Programme Specialist in charge of Life Skills, Innovation and Professional Training

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

UNESCO has been working in Mozambique since the Member State joined the Organization in 1976. The Organization fully applies its two top priorities i.e. gender equality and Africa (alignment with African Union (AU) continental and sub-regional strategies. While issues at stake cover all UNESCO domains of competence and key priorities, given the priorities set forth for the recovery, the focus of the proposed set of interventions are on (i) rehabilitation of tangible and intangible cultural sites and practices; (ii) culture of peace and non-violence; (iii) environment and sustainable development within the framework of the Man and Biosphere (MAB), and (iv) post-conflict/post-disaster response. Mozambique has great challenges for its development, caused by several factors including the growth and characteristics of its population. The 2017 census shows that the country has 28 million inhabitants, of which more than 50% are young people under the age of 18. Looking at the labour mass, it concentrates about 70% of the labour force in rural areas, while in urban areas unemployment is around 21.4%. On the other hand, the country is experiencing an expansion of the extractive industry, which despite obstacles such COVID-19 pandemic and the humanitarian crisis caused by military instability in Cabo Delgado, economic growth is expected in the coming years. The country needs to ensure quality and inclusive education at all levels of the national education system, making efforts to leave no one behind. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find ways of empowering young people, particularly the most disadvantaged, capacitating them not just with basic life skills but also with technical and professional training to generate self-employment. In this context, UNESCO Maputo Office needs to enhance its capacity by integrating in its work team a specialist in life skills and professional training.

Under the authority of the UNESCO Representative for Mozambique and Head of Office in Maputo, the direct supervision of the Programme Officer in charge, the incumbent will contribute to the implementation of activities relating to the analysis, planning, management, implementation and monitoring of life skills, innovation and professional training policies, programmes and projects. The incumbent will also responsible for preparing inputs for the UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy (C/4), the Programme and Budget (C/5) and related work plans, as well as for developing partnerships and fundraising activities, and for UNESCO’s contribution to the ‘Delivering as One’ exercise in the field of Life Skills, Innovation and Professional Training in the country.

Results/expected outputs:

• As an active UNESCO team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNESCO and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:

Assisting Mozambique in the development, implementation and monitoring of their youth education policy in line with economic demand; - Coordinate activities of programmes and projects in the field of life skills and professional training at the national level; - Technical assistance and advice at political level - Initiate advice at the political level, using relevant data and information, in a comparative perspective; - Provide technical and specialist expertise to the country, partners and colleagues in the field of life skills and professional training; - Examine the results of research and studies related to life skills and professional training in order to develop useful recommendations for the country; - Contribute to mainstreaming a concern for inclusion and gender equality in life skills and professional training policies and strategies, as part of UNESCO's broader support for skills development for decent employment, in particular for young people and women; - Ensure UNESCO's positioning and participation in political dialogues with the highest national authorities and represent the Organization in the formulation of life skills and professional training policies / strategies as well as in high-level conferences and meetings;

Networking, communication, production and knowledge management - Contribute to sharing and networking development activities in life skills and professional training, at national, regional and international levels; - Plan, develop and implement awareness raising and advocacy strategies on life skills and professional training; - Participate in the production of situational knowledge on the life skills and professional training in Mozambique, in relation to the education system as a whole and to the needs of the national economy, particularly in terms of employment;

Creation/ strengthening of partnerships and mobilization of resources - Develop multi-level and/or multi-actor partnership mechanisms, as a guarantee of training-employment match and/or life skills and professional training funding; - Explore and develop alternative financing mechanisms and resource mobilization opportunities. Design, implementation and management of programmes/ projects

o Integrity/Commitment to mandate; o Value Diversity o Working in teams o Communication information and ideas o Results Orientation and Commitment to Excellence; o Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Learning o Conflict and self-management o Logistical support o Managing data o Managing documents, correspondence and reports o Managing information and workflow o Planning, organizing and multi-tasking o Managing financial processes o Job knowledge

 At least 3 years of experience in the areas of analysis, planning, and management of life skills and professional training systems;  Proven experience in the areas of programme development, technical assistance, resource mobilization, and programme monitoring and evaluation;  Relevant professional experience in the development and support of educational projects in fragile, crisis / conflict or post-conflict contexts.  Very good knowledge of the functioning of educational systems and more specifically of the life skills and professional training sub-systems within the context of developing countries and Africa in particular;  Ability to design and develop project documents and outlook studies for labour markets;  Very good knowledge of the priorities and requirements of the main donors in the field of life skills and professional training;  Ability to establish strategic partnerships and mobilize resources;  Demonstrate capacity for leadership, management and supervision of teams, including in multicultural contexts;  Ability to manage budgets and prepare activity or implementation reports;  Ability to regularly carry out missions, particularly in diverse and difficult contexts;  Ability to work under pressure and respect deadlines;  Excellent oral and written communication skills;  Proficiency in the MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.