Deadline: 26 September, 2021

Location: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is seeking to fill the role of Education Cluster Coordinator.

Across 190 countries and territories, UNICEF works for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

Responsibilities

• Ensure appropriate coordination between all education humanitarian partners through establishment/maintenance of appropriate coordination mechanisms at the national and local level
• Ensure that education coordination mechanisms are adapted over time
• Strengthen preexisting sectoral coordination through increased predictability and accountability
• Ensure effective links between education cluster at national level and education cluster in the hubs
• Support education clusters in hubs in coordination of education partners, including by building capacities/mentoring designated hub cluster coordinators
• Ensure effective links with other cluster/sector groups
• Build complementarity of partner actions
• Ensure adequate resources are mobilised and equitably allocated for the effective functioning of the cluster and its response
• Maintain flexibility within the cluster to respond to changes in the operating environment, evolving requirements, capacities and participation
• Effectively use and transfer information to, from and between cluster participants and other stakeholders
• Maintain information on all current and potential education partners, their capacities and areas of work
• Be accountable to the affected population through effective and inclusive consultative and feedback mechanisms
• Ensure effective communication, reporting, engagement and coordination between the national and subnational levels
• Support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis to ensure that evidence guides UNICEF DRC’s education in development and emergency programmes/projects
• Ensure predictable education-in-emergency action by:
  • Developing agreed education needs and gap analysis involving all relevant partners and ensuring that these are adequately reflected in the overall country strategies
  • Developing agreed education response strategies and action plan that directly support realisation of the HC/HCT strategic priorities and ensuring that these are adequately reflected in the overall country strategies
  • Supporting and building capacities of education clusters in hubs to improve their contribution to the intersectoral operational plans and ad hoc response plan while ensuring alignment with national education strategy
  • Drawing lessons learnt from past education-in-emergency activities and revising strategies and action plans accordingly
  • Providing strategic guidance in the planning and implementation of the education cluster response and its technical components in line with the DRC humanitarian response plan, common standards and guidelines
  • Clarifying funding requirements, prioritisation, and cluster contributions to HC’s overall humanitarian funding considerations
  • Ensuring adequate education-in-emergency related contingency planning and preparedness for potential significant changes in the nature of the emergency
  • Ensuring effective and comprehensive integration of relevant cross-cutting issues, including age, gender, environment and HIV/AIDS
• Ensure that education cluster participants are aware of relevant policy guidelines, technical standards and relevant commitments including those that the government concerned authorities have undertaken
• Ensure that education responses are in line with existing policy guidance, technical standards, and relevant government policies
• Monitor and report on activities and needs and measure performance against the cluster strategy and agreed results, recommending corrective action
• Ensure adequate monitoring mechanisms are in place (with OCHA support) to review impact of education interventions and progress against response plans
• Ensure adequate education-impact reporting and effective information sharing (with OCHA support) to demonstrate the closing of gaps
• Identify key education-in-emergency advocacy issues, including resource requirements, and develop advocacy note/presentation
• Contribute to key messages to broader advocacy initiatives of the HC, HCT, ICN, UNICEF and other actors
• Advocate for donors to fund priority education activities (including education cluster coordination) while at the same time encouraging education actors to mobilise resources for their activities through their usual channels
• Participate in interagency discussions on education, representing the interest of the education cluster in discussions with the humanitarian coordinator as well as donors on prioritisation, resource mobilisation and advocacy
• Interact with other cluster humanitarian actors, government counterparts, and relevant authorities for operational planning, engagement, and active contribution of operational partners
• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of education cluster members and to support delivery of coherent education response
• Research, benchmark, and implement best practices in education coordination
• Assess, institutionalise, and share best practices and knowledge learnt
• Organise and implement capacity building initiatives for partners at national and subnational levels to enhance the competencies of partners to deliver education-in-emergencies response
• Mentor and reinforce capacities of education-cluster coordinators in the hubs to enhance quality of education-cluster coordination at sub-country level
• Provide technical support to the education section on emergency programmes, including providing inputs to proposals, donor reports, evaluations and studies
• Participate in strategic programme discussions on education programme
• Formulate, design and prepare programme proposals for education
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Education, Economics, or Social Sciences
• Five years, minimum, of professional experience in education programme planning and/or education coordination emergency contexts
• Experience working in complex crises and fragile states (desirable)
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organisation will be a plus
• Strong analytical, organisational and writing skills
• Fluency in French and English
• Knowledge of local language of the duty station will be a plus

To apply and for more information, click here.

Photo source: UNICEF