Individual Contractor – Education in Emergency and Resilience (International), WCARO, Dakar, Senegal

 TORs WCAR EiE Consultancy_March2021clean.pdf

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, fair chance

Background/ Regional Context

In West and Central Africa at least 41 million children are out of school – 29 million are in fragile countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, DRC, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. In addition, in 2019 more than 12 million children were in need of humanitarian assistance in education, and in 2020 the Pandemic crisis (COVID-19) led to the closure of schools which implied that over 128 million children are temporarily out of school and need to continuing learning through remote learning approaches including digital learning. UNICEF has developed a strategy to respond to the COVID pandemic which promotes innovative ways to deliver remote learning through a wide range of approaches including online learning, television, radio, as well as provision of printed material to those in low connectivity areas. Since January 2021 all school are open in all 24 countries in West and Central Africa, however many concerns remain regarding possible growing number of countries that have experienced the new strain of COVID virus (which seems to be more aggressive), and/or an increase of cases. Schools could potentially act as a conduit for the spread of the virus leading to possible new closure.

To this situation the West and Central Africa region, especially the Sahel and costal countries continue to face conflict and political instability that affect the life and the education of millions of children.

How can you make a difference?

Objectives

The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical assistance, quality assurance and oversight of EIE/Resilience in education to support 24 countries remotely in the region.

Scope of work with key activities

This consultancy will fill a critical gap in human resources in UNICEF WCA regional office while the office recruits the EIE and Resilience Specialist based in Dakar. The consultant will be home-based, working under the supervision of the Regional Education Adviser.

The EiE and Resilience consultant will be mainly in charge of:

1. Provide technical assistance to regional and country offices on Education in Emergency and Resilience Sahel Strategy implementation: In support of regional education team the consultant will identify with the 10 Sahel CO the action and activities of the EIE and Resilience strategy that are included in the CO workplan. Support in the development of CO proposal for fundraising based on the Regional Concept note developed (2 CO per months)

2. Orient and Handover the Digital Learning Portfolio to the P4-Quality Education and the TA/Digital Learning Specialist: In support of regional education team the consultant will provide a detailed orientation and hand over of the Digital Learning portfolio to the P4-Quality Education and the TA/Digital Learning Specialist by a 5 days zoom meeting during the month of April 2021

3. Coordinate the R-EiE WG: In support of regional coordination of EiE, ensure the continuation of activities, the consultant will coordinate in the R-EiE WG monthly meetings, and participate in the SAG meeting when called.

4. Play the role of EiE and Resilience Specialist and facilitate the integration of the newly recruited EiE and Resilience specialist into the ETT portfolio: Participate in the monthly and ad hoc ETT meetings in support of the Regional Education Advisor, providing update of the situation of EiE. Prepare for the Regional Education Advisor a quarterly report based on the RO/CO dashboards on situation and results on EiE response.

5. Play the role of Focal point for the implementation of partnership programmes and facilitate the integration of the newly recruited EiE and Resilience specialist into the EiE and Resilience portfolio: The consultant will support the implementation of the BMZ regional component, WFP-UNICEF and UNHCR (Blue-Print) partnership, and ECW regional joint proposal; Support the implementation of the ECW regional component of the Central Sahel MYRP; Support the implementation of the BMZ regional component in collaboration with other members of the Regional Education team; Support the follow up and implementation of the WFP-UNICEF and Blue-Print UNHCR partnership.

6. Play the role of EiE and Resilience Specialist and facilitate the integration of the newly recruited EiE and Resilience specialist into the HAC portfolio: The consultant will continue to be FP for the CO that implement a HAC and provide Technical support; Monitoring of the use of the monitoring system set up  (excel table and Dashboard for CO) on HAC and Education Cluster indicators; Technical support to CO based on the support plan developed;

7. Handover of EiE and Resilience portfolio to the newly recruited EiE and Resilience Specialist: The consultant will set 3-5 days meeting with the EiE specialist for the handover of the EiE and Resilience Portfolio,
   

Deliverables and Schedules (see attached TORs)

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

Education:

• An advanced university degree in Developmental Psychology, Education, Social Sciences or Public Health

• At least 10 years of experience in the area of EiE advocacy, awareness, programme management and programme design

• Relevant professional work experience at national and international levels in the social development field, and specifically in EiE.
  

• Experience in and knowledge of community based and or multisectoral programs and Central Africa region.

• Ability to work independently.

• Excellent analytical, communication, writing skills in French or English language.

• Experience in and knowledge of UNICEF programs at the country and/or regional levels

• Experience in and knowledge of education systems and policies (e.g. national policy/strategy/budgeting development processes) would be an added advantage.

• Familiar with UN System and UNICEF policy and programme procedures

• Fluent in both French and English
  

For every Child, you demonstrate commitment

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:

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.