Individual National Consultant- For National Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 Mid Term Review (MTR) Expert, Kathmandu, Nepal (Only for Nepalese Nationals)

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.

Assessing progress towards SDG 4 goals is crucial to accelerate efforts to ensure quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all individuals by 2030. The review of the SDG 4 implementation strategies will include a desk review of the key reference documents, such as the SDG4 National Framework, the current and previous education sector plans and analysis and reviews undertaken in the education sector over the last years. It will further include evaluating progress, identifying gaps, and informing evidence-based policymaking towards quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030, including the higher education, technical education and vocational training, non-formal education subsectors. The outcomes of the desk review will be validated through consultations with key informants, including the National Planning Commission (NPC), National Statistics Office (NSO), relevant line ministries, provincial ministries of social development, teacher professional organizations and stakeholder representatives. By considering both the progress towards goals and the effectiveness of strategies, the MTR will identify where there is strong progress to build on, where there are opportunities to strengthen and expedite efforts, and where there are gaps in implementation which are impacting the achievement of the SDG 4 goals.

Since the Incheon Declaration, Nepal has seen several major shocks and transformations. Firstly, the national recovery from the 2015 earthquake, secondly the transition to a federal state, and thirdly the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 1 The Global Partnership for Education Independent Technical Advisory Panel report (2022) concurred that data and evidence is an area of low priority when considering system bottlenecks. 2 The National Assessment of Student Achievement (NASA) and the National Assessment of Reading and Numeracy (NARN) this has been a time of significant political transformation. The national legislative and policy framework has attempted to guide system transformation through the external turbulence by providing rigid goals and visions that are achieved through flexible implementation strategies. In this context, the SDG-4 Mid Term Evaluation is an opportunity to assess and understand to what extent this has been successful.

It is generally recognized that the use of data and evidence in Nepal is considered good relative to comparable nations, and that Nepal has developed strong systems and processes to make use of data and evidence during the formulation of policies and plans.1 The development and widespread use of the web-based education management information system (IEMIS) is an important cornerstone of national monitoring of school level data, providing the bulk of data that is utilized in annual reporting and assessment against the country's program results frameworks. The Education Review Office conduct periodic large-scale assessments of students learning to assess learning outcomes in core subject areas.2

With that said, monitoring of progress towards SDG-4 goals has two major challenges. Firstly, assessment of student learning suggests that the progress lags behind expectations. Secondly, the decentralization of responsibility to local level education units creates opportunities for effective local level planning, but also presents short to medium term challenges with insufficient technical and institutional capacity in certain locations. These two considerations need to be addressed to avoid widening education inequalities.

The SDG 4 Mid Term Review presents an opportunity to bring together the ongoing initiatives to strengthen education monitoring beyond the central level, and to further align monitoring efforts to improve quality, as well as availability, of education opportunities. The findings will inform the ongoing strengthening of the reporting and monitoring capacity under the SESP.

Key purpose of consultancy includes:

The purpose of the national Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 Mid Term Review (MTR) is to assess progress made towards achieving SDG 4 targets and other education-related SDG targets, as well as to identify emerging issues and challenges. The review will also consider the impacts of COVID-19 on SDG 4 implementation and measures for learning recovery in the country. More specifically, the MTR will serve further transforming of national education system by:

1. Assessing progress towards the 10 SDG4 goals

2. Stocktaking of SDG4 implementation strategies

3. Identifying the potential obstacles and prospects involved in the execution of SDG4.

4. Formulating a plan of action for the future direction.

Duration of Contract: The total duration of the contract is for 60 working days over the period of 5 months tentatively starting from 01 July 2023.

Deliverables for this Assignment:

Tasks/Milestone****Deliverables/Outputs****Timeline****Proposed Fee ( In Nepalese Currency)Establishment of the SDG 4 MTR steering committeeInduction report presented at the steering committee12 working days

15 July 2023

Technical and consultative meetings to conducted to inform the reviewReport on the technical and consultative meetings to conduct the review 18 working days

30 July 2023

SDG 4 MTR Steering Committee to clear the draft report and share for peer reviewDraft Nepal SDG 4 MTR report18 working days

15 August 2023

Sharing of Nepal's review at the APMED-6 Presentation for the APMED-612 working days

30 November 2023

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

• PhD in Education, social studies, development
• Over 15 years’ experience in research and analysis in education
• Experience in supporting development of education sector plans and education sector analysis
• Experience in supporting the undertaking of reviews on learning outcomes, such as the global monitoring report
• Strong working experience in the Nepal education sector
• Strong track record of working with Government
• Strong track record in terms of leading/contributing to education policy and planning publications
• Previous work experience with UN agencies is considered 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.

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.

Remarks:

Request to submit financial proposal as per deliverables in Nepalese currency.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Candidates from under-represented ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

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.