Consultant - Education for Health and Wellbeing (Junior Project Officer)
OVERVIEW
Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)
Duty Station: Bangkok
Job Family: Education
Type of contract : Non Staff
Duration of contract : From 7 to 11 months
Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates
Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 03-JAN-2022
UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST
BACKGROUND
The Section for Inclusive Quality Education (IQE) is one of the two education sections of UNESCO Bangkok that aims to enhance UNESCO Member States’ capacity to provide equitable, inclusive and quality basic education for all in the Asia-Pacific region. IQE is responsible for six programme areas, namely (i) Education 2030 regional coordination, (ii) education planning and management, (iii) basic education from early childhood to the secondary level, (iv) inclusive education and gender equality, (v) quality of education, and (vi) education for health and well-being. In line with UNESCO's global strategy, IQE is emphasizing gender mainstreaming in all of its programmes.
This position is based in the Education for Health and Wellbeing Team (HWT/IQE) that coordinates UNESCO’s work on young people’s health and development 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 and wellbeing. Priority areas include comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and the promotion of safe, inclusive, gender transformative and health-promoting learning environments with efforts focused in the context of COVID-19 education sector recovery. HWT also collaborates with other UN agencies on regional and national initiatives on these themes. For additional information, please visit: https://bangkok.unesco.org/theme/education-health-and-well-being
Long Description
WORK ASSIGNMENT:
Under the overall authority of the Director of UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Bureau for Education, the overall supervision of the Chief of Unit for Inclusive Quality Education, and the direct supervision of the Regional Advisor on Education for Health and Wellbeing, the incumbent will provide project support to the ongoing HWT/IQE activities, particularly on the following main areas of focus:
- Increased access by teachers and learners to gender-transformative, age-appropriate and culturally relevant CSE learning resources in digital and non-digital formats;
- Capacity-building of teachers for disability-inclusive CSE;
- Transformative education through social and emotional learning (SEL) and responsive education systems for teacher and learner mental and psychosocial wellbeing; and,
- Coordinated UN agency joint efforts and regional partnerships to advance comprehensive school health, nutrition and well-being programmes.
Long Description
Specifically, the incumbent will perform the following tasks:
1) Support increased access by teachers and learners to gender-transformative, age-appropriate and culturally relevant digital CSE teaching and learning resources for remote and blended, formal and non-formal learning
a) Provide technical inputs and programme support to the implementation, monitoring and reporting of HWT’s activity for adaptation of sexuality education videos (e.g., AMAZE.org videos) and dissemination with a package of teacher/facilitator guides for use at country level in select participating countries (e.g., Thailand, Lao PDR, Viet Nam);
b) Coordinate and provide back-end support, as required, to UNESCO’s engagement with the Digital Sexuality Education community in Asia-Pacific, including their use of UNESCO-adapted Amaze.org videos and associated resources;
2) Support responsive, quality CSE for learners with disabilities
a) Assist in HWT’s ongoing regional CSE needs assessment of teachers of learners with disabilities: support organization of an online validation workshop among stakeholders of the study findings
b) Provide technical support in the design of follow-up teacher capacity building activities for disability-inclusive CSE in partnership with key education partners in select participating countries (e.g., Mongolia, Nepal, or The Philippines, TBC), based on the study’s findings and recommendations
3) Support transformative education and teacher and learner wellbeing through social and emotional learning (SEL) and education sector mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) efforts
a) Assist in conducting initial desk review regarding i) the development of a sub-regional research report and country case studies of Ministry of Education (MOE) responses to MHPSS needs of learners, teachers, and families, as part of education system from COVID-19; and ii) the development of a thematic brief on the role of MHPSS interventions by MOEs in assessing and addressing learning loss and learner wellbeing in COVID-19 recovery, with a focus on evidence and country experiences.
b) Support to field testing activity with pre/in service CSE and health education teachers and teacher educators in one country, a draft resource pack for building teachers’ SEL competencies.
4) Support accelerated country efforts in implementing Health Promoting Schools in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.
a) Support and assist the Regional Advisor in UNESCO’s co-chair role of the Asia-Pacific Thematic Working Group on School health, Nutrition and Well-being (TWG SHN & Well-being), co-convened with UNICEF and WHO, under the Asia-Pacific Learning and Education 2030+ (LE 2030+) Networking group, including communication and follow-up with TWG SHN & Well-being members.
b) Support coordinated efforts with the TWG SHN & Well-being co-chairs for follow-up on country implementation of the Inter-ministerial Call to Action on Health Promoting Schools in south and southeast Asia; and, the planning and delivery of regional joint agency products, activities and events, such as a parallel panel session in the programme of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Regional Education Ministerial Conference (APREMC-II), scheduled for June 2022.
Expected Deliverables/Outputs
| Deliverables | Deadline for submission | |
| 1 | - Draft TORs for Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for MHPSS study - Draft invitation letter, agenda and UNESCO PPTs for online validation workshop on the disability-inclusive CSE teacher needs assessment. |
25 February 2022 |
| 2 | - Draft concept note and expert TORs for field testing the resource pack for SEL teacher competencies; - Draft presentation for quarterly update to the Asia-Pacific Disability-Inclusive Education Working Group on the disability-inclusive CSE teacher needs assessment. |
20 March 2022 |
| 3 | - Desk review inputs for education sector MHPSS study and associated thematic brief; - Review report of Amaze.org video selection and adaptations |
20 April 2022 |
| 4 | - Draft programme and concept note for learning session for UNESCO & UNFPA regional staff on findings of the disability-inclusive CSE teacher needs assessment; - Draft concept note and expert TORS to support follow up teacher capacity building activities at country level |
20 May 2022 |
| 5 | - Final consolidated technical and logistic inputs for APREMC-II panel on school health, nutrition and wellbeing (background paper, panel run of show, speaker bios and presentations, event flyer and exhibition materials, web event announcement of the panel session etc). | 30 June 2022 |
| 6 | - Quarterly report to the LE 2030+ networking group of the TWG on SHN & wellbeing; - Draft social media pack to call for young people to take initiatives regarding planetary and their own health; and to commemorate the International Youth Day, 12 August 2022 |
20 July 2022 |
| 7 | - Review report of draft Amaze.org video facilitator guides/ lesson plans - Web article of findings of the disability-inclusive CSE teacher needs assessment and follow on capacity building work; |
20 August 2022 |
| 8 | - Web article on field-testing of resource pack for building teachers’ SEL competencies; Brief report on support provided to the field-testing - Draft concept note for UNESCO Bangkok commemoration activities for World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2022, with focus on adolescents and youth |
20 September 2022 |
| 9 | - Review report of proofreading and copy-editing the draft publication study findings of the disability-inclusive CSE teacher needs assessment - Draft gender checklist for publication of the report |
20 October 2022 |
| 10 | - Report of engagement with and capacity building support to the DSE network, including on use of Amaze.org resources - Web article on UNESCO’s work on DSE and country use of the adapted CSE videos |
15 November 2022 |
| 11 | - Quarterly report to the LE 2030+ networking group of the TWG on SHN & wellbeing - Web article for World AIDS Day highlighting UNESCO’s Positive Learning resource and education sector responses to young people living with and affected by HIV |
10 December 2022 |
Duration of contract:
The consultant will be required to work for an estimated period of 11 months (between January 2022 and December 2022).
Location and Travel:
The consultant will be based in Bangkok, Thailand. The work may include incidental travel to participate in field work, workshops, or conferences; such travel will be governed by UNESCO’s travel policies for consultants.
COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Advanced university degree or higher in social science, education, gender, communications, or other relevant field.
- At least 3 years of relevant experience on education for health; public health, school health, sexuality education, social emotional learning (SEL), or teacher professional learning.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
- Previous experience working in Asia and the Pacific.
- Previous experience working with the UN/ multilateral/ bilateral institutions.
-
Functional Competencies:
- Strong experience in both quantitative and qualitative research, including analytical review and synthesis of research materials;
- Excellent oral and writing skills in English, including writing reports for both diverse and targeted audiences
- Excellent organisational skills;
- Good computer skills;
- Experience in producing corporate communication products;
- Knowledge in the subject matter (education for health, school health, mental health, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights etc.)
- Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
Behavioural Competencies:
- Ability to be flexible and respond to changes to text/layout as part of the review and feedback process;
- Strong interpersonal skills, able to communicate and work with diverse people and cultures;
- Participate effectively in the team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
- Ability to work independently on delegated tasks;
- Focus on impact and results for the client.
For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Interested candidates should click on “Apply Now” and download and complete the Employment History form (Word document) in ‘Employment History Form / My Documents’. Before uploading the document, at the end of the word document, please insert the extra pages with the following required information:
- Up-to-date CV with contact details of references including email address and telephone numbers.
- A brief motivation letter
- Brief proposal on approach to carrying out the assignment (maximum 2, A4 pages) and the proposed fee total and monthly rate.
The complete application shall be submitted on or before 3 January 2022, 17h30 Bangkok time (GMT+ 7:00).
Note:
- Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidate(s) about the outcome or status of the selection process.
Please submit your application through SuccessFactors. Only if you are unable to attach requirements in system, please inform us at iqe.bgk@unesco.org
SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application and provide complete and accurate information. To apply, please visit the UNESCO careers website. No modifications can be made to the application submitted.
The evaluation of candidates is based on the criteria in the vacancy notice, and may include a competency-based interview.
UNESCO uses communication technologies such as video or teleconference, e-mail correspondence, etc. for the assessment and evaluation of candidates.
Please note that only selected candidates will be further contacted and candidates in the final selection step will be subject to reference checks based on the information provided.
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