Consultancy: Support for Decentralized Education Sector Coordination, Baghdad, Iraq (Open to nationals of Iraq)

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Tuesday 15 Mar 2022 at 20:55 UTC

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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, Education

The purpose of this assignment is to provide support to the decentralized education sector coordination and implementation of plans.

Background:

Iraq is recovering from a prolonged period of conflict and sluggish economic growth which have impacted the country’s development trajectory. With one of the fastest growing populations in the region, projected to reach 45M by 2050, Iraq’s children represent around 48% of the population, and youth (15-24 years) a further 20%. The changing demographic makes investment in the development and participation of children and young people even more imperative.

In 2020, Iraq’s transition to a post-conflict era continued to be uncertain. As of Dec 2020, at least 1.2M people around 528,000 children under 18 remained displaced in formal and non-formal camps or in host communities. Currently, 4.8M people (44% children) have returned to places of origin. In 2020, again as in 2019, there was an abrupt decision by authorities to close IDP camps resulting in forced returns and secondary displacements from the disorganized movement of 7,238 households. Overall, the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance dropped to 4.1M however, post COVID19 pandemic, international support is still required to deliver or re-start basic services. The bottlenecks hampering the availability and accessibility of quality services at the community level including systemic issues of planning, budgeting, resource allocation, governance and inefficiencies will be addressed. National level budget allocations for social sectors are low and widen gaps of access and provision for the most vulnerable children and young people.

UNICEF will continue to partner with Ministry of Education to leverage opportunities to advocate and embed these interventions to support improved education services delivery - be those in traditional classroom settings or supporting new form of open and flexible learning - to all children, particularly the most vulnerable and excluded, in all part of the country. This includes assisting realize the ambitions of the new national education strategy (2020-2030); Early Childhood Development Strategy; supporting central and decentralized Education Sector Coordination; community based participatory management via School Management Committees and the transition to a sector approach in collaboration with education cluster.

UNICEF is also supporting building systems and capacities of MoE at national and sub-national levels as part of building the education sector. This includes capacity building for risk informed education planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring, education information management systems, monitoring learning outcomes, teacher training, life skills education and social cohesion, mobilizing young people and communities to ensure equitable quality education for all children and adolescents.

Education Sector Planning and Coordination:

UNICEF is supporting the GoI on several interrelated strategic fronts, these include:

  • UNICEF supported 11 Governorates (out of a total 18) to develop the Governorate level Education Sector Plans (GESP) and continues to expand this by an additional 4 in 2021. For governorates with GESP, focus is shift to implementation and monitoring.
  • UNICEF in partnership with UNESCO and with funding support from EU, is supporting Ministry of Education (MoE) to transition from a paper-based to an electronic system of Education Management of Information System (EMIS). The establishment of an effective EMIS will be a key step to addressing planning and management inefficiencies in the sector and help evidence-based decision making at school, directorate and national levels.
  • UNICEF, World Bank, UNECSO and IIEP are supporting the development of the National Education Strategy 2020-2030.
  • UNICEF in partnership with UNESCO are supporting the development of a national education capacity plan, which is being mirrored at the decentralized level by UNICEF and the DoEs with links to the GESPs
  • UNICEF has supported GoI in the development of an integrated five -year Early Childhood Development Strategy
  • At national level UNICEF has led the establishment of a sector coordination mechanism to support the implementation of INES with MoE/MoHESR as the Chairs and UNICEF as Secretariat for the initial year and the European Union (EU) and PMO as co-Chairs. Similar structures are envisaged at directorate level. Four sub-groups are being established under the Education Sector Coordination Group on the following topics:
  • Planning, monitoring and performance
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Digital learning systems
  • Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Justification:

Education Sector Planning at national and decentralised levels is a new area for the Ministry of Education. Education sector plans have a medium to long-term perspective ( 3 to 8 years) and these are supported by annual work plans for implementation and monitoring of progress towards planned results. The first- generation education sector plans from the 11 Governorates and the General Directorates of Education (GDoE) will require d support to plan, implement and coordination for an entire annual planning and monitoring cycle in line with the national plans. In addition, a robust monitoring and review mechanisms also will be required to support the implementation including joint sector reviews in collaboration with education partners and donors at national and decentralised levels. This consultancy will provide the necessary support to UNICEF Education Programme and Ministry of Education.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will be responsible for operationalising the education sector coordination at national and decentralised levels in the context of the national education sector coordination.

The scope of work consists of the following:

National Level

  • Support and guide the secretariat function of the National Education Sector Coordination Group (NESCG) and its working groups including setting agendas, scheduling meeting (at least twice per year) and recording and document of meetings and key decisions.
  • Facilitate the Planning, monitoring and performance of the technical working groups of the NESCG.
  • Facilitate the alignment of the policy dialogue, planning, monitoring at national and decentralised levels including UNIC’F's programmes and plans.
  • Setting up of the joint sector review process including the tools and reporting formats at both national and decentralised levels.
  • Support the process of transition from emergency- oriented cluster coordination to that of Sector.

Decentralized level:

  • Support the establishment of governorate education sector coordination mechanism/group (GESCGs) in 11 governorates with operational GESPs in collaboration with the UNICEF Felid Offices:
  • Develop Terms of References for the Sub-national coordination mechanisms and working groups including membership, key portfolios and required working groups
  • Facilitate and support the secretariat functions including setting agendas, scheduling meeting (at least twice per year) and recording of action points and minutes.
  • Facilitate the setting up of the monitoring of the implementation of GESP and review of sector performance review through the governorate sector coordination mechanism; ensuring relevant discussion; setting key performance indicators; securing the monitoring data, its analysis and reporting.

Deliverables

  • Annual Sector Coordination Workplan (February 2022)
  • 10 Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports (February 2022 to November 2022)
  • 1 Final Education Sector Coordination Status and Analysis Report (November 2022)
  • Monitoring Data reports twice annually for each GESCG and the NESGC (June 2022, November 2022)
  • GESCG and NESCG meetings including working groups documentation including minutes.

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline

Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Development of the annual sector coordination plan in consultation with the MoE and the secretariat for NESCG and GESCG. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Annual Sector Coordination Workplan finalized and available Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

Feb-2022

Facilitate and support the establishment of the working of the GESCG and NESCG and working groups and provide tools for documentation and reports from the meetings. Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

GESCG and NESCG meetings including working groups documentation including minutes. Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

March-2022

Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

April-2022

Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

May-2022

Facilitate organization of the joint sector review and updating the education sector coordination plans Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monitoring Data reports twice annually for each GESCG and the NESGC Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

June-2022

Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

July-2022

Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

August-2022

Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

September-2022

Organization of the joint sector review and analytical report; the updated sector coordination work plan. Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Final Education Sector Coordination Status and Analysis Report Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

October-2022

Facilitate organization of the joint sector review and updating the education sector coordination plans Facilitate the organization of the monthly activities of the sector coordination and working groups at national and sub-national level. Monthly travel to one or more DoE's.

Monitoring Data reports twice annually for each GESCG and the NESGC Monthly Education Sector coordination status reports

November-2022

Working Conditions

  • Location: Office-based
  • Travel: Local travel estimated at 6 days per month for duration of assignment
  • Duration: from 1 January 2022 to 30 November 2022, 242 working days

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

The consultant is expected to meet the following requirements in terms of qualifications and experience:

  • A university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, psychology, sociology or another relevant technical field.An advanced degree in education or related fields
  • A minimum of two years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education is required.
  • Skills, knowledge and experience of sector coordination
  • Data analysis
  • Facilitation skills
  • Education stakeholders
  • Established relationships with partners and government
  • Fluency in English and Arabic with Kurdish desirable

Contractual Terms and Conditions:

Candidates should submit a financial proposal for the assignment, outlining all-inclusive professional fees per deliverable (based on the number of days worked and daily rate charged).

Travel expenses to the duty station and within the country, if required, will be paid in accordance with UNICEF polices/rules and regulations for individual consultancy assignment.

Under consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21.75 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly for actual days worked.

The consultant is not entitled to payment for overtime, weekends or public holidays, medical insurance, taxes, and any form of leave.

The Consultant must not publish or disseminate reports, data collection tools, collected data or any other documents produced from this consultancy without the permission of and acknowledgment of UNICEF Iraq.

The selected candidate will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

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.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

https://www.unicef.org/careers/get-prepared

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.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org