OVERVIEW
Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)
Duty Station: Bangkok
Job Family: Education
Type of contract : Non Staff
Duration of contract : From 1 to 6 months
Recruitment open to : External candidates
Application Deadline (Midnight Duty Station Time) : 23-AUG-2025
UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST
1. Background and Rationale
Global research shows that teachers are the most important school-related factor affecting student learning[1]. Investing in high-quality teaching is thus essential, not only to achieving desired learning outcomes but to ensuring that all learners have a strong foundation for a healthy, happy and productive life. Although education policy makers and practitioners acknowledge that student well-being is closely tied to their readiness to learn and capacity to thrive, many teachers struggle to support this effectively, as they face numerous professional and personal challenges. Current teacher training is not adequately preparing teachers, as many feel unprepared to teach in diverse classrooms.
Teachers have reported a lack of adequate training for 21st century skills, including in information and communication technology skills and for developing socio-emotional competences. In a global survey among 58,000 teachers, although the majority of teachers consider it important to teach about global citizenship, 15 per cent say they cannot explain racism and discrimination to their students, and 25 per cent do not feel ready to teach human rights and gender equality. Teachers feel more confident teaching cognitive skills, and less confident and knowledgeable about behavioural learning and socio-emotional perspectives[2].
In particular, training on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE)[3] is often inadequate or absent, leaving teachers without the tools or confidence to address topics such as gender, relationships, consent, and violence[4][5]. In terms of school practices, there is also limited integration of gender-transformative education approaches that equip teachers to challenge harmful gender norms and promote equality in the classroom[6].
To address these challenges, the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok and Regional Office for South Asia, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office and Regional Office for South Asia, UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office and Education International Asia-Pacific, in collaboration with the SDG4 Youth and Student Network and YPEER Asia-Pacific Centre, will organize the Regional Forum on Transforming Teachers and Teaching for Adolescent Health, Well-being and Gender Equality from 23 to 25 September 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Regional Forum will convene approximately 100 participants from 18 countries across South-East and South Asia to identify solutions for overcoming barriers and scaling innovations in teacher education and training. The focus will be on delivering impactful, skills-based, holistic health and well-being education, including comprehensive sexuality education. The Regional Forum will offer six skills-building workshops, delivered in three parallel sessions on each afternoon of Days 1 and 2 of the Forum, with a daily schedule from 13h30 to 18h00 on 23-24 September 2025.
[1] Hanushek, E., S. Rivkin, and J. Kain, Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement. Econometrica, 2005. 73: p. 417-458
[2] UNESCO and Education International. 2021. Teachers have their say: Motivation, skills and opportunities to teach education for sustainable development and global citizenship
[3] Comprehensive sexuality education - or the many other ways this may be referred to in different country contexts - is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that empowers them to realize their health, well-being and dignity; develop respectful social and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives (UNESCO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and WHO. 2018. International technical guidance on sexuality education: an evidence-informed approach).
[4] UNFPA, UNESCO and IPPF. 2021. LEARN. PROTECT. RESPECT. EMPOWER. The Status of Comprehensive Sexuality Education In Asia-pacific: A Summary Review 2020
[5] UNESCO, UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNFPA, WHO and UN Women. 2021. The journey towards comprehensive sexuality education: global status report
[6] UNGEI. 2023. Learning Brief: Ending gender stereotypes in schools: good practices, experiences and lessons learned
The skills-building workshops will aim to:
โ Enhance knowledge and practical skills for the design and delivery of transformative teaching-learning content, approaches and learning spaces that support positive learning and well-being outcomes;
โ Strengthen understanding and application of gender-transformative approaches in well-being education, including how teachers can challenge harmful gender norms and foster gender-equitable learning spaces;
โ Amplify the voices and experiences of teachers as key agents in well-being education inclusive of CSE, and explore how education systems can better address their needs; and,
โ Document and share key insights from the practitioner community to inform policymakers in education and other sectors working to advance well-being education, including CSE.
The themes of the six workshops are:
1. Age-appropriate content: teacher training for delivering foundational education for health and well-being, including comprehensive sexuality education (CSE);
2. Embedding values- clarification in teacher education and training for CSE;
3. Teacher training and support for delivering disability-inclusive CSE curricula;
4. Designing and assessing skills-based lesson plans;
5. Creating safe, gender transformative and inclusive classrooms; and
6. Delivering collaborative learning approaches focused on social and emotional learning (SEL).
The participants of the Forumโs workshops will comprise a diverse mix of Southeast and South Asia representatives from: government (specifically education sector personnel with responsibility at national level for teacher education and training, curriculum development and learning assessment), civil society implementers working with/in formal education, CSE master trainers, academia conducting CSE implementation research, youth-led/serving organizations; and, bilateral and development partners, including UN.
To lead on the design and delivery of each of the Forum's six skills-building workshops, UNESCO Bangkok seeks the services of suitably qualified Individual Specialists.
2. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The Individual Specialist will serve as a senior-level advisor and lead trainer for a four-hour, in-person skills-building workshop, engaging approximately 35โ40 participants. The assignment entails supplying strategic direction, technical leadership, and independent, dynamic delivery of a workshop aligned with one of six thematic areas outlined in Annexes I.A and I.B of this Consultancy Call.
For each selected Forum workshop, the Individual Specialist will:
Key deliverables of the consultancy will include: a workshop package (comprising the workshop agenda, implementation plan and workshop materials), together with an analytical report summarizing the workshopโs strategic outcomes and participantsโ feedback for UNESCOโs further programmatic use.
3. WORK ASSIGNMENT
Under the overall guidance of UNESCO and working with the Forum organizing partners, the Individual Specialist will undertake the following tasks:
1. Prior to the Workshop:
i. Participate in online preparatory meeting(s) to align the workshop with the Forumโs objectives;
ii. Provide advisory input on the thematic scope and delivery approach of the workshop;
iii. Draft and revise a detailed workshop implementation plan incorporating innovative and inclusive pedagogies and policy-relevant, socially transformative content;
iv. Submit the finalized workshop agenda and list of materials, including presentations, handouts, and feedback tools; indicate to the Forum organizing partners any digital and non-digital requirements for enabling efficient workshop delivery;
v. Attend an in-person, final preparatory meeting to ensure smooth delivery of the skill-building workshop(s), onsite at the Forumโs venue with UNESCO and additional Forum organizing partners.
2. During the Workshop:
i. Independently deliver the workshop, in alignment with the agreed workshop agenda and implementation plan.
3. After the Workshop:
i. Submit a finalized workshop package.
ii. Submit a summary report (max. 4 pages, excluding annexes) highlighting strategic outcomes, key insights, participantsโ feedback and recommendations to UNESCO on potential follow-up actions, and integration of workshop outcomes into its broader programme frameworks on the Forumโs themes.
In line with UNESCOโs overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the Individual Specialist is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible.
Tasks and number of anticipated days (9 days in total)
Tasks Anticipated Level of Effort (consultancy days) Preparatory 1. 5 Implementation 2. 2 Wrap-up and closure 3. 2
LLLLong Description
4. TIMETABLE AND DELIVERABLES
The consultancy will be conducted from September to October 2025, concluding no later than 13 October 2025.
No. Deliverables Submission Date 1. First draft of the detailed workshop plan 10 September 2025 2. Finalized workshop package and strategic outcome report 13 October 2025
All deliverables must be submitted in English and reflect consolidated feedback from UNESCO and Forum partners.
One Individual Specialist will be selected for each skills-building workshop session. The Individual Specialist is expected to arrive in Bangkok by the afternoon preceding the assigned workshop date (23 or 24 September 2025) to participate in the final preparatory meeting. The Individual Specialist is welcome, but not obligated, to join in-person for the full period of the Regional Forum.
5. LOCATION AND TRAVEL
The Individual Specialist will be home based in any location, working remotely. The Specialist will be required to travel to Bangkok during the Forumโs skills-building workshop period (23 โ 24 September). The Specialist is expected to travel economy class by the most direct and economic route and receive daily subsistence allowance (DSA) at the standard rate, and which should be reduced, as necessary, when the number of days of DSA exceeds the limits stipulated in the table of rates published by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC). DSA is only payable to individuals carrying out assignments away from their usual place of residence or work. The Individual Specialist is expected to make her/his/their own travel arrangements and will be provided with a lump sum to cover travel-related expenses in accordance with UNESCO rules and regulations. Travel-related expenses (e.g. the cost of tickets, terminal fares and DSA) must be fixed and agreed between the parties. The Individual Specialist is responsible for obtaining UNDSS security clearance prior to the mission to be facilitated by UNESCO Bangkok.
6. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING
The Individual Specialist will work under the overall authority of the Regional Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok), the overall guidance of the Chief of Education, and the direct supervision of the Regional Advisor on Education for Health and Wellbeing. In addition to the submission of contract deliverable, the Individual Specialist will routinely engage with the UNESCO Regional Advisor and Forum organizing partners through emails and virtual meetings.