Education Associate

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)A (least hardship)

Family Type (not applicable for home-based)

Family

Staff Member / Affiliate TypeUNOPS LICA6

Target Start Date2023-10-26

Job Posting End DateNovember 13, 2023

Terms of ReferenceIndividuals interested in applying for this vacancy must be nationals of El Salvador or must have a valid work permit in El Salvador at the time of application, recruitment and hiring. Non-Salvadoran citizens must attach a valid work permit to be considered for this vacancy.

The shortlisted candidates must appear for an interview; A technical and practical test can also be administered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and applications will not be accepted outside the closing date.

UNHCR is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, so everyone is encouraged to apply for this vacancy regardless of religion, age, sex, ethnicity, disability, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation.

UNHCR does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview call, processing, training or any other stage).

A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on United Nations salaries, allowances and benefits, visit the International Civil Service Commission web portal at: http://icsc.un.org

If you are a person with a disability and need additional assistance during the application and/or recruitment process, please contact us by email: salsahr@unhcr.org

UNOPS Contract - initially until 31 December 2024

1. General Background
El Salvador has a population of 6.3 million people, with at least 20% of El Salvador's population living abroad. The country’s economy is heavily reliable on remittances, which constitute around 26% of its GDP. According to the 2021 Multipurpose Household Survey released in 2022, 24.6% of El Salvador’s population lives below the poverty line, out of which 7.8% are extremely poor.
Between 2006 and 2016, 1.1% of families in El Salvador were forcibly displaced raising the estimated number of internally displaced people to 71,500. According to the profiling exercise published in 2018 by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, most displaced people are socio-economically vulnerable young families.

El Salvador is committed to identifying and addressing protection and solutions for refugees, internally displaced people, returnees with protection needs, and stateless individuals. El Salvador is party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. In 2020, El Salvador approved the Special Law for the Care and Integral Protection of Victims of Violence in Conditions of Forced Displacement.
Since July 2019, El Salvador is actively engaged in the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (MIRPS in Spanish), a regional application of the Global Compact on Refugees. Growing mixed population flows across the countries in the north of Central America is a priority to be addressed in the regional agenda. The increasingly complex human mobility context demands additional efforts for coordinating protection-oriented responses.

UNHCR is active in the implementation, coordination, and monitoring of the 2022-2026 United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), which prioritizes responses to the needs of internally displaced people and refugees. UNHCR is an active member of the Humanitarian Country Team. UNHCR leads the Protection Sector and co-leads the CCCM and Shelter sectors.
UNHCR seeks to meaningfully engage, empower, inform, and seek the views of people in decisions that affect their lives, as drivers for greater equality and social cohesion. UNHCR is currently present in over 40 communities and 17 Municipalities nationwide.

2. Purpose and Scope of Assignment
The Education Associate will support the roll-out of Refugee Education 2030, the Refugee Education Strategy, in line with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which calls on States and relevant Stakeholders to contribute resources and expertise to expand and enhance the quality and inclusiveness of national education systems to facilitate access by refugee and host community children and youth to primary, secondary and tertiary education. Providing inclusive and equitable quality education is central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the incumbent will assist the supervisor in ensuring UNHCR’s programming is in line with the SDGs.
Leveraging the growing global momentum, UNHCR is working to translate the objectives of the GCR into impactful results, including through follow-up on pledges made through the 2019 Global Refugee Forum. Contributing to this global roll-out of the GCR, the Education Associate, in collaboration with the Education Section in the Division of Resilience and Solutions (DRS), will assist the supervisor in providing technical support to UNHCR countries and partners to advocate for and implement the objectives of Refugee Education 2030:

1. Promote equitable and sustainable inclusion in national education systems for refugees, asylum seekers, returnees, stateless and internally displaced persons
2. Foster safe enabling environments that support learning
3. Enable learners to use their education toward sustainable futures

The incumbent supports UNHCR’s work regarding education and advocacy on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions. The Education Associate participates in liaising with partners to assess the education context, to develop an implementation plan and to monitor the programme and assess impact. S/he also works in collaboration with in-country education partners to improve access to, and quality of, refugee education at all levels, both formal and non-formal, and may liaise with partners for joint support for education access for refugee and host community children. The Education Associate supports the implementation of education approaches for emerging needs in refugee education, including attention to special needs, minorities, girls, pre-school education, and non-formal activities. The incumbent supports inter-sectoral linkages with child protection, GBV, gender, community services, livelihoods and health, among others. S/he prepares relevant documentation and follows-up on administrative requirements of education projects.

3. Monitoring and Progress Controls
- Assist the supervisor in managing and coordination of the education sector.
- Assist in monitoring of implementation of the education strategy and activities at all levels in formal and non-formal education sectors.
- Monitor implementation of education programmes and provide guidance on orientation.

- Assist in providing regular reports on educational activities, achievements and challenges.
- Conduct regular visits to community schools, carry out assessments and write recommendation.
- Assist in identification of persons with special educational needs and support implementation of inclusive and special needs education.
- Support and promote quality education data collection, analysis and reporting by assisting the implementation of Education Management Information System (EMIS).
- Ensure education level of refugee children are updated in the UNHCR database for tracking of education achievement of refugee children.
- Assess needs for services of persons of concern, as related to education responses.
- Systematically promote and comply with the Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) policy and other priorities such as the HIV/AIDS policy.
- Liaise on behalf of UNHCR with external partners like Education Ministry on education matters.
- As requested participate in local humanitarian and development sector working groups to support and ensure all refugee education support programming at country level is extended, amplified and reported against sector development goals and humanitarian partners and funding serve system strengthening.
- Foster inter-sectoral linkages and coordination with child protection, GBV, gender, community services, livelihoods/economic inclusion and health, among others, and provide specialist advice for other sectors, to ensure that they fully integrate education related concerns in their planning.
- Assist in the planning and coordination of UNHCR’s role concerning education.
- Identify training needs and train UNHCR staff, sister UN agency staff, NGOs, and Ministry of Education officials on refugee education priorities and identified topics.
- Develop and disseminate relevant tools to support UNHCR staff and partners in Country Office(s).
- Join joint assessment missions in emergencies to minimise the time refugee children and youth spend out of education (ideally a maximum of three months after arrival).
- Assist in preparing and drafting of education input in key internal and external documents and reports.
- Monitor and support all existing formal and informal education programs, including implementing partner and community-based schools, and informal classes.
- Regularly update and share information related to education, utilizing data collection to identify gaps, assess trends, and design interventions.
- Monitor and suggest necessary adjustments to the annual Education Workplan and budget.
- Review education proposals and monitor existing agreements with partners; in addition, work closely with the community to enhance quality and ownership across community-run education programs.
- Liaise and support partners in organizing teacher training.
- Perform specific administrative operational/control tasks for project/programme activities.
- Provide inputs for funding submissions, appeals and reports.
- Represent UNHCR in monitoring of education projects.
- Issue documents and reports for clearance by the supervisor.
- Perform other related duties as required.

4. Qualifications and Experience
a. Education
3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher
Field of studies: Education, Social Sciences and Business Administration

b. Work Experience
Essential
Demonstrated work experience in education programmes. Field experience in education programme implementation and coordination in humanitarian and/or development contexts. Experience working with Governments, Ministry of Education and other line Ministries. Strong inter-personal skills in collaboration and coordination. Demonstrated capacity to work with minimum supervision.

Desirable
Demonstrated work experience in IDPs education programmes. Knowledge and experience of UNHCR policies and standards. Experience in the area of child protection. Experience with educational research, teaching or education administration.

c. Language
Fluency in Spanish and working knowledge of English.

d. Key Competencies
Functional Skills
• *PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
• PR-Refugee Education programmes
• *IT-Computer Literacy
• MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation
• CO-Cross-cultural communication
• TR-Training/Coaching/Facilitation
• PR-INEE (International Network for Education in Emergencies) standards and implementation (Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Core Competencies
• Accountability
• Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Teamwork & Collaboration
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies
• Empowering and Building Trust

Cross-Functional Competencies
• Analytical Thinking
• Change Capability and Adaptability
• Planning and Organizing

Standard Job Description

Required Languages Spanish

,English

,

Desired Languages

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Work Experience

Other informationThis position doesn't require a functional clearance