Individual Consultancy - Inclusive Education, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) (Remote Based), (11.5 months Jan - Dec 2022) REQ

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...

ECW employs three funding modalities: A First Emergency Response (FER) to rapidly support a sudden onset emergency or an escalation of an existing crisis; A Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP), offering more predictable financing for protracted crises and which fosters joint programming to address the humanitarian-development nexus; and an Acceleration Facility (AF) the goal of which is to: "advance the delivery of high-quality education services by making targeted investments in global and regional public goods in order to improve education preparedness, planning and response in sudden-onset and protracted crises" (ECW Strategic Plan 2018-2021).

Importantly, ECW aims to fund programmes that help realize the right to inclusive quality education among the most marginalized children such as children with disabilities. Education inequalities that children with disabilities experience are even more severe in countries affected by emergencies and protracted crises, which are most likely low- and middle-income countries. As it is estimated that 80% of children with disabilities live in these contexts, designing and implementing programmes on EiE and Protracted Crises (EiEPC) that meet the requirements of these children is necessary to fulfil ECW’s mission.

How can you make a difference?

To ensure that ECW can deliver inclusive quality education for all children in emergencies and protracted crises, particularly children with disabilities, the Fund is seeking a programme specialist on inclusion to follow up on work on disability inclusion and inclusive education that was started in 2021. ECW has been stepping up its efforts to reach children with disabilities with inclusive quality education during 2021.

To realize this vision, ECW has been developing its policy and accountability framework on disability inclusion, which should also inform ECW engagement in the Global Disability Summit, as well as its programming approach in new MYRPs and FERs. The finalization and operationalization of this policy document thus requires technical backstopping to country teams along with support to ECW Secretariat, which is responsible for its implementation.

Under the guidance of the ECW Chief of Education, the consultant will be responsible for providing such technical backstopping support as outlined below. S/he will work closely with the ECW Field Investment Workstream and Country Focal Points providing technical support throughout the programme cycle and carry out quality assurance. S/he will also support the ECW Secretariat and Task Teams in developing their workplans to implement ECW Policy on Disability Inclusion while also taking the lead on the engagement with technical networks on inclusive education and disability inclusion.

Scope of Work:

1. ECW Policy and Accountability Framework is approved by High Level Steering Group by end of 2022.
2. ECW put forward Commitments on disability inclusion concerning organizational and programmatic work, as well as on partnerships, and it is ready to start implementation by end of 2022.
3. ECW is engaged in key multi-stakeholder platforms/networks and advocacy work on disability inclusion and inclusive education throughout 2022.
4. Approved AFs deliver high quality outputs according to their work plans and new proposals disability inclusion and inclusive EiE are developed as part of the new AF work plan by end of 2022.
5. Key FERs and/or MYRPs proposals leverage inclusive programming practices in line with ECW policy and accountability framework on disability inclusion by end of 2022
6. A review of results on inclusive education is developed as part of the annual report by end of 2022

The consultant will focus on and will be responsible for

• Lead the finalization and approval process of the Policy and accountability framework on disability inclusion; guide its operationalization in coordination with ECW Task Teams; advise the ECW Director and enhance ECW engagement in the 2022 Global Disability Summit.
• Represent ECW in multi-stakeholder platforms and inter-agency networks on inclusion related matters.
• Oversee the implementation of ongoing AFs on inclusive education and data on children with disabilities; advice the Global Education Cluster on how to embed disability inclusion in its AF; inform and guide the development of the new AF Plan and proposals on inclusion.
• Pilot in new MYRPs and/or FERs strategies and actions, in line with the ECW Policy and Accountability Framework on disability inclusion, that should lead to better results, in terms of access to and quality of education for children with disabilities, as well as accountability.
• Provide technical backstopping to country clusters and coordination mechanism during the development of FERs and MYRPs, as well as leads on quality assurance in relation to inclusive education and disability inclusion.
• Inform the development process of strategic plan and how to integrate disability inclusion and inclusive education in its narrative and results framework.
• Guide the annual reporting process on matters related to inclusive education and disability inclusion.

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

• A university degree (Bachelor) in Development Studies (or equivalent). A Master’s degree is highly desirable.
• A minimum of five years of experience working on issues of children with disabilities in education, preferably in crisis/emergency contexts is desirable.
• Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish), particularly French, is desirable.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Technical qualifications: Understanding of Universal Design concepts and the Washington Group work on disability is essential

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...

Core competencies

• Communication (2)
• Working with People (2)
• Drive for Results (2)

Functional Competencies

• Formulating Strategies and Concepts (2)
• Analyzing (2)
• Relating and Networking (1)
• Persuading and Influencing (2)
• Entrepreneurial Thinking (2)

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.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

Remarks:

Payment Methodology:

• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed 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.

How to apply:

• Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
  • your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference (can be downloaded here: https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_consultancy_assignments.html
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

U.S. Visa information, if applicable: With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

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.

If selected for this consultancy, the resulting appointment will be limited to ECW, a UNICEF hosted fund.