Education Officer – Social Behaviour Change (SBC) Support in Education (International UN Volunteer)

Mission and objectives
The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.

Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Context
Papua New Guinea made tremendous progress in the education sector for the previous decades to increase access to education across the country. However, school retention and completion, and transition between school levels are low. Net enrolment rates for 2019 were 85 per cent for elementary; 58 per cent for primary; and 20 per cent for secondary. The transition rate from the last grade of primary education to the first grade of secondary education is only 64 per cent.

Children start their education late and repetition are common. The student gender parity ratio declined from 101 girls per 100 boys in preschool and elementary to 96 girls in primary and 75 girls in secondary school. In 2021, 34 per cent of Grade 5 children lacked minimum reading proficiency, while 27 per cent lacked minimum numeracy proficiency, with no gender differences. There are 23 specialized centres for children with disabilities, but no data are available on those in or out of regular schools. Challenges include insufficient quality of teaching, lack of safe and conducive learning environments, and inadequate resilience to crises.

Alternative learning pathways exist to support children and adolescents who are out of the formal education system to catch up with Grades 7–12. The capacity is limited, however, with almost no services available in rural areas. Important skills for self-protection, violence prevention, respect and gender equality are not adequately taught, while gendered social norms and patriarchal traditions pose barriers to adolescent participation and civic engagement.

For the duration of the new UNICEF PNG’s Country Programme 2024-2027, the overall objective of its Education Programme is that significantly increased number and percentage of school-age children, especially adolescent girls, children disabilities and children affected by crises and disasters, improve foundational learning and continue to lower and upper secondary school or vocational training, while gaining life and work skills for full participation in the economy and society. The specific Education Programme strategy focuses on the following Output areas:

1) Inclusive and gender responsive early childhood education (ECE) for better early learning and school preparedness
2) Improved retention, completion, transition and learning outcomes through the new 1-6-6 school structure, focusing on teacher professional development support, innovative and digital solutions for education and training, and gender responsiveness and inclusion
3) Student well-being and welfare through safe school environment, enhanced guidance and counselling services and skills development opportunities, with a special focus on adolescent girls
4) Resilient education systems to natural disasters, man-made crises and climate change effects to mitigate impact and promote continuity of learning

Task description
Under the overall sectoral guidance of the Chief of Education and direct supervision provided by the Education Manager or Education Specialist, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following general tasks:

1. Support to programme development and planning
• Contribute to the preparation and updating of the situation analysis for the development, design, and management of education related programmes/projects. Research and report on development trends (economic, social, health etc.) and data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation, and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, and strategies, and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues.
• Suggest solutions on routine programme implementation and submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare draft inputs for programme/donor reporting.

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
• Undertake field visits and surveys and share information with stakeholders to assess progress and refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on education related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results.

4. Networking and partnership building
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programmes.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and alliances, and support fund raising for education programmes.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings and events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of education programmes/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
• Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Research and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

More specifically, under the technical guidance of the Social Behaviour Change (SBC) Manager, the UN Volunteer will support the Education Programme in application and integration of the SBC approach to increase demands for: equitable access to quality education (including ECE); prevention of violence in school; skills learning; disaster risk management (DRM) and climate smart education; and resilience building. The UN Volunteer will engage in the following tasks, focusing on SBC in education:

• Support the generation and utilization research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC.
• Support the design, plan and implementation of SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Support the operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications, and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute with articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Required experience
3 years of experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education.
• Experience in social development programme planning and management.
• Good knowledge of education planning, policy and administration
• Good understanding of communication for development or social and behaviour change, public advocacy, or another related area.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.

Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level
Bachelor degree or equivalent in education, psychology, sociology, anthropology, communication studies/communication for development or another relevant technical field related to education or social and behavioral science. An advanced university degree is an asset.