International Consultancy – Education specialist for Development the advocacy and resource mobilization strategy ECW / MYRP in DRC, 4 months

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Education

The education sector in the DRC remains seriously affected by successive humanitarian crises affecting access, continuity, quality and learning conditions for vulnerable groups, especially girls and children with disabilities. Insufficient statistical data is another factor limiting the ability of the government and its technical services and financial partners to support effective planning and responses. For example, the last population census in the DRC was in 1984. A statistical yearbook for the education sector exists but does not cover all the aspects that one would need, in particular statistical data which reflect the situation of education for populations in forced displacement.

The scale and recurrence of crises and the lack of mechanisms to collect real-time data on crises has a negative impact on the effectiveness and quality of the response.

Even for children who have access to education, many of them do not manage, from the start of primary school, to master the fundamentals of reading and mathematics. Education is certainly one of the priorities of the state with 21.28% of the overall budget planned for 2020 (SPACE data) but its financing is still very dependent on external aid (16% in 2020 according to the same source) calls into question the sustainability of long-term actions.

And yet, according to a 2019 Save the Children report in five provinces, education was the number one priority for children in more than half of the focus groups surveyed. Poverty is the biggest barrier to education, compounded by repeated displacement and epidemics like Ebola and COVID-19. According to the World Bank (2020), nearly 64% of the population lives below the poverty line.

In addition, according to the 2021 Humanitarian Needs Snapshot, out of 19.6 million people in need, 4.7 million are in need of education or training. The ministries in charge of education do not have an Education in Emergencies (EiE) strategy. The National Education Sector Plan does not clearly address this area.

In this context, DRC developed the Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) in 2020 through a participatory, inclusive and transparent process guided by a working group comprising stakeholders from the humanitarian and development fields. The overall objective of the MYRP is to provide uninterrupted access to quality education in a safe and protective environment for girls and boys, including adolescents, affected by the various crises in the DRC. Significant emphasis is placed on ensuring linkages between humanitarian and development efforts. The overall MYRP targets just over 200,000 girls and boys, including adolescents. Out of this total, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) seed funding will reach approximately 68,000 girls and boys aged 5–17 years, 61% of whom are girls. These include children from IDP, returnee and refugee populations and children with disabilities (15% of the total).

The total funding requirement for the DRC MYRP is US$67.5 million of which ECW seed funding covers approximately 32% of the total needs. The remaining US$45.3 million will be mobilized through a robust strategy that places emphasis on leveraging existing and new resource from within the country and potential new partners like those in the private sector.

How can you make a difference?

• Develop a more detailed schedule and work plan for the development of advocacy and resource mobilization deliverables, including indicative structures of key documents.
• Review and analyze key documents and reports related to the program.
• Organize meetings and interviews with relevant stakeholders for the preparation of the inception report. This task will include a mission to the DRC if the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic allow it.
• Develop the advocacy and resource mobilization strategy for ECW / MYRP, share it with stakeholders and integrate comments and validate it with UNICEF
• Develop the implementation plan for the advocacy and resource mobilization strategy, including clear roles and responsibilities for implementation share it with stakeholders and integrate comments and validate it with UNICEF.
• Produce a document detailing financial needs and tools and models for resource mobilization and advocacy. The financing document must contain the financing plan showing the financing acquired and the gaps, the new potential donors and champions for the mobilization of resources.
• Organize a debriefing meeting on all documents produced with all stakeholders.

Deliverables

At the end of the consultancy, the expected deliverables are as follows:

• An inception report including an analysis of the funding landscape and donor engagement, through desk review and exchanges with partners and main stakeholders. A presentation of the inception report to key stakeholders is also expected.
• An advocacy and resource mobilization strategy document for the MYPR in DRC, which details the financial needs by strategic axis of MYRP over the coming years and takes into account 2021 financial gap and the MYRP financing plan based on information received from various partners and stakeholders including the government. This document should contain resource mobilization scenarios and their implications on the achievement of targets.
• An implementation plan for the advocacy and resource mobilization strategy.
• Tools and models for resource mobilization and advocacy with key messages.
• Presentation of plans and tools to key stakeholders. 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A postgraduate degree (Master or equivalent) in social sciences or equivalent. He / She should be a specialist in public policies with skills in economics, statistics, international development or related fields and experiences in the education sector will be an asset.

• Proven professional experience of at least 5 years in the planning and implementation of projects in particular in the education sector or social sectors, experience in emergencies is an asset.
• Experience in evaluating international programs.
• Experience in resource mobilization and advocacy / communication is an asset.
• Experience and understanding of the multi-year budget programming approach.

• Knowledge of the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• A good knowledge of computer tools (Word, Excel, Power Point) as well as statistical and graphic design software packages.

• Excellent command of French and English.

Submission of Technical and Financial Offers

Applicants are invited to produce:

1. A technical offer including, among other things, an understanding of the mission, the detailed methodology, a timetable for the implementation of the consultancy.

2. A financial offer indicating the total remuneration (fees, mission expenses, etc.). It must include the details of the period of validity and the method of payment that will be made according to the procedures approved by UNICEF.

Duty Station

The consultant will be based at home with at least one mission to DRC before the inception report. The consultant will be expected to organize regular calls /virtual meetings with the UNICEF Education Section as well as key stakeholders including education partners, donors, and the ECW secretariat and expected to use his/her own IT equipment 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here. 

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE SRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.