International Consultancy-Tracer study on Girls Education and Skills Partnership, 15 Months, Abuja, Nigeria

Conduct a tracer study on girls' education and skill partnership in Nigeria.

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Application deadline 10 months ago: Tuesday 28 Oct 2025 at 22:55 UTC

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Overview

Conduct a tracer study on girls' education and skill partnership in Nigeria.

You have:

  • Advanced university degree in education, international development, social sciences or other relevant fields.
  • A minimum of 5 years of experience in education research, including quantitative and qualitative methods, in development and/or humanitarian contexts.
  • Experiencing in leading and/or coordinating a research team.
  • Experience in gender analysis.
  • Strong knowledge of the education, skills, and labor contexts in Nigeria and/or other sub-Saharan countries.
  • Experience working with UN agencies or other international development agencies.
  • Demonstrated skills to present ideas concisely for diverse audiences and to give practical, actionable advice grounded in evidence.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF, guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, works together with partners in 190 countries and territories to promote and advocate for the protection of the rights of every child.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built, we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a chance.

In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children's rights in partnership with the government, civil society, children, and families. UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally - click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/

Background:

Nigeria is home to an estimated 237 million people, 49.7 per cent of whom are children aged 0–18.1 The child population is growing at 1.5 percent per year.2 The rapid child population growth places significant pressure on the delivery of social services, while it creates potential to reap dividends from the impending youth bulge if the country successfully invests in children’s education and skilling.

Nigeria has striven to provide quality education, learning and skills development opportunities to the increasing number of children, but it has fallen short of the goal. Although basic education is free and compulsory, 10.2 million children of primary school age and 8.1 million children of junior secondary school age remain out of school.3 Due to the limited access to schooling and poor quality of education, about 75 per cent of children aged 7–14 do not develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills4, which are building blocks for continued learning and acquisition of advanced skills.

The gaps in foundational skills are cumulative across the life cycle, resulting in an increased risk of school dropout and a lower chance of developing the skills necessary to participate in society and the labour market. For example, 74 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria are financially illiterate.5 Over 80 per cent of Nigerian youth aged 15–24 years do not have digital skills,6 which are essential to work and thrive in a knowledge-based and technology-driven economy.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of work

The objectives of this tracer study are as follows:

1. Assess the effectiveness of GESP in increasing girls’ skills and attitudes to work as well as the programme impact on transition to work (i.e., employment and entrepreneurship) and income generation.

2. Assess the extent to which the GESP interventions are gender-transformative (e.g., sense of agency; self-esteem; self-efficacy) and addressing barriers faced by adolescent girls and young women.

3. Examine the social impacts of the programme on parental and community attitudes toward girls’ education and employment?

4. Identify enabling and constraining factors by examining how various factors (e.g., programme designs; characteristics of girls; skills and practice of trainers and employers; attitudes of parents and community) are associated with the outcomes.

Work Assignment Overview

1. Inception of tracer study

  • Conduct a desk review.
  • Draft an inception report.
  • Organize an inception meeting.
  • Finalize an inception report

Deliverables/Outputs

Inception report with research plan

2.Preparation of data collection

  • Draft, pilot and finalize survey instruments.
  • Develop survey manuals.
  • Train national consultants.
  • Develop sampling frames and guidelines.
  • Coordinate sampling.
  • Develop and finalize survey plans.

Deliverables/Outputs

  • Survey instruments.
  • Survey manuals.
  • Record of training for national consultants.
  • Sampling frames and guidelines.
  • Survey plan.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: TOR_Tracer Study_final Abuja Nigeria.pdf

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

  • Advanced university degree in education, international development, social sciences or other relevant fields.
  • A minimum of 5 years of experience in education. research, including quantitative and qualitative methods, in development and/or humanitarian contexts.
  • Experiencing in leading and/or coordinating a research team.
  • Experience in gender analysis
  • Strong knowledge of the education, skills, and labor contexts in Nigeria and/or other sub-Saharan countries.
  • Experience working with UN agencies or other international development agencies.
  • Demonstrated skills to present ideas concisely for diverse audiences and to give practical, actionable advice grounded in evidence

Attached is the All-Inclusive Financial Proposal All-Inclusive Financial Proposal Form UNICEF.docx

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

UNICEF is also proud of a diverse workforce who are profoundly committed to supporting the full realization of children’s rights, and in uplifting a rights-based approach in all that we do.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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.

Potential interview questions

Can you describe your experience in conducting research in educational settings? The interviewer wants to understand your background in education research and how it relates to this role. Discuss specific projects you've worked on, methodologies used, and outcomes achieved.
How have you addressed gender issues in your past projects? This question assesses your understanding and practical application of gender analysis. Pro members can see the explanation.
What strategies would you use to assess the effectiveness of educational programs? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Describe a challenging situation you faced while leading a research team and how you managed it. Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
How do you ensure that your research findings are accessible to diverse audiences? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
What do you see as the major barriers to girls' education in Nigeria? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Can you give an example of how you've used data to influence policy or practice? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
What motivates you to work in the field of education and child rights? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Added 11 months ago - Updated 10 months ago - Source: unicef.org