(Note: Originally included links are no longer available in 2024)
Thank you for coming back to check the progress of all the GW UNESCO Fellows. It has been an amazing summer for all of us! As for myself, the past month has seen a lot of updates. After some leadership transitions, I have settled in to life at the office. I also visited the Dead Sea and took a short trip to Portugal for a friend’s wedding.
In my previous post, I mentioned that I would be supporting the country plan for UNESCO Strategic Framework for Education in Emergencies in the Arab Region (2018-2021). For this, I analyzed old and current project documents to see how they aligned to the strategic framework. This was time consuming due to the seemingly endless number of active projects and project proposals. It was a challenge to verify projects actually implemented and to locate the final reports or evaluations (if conducted) for each one. After a good bit of leg work, I think I’m finally ready to start the second part of this project, writing the country plan. Unfortunately, I do not know if I will be in the office when it is actually printed, but the previous country plan can be found here as an example of what it will look like.
For a second project, I contributed to the mid-term report that is looking at the successes, gaps in programming, and future projects that align with the UNESCO Arab Region Educational Support Strategy. Much like the other project I am working on, this has required a lot of sifting through project documents, both past and current, to see how they align with the strategic aims of the support strategy. Luckily, UNESCO has a thorough reporting system. Most reports in this system outline how they support regional and global frameworks and, in some cases, the specific strategic goal it aligns with. I have since been able to complete a table outlining how UNESCO Amman’s projects contribute to the strategy and sent it off to the Regional office in Beirut for incorporation in the mid-term report.
While those are my two main tasks, they are by no means the only things I have been doing. In early July, I attended one day of a five day workshop conducted by IIEP in Irbid, Jordan. The workshop was for the field directorates and focused on the role of OpenEMIS, Jordan’s Education Management Information System, for strategic planning. This was a very hopeful workshop as the participants were very engaged and asking a lot of thoughtful questions related to the particular needs of their districts. I also helped interview a few of the experts UNESCO plans to place in the MoE in support of the System Strengthening Partnership with Jordan’s Ministry of Education that was launched on July 15th. In mid-August, I will attend a two-day workshop that will outline how to use the WebGIS tool for school maintenance planning and monitoring. This workshop is in support of another UNESCO project, Technical Assistance for the EMIS System and WebGIS tool for the School Maintenance System, Standards and Procedures.
While I have not found much time to get out of Amman, I did finally make it to the Dead Sea! I can attest to the saltiness of the water and rejuvenating effects on your skin from covering yourself in the mud. The dried salt also makes quite a nice foot scrub! In early June I went to Fuheis, a town just outside of Amman, to do some climbing!
I am looking forward to my last month in Amman. I have learned a great deal already and am hoping for a very productive, informative, and exciting 23 more days of work!
Justin Rotundo is a Master’s candidate in International Education with a focus on education in emergencies (EiE) and monitoring and evaluation (M&E).