Consultancy- Preparation of Background Technical Papers - UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia

Consultant Teaching & Training Programme & Policy

Overview

Produce technical papers on Education Finance for UNICEF conference

You have:

• PhD or Masters degree in Education, International relations, Economics, Social Policy, Public Finance, Statistics or related fields.
• At least 10 years of experience in the field of Education or Social Policy within UNICEF or other UN agencies, or international organizations like International Financing Institutes.
• Native English speaker with excellent written communication skills and effective advocacy and presentation skills.
• Past high-level publications, research publications in peer-reviewed journals in relevant fields, UNICEF or other UN agencies reports, experience participating in/facilitating large high level multi-stakeholder conferences is an advantage.
• Extensive experience writing, producing or managing the production of high-level publications, reports or calls for action, aimed at Ministers level.
• Experience producing, reviewing, appraising key technical documents in the field of public finance, education budgets, education finance, education governance and capacity development.
• Experience working with or for UN agencies on SDGs, especially SDG4.
• Experience working in Asia Pacific, South Asia or East Asia in particular would be an advantage.
• Proven ability to build consensus among a broad range of stakeholders including government and development partners both from within and outside the education sector.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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 future

How can you make a difference?

The assignment is to prepare a technical background paper, policy brief and PPT presentation in English which describe and critically examine trends in education finance, impacts of Covid-19 on education budgets, and proposes recommendations for Education Finance to meet the immediate needs of education recovery post-pandemic as well as more long-term objectives, like meeting the SDG4 targets by 2030. The reason to prepare this paper is to provide the evidence-base for a dedicated session on Education Finance at the Asia Pacific Regional Education Ministers Conference in June in Bangkok, to facilitate both ministerial and more technical discussions with MoEs and partners of the Asia Pacific region. The consultant will focus exclusively on the writing task, whilst the ROSA Education team will focus on other aspects of conference organization, including the organization of thematic sessions on 9 different other priorities (other than finance). However the consultant will be guided and supported by a technical committee comprising of Education Specialists and Economists from the relevant UNICEF and UNESCO Regional Offices.

Purpose:

This consultancy will comprise a total of three tasks: the production of a background paper on education finance, the production of a corresponding high-level policy brief, and a PPT presentation of the key findings and recommendations, to be presented at the Ministerial event.

The background paper will follow a pre-agreed structure (see next section of the ToR) and will rely on key sources of evidence, which will be gathered and organized in a common shared repository. The paper should be around 25 to 30 pages long, with sharp writing style, precise and concise. A technical working group has been formed to guide the consultant in the writing task. This technical group consists of UNESCO and UNICEF sector specialists, who will identify the main sources of evidence to be used, guide and review the work of the consultant, and support the production of key high-level recommendations, which need to be articulated and contextualized for sub-regions of the large Asia Pacific region, but also need to be relevant and adapted for low-income countries, middle income countries or high-income countries for example.

The policy brief will be a high-level executive summary which focuses on the recommendations and policy implications, for various country profiles. This policy brief aims at a Ministerial audience.

Key Key Assignments/Tasks:

• Produce 1 background paper: under the supervision and guidance of the UNICEF-UNESCO technical working group (TWG) on Education Finance, produce a background paper for the Asia Pacific Regional Education Ministers Conference (APREMC), in English, of approximate length 25-30p. The TWG will organize a shared folder of resources to be used for the task. In addition, the TWG will support the consultant in articulating the recommendations and policy implications and to contextualize them for different sub-regions or various groupings of countries. The consultant will facilitate the finalization of the paper based on multiple reviews after the initial draft. Reviews will include inputs from various partners of the Asia Pacific Learning and Education 2030+ Networking Group, under the auspices of UNESCAP.
• Produce 1 high-level policy brief: under the supervision and guidance of the TWG, produce a 4p long policy brief, summarizing key findings, recommendations and policy options, in English, aimed at a Ministerial audience.
• Produce a corresponding PPT presentation, of no more than 10 slides, to support a high-level presentation of the same, to be presented at the actual APREMC event.

Suggested outline for the background paper (may be subject to minor adjustments based on the TWG):

Proposed Title: “The urgency of financing education recovery: a call to action for children’s futures”

Outline:

Executive Summary

Introduction, background and context

1. Prior to the pandemic: trends in Education spending within the broader spectrum of social sector investments

2. Varying but persistent levels of human capital deficits.

3. Varying levels of investments and prioritization within the education sector.
4. Inequitable allocations and lack of spending efficiency.

5. Exposure to shocks and risks.

6. The impact of Covid-19 on Asian economies and the Education sector.

7. Economic impact.

8. School closures, impact on children and Government responses.
9. Gaps in Governments’ systems and responses.
10. The estimated economic cost of learning loss.

11. The Covid-19 shock: impact on projected progress towards SDG4.

12. Recovering, and financing more inclusive, efficient and resilient systems.

13. Protecting investments in priority services and expanding human capital development.

14. Prioritizing equity and efficiency in spending: inclusive and gender-responsive investments.
15. Leveraging innovations and encouraging multi-sector service deliveries in schools.
16. Mobilizing new resources towards investments for children.
17. Prepare societies for climate change impacts and strengthen system resilience to shocks.

Note: the recommendations and/or policy options, will need to be articulated within the 3rd section of the paper, within the Executive Summary, and the conclusion.

Key Deliverables:

1. Prepare the background paper on Education Finance: first draft, then finalization based on comments and inputs from the TWG – 17 days
2. Prepare the policy brief: first draft, then finalization based on comments and inputs from the TWG – 2 days
3. Prepare the PPT presentation of the recommendations and policy options from the background paper – 1 day

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

PhD or Masters degree in Education, International relations, Economics, Social Policy, Public Finance, Statistics or related fields.

At least 10 years of experience in the field of Education or Social Policy within UNICEF or other UN agencies, or international organizations like International Financing Institutes.

Native English speaker with excellent written communication skills and effective advocacy and presentation skills.

Past high-level publications, research publications in peer-reviewed journals in relevant fields, UNICEF or other UN agencies reports, experience participating in/facilitating large high level multi-stakeholder conferences is an advantage.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

Competencies:

• Extensive experience writing, producing or managing the production of high-level publications, reports or calls for action, aimed at Ministers level.
• Experience producing, reviewing, appraising key technical documents in the field of public finance, education budgets, education finance, education governance and capacity development.
• Experience working with or for UN agencies on SDGs, especially SDG4.
• Experience working in Asia Pacific, South Asia or East Asia in particular would be an advantage.
• Experience working as Education Specialist, Economist or Social Policy Specialist within UNICEF, UNESCO, UIS, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank or UNDP is an advantage.
• Proven ability to build consensus among a broad range of stakeholders including government and development partners both from within and outside the education sector

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

Duration: 20 days from the start of the contract and is office based.

Consultants and Individual contractors are responsible for paying any taxes derived from the earnings received from UNICEF.

Application to include an all-inclusive financial proposal that will detail daily/monthly rate (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference.

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.

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.

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org