UN Volunteer: Education Expert – Sofia

  • Location:
  • Salary:
    negotiable / YEAR
  • Job type:
    VOLUNTEER
  • Posted:
    2 weeks ago
  • Category:
    Education
  • Deadline:
    28/01/2026

JOB DESCRIPTION

Mission and objectives

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. We work in over 130 countries, helping millions of people with life-saving support, safeguarding fundamental human rights, and helping them build a better future (see www.unhcr.org).

Context

Since the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, over 2.8 million refugees from Ukraine have entered Bulgaria, and by the end of 2024, more than 74,000 refugees from Ukraine had valid temporary protection in Bulgaria, of whom the majority are women and children. From 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024, the State Agency for Refugees (SAR) received 12,250 applications for international protection, including, 2,601 from unaccompanied children (21 percent). 7213 applications were terminated, with the applicants presumed to have moved on within the European Union. Refugee status was granted to 55 persons, while 4,883 persons received subsidiary protection. In addition, 3,065 applications were rejected. Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, an estimated 3,568,928 Ukrainian refugees have transited through Bulgaria. As of 31 December 2024, 201,484 refugees from Ukraine had been granted temporary protection in Bulgaria, while 74,739 refugees from Ukraine had valid temporary protection. Approximately 30% are children under the age of 18. On 23 December, the caretaker government adopted a decision extending the Humanitarian Support Program for displaced persons from Ukraine until 4 March 2025, a week ahead of the deadline for the existing program. UNHCR under its mandate leads and coordinates the Inter-Agency refugee response for the Ukraine Situation, in alignment with the Regional Refugee Response Plan for the Ukraine Situation (RRP) – co-leading with and in support of the Government. Under the Refugee Coordination Mechanism, UNHCR has established the national refugee coordination forum, including an Education Working Group (led by UNICEF and UNHCR), a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Technical Working Group (led by WHO), a Protection and Inclusion Working Group (led by UNHCR), a Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) network (co-led by UNHCR, UNICEF and Animus). UNHCR supports Bulgaria’s Government to ensure policies and legislation are in line with international and EU standards, and promotes a comprehensive refugee response, grounded in a multi-stakeholder, whole-of-society approach. This includes legislative comments on the national implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. UNHCR supports government-led efforts to provide key protection – including legal assistance, information on services, education and psychosocial support – reception and accommodation, as well as cash assistance for the most vulnerable groups and to support education complementing social protection in Bulgaria. UNHCR’s priority protection interventions include access to territory and asylum procedures, inclusion of refugees in state-led programs, Child Protection and Gender Based Violence prevention, risk mitigation and response, support to persons with specific needs, and mitigation of the risks relating to trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation.

Task Description

UNHCR’s Refugee Education 2030: A Strategy for Refugee Education places a strong emphasis on active integration of refugees into national education systems. This includes promoting the equitable and sustainable inclusion of displaced children and youth, fostering safe and supportive learning environments for all students regardless of legal status, gender, or disability, and empowering learners to use their education for a sustainable future. In line with this goal, Bulgaria has made significant efforts in recent years to support access to education for displaced children and youth in local schools, improve the quality of Bulgarian language training and address learning, social and emotional needs of refugee students. However, the increasing arrival of asylum-seeking and refugee children in Bulgaria has posed significant challenges to the local education system, requiring effective accommodation and integration of a diverse group of children with different nationalities, cultures, languages, socio-economic statuses, and previous educational experiences. Effective integration of refugee students into the Bulgarian school system requires tailored policies and practices that address their diverse educational, social, and emotional needs. With a growing number of children seeking international protection coming from countries experiencing protracted military conflict, significant educational disruption and psychological trauma are common. Closing the existing learning gaps and effectively adapting to the Bulgarian educational framework is key to adequately meeting their needs. In addition, addressing their social and emotional needs means creating a safe learning environment, encouraging peer and teacher interaction, fostering a sense of belonging, and helping them to cope with the trauma. Bulgaria’s National Implementation Plan for the EU Migration and Asylum Pact provides a unique opportunity for legal and institutional reform to address these gaps. In addition, Bulgaria benefit from a number of UNHCR initiatives in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), including the Bulgarian best practice – Academy for Refugee Teachers (organized by UNHCR, MoES and delivered jointly with the local partners EducArt and Teach for Bulgaria), preparatory classes with the Personal Development Support Centres under municipalities of Burgas, Harmanli, Plovdiv, Sofia, and Varna, joint research with the MOeS and the Institute of Research in Education on challenges and good practices in the adaptation of refugee children in Bulgarian schools, UNHCR cash assistance programme in coordination with the Agency for Social Assistance (ASA) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to support children of compulsory school age in particularly vulnerable refugee families and cash grants for refugees enrolling higher education, homework and language support for children with learning difficulties, Bulgarian language courses for adults provided by UNHCR’s partner, the Bulgarian Red Cross, and free Bulgarian language teaching materials. This UNV assignment is part of UNHCR’s core protection and solutions initiative to support refugee enrolment in the national education system, supporting the national implementation of the EU Asylum and Migration Pact with regards to access to education, in particular the development of the national law on refugee protection under the Migration and Asylum Law, and fostering inclusive education in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science and the municipalities of major Bulgarian cities hosting refugees. The Education Expert will support the roll-out of Refugee Education 2030, the UNHCR Refugee Education Strategy, in line with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which calls on States and relevant Stakeholders to contribute resources and expertise, to expand and enhance the quality and inclusiveness of national education systems, to facilitate access by refugee and host community children and youth to primary, secondary and tertiary education. Providing inclusive and equitable quality education is central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Education Expert will ensure UNHCR’s programming is in line with the SDGs, in particular SDG Leveraging the growing global momentum, UNHCR is working to translate the objectives of the GCR into impactful results, including through follow-up on pledges made through the 2019 Global Refugee Forum. They will provide technical support to UNHCR Country Office in Bulgaria and its partners to advocate for and implement the objectives of Refugee Education 2030: • Promote equitable and sustainable inclusion in national education systems for forcibly displaced and stateless persons. • Foster safe enabling environments that support learning. • Enable learners to use their education toward sustainable futures. Under the supervision of the Protection Officer and in collaboration with the relevant staff, the selected candidate will provide technical support for UNHCR regarding education and advocate on all issues related to education programmes and strategic directions. This includes support for the adaptation of Refugee Education 2030 to the particular country context, as well as providing technical support (on early childhood, learning achievement, primary education, accelerated education, secondary education, non-formal education, scholarships and tertiary education, education in emergencies etc.) to the team and partners. The Education Expert will help promote the inclusion of refugees and other persons under UNHCR mandate in the national education systems through effective partnerships and advocacy with relevant government line ministries, development actors, private sector, UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs, research institutions and universities, both at the regional and country levels. This includes keeping abreast with international developments in education, where necessary, including collaboration with UNICEF, UNESCO, the Global Partnership for Education and the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). The performance of the duties under this assignment includes drafting advice, training and presentations designed to promote increased access to quality education at all levels to both refugee and host communities, in line with the GCR. The selected candidate will be required to: – Translate global education objectives and strategic directions into regional or national guidance, strategies and priorities, in collaboration with the supervisor and the Education Section in HQ, to ensure coherence with UNHCR’s education policy and strategy. – Engage, promote and foster partnerships/collaboration with national education stakeholders and bodies in line with GCR. – Provide technical advice and support on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions, in line with UNHCR education policy and regional priorities, including through remote support and field missions. – Support and provide technical advice to senior management and relevant staff allowing for advocacy activities with States and international organisations on all issues related to UNHCR education programmes and strategic directions, including supporting national planning processes. – Participate in national working groups to support that all refugee education support programming at country level is extended, amplified and reported against sector development goals and humanitarian partners and funding serves system strengthening. – Assist the Country Office to elaborate and implement strategies to address issues related to education access, quality and data, in cooperation with other UN agencies (UNICEF, UNESCO, etc.) and other key education stakeholders. – Foster inter-sectoral linkages and coordination with child protection, GBV, gender, community services, livelihoods/economic inclusion and health, among others, and provide specialist advice for other sectors, to ensure that they fully integrate education related concerns in their planning. – Assist the supervisor in monitoring the implementation of education programmes and provide guidance on orientation. – Support the supervisor in monitoring the implementation of Global Refugee Forum pledges within the area of responsibility. – Assist with the development and dissemination of relevant tools to support UNHCR staff and partners. – Support active exchange of information and that best practices are identified, documented and disseminated. – Join joint assessment missions in emergencies to minimise the time refugee children and youth spend out of education (ideally a maximum of three months after arrival). – Prepare and draft education input in key internal and external documents and reports. – Perform other related duties as required.

Competencies and values

• Accountability • Integrity • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management

Living conditions and remarks

The UN Volunteer position will entail travel to field locations, particularly to areas with high presence of forcibly displaced and stateless populations. The UN Volunteer will be responsible for his/her own accommodation. This assignment requires full time engagement (8 hours/5 days). The contract lasts for the period indicated above with the possibility of extensions subject to the availability of funding, operational necessity, and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment. The applicable Volunteer Living Allowance is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities, and normal cost of living expenses. The purpose of the allowances and entitlements paid to UN Volunteers is to enable UN Volunteers to sustain a secure standard of living at the duty stations in line with United Nations standards without incurring personal costs. The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward, or salary in exchange for the UN Volunteer’s service. Contingent on specific eligibility criteria, location of the volunteer assignment, and contractual type and category, the payment of allowances will begin from the date of Commencement of Service. Monthly Living Allowance (per month): BGN 3690 (including the expertise differential) Entry lump sum (one-time payment): USD 400 Exit allowance: BGN 219 for each month served, paid on completion of the contract Please note that the amounts can vary according to fluctuations in exchange rates. Health and life insurance: • Health insurance: The UN Volunteer and eligible dependents will receive UNV-provided medical insurance coverage. • Life Insurance: UN Volunteers are covered by life insurance for the duration of the UN Volunteer assignment. Leave entitlements: • Annual leave: UN Volunteers accrue an entitlement to 2.5 days of Annual Leave per completed month of the UN Volunteer assignment. Unused accrued Annual Leave up to a maximum of 30 days is carried over in case of a contract extension within the same UN Volunteer assignment. Unused accrued Annual Leave may not be carried over in case of reassignment or a new assignment. • Learning leave: Subject to supervisor approval and exigencies of service, UN Volunteers may request up to ten working days of Learning Leave per consecutive 12 months of the UN Volunteer assignment, starting with the Commencement of Service date, provided the Learning Leave is used within the contract period. • Certified Sick Leave: UN Volunteers are entitled to up to 30 days of certified sick leave based on a 12-month cycle. This amount is reset every 12-month cycle. • Uncertified Sick Leave: UN Volunteers receive seven days of uncertified sick leave working days in a calendar year. This amount will be reset at the established interval period. The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/UNVcos20221%20Complete%20hi-res-final_compressed_NOV22.pdf

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements