Mission and objectives

UNFPAs mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. The agency works to achieve three transformative goals which are: zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning and zero sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices.The UNFPA office in Sao Tome and Principe is Oversight by a Country Director based in Cameroon and lead by the Head of Office.

Context

The general objective of the project is to support the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education of Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe to implement the project Subcomponent 1.1: Imparting life skills and sexual health education of the Component 1 – Empowering Girls through the acquisition of the life skills and the promotion of the safe School environment of the Project Girls Empowerment and Quality Education for All. The specific objectives of the project subcomponent 1.1, in line with outline of project document, will support the following activities at 63 schools in STP with students in 3rd cycle of basic (7th to 9th grades); and Secondary education (10th to 12th grades). (a) Establishment of girls’ and boys’ clubs programs tailored to each context with the objective of protecting girls at risk of early pregnancy; prevent pregnant girls from lagging behind, and dropping out and to prevent GBV; promote positive masculinity; and support online meetings and social networks (e.g., Facebook and WhatsApp) strategies, according to the EEP-COVID-19; (b) Strengthening of the existing SRH education program and psychosocial support with gender sensitive TLMs (ensuring that teacher training plans include SRH) to reduce early pregnancy and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. These activities will sensitize and inform about the risks and disadvantages of early pregnancy and promote the distribution of contraceptives and gender-sensitive instructions, such as boys’ and girls’ socioemotional skills, girls’ aspirations and empowerment, GBV, and positive masculinity; and (c) Community outreach strategies aligned with the EEP-COVID-19 (including TV, radio and free call center) to raise awareness among the school community about the value of education for all and the negative effects of dropping out, with an emphasis on fighting gender stereotypes and the prohibition of schools creating their internal regulations that hinder pregnant girls from studying during the day, through behavior change campaigns, students’ vocational fairs, community meetings, and identifying female role models. Around 23 000 students (12000 girls and 11,000 boys) from 7 to 12 grades will benefit from the activities supported under component 1.1 of the project. At the operational level, the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education (MoETE) will be responsible for the implementation of activities in partnership with NGOs, in particular for the realization of awareness-raising activities. The Directorate of Planning and Innovative Education (DPIE) is the main interlocutor for the implementation of the interventions supported by this project. The project is managed by a technical team made up of 6 members covering the various departments of MoETE. The UNV is called upon to provide technical and management assistance to this central team and will have coordination relationships with the Project Girls Empowerment and Quality Education for All team (PEREQT).

Task Description

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Contribute to establishment of a community of practice for Comprehensive Sexual Education through a coordination role that provides updates, shares resources, and engages members for active participation in the identified platform. 2. Provide secretariat and coordination support to the PEREQT – Girls Empowerment and Quality Education for All Project and Technical Guidance and Support to the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education, through the Division of Education Planning and Educative Innovation, for the implementation of the Subcomponent 1.1: Imparting life skills and sexual health education of the Component 1 – Empowering Girls through the acquisition of the life skills and the promotion of the safe School environment of the Girls Empowerment and Quality Education for All Project. 3. Provide coordination and technical support to Ministry of Youth, through the National Institute of Youth, and other Youth-related organizations to implement Youth and CSE programs and annual workplans, participation and taking notes in all working group set and ad-hoc meetings related to Youth and CSE, organisation of events and consolidation of inputs from members on joint document development. 4. Contribute to development of initiatives & programs on advancing youth leadership and development through digital and programmatic innovations. This task will involve taking stock of innovative initiatives in the region, identifying and informing the Head of Office, opportunities for expanding these initiatives for purposes of mainstreaming adolescent sexual reproductive health, GBV prevention and youth empowerment, and support the Country Office resource mobilization efforts to support national Youth initiatives and projects. Furthermore, UN Volunteer is required to: • Strengthen his/her knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities. • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. The UN volunteer should be enrolled into a University programme in Development, Gender Equality, International relations, health, population, demography and/or other related social science discipline, and have excellent written English language skills, good drafting skills, ability to write reports and funding proposals, and the ability to organize and design workplans following the established timeframes. Proactivity and good emotional intelligence are essential, as well as proficiency in the use of standard MS Office packages and the Internet.

Competencies and values

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☐ Building Trust ☐ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☐ Leadership ☒ Managing Performance ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Vision ☒ Working in Teams

Living conditions and remarks

Officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about 140 kilometres (87 miles) apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres (155 and 140 miles), respectively, off the north-western coast of Gabon. At sea level, the climate is tropical—hot and humid with average yearly temperatures of about 27 °C (80.6 °F) and little daily variation. The temperature rarely rises beyond 32 °C (89.6 °F). At the interior’s higher elevations, the average yearly temperature is 20 °C (68 °F), and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies from 5,000 mm (196.9 in) on the southwestern slopes to 1,000 mm (39.4 in) in the northern lowlands. The rainy season is from October to May. The duration of your assignment is 12 months, with the possibility of extension. A UN Volunteer receives a Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) which is composed of the Monthly Living Allowance (MLA) and a Family Allowance (FA) for those with dependents (maximum three). The Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) is paid at the end of each month to cover housing, utilities, transportation, communications and other basic needs. The VLA can be computed by applying the Post-Adjustment Multiplier (PAM) to the VLA base rate of US$ 1,587. The VLA base rate is a global rate across the world, while the PAM is duty station/country-specific and fluctuates on a monthly basis according to the cost of living. This method ensures that international UN Volunteers have comparable purchasing power at all duty stations irrespective of varying costs of living. The PAM is established by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and is published at the beginning of every month on the ICSC website (http://icsc.un.org). In non-family duty stations that belong to hardship categories D or E, as classified by the ICSC, international UN Volunteers receive a Well-Being Differential (WBD) on a monthly basis. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are provided a settling-in-grant (SIG) at the start of the assignment (if the volunteer did not reside in the duty station for at least 6 months prior to taking up the assignment) and in the event of a permanent reassignment to another duty station. UNV provides life, health, permanent disability insurances as well as assignment travel, annual leave, full integration in the UN security framework (including residential security reimbursements). UN Volunteers are paid Daily Subsistence Allowance at the UN rate for official travels, flight tickets for periodic home visit and for the final repatriation travel (if applicable). The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). allowance is paid for satisfactory service at the end of the assignment. UNV will provide, together with the offer of assignment, a copy of the Conditions of Service, including Code of conduct, to the successful candidate.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements