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For every child, the right to learning.

Background and Strategic Context

The ongoing war in Sudan is severely affecting the health, safety, and wellbeing of an estimated 24 million children. More than 3.5 million children have been forcibly displaced, while nearly 14 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Among all sectors, education has been one of the hardest hits, with approximately 14 million school-aged children currently out of school and at serious risk of never returning to learning. This places Sudan on the verge of becoming the world’s largest and most severe education crisis.

In conflict-affected settings such as Sudan, schools are frequently forced to close, repurposed as shelters, damaged, or deemed unsafe. This not only halts education but also deprives children of the protective environment, daily routine, and psychosocial stability that schools provide. Even before the outbreak of the current conflict, Sudan faced a profound learning crisis, with more than 7 million children—one in three—already out of school or lacking access to quality education. The escalation of conflict has only magnified these challenges, placing enormous strain on an already fragile education system.

The pressure of the conflict on an already strained school system has left education in Sudan at a breaking point. The ongoing crisis has severely hampered essential infrastructures (including schools), which has halted access to learning, protection, water/sanitation, and other basic social services.

River Nile state is one of the states hosting a high number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and therefore the pressure of conflict and displacement on an already strained school system has severely hampered essential school infrastructures, which has impeded access to learning. In this context, the presence of an Education Officer in River Nile State is essential to support the planning, coordination, and implementation of the on-going education programmes /project that respond to these urgent needs. The Education Officer, with the support of the education specialist, provides technical and operational support to government counterparts, UN agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders to ensure education interventions are evidence-based, inclusive, and aligned with national priorities, while also contributing to longer-term resilience and recovery of Sudan’s education sector. Moreover, the education officer will adopt theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing data that support evidence-based programming.

How can you make a difference? 

Summary of Key Functions and Accountabilities

The Education Officer provides technical, operational, and administrative support across all stages of education programme planning, implementation, and monitoring.

 Key responsibilities include:

• Programme Development and Planning: Conduct research and analysis on political, social, economic, and education trends to inform programme design; support preparation of technical reports and documentation; assist in defining sectoral goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based plans.
• Programme Management, Monitoring, and Results Delivery: Support implementation monitoring, evaluation, and reporting; identify challenges and propose solutions; escalate issues for higher-level decision-making; and ensure programme resources are used efficiently and in compliance with organizational and donor standards.
• Technical and Operational Support: work closely with implementing partners, undertake field visits and surveys to assess progress, report critical issues, and provide guidance to government, NGO, and UN partners on UNICEF policies, strategies, and best practices to facilitate programme delivery.
• Networking and Partnership Building: Establish and maintain partnerships with government counterparts, stakeholders, and partners to support programme implementation; prepare advocacy, communication, and resource mobilization materials; and participate in inter-agency coordination and partners / sector planning processes. Provide inputs to donor’s updates and reports.
• Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Capacity Building: Capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned and good practices; apply innovative approaches to enhance programme results; and support capacity-building initiatives for stakeholders and partners.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• Education: University degree in education, psychology, sociology, or a related field.
• Work Experience: A At least 2 years of professional experience in education programme planning, management, and/or research.
• Skills:

1. Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
2. Strong collaboration and teamwork skills.
3. Ability to build networks and partnerships.
4. Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities

• Language Requirements: Fluency in Arabic and English is required; knowledge of another UN official language (French, Spanish or Russian) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

The 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 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable females are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Eligible staff members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent contracts applying to IP TA positions in a duty station designated as L2/L3, may be able to retain a lien and their fixed-term entitlements, subject to approval by their Head of Office. The conditions of the temporary assignment will vary depending on the status of their post and relocation entitlements may be limited as per the relevant policies.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.