Individual consultancy: Lessons learned assessment of the IcSP Building Resilience Through Education and Community engagement in the cyclone-affected schools in Mozambique

Consultant Teaching & Training Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

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Purpose of Activity/Assignment: to highlight key lessons learned, best practices and key considerations on how the EU-ICSP intervention contributed to the development/strengthening of resilience of children and communities in the target areas (schools/districts/provinces), informing further programming by the EU, UNICEF and its partners.

Scope of Work:

The LLE is pertaining to the EU-ISP project and its execution period during November 2019 to April 2022. It focuses on the project implementation's lessons from the field regarding both programming and operation aspects.

On the operation front, lessons will be captured from the field regarding construction and rehabilitation processes and assess whether office requirements and expectations were met. On the programmatic level, lessons will be produced from the response regarding coordination support, access to education, WASH and child protection services, implementation of prevention protocols, risk communication and community engagement, mitigation strategies, and capacity strengthening in preparedness and response to different emergency scenarios. The analysis will take into child rights, gender, and equity approaches.

In terms of geographical coverage, this lesson’s learned exercise will address the project's achievements and bottlenecks in Provinces of Sofala (Dondo, Gorongosa and Nhamatanda districts), Manica (Gondola district) and Cabo Delgado (Chiure district).

Background and Context

Background

Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique on 14-15 March 2019, causing damage to the infrastructure, affecting the population across several provinces and disruption of services in all sectors, including Education. On top of the cyclone Idai, cyclone Kenneth, which landed in Cabo Delgado province on 25 April 2019, has brought another devastating situation in the northern region, in particular, Cabo Delgado province. These brought severe impact to the Education sector , affecting at least 4,222 classrooms and 383,209 students in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Zambezia, Inhambane, Tete, Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces (MINEDH).

Programme description

The project Building Resilience Through Education and Community engagement in the cyclone-affected schools in Mozambique was designed to enable access to equitable and inclusive learning opportunities in safe environments. The programme logic is presented as follows:

Overall Objective: Resilience of children and communities in cyclone and flood affected areas is strengthened through equitable and inclusive learning opportunities in safe environments.

Specific Objective 1: Rehabilitate & reconstruct inclusive schools through community-based building back better approaches in disaster-affected areas.

Results:

1.1: Children benefit from 250 classrooms and administrative blocks re-constructed or rehabilitated with building back better standards

Activities and their descriptions:

1.1.1. Conduct assessments, develop an implementation plan and technical documentation to reconstruct/rehabilitate 250 classrooms

1.1.2. Re-construction of 250 classrooms ensuring the alignment under MINEDH-UN-Habitat standards to achieve more resilient schools

1.1.3. Enhance the capacities on school vulnerability reduction and building back better measures to key community members and relevant stakeholders

Results:

1.2: Children benefit from the construction of affordable and improved gender responsive water and sanitation facilities, culturally adapted

Activities and their descriptions:

1.2.1. Assess the prevailing situations and needs in WASH, adapt and develop technical documentation to provide resilient and gender sensitive sanitation facilities

1.2.2. Re-construction of 140 latrines following MINEDH standards

1.2.3. Enhance the capacities on WASH aspects to ensure that all sanitation facilities are sustainable and gender responsive

Results:

1.3: Teachers benefit from affordable and improved housing, culturally adapted, and using mixed building material solutions in remote schools intervened including latrines.

Activities and their descriptions:

1.3.1. Assess the prevailing situations and needs with the focus on houses for teachers to adapt and develop technical documentation to provide affordable and resilient housing

1.3.2. Re-construction of 50 affordable houses in the selected schools for teachers

Provide one improved latrine for each house constructed.

1.3.3. Ensure that each community targeted has the knowledge to replicate the resilient and affordable housing model

Specific Objective 2: Promote and sustain equitable, safe and inclusive learning environment for boys and girls

Results:

2.1: Teachers in target areas are better equipped to provide better learning opportunities for affected girls and boys

Activities and their descriptions:

2.1.1. Train teachers on psychosocial support

2.1.2 Train teachers and key stakeholders on use and maintenance of teaching and learning materials

2.1.3 Provide training to key district education officials and school community on the Basic Emergency School Plan (BESP)

2.1.4 Provide training to teachers on dignity kits and safe spaces for girls

2.1.5 Provide training to teachers on prevention of violence

Results:

2.2: At least 250 Teachers and students in target areas are provided with teaching and learning materials to support learning

Activities and their descriptions:

2.2.1 Procure and distribute recreation kits

2.2.2 Procure and distribute teaching and learning materials

2.2.3 Procure and distribute the BESP booklet in Portuguese

Results:

2.3: Members of Circulos de Interest integrate participatory approaches to discuss and practice issues related to safe, protective and peaceful learning environment in peer groups

Activities and their descriptions:

2.3.1. Train peer educators to support the organization of circulos de interresse activities to practice and debate issues related to safe, protective and peaceful learning environment in the school clubs

Results:

2.4: Children and affected communities will have information on rights and legal services and violated, neglected and abused children will access justice and specialized legal aid services

Activities and their descriptions:

2.4 Strengthen response to cases of violence, abuse and exploitation in both school and community setting

Specific Objective 3: School councils, school managers and communities have increased capacities (including young people) to promote safe, peaceful and inclusive learning for all children

Results:

3.1: 700 school council members (14 members per school: 7 from Social commission and 7 from Finance commission) in target areas have increased capacities to reach out to out of school children and leverage funding for school maintenance of rehabilitated classrooms

Activities and their descriptions:

3.1.1 Analyse the EMIS against current enrolments to understand the drop out impact that the cyclones had on the enrolment in the targeted areas

Enhance appropriate use of existing mechanisms to support and re-enrol children

3.1.2 Train the school council members on the school safety techniques, operation and maintenance of schools

Train the finance commission in the identification and inclusion of the preparedness and emergency activities in their school development plans

3.1.3 Conduct Community awareness sessions with parents and local authorities on the importance of community participation in ensuring that schools are safe and their participation in enrolment and retention of children in school

Results:

3.2: Community members of which 38,000 are adolescents and young people have increased their capacities to support inclusive education, including preventing violence against children

Activities and their descriptions:

3.2.1) Develop and roll out a comprehensive behaviour change communication campaign to increase awareness and community engagement in promotion of inclusive education and prevention of VAC in/out of schools (with focus on adolescent and youth engagement)

3.2.2) Produce and broadcast communication materials (with youth participation) on VAC.

Train media producers (including adolescents) and coordinators to improve the programming on community radio stations and familiarize with new content (VAC)

3.2.3) Engage key influencers including religious and traditional leaders, local authorities and CSOs on the importance of promoting inclusive education and a safe learning environment (including through workshops, seminars, campaigns and community events)

Train 100 community leaders on the above-identified issues.

3.2.4) Baseline and end line conducted to establish behavioural progress

Carry out two assessments (baseline and end line) in selected target areas, to establish the needs, knowledge, behaviour patterns and concerns of the affected population with regards to violence against children both in and out of schools, and to monitor the achievement of results for the social and behaviour change interventions.

The project initiated in November 2019 and ended in April 2022, targeting the post Idai and Kenneth cyclone affected areas, the project’s initial target was to reach 150,000 community members through a combination of hard component (reconstruction), soft component (trainings and capacity building) and protection services.

Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) purpose

The primary purpose of this lessons learned exercise (LLE) is to highlight key lessons learned, best practices and key considerations on how the EU-ICSP intervention contributed to the development/strengthening of resilience of children and communities in the target areas (schools/districts/provinces), informing further programming by the EU, UNICEF and its partners.

The second purpose is to promote accountability to our donors, partners, and beneficiaries, particular with affected population (AAP) as per the international agenda on this approach.

Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) Questions

The LLE will be guided by key questions presented below. It will address cross-cutting elements of capacity development and communication, and use gender-equitable and disability-inclusive lenses

LLE Approach and Methods

These lessons learned exercise should adopt a mixed approach of participatory and documentary processes. It should be developed following international norms and standards for evaluation and ethical principles, as stated in the UNICEF Evaluation Policy (2018). The selected LLE consultant will use quantitative and qualitative data, and cross-check information if/when possible/needed to make the analysis that will lead to the conclusions of this evaluative exercise.

The LLE consultant is expected to carry out the following activities:

Initial briefing and document review

Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) purpose

The primary purpose of this lessons learned exercise (LLE) is to highlight key lessons learned, best practices and key considerations on how the EU-ICSP intervention contributed to the development/strengthening of resilience of children and communities in the target areas (schools/districts/provinces), informing further programming by the EU, UNICEF and its partners.

It is aimed to inform emergency response, such as climate related, and contribute to the strengthening of future action in humanitarian.

The second purpose is to promote accountability to our donors, partners, and beneficiaries, particular with affected population (AAP) as per the international agenda on this approach.

Lessons Learned Exercise (LLE) Questions

The LLE will be guided by addressing cross-cutting elements of capacity development and communication and use gender-equitable and disability-inclusive lenses.

LLE Approach and Methods

These lessons learned exercise should adopt a mixed approach of participatory and documentary processes. It should be developed following international norms and standards for evaluation and ethical principles, as stated in the UNICEF Evaluation Policy (2018).

The design should specify how data collection and analysis methods integrate gender considerations throughout the evaluation process, including to the extent possible, inclusion of girls and boys, women and men, as well as a range of project stakeholders.

The secondary data are comprised of UNICEF MCO project and program documents, donor reports, databases, reports from UNICEF's studies and surveys, EU project documents and surveys, monitoring and situation reports, and other existing sources of information relevant to EU-ISP project.

Initial briefing and document review: documents review and secondary data analysis focused on UNICEF MCO documents. Review of the project's intended results in the areas of education, WASH and child protection;

Deliverables:

Payments will be processed upon acceptance of the corresponding deliverable and against an invoice that will reference the contract and deliverable numbers. Payments will be approved by the respective section chief.

Deliverables/Outputs: 1

• Draft inception report and instruments

Recipients: LLE managers and key stakeholder group

• Presentation of the draft inception report and instruments – in person or via video link – LLE managers and key stakeholder group;
• Final inception report (plus completed revision trail addressing all comments)

Recipients: LLE managers and key stakeholder group

Deliverables/Outputs: 2

• De-brief/feedback with UNICEF staff and field report with summary of data collection activities

Deliverables/Outputs: 3

Final inception report (plus completed revision trail addressing all comments)

• Recipients: LLE managers and key stakeholder group.

Timeline: 4 weeks

Payment: 20%

Deliverables/Outputs: 4

• De-brief/feedback with UNICEF staff and field report with summary of data collection activities

Timeline: 5 weeks

Payment: 20%

Deliverables/Outputs: 5

• Validation of Preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations – in person or via video link – LLE managers and key stakeholder group;

Deliverables/Outputs: 6

• A complete first draft LLE report

Recipients: LLE managers and key stakeholder group

Timeline: 4 weeks

Deliverables/Outputs: 7

A final LLE report (plus completed audit trail addressing all comments). The main findings should be visualized through graphs and infographics. Gender should also be included as a cross-cutting theme throughout the findings

Timeline: 4 weeks

Deliverables/Outputs: 8

LLE Summary Report.

Recipients: LLE managers and key stakeholder group

Deliverables/Outputs: 9

9. LLE brief. A summary of the key LLE points, with a maximum of 4 pages, illustrated with data and infographics.

Recipients: LLE managers and key stakeholder group.

Deliverables/Outputs: 10

10. Support in UNICEF dissemination efforts. Presenting and sharing the results in a web-based conference and supporting wider communication efforts upon request

Timeline: 3 weeks

Payment: 60%

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

• Graduate degree in Social Science or relevant discipline (economics, sociology, psychology, international relations, evaluation).

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• At least ten years of experience in the field of research/evaluation/evaluative exercises in development and public sector projects;
• Demonstrated experience in leading evaluations and evaluative exercises;
• Professional background in education / child and social protection and /or development interventions in low-income context;
• Research and evaluation experience in the South East Africa and/or Mozambique is highly desirable;
• Understanding Mozambique socio-economic and community context is required;
• At least two positive references from previous clients;
• Experience with the ethics of evidence generation; experience collecting data from vulnerable groups; familiarity with ethical safeguards;
• Excellent abilities in presenting technical information for a non-technical audience;

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

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.

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