Mission and objectivesThe fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does โ in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to childrenโs rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that every child has the right to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life โ in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions โ her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a societyโs most disadvantaged citizens โ addressing inequity โ not only will give every child the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so critical. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of every child, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
ContextNorth Macedonia is home to over 372,000 children, an estimated 120,000 of whom are at risk of being left behind due to poverty or exclusion. The new UNICEF Country Programme Document 2026-2030 aims to ensure every child and adolescent, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalised reaches their full potential and realizes their rights. This is achieved by driving systemic change to ensure that policies, budgets, services and measures advance childrenโs rights and benefit children living in poverty, Roma children and children with disabilities. The National UNV Expert will provide technical, administrative and operational support to the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of education programmes, from pre-primary through secondary focusing on education reforms, policy development and inclusion, as well as expanding adolescentsโ green skills, participation and climate action. By supporting school network optimization, development of strategic education policies; upgrading curricula and teacher training, as well as support system for children with disabilities and Roma, expansion of early childhood education; and strengthening green skills and climate action for adolescents, this role helps to create sustainable changes in the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of the education system and strengthening learning outcomes for every child, particularly the most vulnerable.
Task DescriptionThe UNV post will be under the direct supervision of the Education Specialist, a senior position in the office. The key function of this position is to support evidence generation and analysis, technical assistance and advocacy efforts in education, with specific focus on education sector reforms, quality teaching and learning, expansion of early childhood education, green skills and climate action. More specifically, the UNV Education Officer will undertake the following tasks: - Assist in preparing and updating the situation analysis and support the development of gender, inclusive and climate responsive education programme planned results, strategies and key interventions through research, data collection, analysis and reporting - Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, and other partners/donors on the delivery of gender, inclusive and climate responsive education programme and strategies, UNICEF processes to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results. - Conduct field visits and surveys, report on progress and challenges, and support partners in understanding and applying UNICEF policies and best practices in gender, inclusive and climate responsive education. - Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation - Participate in monitoring and evaluation activities, sectoral reviews, and report on the use of resources, ensuring compliance, accountability, and timely resolution of issues, escalating issues that require management attention. - Draft communication and information materials for programme advocacy, and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and reporting - Contribute to knowledge management and capacity building by sharing lessons learned, promoting innovation and best practices, and participating in training initiatives. - Support other relevant tasks as requested by the supervisor
Competencies and valuesCore Values โข Care โข Respect โข Integrity โข Trust โข Accountability โข Sustainability Core competencies โข Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1) โข Works Collaboratively with others (1) โข Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1) โข Innovates and Embraces Change (1) โข Thinks and Acts Strategically (1) โข Drives to achieve impactful results (1) โข Manages ambiguity and complexity (1) Functional Competencies โข Persuading and influencing (1) โข Applying technical expertise (1) โข Learning and researching (2) โข Planning and organizing (2)
Living conditions and remarksNorth Macedonia is a landlocked country, geographically located on the Balkan Peninsula, south-eastern Europe with around 1.8 million inhabitants. It is an upper-middle-income country, candidate for EU membership and NATO member. The capital city is Skopje with around 600,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city of North Macedonia, the country's political, cultural, economic centre. There is a wide range of hotels, restaurants, education institutions, access roads, public transport (buses, taxis, trains), public services and places for recreation, airports. UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment. Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements In addition to duty station specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts.