Parent Sector : Field Office

Duty Station: Guinea-Bissau

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Level : Level 4

Duration of contract : 1 year

Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Duty Station Time) : 15/08/2025

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

ONLY NATIONALS OF GUINEA-BISSAU OR RESIDENTS WITH WORK PERMIT CAN APPLY

The Government of Guinea-Bissau, with the support of UNESCO and UNICEF, and with the financial contribution from the United Nations Peacebuilding Funds (PBF), will implement the “Strengthening social cohesion in Guinea-Bissau by aligning and integrating religious schools with the national education system” project. The primary goal of this three-year project is to provide support to the Government of Guinea-Bissau in promoting social cohesion and peaceful co-existence in the country through developing and piloting a framework for integrating religious schools into the national education system, which tend to be left behind and do not provide the curriculum and learning environment according to the national standards that can ensure the development of values, knowledge and skills necessary for navigating in the 21st century and for becoming agents of peace and sustainable development.

To achieve this, the project will focus on three main results: 1) reviewing the existing policies, strategies and guidelines concerning the governance of religious schools, and generating evidence on the situations of religious schools as well as perceptions of related stakeholders such as religious leaders, religious school operators and teachers, learners, parents, and civil society organizations working on education and with religious schools through consultations; 2) developing a framework for integrating religious schools within the national education system, including pathways for Q’uaranic centres to adopt minimum quality and safety standards; 3) supporting the development of harmonized curricula for peace and social cohesion education adapted to the contexts of religious schools, and 4) piloting the proposed framework and harmonized curricula in selected religious schools in SAB, Oio, Gabu and Bafata, revising the framework and curricula based on the results of the piloting exercise, and developing a strategy to operationalize the framework in a sustainable and phased manner.

The project will therefore seek to contribute to helping girls and boys in religious schools promote their wellbeing and develop relevant knowledge, skills and values that enable their inclusion, flourishing and social and economic empowerment in the society, in safe and secure learning environments.

Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Education (ADG/ED), the functional authority of the Director and the Chief of Education Section of the UNESCO Multi-sectoral Regional Office for West Africa (UNESCO Dakar), and the direct supervision of the Head of the Learning to Live Together Cluster at UNESCO Dakar, the SC9 Project Officer (NOB level) will be based in Guinea-Bissau and supervise the day-to-day implementation of the project in Guinea-Bissau on behalf of UNESCO, in cooperation with the Project Manager (to be hired by UNICEF Guinea-Bissau) as well as the members of the joint project team consisting of education and monitoring & evaluation specialists of UNESCO and UNICEF. Specific responsibilities include:

Ensure the management of the project from UNESCO’s side in line with the project specific objectives, activities, and expected outputs, in cooperation with the project manager and project team members:

• Providing leadership and guidance from UNESCO’s side to the project team to ensure that the project outputs are of the highest quality.
• Working together with and supporting the project manager in the overall management of the project.
• Regularly monitoring and supporting the updating of the project workplan as necessary.
• Planning and organizing the procurement of goods and services to be carried out by UNESCO and closely monitoring its implementation.
• Identifying suitable project implementation partners and providers of goods and services.
• Monitoring the implementation of contracts, assessing the quality of services provided, and requesting disbursement of funds.
• In coordination with the project manager and team, liaising with other development partners, donors, and stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau to ensure coordination, harmonization, and alignment of the project with other relevant initiatives and interventions in the country.

Ensure the monitoring and evaluation of project implementation and reporting on project activities:

Regularly monitoring the financial status of the project for UNESCO’s side and promptly developing a budget revision if needed.

Providing guidance to the project team with regard to monitoring and evaluation efforts and reporting on progress.

Working together with and supporting the project manager and team in regularly preparing, conducting, and following up on meetings of the project steering and technical committees, preparing their minutes and action plans with a clear division of responsibility and timeframe.

Working together with and supporting the project manager in providing a comprehensive strategic analysis of the project”s performance, based on the achievement of indicators, implementation of activities, and delivery of outputs.

Preparing reports on project activities for UNESCO, the donor, and partners.

Ensuring the implementation of the communication and visibility plan of the project in close coordination with the project team and Communication and Outreach Officers at UNESCO Dakar and UNICEF.

Contributing to the dissemination of the project”s results and knowledge products through various channels, such as workshops, webinars, and publications, and ensuring that the information is accessible and usable by the project”s stakeholders.

Policy Advice and Technical Assistance:

Providing technical assistance to project stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau on the evidence generation, framework development, piloting and operationalization, and monitoring and evaluation in line with the government policies as well as the Sustainable Development Goals 4 (SDG4-Education 2030) and 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Guinea-Bissau 2022-2026 among others.

Mobilizing UNESCO’s entities, including UNESCO HQ, UNESCO Dakar, International Bureau for Education (IBE), in support of ensuring expertise and successful project implementation.

Facilitating the sharing of international experiences and access to information, knowledge and good practices.

Education:

Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in the field of education, social sciences, peace studies or closely related field(s).

Work Experience:

Minimum 2 years of progressively responsible relevant professional experience in technical assistance and project management in the field of education, training or skills development.

Experience in supporting at least two initiatives of policy development and/or implementation in the field of education and training and/or peacebuilding.

Skills and Competencies:

Excellent understanding of the issues and challenges regarding education in Guinea-Bissau.

Good project management skills and ability to coordinate and support a complex project.

Ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships, both within and outside the Organization.

Ability to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.

Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.

Strong IT skills.

Languages:

Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of Portuguese and working proficiency in French and/or in English.

Education:

Specialization in education and/or peacebuilding.

Work Experience:

Work experience in a UN agency or international organization.

Work experience in the field of education or peacebuilding in Guinea-Bissau and other African countries.

Experience in policy support and capacity development in education or peacebuilding.

Skills and Competencies:

Procedures in international development cooperation, in particular in UNESCO.

The benefits include, inter alia, 2.5 days” annual leave per month of service, a contribution of 5% and 10% of the monthly salary paid in supplement by the Organization, respectively for health insurance and pension, upon presentation by the person concerned of proof of membership to a private pension and/or insurance scheme.