Education Associate (Data Analyst) - UNHCR TA - HRT060 - G6 - Beirut, Lebanon

Eight years into the Syria crisis, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with nearly 950,000  Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR, about 20,000 refugees of other origins - mostly Iraqi - and Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.  There are no formal camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and refugees are living in hundreds of communities and locations across the country.

The refugee response is led by the Government and UNHCR and UNDP, supported by the international community. As the designated lead agency in the refugee response, UNHCR has established a sector-based structure in Beirut and in the field. The structure brings together over 150 UN agencies, national and international NGO partners [over 150 actors, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs and Ministries] in identifying and agreeing on the strategic priorities to address the needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities. The Lebanon Chapter of the Response Plan falls under the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), whereby UNHCR guides the refugee response and UNDP facilitates the resilience and stabilization component.

The UNHCR operational response in Lebanon is one of the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office has grown substantially in the past years and is currently operating with around 650 staff. Aside from the country office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has field offices in Mount Lebanon, Qobayat, Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle.

The incumbent supports UNHCR’s work regarding education, especially in data analysis, but without exclusion of other activities related to definition of strategies, programmes, fundraising and advocacy.   

He/She normally works under the direct supervision of the Education Officer.

The Education Associate liaises with technical and education partners to assess the education context through compiling, processing and analysis of education-related data, providing a body of evidence that can be used to justify UNHCR´s programmes and advocacy, at different levels.

He/She will also work closely with other UNHCR units, partners and government counterparts on data access, data management and data linkages or exchange between systems.

As the only data technical position within the unit, the incumbent is expected to work quite independently, translating into deliverables the general guidance provided by the Education Officer. He/She will be expected to have regular contact with other technical Units within UNHCR, such as Registration and Information Management.

Aside from the data-related tasks, the incumbent will also support the Education Unit in the follow up of project activities and budgets, preparing relevant documentation to comply with administrative requirements f education projects, implemented either directly or through partners.

Accountability (key results that will be achieved)

• Available education data is compiled, exploited, analysed and presented in a timely, accurately, and audience-appropriate manner (i.e.; power point, infographics, tables, etc.).
• Potential data linkages among education-related sources of information, including both internal and external databases, are identified, explored and materialized to the extent possible, in coordination with Registration and Information Management (IM) Units.
• The Education Unit has reliable and up-to-date data on school-aged children and learning activities.

Responsibility (process and functions undertaken to achieve results)

• Keep track of all statistical and quantitative information available to the education sector (such as: enrolment, attendance, gender/nationality disaggregation, trends, educational profile of refugee children, etc.,) and update and enrich UNHCR internal documents accordingly;
• Identify gaps in education data, and work in collaboration with other UNHCR Units and external actors to fill those gaps; including the development of forms and tools for data collection and analysis.
• Engage proactively in proposing and carrying out meetings and exchanges to increase and improve knowledge of education data with partners, including government counterparts;
• Compile, process, analyse and present available education data in order to establish trends, areas of intervention, and design projects;
• In close coordination with relevant Units such as Registration and Information Management, propose ways of capturing and utilizing the data obtained through outreach or other community work, and linking it or integrate it in other existing databases;
• In close coordination with Registration and IM Units, identify potential ways of linking other data systems, either internally, or externally, as applicable; and designing the necessary methodology to make it happen;
• Carry out statistical analysis of data and drafting of situation reports;
• Work on close collaboration with Registration and IM Units inside UNHCR, to extract and analyse education-related information from UNHCR databases and platforms, including RAIS;
• In coordination with IM Unit, produce maps on school-aged population, distribution of public/private schools, or other parameters of interest for education planning;
• Follow up on technical staff seconded by UNHCR to the Ministry of Education for the purposes of strengthening of data systems; including monitoring compliance of ToRs and liaising with Admin/HR Units to ensure timely delivery of performance reports, and renewal of contracts if applicable;
• Participate in the planning and coordination of surveys, for example by: drafting ToRs, doing statistical sampling, reviewing questionnaires, establishing methodologies and planning exercise in the field;
• Coordinating with  Registration and Protection Units the negotiation and drafting of data-sharing agreements related to education;
• Support the Education Unit in setting up systems to monitor and report on transition of out-of-school children to Non Formal Education programmes, or to other forms of education;
• Support Education Unit in setting up indicators for monitoring and evaluation in line with expected available data.
• Manage UNHCR education projects, as delegated by the Education officer:  review proposals and monitor agreements with partners, guide and support technically the field office in implementation as necessary, and verification/reporting. This includes different administrative and operational tasks, in coordination with Programme, Project Control and Monitoring and Evaluation Units.
• Carry out missions to the field to monitor interventions, or to support with data collection, processing and analysis, as necessary;
• Draft documents and reports or provide inputs for funding submissions, strategic documents, appeals and reports.
• Assist in adjusting annual education work plan and budgets;
• Represent UNHCR in external meetings or briefings with government counterparts, donors and other education actors, as delegated by the Education Officer.
• Perform other duties as required.

Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results)

• Discuss exchange and complementarity of education data with external actors, under the general guidelines provided by the Education Officer;
• Clean and assess available education data, and establish the standard of reliability to take as a basis for decision-making, or to present both internally and externally.