Education Specialist (Sector Coordinator), P3, Temporary Appointment (6 Months), Kenya Country Office, Nairobi, Post # 126024 (Open to Non-Kenyans Only)

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For every child, Education!

The Government of Kenya has allocated a significant budget to education, to implement reforms such as the Competency-Based Curriculum and a 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary school. However, issues such as poor-quality teaching and large class sizes still affect the quality of children's learning. The pupil-to-teacher ratio remains very high in some counties, such as 77 to 1 in Turkana.

How can you make a difference?

Background and purpose
Kenya is highly exposed and vulnerable to disaster shocks. Ranked 17th most-at-risk country in the world by the INFORM Risk Index for 2023 , Kenya is vulnerable to both human-induced and climate-related hazards including recurrent drought and floods, pandemics and epidemics, and inter-ethnic conflict which hamper the countryâs efforts to achieve its development goal. Over the past three years, Kenya has been significantly stressed by the worst drought in 40 years after four consecutive rain seasons; this drought has left million people in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance and resulted in death of million livestock making the pastoralist communities in the 23 arid and semi-arid counties (ASALs) more vulnerable.
Floods also remain a major hazard devastating impacts on assets, livelihoods, health and socioeconomics; over the period 2018-2020, floods affected over 800,000 people across 36 of Kenyaâs 47 counties, leaving 237 dead and more than 161,000 people displaced . Anecdotal data from a UNDP Floods Impact Assessment carried out in October 2020 indicated that the floods caused direct economic losses of KES billion (US$ 446,689,997 in the 12 most affected counties . The interaction of, and interplay between the different hazards and the resultant impacts has also contributed to the increasing vulnerability of people at-risk of being left behind. For example, according to the world Bank , the combination of the locust upsurge and COVID-19 undermined the resilience of already vulnerable populations.
Increasing frequency and intensity of disaster hazards has been in-part fueled by climate change with researchers finding a direct link between the severity and frequency of natural disasters such as droughts, floods, locust invasions and the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change.

The Resident Coordinatorâs Office and UNOCHA are leading the coordination of humanitarian action for UN and partners support to the governmentâs humanitarian responses. UNICEF actively participates in interagency coordination mechanisms, including the Kenya Humanitarian Partnership Team (KHPT) with UNICEF co-leading the Nutrition, Education and WASH sectors and the Child Protection sub-sector. UNICEF provides technical and financial support to line ministries at national and county level to support sector coordination and leadership. UNICEF co-led sectors are all part of the Inter-Sector Working Group (ISWG) led by UNOCHA at the national level.

At the National level, led by the MoE, UNICEF and Save the Children are supporting Education in Emergencies sector coordination through regular working group meetings which are to support partners with planning, information sharing, monitoring and reporting on the drought response. UNICEF has been supporting the County Directors of Education to conduct subnational working groups coordination meetings for emergency preparedness and response.
UNICEF Kenyaâs focus is on affected school age children (4-17 years) at all school levels (ECE/Pre-primary, primary, junior secondary and Senior secondary) in this challenging situation of drought recovery and preparedness for the expected heavy rain and flooding during the upcoming rainy season of October to December 2024.

Justification
To support the implementation of an effective education response to the climate- induced crises through strengthening the coordination and information management at county and national level as well as increasing advocacy for enhanced and targeted support to the education sector.

Scope of Work
Under the supervision of the Chief Education, the Education Sector Coordinator will perform the following key tasks and responsibilities:

Strengthen the coordination platforms and mechanism for humanitarian response at county and national level. Review, assess and update the education situation in areas affected by emergency (including, but not limited to â the number of girls and boys affected, children with disability and other vulnerable groups, the safety and security of learning environments, the availability of psychosocial and health services, availability of teachers, teaching and learning materials, other relevant information and circumstances affecting childrenâs access to education). Highlight and provide briefing on education issues requiring a response âimmediate, medium term and long term and make recommendations on specific UNICEF actions required in its role as sector co-lead Agency and aligned to UNICEF core commitments to children (CCCs). Provide technical guidance and direction to education stakeholders including UNICEF for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of agreed education in emergency plans including the linkage with the regular programs in the same areas affected by the emergency and well-being of school age children as well as adolescents ( Out of school children programmes). Undertake frequent field visits (as required) in the affected counties to assess the impact of the emergency in schools, join interagency assessment missions and provide technical support to the design and reporting of emergency related missions. Collaborate with other sector coordination platforms/ working (sub) groups including child protection, WASH, Nutrition (among others) to ensure generated data on vulnerability and recommended interventions is relevant and targeting the most vulnerable children with the purpose of enhancing an impactful intervention for the wellbeing and education of children and the education sector as a whole. Coordinate (to the extent possible) with other education development coordination groups to ensure education issues arising from the climate- induced crises are also captured by the development partners and the national development and county plans as relevant.
Support field level coordination and reporting of UNICEF education activities in affected areas particularly through Government and NGO partners. Advance Climate Change Agenda for education sector in support to MoE and other stakeholders to lead on education climate change integration into regular education programming and possible interventions at national and subnational level. Manage utilization of education funds under drought recovery grants, including partnership development, monitoring of implementation and reporting to donors within set deadlines. Support UNICEF Chief of Education in resource mobilization on areas related to education resilience

Reporting and work relationships

⢠Led by MoE at the national and county levels, work closely with Save the Children and UNICEF Zonal Office Colleagues on undertaking regular coordinating tasks of the education in emergency working group.
⢠Work closely with other UNICEF Education staff at the county and Zonal Offices, including the Information Management Specialist, to establish/strengthen continuous data generation, analysis and dashboards on the impact of the drought / flood on school age children and the education system and develop relevant strategies for an accurate and predictable response.
⢠Work in close collaboration with the UNICEF Education Section on preparedness and response to climate-induced emergencies and complete other tasks as assigned by the Chief of Education, and as necessitated by the emergency.

AWP Areas covered
Tasks and responsibilities fall under Output âChildren and adolescents affected by emergencies including refugees and asylum seekers have equitable access to safe and secure, inclusive and quality learning opportunitiesâ under 2 key interventions:
⢠Strengthen existing coordination mechanisms for Education in Emergencies (EiE) and refugee education at the national and county levels.
⢠Provision of safe and secure quality education learning environment and access to formal/non-formal education, psychosocial support for children and adolescents affected by humanitarian situations.

Expected Deliverables

Financial and partnership management of Drought Emergency Grants
1. Develop donor proposals for Education in Emergency programmes jointly with relevant staff members in the zonal offices.
2. Manage utilization of education funds under drought emergency grants, including partnership development for implementation.
3. Prepare donor reports as per office guidelines and deadlines
4. Manage education supplies under climate crises emergency grants, including requesting, and releasing to respective partners and beneficiaries.

Programme development, planning and reporting
1. Develop education inputs of the Humanitarian Appeal for children HAC.
2. Contribute to the development, review, and reporting of the EiE programme.
3. Provide technical support for the implementation and monitoring of the Education activities in humanitarian situations

Coordination, Advocacy and Resource Mobilization
1. Influence and support both upstream and downstream work for resource mobilization and advocacy for policies that ensure access to education opportunities with enabling environment for achieving quality education and access for disadvantaged and vulnerable children in Kenya.
2. Advance Climate Change Agenda for education sector with support to NACONEK and MoE to lead on education climate change interventions at national and subnational level.
3. Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results, including increasing access to girls and children with disabilities.
4. Increase the support to establish EiE working groups at county level in target counties as first line of preparedness and response.
5. Build capacity of county EiE focal contact persons on DRR, EiE coordination, crisis data management and reporting, contextualized drought Emergency Preparedness Response Plans.
6. Co-Lead the EiE Working Group and Strategic Advisory Group to ensure access to safe equitable and quality education with enhanced resilience of the education system and communities to deliver timely and effective education response.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will haveâ¦

Masters or advanced degree in education, social sciences, international development, humanitarian response or any related field. Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible relevant experience in the field of education. Strong experience in Cluster or education working group coordination in developing countries is required. Technical experience and knowledge in the area of education in emergency response specially in climate chock contexts is required, including monitoring and evaluation and partnership coordination. Proven experience of high- quality report writing and documentation. Resourcefulness, flexibility, and the ability to prioritize large amounts of work while under pressure. Good analytical, facilitation, communication and presentation skills. Politically and culturally sensitive, awareness of gender issues, with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy. Experience with the UN is a plus.

For every Child, you demonstrateâ¦

UNICEFâs Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others.