Junior Professional Officer

OVERVIEW
**Post Number**: JPO_US 01 SHS
**Grade**: P-2
**Parent Sector**: Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS)
**Duty Station**: Paris
**Job Family**: Social and Human Sciences
**Type of contract**: Junior Professional Officer
**Duration of contract**: The initial appointment is for 1 year, renewable based on performance and availability of funds
**Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time)**: 31-JAN-2025
**UNESCO Core Values**: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
Long Description
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
With its unique mandate, UNESCO has led the international effort to ensure that science and technology develop with strong ethical guardrails for decades. The rapid rise in artificial intelligence (AI) has created many opportunities globally, from facilitating healthcare diagnoses to enabling human connections through social media and creating labour efficiencies through automated tasks. However, these rapid changes also raise profound ethical concerns. These arise from the potential AI systems have to embed biases, contribute to climate degradation, threaten human rights and more. Such risks associated with AI have already begun to compound on top of existing inequalities, resulting in further harm to already marginalised groups.
UNESCO produced the first-ever global standard on AI ethics - the “Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence,” which was adopted by all 193 Member States in November 2021. The protection of human rights and dignity is the cornerstone of the Recommendation, based on the advancement of fundamental principles such as transparency and fairness, always remembering the importance of human oversight of AI systems.
The Ethics of AI Unit has been established directly under the Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences to advance the implementation of the Recommendation globally. The implementation is pursued through a comprehensive and multifaceted programme, which involves:

- Deployment of various tools and methodologies (Readiness and Ethical Impact Assessments, AI Governance Disclosure Initiative for Private Sector, and others);
- Capturing and disseminating the ensuing knowledge and experience through the Global AI Ethics and Governance Observatory,
- Harnessing global expertise on AI governance and its multiple aspects through specialized network such as the AI Ethics Experts without Borders, Women 4 Ethics of AI, and the global Network of Supervisory Authorities.
- Facilitating high-level global policy dialogue on lessons learned and approaches to effective AI governance through the annual Global Forum on the Ethics of AI, as well as Policy Dialogues and other events organized by UNESCO.
- Multiple other elements.

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST
The Junior Professional Officer (JPO) will be closely integrated within the Ethics of AI (EAI) Unit. The EAI unit is directly under the supervision of ADG/SHS. Therefore, the JPO’s direct supervisor will be the head of the EAI unit, under the overall supervision of ADG/SHS. The Unit also works closely with the Executive Office and the other sections and units of the Sector.
Long Description
**Within this context, the JPO will be responsible for**:
The JPO would be involved in a wide range of activities under the EAI unit, with the gradual increase of workload and responsibilities. These activities will include:
1. Implementation of the ongoing projects related to assisting Member States in the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, including:
a. projects funded by the European Commission (DG-Reform) targeting EU Member States as they try to a reform domestic AI supervisory/governance arrangement to bring them in line with the EU requirements (Dutch and Belgian Authorities currently, additional projects with other countries may follow).
b. projects funded through bilateral (Japan, exploring opportunities with others), multilateral (EC), and private (McGovern Foundation) donors to assist countries with building effective institutions for ethical governance of AI. These projects have a geographical focus on Africa and SIDS.
2. Development, piloting, revision, optimization of different policy tools, approaches, and methodologies related to AI governance. The currently used examples include Ethical Impact Assessment and Readiness Assessment Methodology, while we are currently working with partners to develop AI governance disclosure initiative for private companies. Such tools are usually developed in close consultation with expert bodies set up for this purpose, but with significant input from the Secretariat.
3. Managing expert networks, including the AI Ethics Experts without Borders (AIEB) network and the Women for Ethics of AI (W4EAI) coalition, and optimizing their engagement towards the achievement of the relevant objectives, such as providing capacity-building or policy guidance to member states.
4. Organizing and delivering events