UNESCO’s vital role in empowering women and adolescent girls in Afghanistan is demonstrated through its provision of Basic General Literacy throughout the country, which is the biggest intervention within UNESCO’s YALBE programme. Currently, UNESCO is providing Basic General Literacy to over 25,000 youth and adults (over 60% women and adolescent girls) in 20 provinces. UNESCO Kabul Office is recruiting a National Project Officer to support planning, implementation and coordination of its Youth and Adults Literacy and Basic Education programme.
Under the overall authority of the Officer-in-Charge of UNESCO in Afghanistan, the overall supervision of the Head of Education, and the direct supervision of Literacy Programme Team Lead, the incumbent will contribute to the planning, implementation, and coordination of the YALBE programme including by liaising with implementing partners (IPs) and other relevant counterparts at national and sub-national levels. Specifically, the incumbent will be responsible for the following: Planning:
Support the development of detailed work plans for literacy related projects, including regularly reviewing and refining project activities and adjusting financial plans as necessary.
Develop financial plan including plan for procurement of goods and services and ensure delivery of teaching and learning materials to the project beneficiaries.
In close collaboration with the Quality team of YALBE programme, develop training and supervision plans for Training of Master training and its cascading to literacy facilitators.
Implementation:
Support the Literacy Programme team lead in achieving project goals and milestones ensuring timely delivery of project activities by the IPs and the relevant team members.
Follow up on contract implementation; collect, review and process technical and financial reports form IPs, ensure their completeness and quality, and disburse fund installments in a timely manner.
Systematically capture best practices, lessons learned, and innovations in literacy programming. Use feedback loops to integrate lessons into ongoing project planning and implementation.
Coordination:
Act as the focal point for direct communication with IPs regularly to ensure smooth project implementation and identify and address bottlenecks in consultation with the relevant Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning team.
Oversee and coordinate the Complaints and Feedback Mechanism (CFM) of the literacy programme by collecting, analyzing data, follow up, producing/disseminating regular reports related to CFM.
Support effective dissemination and sharing of knowledge, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and lessons to intended audiences with a view to improving programme performance and contributing to wider learning.
Required Qualifications: Education:
Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Education, Business Administration, Social Sciences, Development Studies or related area.
Work Experience
Minimum two (2) years of experience in project planning, implementation and coordination in the field of education.
Experience in implementing programmes/projects in education at national level.
Skills and Competencies:
Excellent project management skills, including results-based management, financial management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
Excellent coordination and organizational skills.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to draft clearly and concisely.
Ability to work effectively in a team and to maintain effective working relationships in a multicultural environment.
Ability to work under pressure, to manage heavy workloads and to meet tight deadlines, paying close attention to details and quality of work.
Strong IT skills including good knowledge of standard office software and online collaboration tools.
Languages:
Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of English and of Dari/Farsi and/or Pashto.
