Education Cluster Coordinator, P3, Shire, Ethiopia (Tigray Response) – Temporary Appointment (364) days

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 fulfill 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.

For every child, right to education

The humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, which started in November 2020, when conflict broke out between the Regional and Federal government, has affected the lives of millions of children in Tigray. The conflict led to massive displacement with over 50,000 moving to Sudan as refugees, while others moved to the neighboring regions of Afra and Amhara and others are internally displaced.  The conflict resulted in the closure of all schools and 1.4 million children of school going age are currently out of school.  This proportion of children has increased the number of children out of school in Ethiopia. There is an urgent need to coordinate the cluster partners to bring back children to learning after the learning loss that they have experienced. 

While UNICEF is hiring a Regional Education Cluster Coordinator in Mekelle to provide leadership and facilitate the processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, strategic, adequate, coherent, and effective education response in Tigray, there is need to strengthen sub regional cluster in Shire in order to provide adequate education responses to the significant number of emergency-affected populations in that area. 

This function cannot be performed by a UNICEF staff member, as the nature of the task does not lend itself to ‘double hatting’.  The post holder will collate and share necessary information/data with education cluster partners, UNICEF, and OCHA and ensures that the Tigray education in emergency strategy and plans are designed to respond to the emergencies in a very coordinated manner.

How can you make a difference?

Under the guidance and general supervision of the Emergency Manager, Shire, (Level 4), the Cluster Coordinator will support education cluster structures at the sub regional level for the efficient management and delivery of humanitarian responses.

The Education Cluster Coordinator is expected to provide the following:

• Support the Tigray regional level leadership and facilitate coordination of humanitarian education actors in Shire
• Provide strategic guidance in the planning and implementation of the education cluster response and its technical components, in line with the Tigray/Ethiopian Humanitarian Response Plans and international humanitarian standards
• Act as an interface between the humanitarian education partners and duty bearers to ensure education related needs of the affected population are properly covered
• Ensure prioritisation, evidence- based actions and gap filling to enhance an accountable, predictable and effective education response to the affected population

The post holder is accountable to: 

• UNICEF’s Representative through the Chief of Field Office, Chief of Emergency and Field Operations, Emergency Manager (Shire) who will in turn ensure that the post holder is provided with all necessary support and guidance
• Education Cluster participants, who will in turn ensure that they deliver on their agreed minimum commitments
• Education Cluster Coordination Team members, who will in turn support the post holder in line with their terms of reference
• Education Cluster sub-regional Focal Points, who will in turn support the post holder in line with their terms of reference
• Inter-cluster coordination bodies established by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT)/UNOCHA
• Affected populations through agreed mechanisms.

The post holder has the responsibility to coordinate and support partners at the sub-regional level for the efficient management and functioning of the education in emergencies’ response, encompassing the following:

• Maintain an appropriate humanitarian coordination mechanism and strengthen pre-existing coordination systems to increase predictability and accountability;
• Build complementarity of partner actions, avoiding duplication and addressing gaps in education programming;
• Lead on the development and implementation of an overall strategy for the sub- regional Education Cluster, as well as area-specific response plans as necessary;
• Oversee partner reporting, analysis of partner data, use of data for decision-making and sharing of important information with key stakeholders; 
• Oversee and harmonise education-specific and multi-sector needs assessments and secondary data reviews; 
• Ensuring vital Information Management (IM) tasks and functions are carried out by the sub- regional Cluster IM colleagues, to support the information needs of Cluster partners’ and OCHA;  
• Support advocacy on ‘back to learning’ campaigns; 
• Oversee the appropriate training of partners, including on collection of data related to attacks on education, fundraising for education, teacher training, how to manage a temporary learning space, etc; 
• Ensure that the Ethiopian Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards are implemented in Shire; 
• Maintain flexibility within the sub-regional Education Cluster to respond to changes in the operating environment, evolving requirements, capacities and participation;
• Interact with other Clusters (including through inter-cluster coordination fora), humanitarian actors, donors and government counterparts for operational planning, engagement and active contribution of operational partners;
• Be accountable to the affected population through effective and inclusive consultative and feedback mechanisms;
• Monitor performance of the core cluster functions;
• Ensure effective communication, reporting, engagement and coordination between the sub- regional and regional cluster coordinators and focal points.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Masters’ degree in a subject area relevant to the education cluster coordination’s needs; education, primary education, teacher training or social sciences

  Extensive work experience relevant to this post may be considered as a replacement for formal qualifications.Formal training in cluster coordination required

• At least 5 years progressively responsible humanitarian work experience with UN and/or NGO, including programme management and/or coordination in the first phase of a major emergency response relevant to the cluster

  Included in the above: minimum of 5 years specific substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination, needs assessment, policy development, strategy formulation, programme planning and monitoring & evaluation in crisis and post-crisis settings.

  Extensive work experience outside the humanitarian sector which is relevant to this post may be considered as a replacement for humanitarian experience.

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Technical competencies must be demonstrated in the following areas:

• Understands the rationale behind Humanitarian Reform, its main components and recent developments including the Transformative Agenda.
• Understands, uses and adapts the tools, mechanisms and processes developed as part of Humanitarian Reform
• Demonstrates commitment to Humanitarian Principles
• Demonstrates commitment to Principles of Partnership
• Communicates, works and networks effectively with a wide range of people to reach broad consensus on a well-coordinated response, and demonstrates leadership where required
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills
• Thinks and acts strategically and ensures that cluster activities are prioritised and aligned within an agreed strategy
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Demonstrates commitment to the cluster and independence from employing organisation
• Builds, motivates and leads the cluster coordination team
• Understands key technical issues for the cluster sufficiently well enough to be able to: engage with cluster participants; make full use of their experience and knowledge; guide strategy and plans; communicate and advocate on important issues.
• Education in emergencies experience, including conducting rapid assessment and establishing response plans, conducting qualitative and quantitative surveys, and management of educational data and information systems. Excellent experience in using Excel, Access and other related software packages.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Persuading and Influencing [III]
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Planning and Organizing [II]
• Analyzing (III)
• Adapting and Responding Change (III)
• Deciding and Initiating action (II)
• Applying technical expertise (III)
• Coping with Pressure and Setbacks [III]

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

 

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.