International organisations and vacancies 

This was a very informative exercise. I got to read about so many interesting developments and such amazing things that organisations are doing all around the world. It really opened my eyes to how many good things are being done but at the same time how much need there is all over the world. The three organisations that I appealed to me the most were to do with educating children.

https://www.savethechildren.net/

http://www.globaleducationfund.org/

https://www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk/

Save the children operate not only America but also globally. They reach many underprivileged children and families with their services. Education is part of what they offer to uplift and support these communities. They work with families and caregivers of the children to help them to with the journey through education. They offer home visits and work with Head Start and Early Head Start programs to provide these children with educational opportunities that they would otherwise never had had. They focus on school readiness and preparing children and their families for demands and expectations of future education. This really resonated with me because in my Community of Practice I will be focusing on educating families of the children and helping them to help and support their school going children. I firmly believe that when children are supported and they feel that their caregivers are genuinely interested and involved, there is a far bigger chance at educational and emotional well-being.

My second choice was the Global Education Fund. This organisation aim to improve the lives of children living in poverty by providing them an education. Together with funding and educational support they reach out to communities that would otherwise not receive education and resources for quality schooling. I liked the fact that they support the educators and families within the community and look at the issue in a holistic approach.

 Education is a human right with the immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.

— Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General for the U.N.

My third organisation that chose to share is Educational Support Partnership. This is a British based charity organisation, one of its kind, that provide support for mental health and wellbeing of teaches and educational workers. I feel that this is an essential issue that needs to be addressed global and sadly there is not enough emphasis on this in South Africa. They recognise the many strains and stresses of working in education and state that three out of five educational workers report that they have suffered as a result of stress, health issues and even depression. This organisation not only recognise these issues but aim to support educational workers in order to avoid burn outs and excess stress.

While surfing the net and finding some fascinating websites I came across two vacancies that I found very interesting. If my circumstances were different and I was young and single, I would give them a go for sure!

The first one is for save the children based in Bangladesh.

The role is of Education Sector Coordinator. 

Basically you would need to ensure a coherent and effective response to education needs being addressed by agencies engaging in Education interventions.  She/he will lead this initiative by working closely with the education stakeholders (children, families, communities, authorities, education institutions and INGOs and UN agencies) to provide an effective, timely and strategic collective response to the current situation at Cox’s bazar.  

The Education Sector Coordination will work impartially, serving the needs of all members of the education sector and should work closely with UN OCHA, Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) from our co-lead (UNICEF). The Education Sector is accountable to the ISCG through the lead agencies (Save the Children and UNICEF).

Qualifications and experience

·         Prior experience of working within cluster coordination

·         Previous first phase emergency response experience is essential

·         Education to MSc/MA/ level in Education (or a related field) or equivalent field experience

·         Excellent communication skills, including ability to facilitate diverse groups.

·         Excellent negotiation and conflict-resolution skills

·         Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy

·         A high level of written and spoken English

·         Demonstrable ability to work and represent views across different stakeholders taking part in the Education Cluster.

·         Experience of high level co-ordination and chairing of meetings.

·         Demonstrable understanding of international humanitarian response and co-ordination mechanisms.

·         Understanding of opportunities to provide integrated or cross-cutting humanitarian interventions with other sectors and Clusters

·         Understanding of opportunities to support the World Humanitarian Summit Agenda such as  localisation and development-humanitarian nexus

·         Understanding of the Education Can Not Wait Multi-Year Fund Process and other funding mechanisms

·         Experience of applying INEE Minimum Standards and other relevant frameworks and standards in education in emergencies)

·         Experience in assessing Education Sector partners’ capacities to inform the development and roll out of capacity building plan to improve  quality of the

·         The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.

The second role I found interesting was based in Nashville, USA.

This was the role of a Program Specialist, Early Childhood Development .

The Early Childhood Specialist will help to provide training and management support to program partners to ensure standards are met and programs are implemented in the interest of the children. Save the Children is focussed on children and family education, this position would focus on prenatal to five years old.

A person for this position would need to have a degree in early childhood education and a experience in the field of training and management.

I do not have much experience in training people but would still be so eager to take on the challenge.

References

Save the Children International. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.net/

HOME. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.globaleducationfund.org/

Education Support Partnership. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk/