Community Volunteer

Details

Mission and objectives

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).

Context

Many Venezuelans arrive in the country through regular and irregular entry points in Guyana’s interior regions, coming by boat or land from the border areas with Venezuela and Brazil. The profiles of persons of concern are various and include vulnerable individuals with severe protection needs and members of indigenous groups. UNHCR provides counseling and accompaniment for access to governmental services, as well as identifies the most vulnerable individuals and families to be targeted with other responses, including the provision of some material assistance. Many refugee and migrant children, including adolescents are not enrolled in schools either as a result of lack of information amongst parents not knowing that their children are eligible for enrolment, and language difficulties in seeking help with enrolment. Although the government is allowing all children to access free education irrespective of their legal status in Guyana, some children or adolescents do not attend school because of the lack of space or resources to accommodate more children in their community. Those who have secured a place in the school system are challenged by language barriers, since they are taught entirely in English, in the absence of linguistic support. This affects their integration, learning and academic achievement, and further contribute to social isolation, absenteeism and early drop-out. UNHCR collaborates closely with the Ministry of Education, and Community leaders, for rolling out after-school ESL classes to support children enrolled in formal education, and community-based classes in hinterland communities. This effort is to address the challenge of language barriers and to foster the integration of Venezuelan and Warao-speaking children into the Guyanese society.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Assistant Education Officer, the Community Volunteer will perform the following duties to support Venezuelans and returning Guyanese children in Wauna, Region 1: • Respond to the educational needs of out-of-school children by teaching ESL community-classes. • Plan lessons suitable to the developmental level and ability of the children. • Account for the children’s learning progress through a reporting system. • Maintain a clean and safe classroom environment for all children. • Prepare student attendance record. • Communicate to parents on children’s challenges in the classroom and how parents can provide support. • Liaise with local schools and education authorities to organize activities between children in community-based classes and those enrolled in schools, fostering social cohesion. • Promote the progressive transition of children from community-based classes to formal schooling by coordinating their enrolment in local schools. • Support the families with school enrolment and translation services for helping children to access government school. • Collect and report data to identify risks and measures to respond to the children’s educational needs. • Participate in training activities organized by UNHCR and its partners, as well as in support of community-based protection actions in the communities where they teach. • Inform supervisor on protection concerns of Persons of Concern to UNHCR reported to them by members of the community, including GBV and child protection cases. • Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor. Results/Expected Outputs: • Out-of-school children supported through community classes for smooth transition into formal education. • Increased access to formal education. • Improved learning and academic performance of at-risk children. • Increased data on children’s access to education. • Access to UNHCR through reporting to the Community Volunteer on protection challenges.