Senior Regional Advisor (Statistics)

OVERVIEW Position Number: 6SNUIS0009PA Grade: P-5 Parent Sector: Institute for Statistics (UIS) Duty Station: Dakar Job Family: Education Contract Type: Project Appointment Duration of contract: 1 year Recruitment open to: Internal and external candidates Application deadline (Midnight Paris Time): 12/06/2026 UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism Duration of contract: 1 year with possibility of extension subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST Established in 1999, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and serves as the United Nations depository for cross-nationally comparable statistics in the fields of education, science, technology, culture, and communication and information for its 193 Member States and 12 Associate Members. The UIS agenda is focused on the delivery of cross-national comparable data for global, regional and development agendas, structured around three pillars: standards and methodologies; data production; and brokering and outreach. As articulated in its 2022–2029 Medium-Term Strategy, the UIS aims to ensure that countries’ policies and decision-making are informed by sound statistical information, that they can benchmark progress towards national and international goals, and that they can learn from the experience of others. The UIS provides the data and technical inputs that underpin global, regional and funding mechanisms for education, including the UN Transforming Education Summit, the Global Education Cooperation Mechanism (GCM), the G7, the G20, and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) results framework. The UIS also responds to emerging data needs, for example through its joint work with UNICEF, the World Bank, the OECD and the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEMR) on national education responses to COVID-19. Together with the GEMR, the UIS achieved consensus on the adoption of the SDG 4 benchmarking process and co-leads the data and monitoring function of the GCM, supporting countries in setting and monitoring targets for 2025 and 2030. This position sits within the Regional Field Network Unit of the UIS and leads the UIS team in Africa. The incumbent is a member of the UIS senior management team, works under the direct supervision of the Director of the Institute, and collaborates closely with the different Sections of the Institute.Long Description KEY ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES Under the overall authority of the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the Senior Regional Advisor (Statistics) will provide strategic advice and support to regional, sub-regional and national authorities and organizations in the UIS’s fields of competence in order to improve the quality of data in Africa; provide technical assistance and methodological guidance to build statistical capacity; and strengthen the region’s capacity to monitor the SDGs, including securing national commitments to SDG 4 benchmarks, thereby contributing to the implementation and monitoring of the UIS strategy in the region. In particular, the incumbent will carry out the following duties:Long Description 1. Data Collection Develop and implement a Regional Engagement Strategy to improve the quality, timeliness and completeness of data and indicators collected for the UIS Core System of Education Indicators. Develop analytical capacity to strengthen traditional data collection and provide guidance and support to countries in reporting; monitor the response rates and the quality of data reported by countries to the UIS and coordinate the actions required to maintain or increase these; and obtain country validation of indicators to be reported by the UIS. Follow up on response rates in the region and coordinate the necessary actions with the Heads of the Education Administrative Data Section, the Foresight and Innovation Section, and the Scienc