Education Associate – G6 – BEY121 – UNOPS Contract - Beirut, Lebanon

Organizational context

Eight years into the Syria crisis, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with nearly 950,000  Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR, about 20,000 refugees of other origins - mostly Iraqi - and Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.  There are no formal camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and refugees are living in hundreds of communities and locations across the country. 

The refugee response is led by the Government and UNHCR and UNDP, supported by the international community. As the designated lead agency in the refugee response, UNHCR has established a sector-based structure in Beirut and in the field. The structure brings together over 150 UN agencies, national and international NGO partners [over 150 actors, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs and Ministries] in identifying and agreeing on the strategic priorities to address the needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities. The Lebanon Chapter of the Response Plan falls under the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), whereby UNHCR guides the refugee response and UNDP facilitates the resilience and stabilization component.

The UNHCR operational response in Lebanon is one of the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office has grown substantially in the past years and is currently operating with around 650 staff. Aside from the country office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has field offices in Mount Lebanon, Qobayat, Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle.

The Education Associate is a member of the education team and will support the roll-out of Refugee Education 2030, the Refugee Education Strategy, in line with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which calls on States and relevant Stakeholders to contribute resources and expertise to expand and enhance the quality and inclusiveness of national education systems to facilitate access by refugee and youth to tertiary education. Providing inclusive and equitable quality education is central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the incumbent will assist the supervisor in ensuring UNHCR’s programming is in line with the SDGs.

Leveraging the growing global momentum in tertiary education, the Education Associate is responsible for supporting all activities related to the DAFI scholarship provision and facilitate the dissemination and access to Connected Learning Programmes. S/He liaises closely with UNHCR partner to ensure timely identification and referral of persons of concern for Cash based Initiatives and protection follow up. S/He will compile and analyse information related to the scholarship and to the tertiary sector.  UNHCR is working to translate the objectives of the GCR into impactful results, including through follow-up on pledges made through the 2019 Global Refugee Forum. Contributing to this global roll-out of the GCR, the Education Associate, in collaboration with the Education Section in the Division of Resilience and Solutions (DRS), will assist the supervisor in providing technical support to UNHCR countries and partners to advocate for and implement the objectives of Refugee Education 2030:   

• Promote equitable and sustainable inclusion in national education systems for refugees, asylum seekers, returnees, stateless and internally displaced persons
• Foster safe enabling environments that support learning 
• Enable learners to use their education toward sustainable futures

The incumbent supports UNHCR’s work regarding education and advocacy on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions.  S/he normally works under the direct supervision of the Education or Protection Officer. The Education Associate participates in liaising with partners to assess the education context, to develop an implementation plan and to monitor the programme and assess impact. S/he also works in collaboration with in-country education partners to improve access to, and quality of, refugee education at all levels, both formal and non-formal, and may liaise with partners for joint support for education access for refugee and host community children. The Education Associate supports the implementation of education approaches for emerging needs in refugee education, including attention to special needs, minorities, girls, pre-school education, and non-formal activities. The incumbent supports inter-sectoral linkages with child protection, SGBV, gender, community services, livelihoods and health, among others. S/he prepares relevant documentation and follows-up on administrative requirements of education projects

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Functional Statement

• Assist the supervisor in managing and coordination of the education sector.
• Assist in monitoring of implementation of the education strategy and activities at all levels in formal and non-formal education sectors.
• Assist in providing regular reports on educational activities, achievements and challenges.
• Conduct regular visits to community schools, carry out assessments and write recommendation.
• Assist in identification of persons with special educational needs and support implementation of inclusive and special needs education.
• Support and promote quality education data collection, analysis and reporting by assisting the implementation of Education Management Information System (EMIS). 
• Ensure education level of refugee children are updated in the UNHCR database for tracking of education achievement of refugee children. 
• Assess needs for services of persons of concern, as related to education responses. 
• Systematically promote and comply with the Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) policy and other priorities such as the HIV/AIDS policy.
• Liaise on behalf of UNHCR with external partners like Education Ministry on education matters.
• As requested participate in local humanitarian and development sector working groups to support and ensure all refugee education support programming at country level is extended, amplified and reported against sector development goals and humanitarian partners and funding serve system strengthening.
• Foster inter-sectoral linkages and coordination with child protection, SGBV, gender, community services, livelihoods/economic inclusion and health, among others, and provide specialist advice for other sectors, to ensure that they fully integrate education related concerns in their planning.
• Monitor implementation of education programmes and provide guidance on orientation. 
• Assist in the planning and coordination of UNHCR’s role concerning education. 
• Identify training needs and train UNHCR staff, sister UN agency staff, NGOs, and Ministry of Education officials on refugee education priorities and identified topics. 
• Develop and disseminate relevant tools to support UNHCR staff and partners in Country Office(s). 
• Join joint assessment missions in emergencies to minimise the time refugee children and youth spend out of education (ideally a maximum of three months after arrival).
• Assist in preparing and drafting of education input in key internal and external documents and reports.
• Monitor and support all existing formal and informal education programs, including implementing partner and community-based schools, and informal classes.
• Regularly update and share information related to education, utilizing data collection to identify gaps, assess trends, and design interventions.  
• Monitor and suggest necessary adjustments to the annual Education Workplan and budget.
• Review education proposals and monitor existing agreements with partners; in addition, work closely with the community to enhance quality and ownership across community-run education programs.
• Liaise and support partners in organizing teacher training.  
• Perform specific administrative operational/control tasks for project/programme activities.
• Provide inputs for funding submissions, appeals and reports.
• Represent UNHCR in monitoring of education projects.
• Issue documents and reports for clearance by the supervisor.
• Perform other related duties as required.