Week 6 Blog Assignment
Jobs/Roles in the ECC Community: Internationally
Saturday 9th August, 2014.
There are many international
organizations or Communities of Practice that are appealing to me. However,
after conducting extensive research on few of them, I have decided to select
the three that are of great interest to me. They are: (1).The United Nations
Children Fund (UNICEF), formerly The United Nations Children’s International
Children Emergency Fund; (2). The United Nation Education, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and Save the Children.
Most definitely, UNICEF is the
driving force that helps to build the world where the rights of every child are
realized. Certainly, it has the global authority to influence decisions-makers,
and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative
ideas into reality. Surely, that makes them unique among world organizations,
as well as, among those working with the young. Actually, UNICEF has over sixty
years experience working for children, and is the only organization
specifically named in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as a source of
expert assistance and advice. Likewise, it was created with this purpose in
mind – to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence,
disease and discrimination place in a child’s path.
More importantly, UNICEF’s
mission is to create a better world by advocating for the protection of the
children’s rights, and for this to be done, the organization brings people
together – governments, donors, humanitarian agencies, businesses, and the
children themselves, since child survival is the cornerstone of their mission.
Ideally, the reason for choosing UNICEF is, because it is the unifying force
that assists in building the world where children’s rights are realized, by
fighting for every child’s rights to survive and thrive into adulthood. Also,
they believe that caring and nurturing for children is the cornerstone of human
progress.
At this point, UNICEF has
various job opportunities for regular vacancies worldwide, which include senior
staff vacancies for senior management positions advertised outside of the
e-Recruitment system; short term opportunities advertised outside of the
e-Recruitment system, and comprise temporary appointments for a variety of
staff roles and functions across the organization, with duration up to three
hundred and sixty-four days; and consultancy assignments, that is seeking
individuals for short-term consultancies in specialized technical areas for
fixed duration or specific projects which are considered non-staff functions.
As a passionate and committed early childhood professional, I want to make a
lasting difference for children, therefore, I will like to be employed under
the Temporary Appointments: Health Officer, P-2, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Although I
have the competencies, I do lack the qualification for such position, and this
can hinder employment.
UNESCO is the second
organization of interest, and it was created in 1945 with the intention that
peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual
solidarity. Its mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the
eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue
through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.
Moreover, the organization is committed to a holistic and humanistic vision of
quality education worldwide, the realization of everyone’s right to education,
and the belief that education plays a fundamental role in human social and
economic development.
Nonetheless, I have chosen
UNESCO, because it is the only United Nation agency with a mandate to cover all
aspects of education, and work encompasses educational development from preschool
through to higher education, including technical and vocational education and
training, non-formal education and literacy. Additionally, UNESCO works with
governments and a wide range of partners to make education systems more
effective through policy change. Also, it coordinates the education for all
movement, tracks trends, and raises the profile of educational needs and global
development agendas.
UNESCO offers a wide range of
job opportunities, but post in the organization are mainly filled by people in
occupations linked to the organization’s main activities – culture, education,
science, and communication. Also, there are opportunities for employment in
other occupational fields such as administration, finance, human resources, and
informational technology. However, I will like to be employed as a
middle-ranking professional by being a project leader in charge of a small
team, launching and developing particular facets of the UNESCO program, and
gain further professional experience.
Save the children is the leading
independent organization for children in need, with a staff of more than
fourteen thousand people working in over one hundred and twenty countries,
including the United States. The organization aims to inspire breakthroughs in
the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change
in their lives by improving their health, education, and economic
opportunities. In time of acute crisis, they mobilize rapid assistance to help
children recover from the effects of war, conflict, and natural disaster.
More importantly, Save the
Children’s vision is: A world in which every child attains the right to
survival, protection, development, and participation, while its mission is: To
inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve
immediate and lasting change in their lives. They depend on donations, and
those who help by sponsoring children, provide Save the Children with the
necessities for a healthy and successful start in life. The main reason for
choosing this organization is because I can be an advocate for children, by
being the voice for them in times of need, and take action on the critical
issues, and tell the government leaders to prioritize the children and their
future. For Save the Children, advocacy is the work they do to influence the
policies and actions of governments, international institutions, and the
private sector, in order to achieve positive changes in children’s lives.
Indeed, this organization advertise their job
vacancies nationally, so I became interested in being a Campaign and Advocacy
Strategy Director, which is a high profile role, where I will be responsible
for leading the strategic planning, capacity building, and monitoring, evaluating
and learning for our global campaign and their
wider country-level advocacy.
Obviously, for me to fulfill
each of these roles as an aspiring employee, I have to acquire strong
interpersonal skills, and have experience with working in teams, where I will
be able to communicate effectively with customers, colleagues and clients.
Actually, people with good interpersonal skills are usually perceived as
optimistic, calm, confident, and charismatic. However, effective communication
improves relationships at work and in social situations, by deepening the
worker’s connections to others and improving teamwork, decision making, and
problem solving.
References
Save
the Children. (2011). Retrieved from
United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from
United
Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011).
Retrieved from
