Associate Project Officer

UNESCO World Heritage Centre is the secretariat to the 1972 Convention Concerning the protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It supports the State Parties in the implementation of the Convention and puts in place policies, tools, guidelines and different programmes for capacity development. In the framework of operation strategy for Priority Africa (2022-2029), the Centre supports the implementation of Flagship Programme 3 (Fostering Heritage and Capacity Development). In line with the Strategy for Heritage in Africa, the World Heritage Centre collaborate with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) to develop innovative training courses for safeguarding cultural heritage by adopting a holistic approach to safeguarding heritage, taking into account the close relationship between nature and culture, tangible and intangible heritage, and the central role of communities in safeguarding cultural heritage.

Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Culture, the general supervision of the Director of World Heritage (DIR/WH), and the direct supervision of the Head of the Africa Unit of the World Heritage Centre (WHC/AFR), the incumbent shall exercise the function of Associate Project Officer and in particular, s/he shall:

Contribute to the creation of an innovative and multimodal program focused on heritage in Africa with an integrated perspective of safeguarding cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) for sustainable development deployed by UNESCO and “University Mohammed VI Polytechnique” in Morocco (UM6P) by:

• Assisting in the coordination with ICCROM to create modules of training on heritage in Africa (related to 1970 and 1972 Convetions) to be used for capacity development for mentees and universities
• Organising an online workshop on the development of a training/study programme on integrated approaches to heritage development and preservation in collaboration with the engaged mentees, site managers and professionals
• Organising quarterly training for at least 20 emerging African professionals (mentees) in the field of heritage, including complementary online sessions. The focus will be on integrated approaches to heritage preservation and sustainable development
• Assisting in the design and deployment of a MOOC on the safeguarding of African heritage based on the mentoring training programme

Contribute to the collaboration with UM6P to activate an African university centre on heritage development preservation and connect it to the main higher education networks worldwide by:

• Assisting in the development of an online database of African universities programmes and professors working on heritage preservation
• Contributing to other capacity-building initiatives within the Africa Unit to create synergy and enhance the impact of capacity development in Africa as part of the implementation of the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2022-2029),  particularly Flagship programme 3 and the Strategy for World Heritage in Africa.
• Organising on the UM6P platform two online meetings with identified African universities/professors working on heritage, with a thematic focus on integrated approaches to heritage safeguarding and its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals
• Organising on the UM6P platform an interregional meeting with university networks to support the sharing of experiences on integrated approaches to heritage preservation

Create documentation and communication materials to expand the reach, impact and sustainability of the project by:

• Provide assistance to the creation of communication materials dedicated to the project and to be published at UNESCO
• Contributing to the communication, including the production of the online documentation for the main achievements of the project, focusing on the experiences of participants and beneficiaries of the different initiatives.
• Coordinating the content of a short documentary on the mentoring experience to be produced by UM6P

Required Qualifications:

Education:

• Advanced University Degree (Masters or equivalent) preferably in the field of culture, heritage conservation and management, or a related field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience in the field of conservation of natural and cultural heritage, and related field, of which preferably at least one (1) year acquired at the international level.

Languages:

• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of English or French and good knowledge of the other.

Source: https://careers.unesco.org/job/Paris-Associate-Project-Officer-(Culture)/812504602/