Assc Education Officer

This vacancy is open in the frame of the JPO Programme sponsored by Finland and only candidates with Finnish nationality will be considered. The scale, duration and growing complexity of forced displacement, and continuing gaps in humanitarian and development funding and action on education for forcibly displaced children and youth, have resulted in enrolment and retention rates remaining largely static globally. A critical gap in youth education remains unaddressed with 77% of refugee youth not attending secondary school, with roughly 40% fewer refugee girls than boys. Additionally, more than 80% of refugees are hosted in developing countries: nearly 30% in low income countries. It is not uncommon for host community children and youth in refugee hosting areas to face the same challenges. Despite their significant number, the needs and experiences of these young people are often overlooked. They have limited access to opportunities, particularly in education, employment, and social participation. Within the East Africa region, where the project is partly being implemented, an approximate total of  41% refugee children  are out of school in primary education and 89% refugee youth are out of school in secondary education.

UNHCR's education strategy aims to support refugee youth to complete their education with skills, knowledge and competencies enabling them to pursue livelihoods and to use their education towards building futures in multiple country contexts reflecting solutions available to them. Addressing the challenges and supporting solutions for refugee youth is central to the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and requires significant follow up and collaboration across partners and UNHCR teams.

Demands are growing in the refugee communities, and among host governments, and partners for increased investment in education and training opportunities for refugee youth, and in particular for girls, at post-primary levels. In response to this UNHCR and its partners organised extensive youth consultations to inform the development of the multi-year Youth Education Programme in Kenya, Pakistan, Rwanda and Uganda 2017-2021. The programme aims to build strong linkages between post-primary education, skills training and employment/economic inclusion, coupled with support systems such as mentorship, social networks and youth engagement for youth in and out-of-school paying particular attention to girls and young women. While the overall global needs are far greater, this programme is a crucial initiative towards addressing the challenges, scaling youth activities and opening up opportunities for refugee youth already in school and those out of school.

This position is created in the Regional Service Center (later to become the Regional Bureau for East and Horn of Africa), and in line with the Education Section in the Division for Resilience and Solutions to provide technical support to the three pilot countries in the region including, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. The position will support the country programmes in enhancement of refugees youth inclusion in natoional education systems in line with the Comprehensive refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the Global Compact on refugees (GCR). The position will further support the refugee youth access to secondary and post-secondary education opportunities including Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Tertiary education. The position will work closely with the Livelihood programme in the Region as well as in documentation and dessimination of evidence and good practices to inform further programming in this area. 

Background Information:
Adolescents and youth represent a significant, but often statistically invisible, proportion of today¿s global refugee population. While there are scarce reliable global statistics on refugee adolescents and youth, available figures show that 51% of the over 16 million refugees under UNHCR¿s mandate are under 18. That percentage is even higher in specific contexts; for example in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, an estimated 75% of the refugee population is below 25 years of age. Education is a known and critical imperative for personal and community development. However, right now  in the East and Horn of Africa region, only 11% of refugee youth are in secondary school and less than 1% are in tertiary education. Refugee adolescents and youth encounter a number of challenges related to accessing secondary education: due to lack of recognized documentation or certification, students might not be able to easily enroll in national secondary schools or sit for exams. Many times there are not enough secondary schools to cater for all eligible students, schools are at a far distance with no safe transport available, classrooms are overcrowded, schools badly equipped and teachers unqualified. Economic pressure as well as social and cultural norms might also force young people into wage earning activities, early marriage and domestic labour.

In order to address the chronic needs that refugee youth are facing in education and in accessing other skills training opportunities, UNHCR launched the multi-year Youth Education Programme (2017-2021) seeking to address the needs of over 232,000 youth in Kenya, Pakistan, Rwanda and Uganda. The programme aims to build strong linkages between post-primary education, skills training and employment, coupled with support systems such as mentorship, social networks and youth engagement for youth in and out-of-school paying particular attention to girls and young women. The programme relies on existing and innovative approaches, including the use of digital technology, in its activities and in working directly with refugee youth to increase the education programme relevance and sustainability. The programme further links directly to the New York Declaration of September 2016 and the Global Compact on Refugees that have established a framework for the international community on a holistic approach to support and sustainably strengthen refugee hosting communities and service provision. Refugee inclusion within existing programmes and strengthened partnerships to support this to the benefit of both refugee and host community children and youth is part of this direction, which provides a protective environment for refugee children and youth within the community and supports quality education within existing systems. Insufficient access to continuous education and other skills training opportunities for refugee youth is a major protection concern and potential impediment to solutions in refugee hosting countries.

The Regional Service Centre provides specialised support to the 13 countries in the region, the incumbent will act as a focal point for education in the area of Youth Education Programme  for refugee youth and and linkages with youth engagement and Livelihood activities. Under the leadership of the supervising officer(s), support UNHCR¿s work regarding education and youth on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions.  He/She will work under the direct supervision of the Snr. Regional Education Officer ( based in Nairobi) and in support by the Snr. Education Officer (Youth Education), based in Copenhagen. The incumbent will support the implementation of the programme that seeks to sustainably increase access to quality education for refugee and host community adolescents and youth, as well as teachers, education staff and families in three countries of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. He/She will ensure that the youth and education programme is implemented within the CRRF and GCR framework and in line with the Division of Resilince and Solutions strategic focus. He/She will work on access to and retention in secondary education through national systems; creation of clear pathways to TVET and Tertiary education, particularly through connected learning; pathways to self-reliance and community development through opportunities for young people (both in and out of school) to develop life and work skills and cross cutting issues, including the capacity development and empowerment of refugee adolescents and youth; access to education services for marginalized groups including girls as well as youth with special needs

The incumbent will work on strengthening partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders, most notably with ministries of education and ministries responsible for youth issues; key development actors in each country; UNHCR partners at country level including NGOs; academic partners engaged in education for refugee adolescents and young people; the private sector; and youth themselves and further ensure inter-linkages with Livelihood.     

Accountability
¿ The Regional Service Centre through the Associate Education Officer will provide regular and timely technical advice and support to country operations in the area of Youth Educationed Programme for refugee youth. The start of the UNHCR pilot programme on education for refugee youth will be supported. In addition, regular regional updates on education and youth will be available to show case education as a core component of the refugee program. These can be used as advocacy for resources to improve the education programs for refugees. Funding for post-primary education programmes in the region increases through the provision of resource and gap analysis for fundraising initiatives.  

Responsibility
As part of the UNHCR Regional Service Centre in Nairobi, working with the other sector specialists, the incumbent will perform the following functions:

¿ Provides technical support to staff in the field on the application of UNHCR policies and guidelines related to education including an age, gender and diversity approach, with a particular focus on girls¿ in  secondary education  (participatory assessments and follow-up, age, gender and diversity analysis to country protection strategies, systems and operational planning, and monitoring ). Disseminate relevant UNHCR strategies and guidelines to UNHCR staff and partners at country offices. This includes:
¿ Support country operations to pursue the inclusion of refugees within national education systems both in camp and non-camp settings across the region, with a specific focus on secondary and tertiary education

¿ ¿ Support and review the development and revisions of country education plans of action in line with UNHCR¿s Global Education Strategy for refugee Education (2019 - 2023) (under finalisation).
¿ Collaborate closely with the field on areas of education for youth to ensure coherent annual planning based on a longer-term strategy, and jointly monitor implementation, providing advice on programme reorientation where necessary.
¿ Support country operations to broaden access to education opportunities for refugee adolectents and youth including accelerated education, TVET as well as life and work skills.
¿ Promote the concept of safe learning environments and promote initiatives to promote girls education in the region.


¿ Support the start and  implementation of the multi-year porgramme on Youth Education Programme in the region, including support on
¿ Scoping exercises
¿ Building new partnerships, such as with ILO
¿ Baselines assessments
¿ Capacity development for incoming staff
Coordination with DRS, DIP, PSP, Bureaux and others  for refugees and the transition into tertiary education.
¿ Support country operations to pursue the inclusion of refugees within national education systems both in camp and non-camp settings across the region.
¿  Support regular monitoring, analysis of the UNHCR Education indicators especiallay in line with the Youth Education Programme.

¿ Provide support and guidance for the DAFI scholarship program in the region in coordination with the Headquarters focal points.
¿ Collaborates closely with the field to ensure coherent annual planning based on a longer-term strategy, and jointly monitors implementation, providing advice on programme reorientation where necessary.

¿ Support the delivery of trainings and workshops as relevant for UNHCR staff and partners in coordination with the GLC and DRS and in line with the Youth Education Programme.
¿ Support interagency work on education and in line with the Youth Education Programme. This will include, supporting the facilitation/ participation in regional education coordination meetings and ensuring a refugee perspective is included;
¿ Represent UNHCR in relevant regional meetings and conferences on Education and Youth.

Authority
-  Make decision related to education for refugee youth at the field level in line with UNHCR policy and guidelines.
-  Make recommendations with respect to programme orientation in priority countries and recommendations with respect to resource allocation in Education Sector, in particular on secondary, post-secondary and girls' education programmes;
- Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in delivery of education services and in relation to youth education programming
-  Provide appropriate guidance to any consultants/interns which are tasked with achieving the objectives stated above.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. 

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATION: Advanced University degree (obtained in a recognised institution www.whed.net) in education, social sciences, international development, international relations, international humanitarian or human rights law with minimum of 3 years¿ relevant work experience with a BA or with minimum of 2 years¿ experience with a MA.

WORK EXPERIENCE: At least 2 years of relevant work experience in the Education sector with special focus on Youth and Education. Experience in the following areas is an asset: Background in relevant education systems with good knowledge of relevant curricula; Experience of working in national education systems; Field experience in programme implementation and coordination; Knowledge of refugee protection principles and frameworks; Familiarity with INEE standards.

SKILLS: Good oral communication and writing skills, interpersonal skills and teamwork, Adaptability to different cultural values, time and stress management, negotiation skills, analytical skills, Commitment to UN values and principles. Education data collection and analysis skills an asset. Computer literacy. 

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES. 

- Diverse field operational experience.
- Good IT skills including database management skills.
- Proven communication skills, both oral and written.
- Demonstrated knowledge of community communication and engagement approaches.
- Understanding of and demonstrated competencies in forced displacement and protection, SGBV prevention and response, child protection, education, gender equality, Livelihood and the application of the Age, Gender and Diversity Policy. Managerial competencies:

M001: Empowering and Building Trust
M003: Judgement and Decision Making

Cross-Functional Competencies:

X001: Analytical Thinking
X005: Planning and Organizing
X009: Change Capability and Adaptability LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

- Essential: English,     
- Desirable: SUPERVISION: The JPO will be under the direct supervision of the manager indicated under `Supervisor title and position number¿.  The supervisor will be responsible for the performance evaluation of the JPO. The manager will also ensure that the JPO is provided a thorough induction and orientation briefing, followed by on-the-job training as well as continuous guidance for training/learning opportunities throughout the assignment. In support to the manager, the JPO Unit provides the Supervisory Guidelines upon recruitment/reassignment of the JPO. TRAINING COMPONENTS AND LEARNING ELEMENTS

TRAINING COMPONENTS:
- Mandatory training courses:
1. Basic Security in the Field (NB: needs to be retaken every 3 years)
2. Advanced Security in the Field  (NB: needs to be retaken every 3 years)
3. Protection Induction Programme (PIP)
4. UN Course on Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority
5.    Orientation to IPSAS

- Recommended training courses

The incumbent will have opportunities to undergo internal training opportunities including those provided by the Global Learning Center. The incumbent will also be encouraged to participate in external training opportunities within humanitarian context and outside relevant to the incumbent¿s field of specialization. The incumbent will also learn through on- the job training by writing assessment reports, monitoring and evaluation of project proposals on education, review of country operation plans and reports.  

LEARNING ELEMENTS

Measurable learning objectives will be defined at the beginning of the assignment and each subsequent year. For specific learning events the incumbent participates in they will be expected to share the learning objectives and demonstrate how the specific event contributes to the on-going work, including by delivering trainings or briefings to other groups and by writing up reports for training undertaken and conducted.  It is expected that the incumbent will learn to:
¿ Apply a rights and community-based approach to addressing the education, protection and care of refugee children and other children of concern.
¿ Draft and assess project proposals.
¿ Take an analytical approach in drafting, reviewing and commenting on internal and external reports.
¿ Provide technical and sound advice to the field.
¿ Develop an understanding of the practical application of the education strategy and other education learning tools and the impact of this training and capacity building programme.
¿ Monitor education support to activities in the field. LIVING CONDITIONS AT THE DUTY STATION

Housing/accommodation: Nairobi has a wide range of options for housing including hotels and furnished apartments. Recreational facilities, schools and hotels are of international standards. 

Health care: Access to health facilities is adequate.

Educational facilities: Access to education facilities is adequate. 

Security: Nairobi is in UN security level 6, but politically instigated demonstrations and riots may occur at any time.
General crime in Nairobi is high like in many other large cities.  A high sense of vigilance and alertness is required.

Other: (transports, banks, etc). The office is providing free shuttle service in the morning and afternoon. Staff are also using private cars and taxi services.
Banking system is adequate. Please note that the closing date for applications for this position is Sunday 14 April (midnight Geneva time).