Home-Based Consultancy: Summative review of the Strengthening Education in Rapid Response project (60 working days between Dec 2022 and Mar 2023) - EMOPS, Geneva, Switzerland

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, an education

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to facilitate a summative review of the Strengthening Education in Rapid Response project. This project, which started in 2020 and comes to an end in December 2022, seeks to promote education as part of first phase humanitarian response by gathering evidence, developing tools, and building capacities of key humanitarian and education actors, including Ministries of Education. The aim is to promote and facilitate the systemic inclusion of education in Rapid Response Mechanisms (RRMs), where possible, or complement RRMs with rapid Education in Emergencies (EiE) response.

Funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), the project is implemented by the Global Education Cluster (GEC) in partnership with UNICEF, UNESCO IIEP, REACH, Save the Children, Translators without Borders, and NORCAP. On behalf of the partnership, the summative review will result in an analysis of the results achieved, including outlining any areas for further work. Based on the lessons learned, it will also inform next steps to facilitate the use of the project outputs and longer-term sustainability of the project outcomes.

Background

Despite its critical formative and protective role, education is often not prioritized nor included in the first phase of a humanitarian response. RRMs provide prompt humanitarian assistance in the wake of sudden onset emergencies and conflict situations; they are proven to effectively reach the most vulnerable communities with multi-sectoral assistance. As such, strengthening the inclusion of education in RRMs or complementing those mechanisms with rapid EiE interventions provides opportunities to mitigate significant disruptions to children’s education in humanitarian contexts. This project has gathered evidence from a wide set of contexts with the aim to strengthen rapid education response capacities and improve coordination through new guidance, tools and trainings for the humanitarian community and local partners on the inclusion of education in first phase humanitarian response.

The Global Education Cluster is managing the overall implementation of the project with activities undertaken by UNICEF, Save the Children, REACH, Translators Without Borders, UNESCO IIEP, NORCAP and the GEC. Overall strategic guidance and governance of the project has been provided by an Action Steering Group comprising DG ECHO and the partners.

Scope of work

Under the overall oversight of the Action Steering Group (ASG), and reporting to the Global Education Cluster Coordinator (UNICEF) the consultant(s) will undertake the following tasks:

Inception phase

1. Desk review of project deliverables (including evidence pieces, Strengthening Education in Rapid Response Toolkit, training evaluation reports and other deliverables) and project documents (including application documents, progress reports, ASG minutes, and other relevant sources of information). (5 days)

2. Key informant interviews with representatives of the ASG to inform the design of the review. A total of 6-8 Key Informant (KI) interviews are anticipated. (5 days)

3. Drafting of an inception report outlining the proposed approach, methodology, workplan and timeline. The inception report will be presented to and approved by the ASG. (5 days)

Review methods

4. Based on the review framework developed during the inception phase (including a focus on the relevance, use and sustainability of the project outputs and outcomes) undertake KIs with global-level ASG representatives, project staff, and external interlocutors, as well as country-level staff, including cluster coordinators, education staff in agencies and other representatives who have been involved in, contributed towards or implemented project deliverables. A total of 15-20 interviews is expected. (15 days)

5. Presentation and discussion on preliminary findings for validation to the ASG. (3 days)

6. Draft review report summarizing key findings and forward-looking recommendations to inform the uptake of the project results. (7 days)

Roadmap development

7. Building on the findings and recommendations of the review, conduct a workshop with the ASG, invited country representatives and external experts, including RRM experts from other sectors, to develop a roadmap to sustain the results of this project beyond 2022. The workshop will take place by the end of February 2023. (10 days)

8. Drafting of a practical roadmap for the 2023-25 period to ensure the following (10 days):

a. Operationalization of the Toolkit and guidance

b. Scaling up of country support (expert training, deployments, advocacy) with the aim to include rapid EiE more systematically in – or as complimentary EiE interventions -- to RRMs.

c. Ensuring further institutionalization of the deliverables and linkages with complementary work undertaken by other actors

Key Deliverables

Based on the purpose and scope of work of this consultancy, the following deliverables are foreseen within these indicative timeframes for a total of 60 working days between beginning of December 2022 and 15 March 2023:

• Inception report to ensure a common understanding of the assignment process, KIs, methodology, timeline, and deliverables between the consultant(s) and ASG (steps 1, 2 and 3 under scope)
• Review report (steps 4, 5 and 6 under scope)
• Stakeholder’s workshop and roadmap (steps 7 and 8 under scope)

All deliverables will be consulted with and validated by the ASG.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone******Deliverables / Outputs******Timeline / DeadlineInception report (deliverable 1)Brief inception report describing approach, workplan and timeline15 working days;

By 20 December 2022

Review report (deliverable 2)Summative review report produced, based on documentary review and Key Informant Interviews25 working days;

By 10 February 2023

Roadmap (deliverable 3)Roadmap validated by ASG20 working days;

By 15 March 2023

Estimated Duration of the Contract

60 working days (between December 2022 and March 2023)

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be remote/home-based.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. Please indicate a daily fee based on 60 working days to undertake this assignment.

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

• Master's in International Affairs, Political Science, Management or other relevant field;
• Minimum of 8 years of work experience in the humanitarian sector and/or the education in crises sector, preferably with experience in the field.
• Experience in conducting reviews, assessments and/or evaluations of humanitarian issues desired.
• Previous consultant experience on projects that require a highly iterative and consultative inter-agency process, with capacity to incorporate a range of feedback and perspectives in final products an advantage.
• Knowledge of institutional mandates, policies and guidelines pertaining to humanitarian assistance and coordination an advantage.
• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluent oral and written English is essential, and work knowledge of French is desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV and Financial Proposal in your application by indicating your availability and daily rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered. 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.

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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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.