International Consultancy: Gender and Adolescent Life Skills Education Specialist (3 months Home-based/Remote) supporting Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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

The consultant will provide specialist technical assistance on revision of the existing adolescent life skills education modules for in school setting. By way of this assignment, existing life skills education and training material will be revised and updated to align with the new formal education curriculum. It will also enable to combine into one and a comprehensive education and training manual of the two life skills education materials which are currently in use in formal and non-formal education settings. The revised and updated life skills education will be used as a cocurricular education and training manual for adolescents aged 10 to 14/15 years in Ethiopia recognizing gender transformative and inclusivity for enhancement of adolescents’ cognitive, personal and interpersonal empowerment and transferable skills so as to augment their primary completion and transition to secondary and informed life decisions.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Education Specialist, the consultant will:

• Desk review the existing curricula (formal and co-curricular) to establish consistency and linkage (both vertical and horizontal linkages) and desk review of research and literature on life skills including measurement and on the specified thematic areas and psychosocial learning needs of the target age group; identifying core contents and methodologies of delivery.
• Examine existing LSE materials and identify good practices to design and develop a more comprehensive and robust LSE program for adolescents aged 10 to 14, ensuring potential for the gender transformability of the materials.
• Review and make a focus on key thematic areas like resilience and peace education, adolescent nutrition, Ending Child marriage, HPV, Gender Based violence, financial literacy, internet use of social media for getting information and other pressing adolescent issues particularly of the girls.
• Propose behaviors to be promoted and design practical empowerment activities and respective platforms for the targets considering positive personal and community values and language.
• Consult with the relevant stakeholders (MoE, REBs, MoWCA and BoWCAs) and development partners (World Bank, NGOs etc.) to map existing life skills education materials and to ensure appropriateness, acceptability and relevance of the LSE material by the partners.
• Based on collated inputs, revise the existing LSE materials for 10 to 12 years of age (primary school) and for 13 to 14 years of age (middle school).
• Develop a training of trainers (ToT) material and guidelines for LSE facilitators and provide ToT to core group that will roll out the revised LSE material to schools.
• Provide guidance and support to regions in adapting the material to regional context.
• Conduct validation of all the revised materials and products to ensure acceptability and approval by Ministry of Education and UNICEF.
• Deliver to MoE and UNICEF an inception report, a life skills education material prototype for adolescents aged 10 to 14/15 that could be delivered through school clubs.
• Provide Training of Trainers for experts drawn from Ministry of Education, UNICEF, Regional Education Bureaus and Teacher Education Colleges

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

• At least five (8) years of progressively advanced work experience in gender and education sector systems, some of which should be in a developing country context. Experience working on related assignments in Ethiopia preferred.
• An advanced University Degree in education, Gender, developing curriculum, development and/or social sciences or related technical field is required.
• Experience in producing teaching/learning materials for adolescents.
• Good knowledge of global issues in relation to girls’ and young women’s empowerment and (formal and non-formal) mechanisms of working with girls within school contexts.
• Good understanding of education sector environment in Ethiopia and interventions currently being supported by Government and Development Partners to promote greater gender equity within/through the education system.
• Ability to provide constructive technical advice on gender and life skills to diverse stakeholders coupled with a strong capacity to work with Government counterparts on related strategies and manuals.
• Being able to identify and work with a team of national experts form at least four disciplines within the same budget. The team of experts should have advanced degree in psychology, education/curriculum, social science, health and nutrition, gender and child protection and other relevant areas.
• Excellent oral and written communication and report writing skills in English.
• Excellent negotiation and other human relations skills.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (

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:

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.

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

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.