Consultant to support comprehensive and coordinated multi-sectoral school-based strategies for enhancing student learning and well-being in select Pacific Island countries, Suva, Fiji, 6 Mon

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, education.

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, an area comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria.

All 14 Pacific Island countries and territories have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations. Explore the different areas of our work in the link provided here www.unicef.org/pacificislands.

Background of Assignment:

The health, nutrition and well-being of learners are key determinants of education outcomes and an integral part of quality education. According to the recent publication, ‘Ready to learn and thrive: School health and nutrition around the world’, almost all countries in the world implement programmes and/or strategies that promote health, nutrition and well-being within the education system including through: i) development and enforcement of policies and laws to provide an enabling environment at national, subnational and school levels; ii) improvement of a school physical and socioemotional environment such as access to water, sanitation and handwashing facilities, school-based violence prevention programmes, and promotion of positive gender norms and socialization that enable all girls and boys to have equal opportunity to learn in a safe and inclusive environment; iii) health and nutrition education delivered in skills-based school curricula and extracurricular activities; iv) provision of health and nutrition services such as vaccinations, mental health/psychosocial support, and healthy school meals.

Many Pacific Island countries have education policies, sector plans and/or programmes that identify various elements related to student health and well-being. Schools have long considered attention to physical and mental health, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, and protection, with aims to create an enabling and supportive environment for learning – and, in some cases, to use platforms to advance broader health and well-being goals. This is in line with the Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF), which identifies “student outcomes and well-being” as one of 4 priority policy areas for regional action as set out by the Pacific Ministers of Education.

Unfortunately, the coordination of supports in schools from different government Ministries as well as different partners, remains a challenge in many contexts. Ownership, coordination, coverage, quality, impact, and sustainability of these programmes and strategies also appears to vary.

UNICEF Pacific recognizes the importance of multi-sectoral engagement in schools, with support from WASH, Child Protection, Health, Nutrition and MHPSS, varying by country in line with their priorities and needs. Other partners, such as WHO, UNESCO, Save the Children, DFAT and others, also provide support related to health and wellbeing in schools, sometimes in country-specific approaches and sometimes with regional or global approaches such as “Health Promoting Schools”, “Three Star approach to WASH in schools”, “Safe Schools Project”, “Comprehensive Sexuality Education/Family Life Education,” etc. Other interventions may be designed primarily to advance health and wellbeing outcomes, and use schools as a platform to reach the target population. In all of the above, these initiatives and others have not always been institutionalized fully beyond the project phases in education sector plans, budgets, policies and guidelines and implementation strategies (or in other sectoral/multi-sectoral plans as relevant), as required to ensure systematic support to making all schools healthy, nutritious, safe, protective and hygienic and equitable and inclusive learning environments, and building healthy, nutritious, safe, protective and hygienic practices. Additionally, the gaps which are not met by these existing interventions have not yet been mapped.

In 2022, UNICEF Pacific supported the Ministries of Education (and relevant partner Ministries) across the Pacific in the development and implementation of safe school guidelines under COVID-19 that drew on Health, Nutrition, WASH, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Protection, and Social and Behavior Change (SBC) expertise and systems. This was a unique moment in time when Ministries of Education, Health, Social Protection/Internal Affairs came together more than ever before to strengthen school environments. There is a unique opportunity to build on the existing initiative and more recent experience during COVID-19 to enhance synergy in government services across sectors within schools, and to improve the coherence of support from UNICEF to Pacific education systems and to best complement the support from other partners. There is also an opportunity to use an equity-based approach to understand and address the root causes of inequity so that all children and adolescents, particularly those who are most disadvantaged and at heightened risk of discrimination and neglect related to disability among other reasons, have access to education, health care, sanitation, clean water, protection and other areas necessary for their development and well-being.

This would allow education systems to better integrate these as part of education reforms for equity, quality and student well-being, including with equity and inclusion in access and learning, and to increase ownership, effective implementation, and sustainability of comprehensive school-based programmes / strategies.

To exploit this opportunity, UNICEF Pacific seeks an international consultant to work with the UNICEF team and with select Pacific Island countries to strengthen comprehensive attention to student well-being through education systems.

How can you make a difference?

The primary objective of this consultancy is to strengthen comprehensive and coordinated attention to all facets of student well-being through education systems with an equity-focused approach.

Inception:

• The consultant will firstly undertake a landscape mapping of current prevailing multi-sectoral interventions/initiatives that promote health, nutrition, WASH services and well-being of children and adolescents within education systems in the Pacific, including drawing on good practices and lessons learnt from multisectoral engagements for improving quality of school environments in the Pacific during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• For select countries participating in this exercise, the consultancy will review existing related education sector policies and plans (plus other related sectoral/multi-sectoral plans) to capture specific visions and goals for advancing student wellbeing in schools, as well as regional documents such as Pacific Regional Education Framework, Pacific All-Life Skills Framework, and others, as relevant. The consultant will also document existing interventions by government and key partners, including UNICEF. This review will consider theory of change and coverage of each intervention, identifying the best practices, challenges and constraints encountered in implementation of the existing programmes.
• This component will specifically focus on identifying opportunities for more systematic support to student well-being through education systems in line with their priorities, including drawing on UNICEF comparative advantage where relevant. The consultant is expected to take an equity-focused approach, considering issues of gender, disability and other relevant factors across the analysis, and identify opportunities to transform unequal social and gender norms and practices within the defined scope for the assignment. The consultant is also expected to consider education programming under both emergency and non-emergency contexts.
• This process is expected to be conducted through a desk review with planning and consultation calls with UNICEF, participating countries and partners, as relevant. A synthesis of findings is expected in an inception report (plus presentation), with a regional overview plus country-specific findings on alignment of existing initiatives and interventions to existing aims, highlighting convergence, divergence and gaps, with a proposed way forward (including timeline, methodology, consultation tools and approaches) to define more coordinated and coherent approaches for support in the next phase of this work.

Country-Focused Work:

• Secondly, the consultancy will aim at supporting the Ministries of Education (and its partner ministries) in reviewing and enhancing school-based multisectoral initiatives that promote gender-responsive health, nutrition, WASH services and well-being of all children.
• This review will include an assessment of the operationalization of existing initiatives across various settings and levels (urban, rural, outer islands, boarding schools, ECE/primary/secondary, etc.) to identify strengths, challenges, good practices and gaps. To also identify and assess the extent to which inclusion and gender equality is integrated throughout these initiatives. This must necessarily consider the realities of education systems in each country, the opportunities for integration in curricula, teacher training and extra-curricular activities, as well as the burdens and challenges for overload on education systems and personnel, including to manage multi-sectoral programming and the relationships with other Ministries and partners in this regard. Accordingly, this might point to alternate mechanisms that exist in society to addressing the same aims; these potentially include health systems, churches, partnerships with families, and others, to the extent that this is visible through this exercise. This review must also consider all initiatives through a lens of national ownership, sustainability and scalability, with realistic expectations for what it would take for education systems to take comprehensive support to student health and wellbeing to scale to reach all students, including the most vulnerable.
• This will be done through a consultative and participatory approach drawing on the PacREF research framework, Pacific methodologies and prioritizing government ownership of country-focused discussions and outputs.
• Travel to Fiji and each participating country is expected at this stage, with bilateral consultations, field visits and partner consultation workshops, as relevant.
• Perspectives from diverse key stakeholders should be captured, potentially including heads of schools, teachers, parent-teacher associations, parents, caregivers, students, canteen operators, bus and other transport personnel, school nurses, the local government, community leaders, village chiefs, faith based/influential leaders, relevant focal points within the Ministries of Education, Health, National Disaster Management Office, and all relevant partners.
• This is expected to result in a co-designed country-specific multi-sectoral school-based intervention strategy that promotes gender responsive health, nutrition, and well-being of children and adolescents within education systems in a form relevant to each country’s needs and governance structures. This will also include country-specific recommendations for UNICEF support.

Regional Work:

• Finally, the consultancy will present a regional overview that synthesizes all findings, and presents an overview of best practices identified from participating countries, with options and recommendations for the potential for a Pacific-wide overarching multi-sectoral school-based child wellbeing framework (or alternate substitute), with and a participatory plan for defining the way forward.
• This will be complemented by a proposed overall approach for UNICEF contribution to Pacific Island Countries across the 2023-2027 multi-country programme.

All deliverables will be considered approved for payment upon review by UNICEF and government counterparts and agreement of final versions integrating all relevant feedback and comments.

Please refer to the ToR VA TOR multi-sectoral support to student wellbeing.pdf for further information on the deliverables and the timelines.

GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS:

All applications for this consultancy must include a separate financial offer along with the technical proposal.

The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables and should show a break down for the following:

• Daily consultancy fees – based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference above
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment and field mission travel)
• Living allowance where travel is required
• Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.

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

Education:

• • An advanced university degree in education, international development, public health, education, sociology, economics, and other related disciplines.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience related to education policy and programming, with specific attention to interventions linked to health, nutrition, mental health and other related programming areas in schools. Experience in school system leadership an asset.
• Experience designing and implementing participatory processes engaging a diverse range of stakeholders, including governments. Demonstrated ability to draw on Pacific methodologies and consultation approaches an asset.
• Work experience serving in multiple countries is required. Work experience in the Pacific Islands region is an asset.
• Experience working with UNICEF and other partners active in student health and wellbeing in schools is an asset.

Skills:

• Able to work effectively with people internal and external parties
• Communicates clearly and concisely. Excellent writing skills
• Excellent analytical and conceptual skills
• Proven ability to work independently under difficult conditions

Knowledge:

• School health and nutrition, mental health, WASH in schools, gender, life skills, school-based programming, education systems and education sector plan development.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required, and knowledge of a Pacific language would be an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here

Remarks:

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

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 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.

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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process for this consultancy.