FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT
Accountability
– The higher education needs of refugees are met through the application of international and national commitments, including the SDG commitments, relevant UN/UNHCR protection standards and IASC principles governing humanitarian coordination.
– The region has an informed holistic strategic approach to higher education integrated in the regional education strategy and complementing the regional protection, livelihoods and solutions strategies. It reflects UNHCR¿s global, regional and country level priorities. The strategy is aligned with UNHCR¿s policy on age, gender and diversity (AGD), urban and out-of-camp policies and participatory assessment (PA) polices and rights community-based approaches.
– Higher education strategic priorities are presented and communicated to education actors, including Government, UN agencies, and national and international partners, focusing on access to quality higher education, and building on and integrating with higher education initiatives supported by other agencies within a development perspective.
– Country offices and programme partners that implement a DAFI programme have the capacity and expertise to effectively manage the programme according to the standards of the DAFI Policy and Guidelines.
– Universities and other higher education institutions where refugees study, for example with a DAFI scholarship, have an increased awareness and support system for refugee students and better consider their academic challenges.
– Mainstreaming refugees within national education systems is fostered as the main approach with support to education for refugee and host communities, in collaboration with relevant partners.
– Needs, results, personal stories and lessons learned across the region are represented in regional and global communication and in publications on DAFI to increase the visibility of regional efforts and needs.
– National capacities to provide higher education are improved through direct engagement, research and advocacy with
all relevant external interlocutors.
– Participation of persons of concern, particularly DAFI supported students, in planning, decisions and initiatives pertaining to their own education is assured through continuous assessment and evaluation using participatory, rights and community based approaches. Protection within the higher education institution and on campus is actively promoted in collaboration with other relevant programmes.
– Persons of concern are treated with dignity, respect and professionalism in line with the UNHCR Code of Conduct. Integrity in the delivery of education services is assured by all education staff.
– Higher education activities have political and financial support from external partners.
Responsibility
– Undertake direct, regular dialogue with country offices at all levels on the implementation of the DAFI programme and other higher education activities, in line with the strategic directions, the SDG 4 agenda, national education sector plans and programmes as well as relevant national sector coordination mechanisms.
– Undertake missions to country offices for guidance, support, assessments, partner meetings and monitoring.
– Support the expansion of opportunities for higher education in hosting countries in the region, both through in-situ scholarships and blended learning opportunities.
– Adapt and disseminate tools to support UNHCR staff and partners at country offices to effectively implement the DAFI programme and advocate for higher education opportunities for refugees.
– Support higher education considerations and programming for voluntary return in the region, including DAFI for return and connected learning options.
– Monitor implementation of the DAFI programme and other higher education activities in all countries and provide guidance and orientation.
– Maintain a regional monitoring database to support headquarter monitoring efforts but also to effectively supervise the country offices. The monitoring database is the main pillar for supervision, targeted support, reporting on results, communication of needs, planning and budgeting.
– Develop an annual results framework for the region based on the countries in which a DAFI programme is being implemented. The framework is based on the global results framework to monitor performance, outcomes, and objectives and helps to ensure accountability, transparency and measuring progress.
– Produce and regularly update a factsheet on higher education for refugees in the region in English and French to support advocacy, fundraising and partnership efforts also on an ad-hoc request.
– Work closely with both with protection and programme staff on planning, monitoring and controlling DAFI implementation progress.
– Ensure coherent mid-year and end-year reporting, assess the reports and provide feedback in collaboration with Headquarters.
– Support country offices in establishing partnerships and entering Memoranda of Understanding with universities or other higher education institutions. This includes providing information and support to such institutions to better consider needs of refugees for integration on campus and academic support.
– Initiated a network of DAFI clubs in the region to encourage a regional network of active students and alumni.
– Encourage a coordinated approach across the region to build and maintain alumni networks in the countries.
– Coordinate an alumni survey exercise with country offices to gain an understanding of the DAFI programme¿s impact and collect stories on biographies and professional careers to demonstrate that impact.
– Work together with other country offices, regional colleagues and the Headquarters team to strengthen and clarify the strategic contribution of higher education to solutions including linkages between graduation and access to gainful employment in countries of asylum, countries of origin and 3rd countries.
– Assist in the planning and co-ordination of UNHCR¿s role concerning higher education, representation of UNHCR at regional consultations, representation of UNHCR¿s education strategy and policy, particularly regarding higher education, to other UN bodies, NGOs, interlocutors, institutions and organisations regionally.
– Facilitate inter-sectorial linkages with education overall, livelihoods, durable solutions, child protection, SGBV, gender, community services, environment, cash-based programming, among others.
– Ensure that PASS instructions relating to education programming and reporting are understood and followed.
– Assist Bureaux and Country Offices to elaborate and implement strategies to address issues related to higher education access and quality, in cooperation with other UN agencies, in particular, UNESCO.
– Identify training needs and train staff, NGOs, and MoE officials on higher education priorities and related topics such as job search skills, community engagement, and access to the labour market.
– Ensure that best practices are identified, documented and disseminated both within the region and to Headquarters..
– Ensure that country programmes prioritise mainstreaming with national systems where possible or feasible, and liaise with Governments and education partners, particularly UNICEF and UNESCO, to support higher education opportunities for refugees and host community children and youth, both in line with UNHCR¿s urban policy and in camp situations.
– Prepare, co-ordinate and oversee drafting of documents and reports on UNHCR¿s higher education activities, particularly DAFI programme activities.
– Meet with officials, lobby and participate in consultations concerning higher education opportunities for refugees.
– Promote a conflict sensitive approach to higher education programming within all UNHCR programmes.
– Write/deliver articles, speeches, disseminate papers, provide position papers and monitor developments in the profile of higher education for refugees, and co-ordinate such efforts with other concerned organisations and partners.
– Participate in and facilitate conferences and publications ensuring awareness of UNHCR¿s role and strategic directions for higher education for refugees.
Authority
– Represent the Regional Office in meetings within UNHCR and represent UNHCR with external counterparts, including the media, on issues relating to refugee education in the region.
– Support the decision making process with respect to programme orientation in countries in the region and recommendations with respect to resource allocation in the education sector, particularly higher education and the DAFI programme.
ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
– Undergraduate degree (equivalent of a BA/BS) in Education or Social Sciences plus minimum 6 years of relevant work experience. Graduate degree (equivalent of a Master¿s) plus 5 years or Doctorate degree (equivalent of a PhD) plus 4 years of previous relevant work experience may also be accepted.
– Background in education policy, planning, programming and monitoring, with good knowledge of systems-approaches and curricula.
– Demonstrated work experience in education programmes, preferably in refugee contexts.
– Demonstrated work experience in communication, building partnerships and advocacy.
– Field experience in programme implementation and coordination.
– Knowledge of refugee protection principles and framework.
– Familiarity with INEE standards.
– Excellent knowledge of English and French.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
– Training and coaching skills/facilitation of learning.
– Demonstrated work experience in refugee education programmes.
– Experience with programmes enabling access to the labour market to youth, students and young adults.
– Experience with educational research, teaching or education administration.
– Experiences with distance and online learning and innovative approaches in education.
– Experience in the area of child protection.
– Demonstrated expertise in community services, community development/organization, social work, social surveys/ assessment, counselling, or related areas.
– Team building/development training.
Position Competencies
C001L3 – Accountability Level 3
C002L3 – Teamwork & Collaboration Level 3
C003L3 – Communication Level 3
C004L3 – Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 3
C005L3 – Client & Result Orientation Level 3
C006L3 – Organizational Awareness Level 3
M001L3 – Empowering and Building Trust Level 3
M002L3 – Managing Performance Level 3
M003L3 – Judgement and Decision Making Level 3
X001L3 – Analytical Thinking Level 3
X005L3 – Planning and Organizing Level 3
X006L3 – Policy Development & Research Level 3
Additional Information
For those people applying for High Risk Duty Stations, we strongly encourage colleagues to read the country specific security and welfare profiles which can be found on the Intranet under Support Services – Duty of Care (https://intranet.unhcr.org/en/support-services/duty-of-care.html). These profiles have been specifically designed to answer some of the key questions (on security conditions, medical provisions, staff welfare, living and working conditions) potential applicants might have before deciding to apply. Ensuring staff are better informed is part of the increased attention UNHCR is paying to Duty of Care. This project is still in the pilot phase, and as such some of the information leaflets are being produced as we speak and might not be available yet. They will be soon, so keep checking.
See below for this postion’s Operational Context
Desirable Attributes
This position is responsible for supporting country operations in the region to expand higher education opportunities for refugees in host countries. This includes the supervision and coordination of the DAFI programmes across the regions. This position will maintain a close working relationship with country offices on (i) the planning and implementation of their DAFI programmes, (ii) creating an enabling environment for quality higher education for refugees within national education systems of the hosting country, and (iii) on promoting UNHCR¿s overall education policy direction. The policy framework for this position is based on the DAFI Policy and Guidelines, UNHCR’s Global Education Strategy, and UNHCR¿s strategic priorities 2017-2021. This position will ensure that the DAFI programmes are adapted to the individual country contexts and are incorporated in UNHCR¿s strategic and operational planning in the respective countries. The incumbent will provide technical guidance and support, monitor and assess performance, progress and impact in line with the DAFI programme¿s monitoring system. Targeted support will be provided to small operations and newly launched DAFI programmes in the region to increase their capacity to effectively manage the DAFI programme and promote higher education for refugees overall. The position will ensure that learning and knowledge sharing on higher education for refugees takes place in the region and that results are effectively communicated to increase visibility of the programme and attract additional donors and partners.
Current Situation
West Africa has experienced successive conflicts over the past decades, with a recent rise in terrorist activities and attacks which have a serious impact on the stability and security of the region. UNHCR continues to respond to the humanitarian crises in the Lake Chad Basin and Mali, which have also caused the displacement of a huge number of IDPs. At the same time, there are several long standing refugee situations with which the Regional Representation continues to deal, seeking long-lasting solutions search as naturalization or long term residency. UNHCR estimates that there are around 1 million stateless persons in West Africa, and many more at risk of statelessness. Estimates easily reach 60 million individuals as people in the region are grossly undocumented.
Since September 1 2017, the Regional Representation for West Africa (RRWA) covers all the 15 ECOWAS Member States. In addition the Regional Representative is the Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Nigeria Situation. Mixed Migration is also a new domain that the Regional Office has been dealing with since the second part of 2017.
UNHCR has more than 1000 staff in the 15 countries under the Regional Office. In Dakar alone there are more than 100 staff, made up of generalists and experts in their domains, namely, protection, programme, admin, finance, statelessness, registration, public health, environment, livelihoods, CBI and project control.
Working and Living Conditions
While the asylum practice in the West Africa are rather generous, it is self-evident that the operational and political environments in the region present unique challenges (in terms of security, governance and socio-economic outlooks) to the UN in general, and UNHCR in particular. The Region houses a variety of political and UN coordination mechanisms that demand a significant amount of time to ensure that UNHCR remains relevant and exercises its partnerships relationships. Notable among these structures are United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, headed by an SRSG, the Regional UNDG, and Regional offices for WFP, UNICEF, OCHA, UNWOMEN, FAO, etc. Donors also have regional platforms in West Africa.
Security Considerations
In the Lake Chad Basin, the Boko Haram insurgency in North East Nigeria that spread into Cameroon, Chad and Niger has caused the displacement of over 2.5 million people, composed of 2.35 million IDPs, (of whom 1.9 million are inside Nigeria) and around 205,000 Nigerian refugees. Despite important military advances in 2016, ongoing threats from Boko Haram in all affected countries as well as the absence of basic services continue to pose acute humanitarian and protection risks for those impacted by the crisis.
With regards to the Mali situation, a total of 144,206 Malian refugees are hosted in neighbouring Niger (60,154), Mauritania (50,966) and Burkina Faso (33,056); and 58,985 persons are internally displaced within Mali. As the crisis enters its sixth year since the outbreak of the conflict in northern Mali in late 2011, a resolution is not yet in sight. The security situation has deteriorated over the past two years, spreading also to Mali¿s central region. New displacement continues as well as refugee and IDP returns, and conditions remain unfavourable for a large scale repatriation of Malian refugees in security and dignity.
The post acts as focal point/advisor for staff at all levels in country offices, including senior management and in the regional office. Discussions on policy and strategy are held primarily with senior regional advisors and regional representatives, with a strong information exchange line with the Tertiary Education Officer of the Education UnitSection at Headquarters
Additional Factors
.The incumbent will ensure that consistent, technically sound advice/recommendations in line with UNHCR education policy and strategy and the DAFI Policy and Guidelines are provided in the region. Technical guidance and support includes regular communication on management and implementation issues, follow up on recommendations, dissemination of guidelines and specialised training of staff, as well as discussions on the operational and policy environment influencing higher education opportunities for refugees. The position will support country offices in their advocacy efforts with governments and higher education institutions to improve or further enable refugees to access higher education under the same conditions as nationals or specials schemes for economically disadvantaged but eligible young persons. Countries in the region that have recently launched a DAFI programme or are about to launch one receive targeted support and guidance. He/she will ensure active exchange of information and best practices across countries in the region on higher education and considering good practices from other regions. The incumbent must be an authority on technical issues relating to higher education and will provide specialist advice for other sectors, to ensure that they fully integrate higher education related issues in their planning (e.g. community-based protection services, livelihoods, durable solutions, communications and donor relations). He/She will foster and ensure inter-sectoral linkages with education, protection, SGBV, gender, community-based protection services, livelihoods, cash-based interventions and health, among others. He/She will work closely with the Regional Education Officer to ensure consistency and synergy in their work and communication with the country operations.
