International consultancy to provide technical support for documentation of results and lessons learnt, 45 w/ds, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

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

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

UNICEF Tajikistan country programme has a clear focus on improving quality of education and expanding access to skills building including for the most marginalized, to ensure a successful transition from school to working life.

Working within the framework of Country Programme Document (CPD) 2023-2026, UNICEF Tajikistan is focusing on strengthening the national institutional capacity to actively engage children and youth in building their competencies by providing competency-based education opportunities with interventions designed to support the development of inclusive career guidance complemented by competence-based learning delivered in formal and non-formal education settings in selected Centres, including technology enabled learning.

To implement the CPD 2023-2026, UNICEF has received various funding such as (but not limited to): - Improving skills and competencies of adolescent girls and boys for school to work transition in Tajikistan and national support to continuity of learning within the framework of the National Education Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19 (European Union). - “The IsDB/GPE Project (phase I-II) for Support to Implementation of the National Education Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan” (IsDB/GPE). - “USAID/Tajikistan inclusive pre-primary education” (USAID). - Education System Capacity Building and Strengthening (GPE). - Adolescent girl's’ strategy, UNICEF funding. - Skills and employability (ISDB) are in the pipeline. To improve the quality of CPD implementation, there is a need to properly document/capture the progress and lessons learnt to further scale up and accelerate the CPD implementation and above-mentioned projects, as well as discover more sources of funding.

How can you make a difference?

DUTY STATION/DURATION:

Duration: 45 working days (July 1, 2024 - April 30, 2025)

Supervisor: Chief of Education, UNICEF Tajikistan

Provide technical support in drafting high-quality concept notes and project proposals for UNICEF, as well as drafting proofreading of upcoming reports. 1. Review background materials, including strategic documents and project ideas, to understand the context and requirements for each concept note and project proposal. 2. Develop donor reports, concept notes and project proposals in accordance with the guidelines and templates provided by UNICEF. 3. Incorporate feedback from the Section into the final drafts of concept notes and project proposals. 4. Proofreading and editing of reports, including checking spelling, acronyms and abbreviations (making sure that they follow official UNICEF terminology and conventions), style consistency, callouts, references, etc.

Provide technical support to the team by assisting in the drafting process of high-quality concept notes and project proposals. This support will be particularly focused on documenting the lessons learnt based on the grants which will come to an end under the Learning/ADAP Section. The consultant role will involve ensuring that these documents are well-crafted, align with the grant guidelines, and effectively communicate UNICEF objectives and strategies to secure funding for organization projects. The consultant is expected to ensure quality assurance of reports in line with the requirement of the government counterparts and donor commitments.

Deliverables

• Review and finalize reports including EU, IsDB, USAID as well as other relevant report related documents (as per agreed template for Education and ADAP). • Develop high-quality concept notes and project proposals • Document education and ADAP section’s achievements and results (including annual report) and extract lessons learnt.

Tasks/Milestone: (in line with the scope elaborated in section-III)

Deliverables/Outputs:

Anticipated Timeline

% of payment

Task 1.

Internal consultations with project officers, review background documents, and draft reports/lessons learnt/concept notes as per deadlines.

USAID quarterly report (by 9 Aug 2024)

IsDB quarterly and final reports

At least two lessons learnt from IsDB Phase I (e.g., in-class support system, quality of teaching and learning) At least one proposal (e.g. English education) and one lessons learnt

By end September 2024

33.3%

15 days

Task 2. Internal consultations with project officers, review background documents, and draft reports/lessons learnt/concept notes as per deadlines.

GPE system capacity grant report (by 31 October 2024)

IsDB quarterly reports

USAID annual report (by 29 Dec 2024)

Documentation on EU lessons learnt

At least one proposal (e.g. digital education) and one lessons learnt

By end Dec 2024

33.3%

15 days

Task 3. Internal consultations with project officers, review background documents, and draft reports/lessons learnt/concept notes as per deadlines.

Final EU report (by 31 March 2025)

USAID quarterly reports

IsDB quarterly reports

At least one proposal (e.g. green skills) and one lessons learnt

By end April 2025

33.3%

15 days

TOTAL

45 days

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

• Education: Advanced university degree in social sciences, education, development studies, international relations or another relevant area.
• Working experience: At least five years of experience working in developmental sector with results-based reporting and documenting.
• Proven experience working with reputed international agencies; experience with UN will be an asset. Prior work experience particularly in the areas of proposal writing, engagement in finalizing donor reports is highly desirable.
• Competencies: Highly proficient in consolidating technical inputs. Proven quality of work
• Languages: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Russian or Tajik is an asset.
• A locally available International Consultant is highly desirable.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

• Cover letter/application/CV.
• Filled EOI form (Annex 2 at the link below)
• A technical proposal with proposed approach to managing the consultancy deliverables, showing understanding of tasks.
• Financial proposal specifying consultancy fee, per day of work, requested for the tasks described in the Terms of Reference in USD. Please see Annex 3 at the following link
• Two samples of previously delivered similar assignments.
• Applications without technical and financial proposals will not be considered.

Applications must be received in the system by 24 June 2024 on UNICEF website.

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:

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.