Consultancy for Gender-responsive revision of three Child Friendly Schools training manuals, Luanda, Angola - Home-based (6 months)

Contract

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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, a champion.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this consultancy is to integrate gender-responsive approaches into the three existing Child Friendly Schools (CFS) training modules (Student-centred Pedagogy; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene [WASH]; and Leadership and School Management), in the process integrating transferable skills for lifelong learning for students, teachers, directors and caregivers into the manuals.

Specific Objectives

This consultancy has the following specific objectives:

1. To examine the current CFS training manuals and assess the extent to which they are gender sensitive (i.e. they explicitly acknowledge and address the differentiated ways that girls and boys experience education);
2. To summarize international, regional and national evidence with regards to gender responsive pedagogy and gender-sensitive educational processes, including the development of the necessary skills to foster gender-sensitive practices and behaviours (such as participation, empathy, and respect for diversity) identifying good practices and lessons learned for the Angolan context;
3. To examine the extent to which CFS-supported schools employ gender responsive pedagogy and have policies and management structures and procedures that are gender responsive, including WASH practices and facilities that are gender responsive;
4. To develop updated versions of the three training manuals incorporating gender-responsive approaches that explicitly develop transferable skills for lifelong learning among students, teachers, directors and parents, including activities to pilot the manuals at the school level an to validate with key stakeholders.

Methodology

The consultancy will employ the following qualitative research methodology to meet the objectives outlined above:

• Desk review of key national and international documents;
• Key informant interviews;
• School site visits and classroom observations;
• Observations of trainings using the updated manuals.

Activities & Tasks

1. Development of a chronogram/workplan
2. Development of an inception report for the project, including:
   1. Desk review of national and international literature related to gender-sensitive pedagogy (including how transferable skills create positive practices and support lifelong learning), gender sensitive school management and gender-sensitive WASH practices and infrastructure. This should include a rapid review of national regulations and guidance around gender equity in the Angolan education system;
   2. Proposed research plan (including research methodology, draft interview protocols, and draft gender-sensitive observation protocols for the field visit)
3. Desk review of three CFS training manuals to assess the extent to which they are gender-responsive and gender-sensitive, or encourage the development of transferable life and citizenship skills;
4. Key informant interviews of key stakeholders at the national, provincial, municipal and school/community levels;
5. Site visits to CFS schools in Huila, including classroom observations;
6. Development of the first draft of the three revised documents;
7. Facilitation of an online workshop to present and validate the draft updated manuals to national, provincial, and municipal partners;
8. Update of the manuals based on feedback received during the validation workshop with stakeholders;
9. Completion of a training of trainers (5 – 10 people trainers/technical staff from MED and the Province of Luanda) on the revised draft manuals;
10. Pilot and assessment the three updated manuals via trainings in the municipalities of Viana and/or Cacuaco in Luanda. Trainings will be held to pilot each of the manuals (1) the updated Student-Centred Pedagogy with 15-25 teachers and directores; (2) the updated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Students with 15-25 teachers, directors and parents/caregivers; and (3) the updated Leadership and School Management manual for 15-25 directors and parent committee members. This will require the following activities:
    1. Development of assessment forms to observe how the updated manuals are used by trainers and training participants;
    2. Development of a feedback/assessment from for trainers and participants to assess the extent to which the manuals are gender responsive;
    3. Observations of the three training sessions in Luanda;
11. Update and finalization of the three manuals based on the pilot observations and feedback from trainers and participants.

Geographic Scope

The majority of the consultancy will take place remotely; however, classrooms will be observed in the CFS-supported municipalities of Cacula, Quipungo and Gambos in the province of Huila. It is estimated that a visit of at least 5 working days to the province of Huila will be required to speak with key stakeholders and understand the context of CFS-supported schools in Angola. In addition, the piloting training and piloting of the manuals will take place in the municipalities of Cacuaco and/or Viana in Luanda.

Meetings with key stakeholders at the Ministry of Education and with UNICEF will be needed. These meetings will take place remotely

Estimated Time Required in Angola:

• Province of Huila - 5 working days
• Luanda – at least 10 working days

Please note that the all of the costs to support this field work should be included in the financial proposal.

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline

1. The inception report is submitted and approved.

The inception report should include:

1. 1. Finalized workplan;
   2. Desk review of international and national literature;
   3. Proposed research plan (including draft interview and classroom observation protocols, assessment protocols for the updated manuals);
   4. Assessment of the existing manuals.

15 working days

(Week 4)

2. The school observation visits to Huila are completed; the first updated draft of the three training manuals are developed and validated at the technical level, submitted, and approved; a brief summary outlining the key findings from key informant interviews and classroom observations.

3. 1. First drafts of the Student-Centred Pedagogy, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Students, and Leadership and School Management manuals are completed are submitted and approved by UNICEF & MED;
   2. Summary outlining key findings from key informant interviews and classroom observations is submitted and approved.

20 working days

(Week 10)

3. The one-day online workshop to present the update manuals is completed; the training of trainers on the new manual is completed; observations of trainings of each of the three manuals completed.

4. 1. Agenda and slide deck for the workshop submitted and approved;
   2. Brief report of key points discussed in the validation workshop submitted and approved
   3. Brief report on training of trainers on the three manuals is submitted (including attendance list);
   4. Report on the key observations and participant feedback during the piloting of the manuals is submitted and approved.

20 working days

(Week 16)

4. Final versions of the three training documents submitted and approved.

Final versions of the following manuals are completed:

1. Student-Centred Pedagogy (Ensino Centrado no Aluno)
2. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Students (Água, Saneamento e Higiene (ASH) para Alunos)
3. Leadership and School Management (Módulo Sobre Liderança e Gestão Escolar)

10 working days

(Week 20)

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

• An university degree in Education, Gender Studies or a related area
• A minimum of five years knowledge and experience in the design and production of educational materials and learning pedagogy for elementary school students;
• A minimum of five years of experience in teacher training processes in teaching-learning pedagogy;
• A minimum of five years’ knowledge of the gender approach and its application to training processes;
• Experience in using tools to monitor progress in training processes, and students learning;
• Strong writing skills;
• Proven ability of working with people and communication skills to work with people of government institutions, teachers, communities, and children;
• Experience working in a development context, ideally Africa/Angola, is required;
• Experience working with the UN or similar development agencies is strongly preferred;
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office; advanced skills with publishing software such as Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher preferred;
• Professional proficiency in Portuguese; proficiency in English is also strongly preferred. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness
• Works Collaboratively with others
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Innovates and Embraces Change
• Thinks and Acts Strategically
• Drives to achieve impactful results
• Manages ambiguity and complexity

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:

Duty Station: Home-based + Province of Huila (5 working days) and Luanda (at least 10 working days)

Terms of Payment: The consultant will be paid an all-inclusive fee (transportation costs, stationary, communication and other miscellaneous expenses) as per the stipulated deliverable and payment schedule

Contract Duration****: 6 months (65 working days)

How to apply: Interested candidates are requested to create their profile on UNICEF career portal at https://www.unicef.org/careers/, including cover letter and CV. Candidates should indicate ability, availability and all-inclusive financial proposal to undertake the terms of reference.

Interested individuals must submit an expression of interest (5-10 pages) that includes:

• A 1-2 page summary of how your experience and qualifications meet the requirements outlined in this Terms of Reference;
• A brief technical proposal (2-6 pages) describing how the work will be carried out;
• A financial proposal that includes all associated costs and expenses to carry out the consultancy (including travel, accommodation and local transport) (1-2 pages)

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.