Consultancy: Education/ ADAP Section, Programme Division, NYHQ - Req

Consultant Teaching & Training Programme & Policy

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Consultancy Title: Early Childhood Education in Emergencies Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Education/ ADAP Section, Programme Division, NYHQ

Duration: 12 August, 2024, to 30 December, 2024

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ / Home-Based

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

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF’s Education Section at New York Headquarters (NYHQ) requires the services of a consultant with expertise in Education in Emergencies, to support the Reinforcing Better Early Learning and Development at Scale (BELDS) extension research project.

The BELDS research initiative funded by the GPE-IDRC Knowledge and Innovations Exchange (KIX) program builds on UNICEF’s Build to Last Framework for quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) to integrate ECE in education sectoral planning. Working closely with five target countries, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the project has generated evidence on the use and adaptation of tools for ECE policy, planning, costing and implementation (see ECE accelerator toolkit). The extension phase of the Project will support the development of new tools designed to facilitate greater inclusion of children with disabilities, and children in humanitarian contexts, among other initiatives.

The Early Childhood Education in Emergencies (ECEiE) consultancy has been initiated to develop global guidance to position ECE as a vital component of humanitarian preparedness, response and resilience building processes. Although the focus of the consultancy will be on promoting early learning and school readiness support for young learners in humanitarian contexts, coordination mechanisms that leverage ECE settings to increase the demand and utilization of required services across sectors will also be considered.

Primarily designed to engage decision-makers in the humanitarian ecosystem to inform them of ECE imperatives, the guidance will anchor the relevance of ECE-in-emergencies in key humanitarian frameworks, relevant aspects of the Humanitarian-Development Collaboration and its linkages to Peace. It will draw upon a selection of relevant strategy documents, tools and resources developed by key agencies working in the humanitarian space (eg ECW, INEE, the Global Education Cluster, the Moving Minds Alliance, and UN agencies among others), to develop short, easy to use tools and templates that will be helpful for humanitarian stakeholders who may not have a background on early childhood development.

Scope of Work:

Working with the Education Specialist (Early Childhood Education), the KIX project team, relevant Emergency Response Teams and partners, the consultant will draw upon his/her technical expertise, experience and networks to develop global guidance on ECEiE by

a. identifying key anchors within humanitarian frameworks to establish the relevance of ECE interventions in diverse emergency/humanitarian contexts (including acute and protracted crisis triggered by natural disasters, environmental hazards, climate adversities, large scale health emergencies, conflicts, displacement, and migration etc.)

b. leveraging the Humanitarian Program Cycle to identify key processes, steps and decision points through which ECE can be mainstreamed as an integral component of humanitarian preparedness, response and resilience building

c. providing guidance to assess and monitor the severity and scope of ECE needs in humanitarian response and review processes and contribute to building a risk informed ECE sub-sector

d. identifying and documenting illustrative examples of contextually appropriate, scalable ECEiE interventions referencing the key entry points, frameworks, tools, data/information, coordination mechanisms and scaling strategies that were used.

Key deliverables expected to be developed are:

1.a guidance note that will summarize the above analysis and outline the key principles, parameters and processes that can be used to facilitate mainstreaming of ECE interventions in diverse emergency/humanitarian contexts

2. a checklist to be used by humanitarian actors to integrate ECE across the Humanitarian Program Cycle

3. a monitoring framework to assess and monitor the severity and scope of ECE needs in humanitarian response and review processes

4. 8 case studies (approximately 2000 words each) of ECEiE interventions to support early learning and development in diverse emergency/humanitarian situations.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

1. On-boarding and inception

- Inception report

1 week from start of the consultancy

2. Guidance note providing an analytical overview and identifying the key principles, parameters and processes that can facilitate mainstreaming of ECE in diverse humanitarian contexts as outlined under the scope of work above.

- A narrative report (20 -25 pages + annexes)

Draft: September 15, 2024

Final: November 30, 2024

3. Leveraging the Humanitarian Program Cycle to integrate ECE across all steps and stages of needs assessment, planning, resource mobilization, implementation, and review

- A checklist to be used by humanitarian actors to integrate ECE across all steps and stages of the Humanitarian Program Cycle

Draft: September 30, 2024

Final: November 15, 2024

4. Guidance to assess and monitor the severity and scope of ECE needs in humanitarian response and review processes and contribute to building a risk informed ECE sub-sector

- A monitoring framework outlining key assessment questions, a set of core and proxy indicators with suggested data sources

Draft: October 15, 2024

Final: November 15, 2024

5. Illustrative examples of contextually appropriate, scalable ECEiE interventions in humanitarian contexts to support the guidance.

- 8 case studies (approximately 2000 words each) of ECEiE interventions to support early learning and development in diverse emergency/humanitarian situations

Draft: October 30, 2024

Final: December 20 2024

Qualifications

Education:

- An advanced university degree (Master’s degree) in Education / International Development or another relevant field. Knowledge and experience in Emergency/ humanitarian settings required.

Work experience:

- At least 5 years’ experience working in the field of education in emergencies

- Experience with the Education Cluster system will be an advantage.

Competencies:

- In-depth understanding of the humanitarian sector and the humanitarian program cycle

- Demonstrated understanding early childhood education, the Cluster system, education sector planning processes and UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children

- Excellent analytical, written, and oral communication skills. Ability to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders.

- Excellent interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to work in partnership with diverse teams and stakeholders.

- Ability to work in a multicultural environment. Knowledge and experience in GPE partners countries is a plus.

- Fluency in English. Competency in another UN language preferred

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
• 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 offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

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Added 7 hours ago - Updated 7 hours ago - Source: unicef.org