National Consultant on Education for Sustainable Development

The consultant will support UNESCO and national counterparts in advancing implementation of the national commitments set out in the National Roadmap for the ESD 2030 Country Initiative in Uzbekistan. The role involves coordination, advisory support, monitoring, and reporting to facilitate education for sustainable development initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Review key national and international reference documents, including the endorsed National Roadmap and its responsibility matrix, relevant UNESCO guidance on greening education, and related national legal acts, and prepare an inception work plan and a simple status-tracking framework.
• Conduct liaison and consultations with all participating entities to confirm focal points, verify commitments and identify early actions, and prepare a short implementation priorities note.
• Prepare a design package for the "green school" pilot, including a proposed national adaptation of the UNESCO Green School Quality Standard, selection criteria with an indicative shortlist of ASPnet schools, a school self-assessment checklist and an indicative pilot timeline, and provide advisory support to its initial steps.
• Provide ongoing guidance and advisory support to the participating entities, contextualizing relevant UNESCO guidance for national use.
• Conduct periodic monitoring rounds, maintain the status-tracking framework, and prepare a progress report and a final consolidated report with recommendations on coordination, follow-up and future resource mobilization.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Masters and/or above) in education, environmental or natural sciences, sustainable development, public policy or a related field.
• At least ten years of relevant professional experience in the education sector or in education-related policy, programme coordination or institutional development in Uzbekistan.
• Demonstrated experience working with government ministries and agencies, including organizing consultations or inter-agency coordination processes.
• Familiarity with Education for Sustainable Development, climate change education, greening education or related agendas; knowledge of the national education reform context.
• Prior experience with UNESCO, UN agencies or international organizations is an asset.
• Strong coordination, liaison and stakeholder engagement skills across government and non-government actors.
• Strong analytical and drafting skills, with proven ability to produce concise, actionable documents for government use.
• Ability to plan and organize work independently, manage competing priorities and meet deadlines with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Good IT skills (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Excellent command of written and spoken Uzbek (working language of the assignment).
• Good command of English (reporting and summaries).
• Knowledge of Russian is an asset.

Skills

• Education for Sustainable Development
• Climate Change Education
• Education Policy
• Programme Coordination
• Institutional Development
• Inter-agency Coordination
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Analytical Skills
• Report Writing
• Government Liaison
• Project Planning
• Work prioritization
• MS Word
• MS Excel
• Microsoft Outlook
• MS PowerPoint

Languages

Uzbek, English, Russian