Individual Contractor - Education Data Must Speak Research - based in Bamako, Mali for 11.5 months

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

How can you make a difference?

Background

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, through everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. Through the “promise renewed” commitment, and as part of efforts to strengthen organizational capacity to support quality education for all children, UNICEF has re-emphasized its focus on equity which is at the core of the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan and of the draft 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and SDG4, UNICEF works to ensure the right of all children to education. One of the key outputs under Goal Area 2 “Every child learns” in the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan is “Countries have strengthened their education systems for gender-equitable learning outcomes”.

To support progress towards the achievement of this output, UNICEF designed the “Data Must Speak” (DMS) initiative, which i) provides direct field support and capacity building of Ministries of Education for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management; and ii) supports research, analysis, dissemination and use of data. Started in 2014, the initiative is, in 2020, jointly implemented by Headquarters’ (HQ), Regional Offices’ (RO), Country Offices’ (CO) and Office of Research’s education teams including in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Togo. Since 2019, the DMS initiative has a new research component. The DMS research (coordinated by the UNICEF Office of Research - OoR), by leveraging on existing administrative datasets and working hand-in-hand with Ministries of Education, aims at identifying “positive deviant” schools (i.e. schools outperforming in terms of learning, retention and equity other schools in similar contexts and with equivalent resources), investigating their positive deviant behaviors and practices (incl. community engagement) as well as exploring the system, school, and community levers to optimally scale those good practices and behaviors to less performing schools. This research, co-funded by GPE/IDRC KIX initiative, Hewlett Foundation and NORAD, is adopting innovative methodologies such as scaling science and behavioral research.

Under the direct supervision of the Office of Research’s Data Must Speak Project Coordinator and of the Mali Country Office Education Specialist, the incumbent, based in Bamako, will provide coordination and research support to the Data Must Speak Positive Deviance research in Mali. The incumbent will work in close collaboration with the OoR’s Research on Education And Development (READ) unit as well as other colleagues from UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) and other Country Offices (COs). She/he will have close collaboration with the Communication for Development (C4D) unit in WCARO, staff of other UN Agencies, and Government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors ensuring successful implementation of the DMS research in Mali.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The Data Must Speak Research Individual Contractor will (i) support the UNICEF Mali Country Office (CO) and the Mali Ministry of Education to co-create the DMS positive deviance research to increase government ownership and maximize research findings take-up (incl. related to community engagement), (ii) coordinate all stages of the DMS research through direct field support and capacity building activities with in-country partners and iii) monitor the implementation of DMS research activities in Mali to facilitate cross-pollination, South-to-South cooperation and alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities.

Scope of Work: 1. Support the UNICEF Mali Country Office (CO) and the Ministry of Education in Mali to co-create the DMS positive deviance research to increase government ownership and maximize research findings take-up, focusing on the achievement of the following results: a. Support to country-level merging and analyses of available data such as EMIS, learning assessments/examinations and household surveys to identify and classify positive deviant schools in a given context; b. Guidance to Mali CO to design, organize and lead primary data collection in schools to investigate positive deviance practices/behaviors, including related to community engagement; c. Organize capacity building activities of Mali CO staff and Ministry of Education in research methodologies (quantitative, qualitative and implementation research) as well as dissemination and application of research findings in education programming and planning.

2. Coordinate all stages of the DMS research through direct field support and capacity building activities with in-country partners, focusing on the achievement of the following results: a. Under the guidance of the research team at UNICEF Office of Research, coordinate, hand-in-hand with country partners, all four stages of the DMS research in Mali, including using various research methodologies (quantitative/qualitative research, behavioral science, implementation research and scaling science); b. Capacity building of Mali CO staff and Ministries of education for designing and co-implementing education quantitative and qualitative research based on existing administrative datasets; c. Technical support in collaboration with the READ unit at UNICEF Office of Research section for an effective plan for the dissemination and use of the research findings.

3. For Mali, serve as the DMS in-country coordinator and monitor the research, focusing on the achievement of the following results: a. Effective and timely implementation of DMS research in Mali; b. Support to alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities; c. Lessons learned and best practices from the DMS activities Mali are reported and used for knowledge exchange within UNICEF and more globally.

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

• At least five years of work experience at national or international levels in fields relevant to education economics and/or education research, including on community engagement; • Demonstrated knowledge of the Education sector in Mali • Excellent written and oral communication skills, including for relationship-building purposes; • Demonstrated ability to work well as part of a team and to forge and manage partnerships with internal and external stakeholders; • Good knowledge of statistical analysis software packages (e.g. Stata, SPSS, R…) and database management (e.g. SQL, Access) preferable; • Commitment to UNICEF’s core values of care, respect, integrity, transparency, and accountability; • Ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment. Experience working in the UN or other international development organizations is an asset; • Fluency in French required; Working knowledge of English required. Fluency in another UN language is an asset.

Education: Advanced university degree in Social Science with a focus on statistics, economics, education or equivalent.

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.

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.

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 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. See General Terms & Conditions General Terms & Conditions for Consultants and Individual Contractors.docx

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.

Depending on the type and length of contract, consultants may be eligible to receive Paid Time Off (PTO) credit at the rate of one- and one-half days (1.5 days) for each full month of service, to be credited on the last calendar day of the month, and up to 17 days for a maximum of 11.5 months contract.

Payment of professional fees shall follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Consultants will be asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

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