Associate Project Officer

The UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok), established in 1961 and evolving in roles over the years, now oversees UNESCO’s programs in education, natural sciences, ocean sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information across six countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. It coordinates national activities through offices in Phnom Penh, Ha Noi, and Yangon (antenna office). As a key player in regional educational coordination and capacity development, UNESCO Bangkok leads the SDG4-Education 2030 Agenda covering 46 Member States and three Associate Members.

 

The Education Section of UNESCO Bangkok covers six major programme areas, namely i/ Inclusive and Equitable Leaning; ii/ Education Policy, Planning and SDG4 Coordination; iii/Higher Education, Skill Development and Digital Innovations; iv/ Teacher Development and vi/Transformative Education.

 

This position is based in the Education for Health and Well-being Team (EHWB) of the Unit for Transformative Education that coordinates UNESCO’s work on young people’s health and well-being issues and the promotion of safe, inclusive, gender-equitable, and health-promoting learning environments. The team provides technical assistance to national education authorities, regional partners and UNESCO field offices on strategic priority areas of school health. Priority areas include comprehensive sexuality education (CSE); safe and enabling learning environments that are free from all forms of violence (including school-related gender-based violence – SRGBV) and address learners’ mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs; transformative curricula and teaching that enable socials and emotional learning (SEL); and school health promotion. The Education for Health and Well-being Team also collaborates with other UN agencies and partners on regional and national initiatives on these themes.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall authority of the Director of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok) and the supervision of the Chief of Education Section, the incumbent will work in close collaboration with and guidance from the Regional Advisor on Education for Health and Well-being (EHWB), Unit for Transformative Education and is responsible for supporting effective project implementation, facilitating efficient operational management of the new and ongoing EHWB initiatives be delivered by the Regional Office in Bangkok, including in collaboration with other Regional Offices in Asia-Pacific.

Support includes:

Support programme implementation and effective use of technical assistance;

Provide administrative, financial and operational support;

Facilitate knowledge-building and knowledge-sharing to ensure effective partnerships and knowledge management

 

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

Long Description

1. Programme and Project Contribution

Contribute to the design and development of education projects and programmes reinforcing national capacities.

Prepare work plans, task descriptions, budgets and output indicators for assigned aspects of projects.

Implement assigned project activities within established work plans and report progress against predefined performance indicators.

Provide substantive, logistical and administrative support to projects, consultations, meetings, network and partnership initiatives, events and missions.

Assist in the facilitation of close working relationships and exchanges with national institutes, ministry, National Commission, education stakeholders and networks for project design, development and implementation and reporting.  

Track and report on implementation using relevant tools including the CORE Manager, UNESCO Results Based Management Toolkit, and UNINFO.  

Participate in cross group activities as assigned, maximize synergies in the work of the UNESCO Field Office.

 

 

2. Research and Knowledge Management, Public Information

Develop and maintain thorough knowledge of national policies, strategies and plans of action in Education and maximise use of this knowledge in the design of locally delivered Education Sector Field activities.

Contribute to the conduct of situational analysis, conduct research, compile data and inputs to concept notes, publications, briefings and documents.

Contribute to the design of project and activities performance/ progress monitoring and reporting both internally and to project donors. 

Contribute to public information and outreach tasks, writing, inputting to social media, hosting information points. 

Upload to automated systems (Sharepoint) and other platforms the institutional memory of own office.

3. Partnership and Resource Mobilization

Assist in building partnerships with stakeholders, in particular with national authorities, the private sector, civil society, NGOs and multilateral funding organizations.

Assist in the Field Office’s input to UN development planning processes, such as the preparation of Common Country Assessment (CCA), United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), Country Programme Document (CPD), and Country Action Plan (CAP) and to other relevant national planning exercises, contributing knowledge of national institutions, culture, and traditions.

Analyze and compile data for potential partnership opportunities.

In an increasingly competitive international and multilateral environment, contribute to resource mobilization for the country by contributing in the development of concept notes and project proposals on the basis of situational analysis and needs assessments and in accordance with the C/5. Participate in meetings with UN Agencies seeking or marketing joint programmes, bilateral and multilateral partners, continental development Banks (e.g. ADB or others) and International Institutions (WB, EU). Contribute to the preparation and follow up on submissions, and the coordination of donor meetings. With guidance prepare background data, information and inputs, and strive to generate extra budgetary projects and funding. 

Liaise with colleagues within the Sector and in other Sectors, in own and other Field Offices, Headquarters, Category I Institutes in Education and stakeholders to discuss developments and to archive information on Education initiatives, baselines, and impact measurements. 

4. Continuous Learning 

Invest in personal, professional learning in respect of new trends, and maintenance of personal knowledge and expertise. Acquire notions of other education specialities and UNESCO Sectors represented in the Field Office and of relevance to the country served.

5. Perform additional activities that may be required to ensure the success of the work team. The incumbent may also be involved in a range of ED work across programme areas as appropriate and required.

For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• •    Bachelor’s degree or advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in any of the fields of Education, Social Sciences, International Relations or related fields

Work Experience:

• •    Minimum nine (9) years of Bachelors experience or seven (7) years of Masters experience
• •    Proven experience in gathering, organizing and analyzing information for producing comprehensive and informative analytical reports

Skills and competencies:

• •    Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills
• •    Ability to work independently on delegated tasks and to meet deadlines
• •    Excellent drafting and report writing skills
• •    Appreciation of diverse identities.
• •    Excellent ICT skills with proficiency in the use of MS Office
• •    Creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
• •    Ability to work well with team members across different types of activities
• •    Ability to work efficiently, under pressure, and in a multi-cultural environment
• •    Ability to work effectively with diverse groups of professionals towards common goals
• •    High sense of responsibility and willingness to take initiative
• •    Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards

Languages:

• •    Excellent knowledge of English (spoken and written)

Source: https://careers.unesco.org/job/Bangkok-Associate-Project-Officer-(Education-for-Health-and-Well-being)/798273002/