out EiE capacity building for the officials of DOET, MOET and ESG members to improve the quality of education response.
• Support joint UN emergency response planning and reporting.
• Lead in developing progdocs and relevant documents in collaboration and consultation with UNICEF sectors and relevant government actors including local authorities.