Consultancy: Consultant, KIX Project Coordinator – Integrating ECE into Education Sector Planning - Education Section, PD, NYHQ/Home based - Req

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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, hope.

Consultancy Title: KIX Project Coordinator – Integrating ECE into Education Sector Planning

Section/Division/Duty Station: Education Section, PD Division, Home based

Duration: 138 working days over a period of 11.5 months

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

The Education Section based in New York supports UNICEF’s commitment to advancing access, participation and relevant learning outcomes for marginalized children in its policy leadership and support to countries for excellence in programming. Guided by the vision in the UNICEF Strategic Plan (2018-2030), Goal 2 “Every child learns”, the Education Section leads global efforts for development of evidence-based policy guidance, standard setting and programme approaches to pre-primary education. Under its Education Strategy (2019-2030), UNICEF has identified early childhood education (ECE) as one of its priority areas and strategic shifts to address the global learning crisis at its roots. Furthermore, UNICEF is scaling up its investment in pre-primary education with a decisive commitment to allocate 10% of its education resources to catalyze ECE results. UNICEF is committed to elevating the priority and status of pre-primary education by ensuring that it is systematically integrated in Education Sector Planning processes.

As part of these efforts, UNICEF Education Section was awarded a Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) grant to scale up an innovative approach and global toolkit to in-country capacity development for enhancing ECE analysis, planning and implementation (called the “BELDS approach”). This KIX project aims to support the effective and strategic integration of the pre-primary sub-sector within Education Sector Planning processes in five Global Partnership for Education (GPE) member countries, while generating and mobilizing global knowledge on ECE policy and practice through the expansion and launch of a comprehensive global e-toolkit (the “ECE Accelerator: Analysis and Planning Toolkit”) meant to support the scale up of quality ECE across all GPE member countries. UNICEF leads on this project, with its partners World Bank and Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN).

Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is to contribute to the effective and efficient implementation of the work plan under the KIX project, which involves 3 main streams of work:

• Stream 1: Country engagement in Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tajikistan to further test, adapt and contextualize BELDS approach and the ECE Accelerator toolkit;
• Stream 2: Country engagement in Kyrgyz Republic and Lesotho to test and adapt BELDS in implementation, review, monitoring and evaluation cycles; and
• Stream 3: Ongoing knowledge generation, mobilization and sharing.

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Working with the Education Specialist (Early Childhood Education) and the KIX project team, the consultant will provide operational leadership and relevant technical expertise and assistance to oversee and implement the activities under the KIX project. More specifically, the consultant will:

1. Provide overall coordination and operational leadership and relevant technical expertise to the KIX project
   • Lead on the oversight and supervision of key activities and development of key deliverables (ensuring progression, cohesion and coordination of activities and deliverables), including KIX Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) activities (monitoring & reporting);
   • Provide relevant technical advice and expertise on ECE as needed;
   • Address obstacles and challenges that may emerge in the implementation of the activities of the KIX Project;
   • Collaborate with relevant members of the Education Systems Strengthening Team in managing the delivery of the activities, and work closely with Education Section and relevant Regional and Country Offices throughout implementation of the activities;
   • Create a culture of knowledge sharing and learning to benefit HQ, Regional and Country colleagues on the KIX Project.
2. Provide focused technical support to selected countries (country teams) under the KIX project
   • Engage with and support selected countries in preparatory activities;
   • Conceptualize, plan and co-lead workshops and other technical and/or capacity building activities (as relevant) in selected countries;
   • Support country teams with the development of analytical and results reports and case studies, focusing on progress of activities, key achievements and lessons learned;
   • Coordinate and facilitate technical support to the countries;
   • Support, coordinate and actively participate in knowledge exchange and peer learning among countries involved in the KIX project and with other countries and partners;
   • Undertake missions to selected countries, as needed, to provide technical support.
3. Coordinate and liaise with partners (including World Bank and ECDAN) on collaboration for the KIX project
   • Seek and coordinate the engagement of key partners in the KIX Project (ex. World Bank, ECDAN, technical reference group, etc.);
   • Support the coordination of partnerships for the review and endorsement of technical products and processes (ex. ECE Accelerator toolkit);
   • Liaise with and maintain regular contact with partners and support ongoing coordination efforts.
4. Ensure knowledge management to bring best practices from KIX project into UNICEF’s and partners’ portfolios
   • Support the expansion and refinement of the ECE Accelerator toolkit;
   • Support the development of relevant country case studies as well as their dissemination (documenting achievements and lessons learned);
   • Lead on the identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the KIX Project for organizational sharing and learning as well as external information.

Qualifications

1. Advanced university degree in education, ECE, ECD, international education, human development, social sciences and/or international development
2. 5 years of professional experience at the national and/or international levels in education programme planning, management, monitoring, and evaluation, ideally with a demonstrated focus on early education/pre-primary education
3. Strong knowledge of the global development context, education systems, and education sector analysis and planning
4. Excellent verbal and written communication skills in the English language
5. Experience working in a developing country context and awareness of key partnerships and processes at the national level in the context of ESP development
6. Ability to work independently as well as part of a team

Fluency in English a prerequisite; fluency in a second UN language an asset.

Requirements****:

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference (can be downloaded here: https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious and ethnic backgrounds 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.