The Core Commitments for Children (CCCs) include the explicit commitment that appropriate and experienced staff and personnel with relevant deployment training are provided and rapidly deployed, that focus on action in the first eight critical weeks of humanitarian response and provide guidance for action beyond that, moving towards defined benchmarks.

The Sahrawi refugee situation in Tindouf (Southwestern Algeria) remains one of the most protracted refugee crises in the world. The Sahrawi refugee camps located in Tindouf south-western province of Algeria were established in 1975-76 when the end of the Spanish colonial rule over the Western Sahara resulted in the irruption of an armed conflict between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, and the flight of tens of thousands of refugees. Tindouf is an area characterized by extreme weather conditions of the Sahara with temperatures below 8°C during the winter season and above 45°C in summer. In addition, frequent sandstorms disrupt normal life. Water is scarce and neither clean nor sufficient for the entire refugee population. Most houses and constructions are built using a local technique and material consisting in clay bricks, not very resistant to heavy rain and consequent floods. Basic life is difficult to sustain in this environment where opportunities for self-reliance are extremely limited and the refugees living in these camps are almost fully dependent on humanitarian assistance for their very survival. However, Sahrawi camps differ from most refugee camps in the world by the level of self-organization of the population. Most social services and camp life organization are run by the refugees themselves, with no or only little outside interference. Opportunities to engage in economic activities are limited due to the harsh environmental conditions and remote location of the camps. Due to the protracted nature of the crisis, the refugee program has suffered from declining funds in recent years, limiting the scope and quality of services delivered to the Sahrawi refugees, who increasingly exhibit resentful sentiments, including towards the international community. COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis have accentuated funding shortages because of inflated prices of goods.

Three UN agencies (UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF) supporting the humanitarian response emphasize the plight of Sahrawi refugees aggravated by the decrease in funding to what has become one of the world’s long forgotten crises and which is further deteriorating, with frustration mounting among young people who are nearly all born in camps and whose future life prospects are uncertain and dim. The UN assistance is a critical component of a multi-donor, multi-faceted humanitarian relief effort in support of the refugees. UNHCR and WFP have been providing basic food and essential non-food assistance since 1986 while UNICEF supports maternal and neonatal programmes, immunization and educational activities in addition to assistance to centres caring for children with disabilities and activities for adolescents. UNICEF, co-leading the Education Coordination Group (ECG), is particularly supporting the rehabilitation of some of the most damaged education infrastructures and construction of others, in addition to providing school materials and to building the capacities of teachers and other education personnel. UNICEF seeks to reinforce the safe and inclusive access to quality education for children and adolescents, including out of school children through piloting cash-up and functional programmes and the strengthening of distance learning. Provision of age and context-appropriate pedagogical materials in mother language (Hassania) and of needs-based teacher training along with quarterly cash training incentives for teachers will play a key role in improving quality learning and enhancing their sense of dignity and independence. Specific attention will be given to ensure a safe and gender sensitive learning environment, with a particular focus on children with disabilities. Schools and families will be provided with capacities to better identify children with special needs and adequately respond to their educational needs.

OBJECTIVES OF THE MISSION

UNICEF intends to strengthen the Education humanitarian program to ensure an effective and continuing response to the educational needs in Tindouf refugees camps (Algeria) especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 and Ukraine crisis that have enduring effects of provision of quality education services. A specific attention will be paid to monitor and assess the implementation of the five-year education strategy (2021-25) and to provide needed support to improve school access and retention, enhance learning outcomes, and strengthen management systems.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Representative and in close collaboration with Education Specialist and the Humanitarian Programme Officer, the expert consultant will support the implementation of the Education component of the humanitarian programme that UNICEF Algeria carries out in the refugee camps located in Tindouf Wilaya, thus in close collaboration with the education authorities and the Education Coordination Group, in line with UNICEF's Core Commitments for children.

WORK ASSIGNMENTS

The expert will provide technical inputs to facilitate the achievement of results on education projects to improve school access and retention, learning outcomes, and management systems while promoting equitable and inclusive education. The expert contributes to the achievement of results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology, as well as UNICEF's Strategic Plans, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

Develop an action plan resulting from the multiyear strategy including activities, budget and timeline
Ensure timely and appropriate high-level technical guidance to the capacity building programmes carried out by UNICEF partners
Support the elaboration of ToRs for the recruitment of national consultants
Provide technical support and closely monitor the implementation of education interventions with implementing partners
Monitor all the activities in collaboration with education Sahrawi authorities and implementing partners
Contribute to the implementation of main activities such as provision of Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM) and of capacity-building for (i) teachers and other pedagogical staff’s professional development, (ii) management of teachers’ incentives, (iii) development of the EMIS, (iv) strengthening of teaching and learning assessments, and (v) the accelerated education program for out of school children
Take actively part in the education coordination group meetings
Support the drafting of donors’ reports and monitor the performance indicators
Design a long-term capacity building plan for the education sector in close collaboration with the Education Coordination Group to inform long-term programme planning by all partners
Provide technical support as necessary to the partners and strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of the education system linked with the EMIS, draw the lessons learned from the field and share knowledge with partners to improve the outcomes of the education programme

Establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF / UN system indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector on education programmes

DELIVERABLES

Deliverable

Due date

First report on the implementation of the incentives, Education rolling action plan 2023/2024 including activities, budget, performance indicators and timeline

February 2023

Progress report of the education interventions including final ECHO 2023 proposal

March 2023

Progress report of the education interventions including analysis of the Q1 implementation of the incentives and terms of reference of the 5 five strategy Midterm review (MTR)

April 2023

Progress report of the education interventions including MTR inception report of the five-year strategy and teacher trainings updates

May 2023

Quarterly report of implementation of activities and annexes

June 2023

Progress report including report on accelerated education program and lessons learned from the pilot

July 2023

Progress report on the education interventions including five-year strategy MTR 1rst draft report

August 2023

Progress report of the education interventions implementation including Wins component

September 2023

Progress report of the education interventions including the EMIS enhancement and implementation

October 2023

10.

Progress report of the education interventions including drafting of the final report of ECHO/UNICEF program 2021-23

November 2023

11.

Humanitarian Education component Annual report 2023

December 2023

12.

Detailed Education annual action plan for 2024 including activities, budget, performance indicators and timeline.

January 2024

13.

Progress report of the education interventions including report on early learning based the new early learning test

February 2024

14.

Progress report of the education interventions including assessment of teaching on learning materials needs

March 2024

15.

Quarterly report on implementation of activities and annexes

April 2024

16.

Progress report of the education interventions including report on teachers’ assessment system

May 2024

17.

Progress report of the education interventions including report on the UNICEF teacher incentives program and lesson learned from its first year of implementation

June 2024

18.

Quarterly report on implementation of activities and annexes

July 2024

19.

Progress report including report of the UNICEF teacher’s professional development program

August 2024

20.

Progress report including report on life skills activities implemented and lessons learned

September 2024

21.

Quarterly report of implementation of activities and annexes

October 2024

22.

Progress report including report on learning assessment system

November 2024

23.

Humanitarian Education component Annual report 2024

December 2024

24.

Detailed Education annual action plan for 2025 including activities, budget, performance indicators and timeline.

January 2025

ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE CONTRACT

1st February 2023 31 January 2025

OFFICIAL TRAVEL

Internal travel

Displacement within the Tindouf intervention area

Travel to be planned for Algiers with a frequency of 03 times over the total duration of the contract

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

An advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in any of the following fields: Education, Economics, Finance, Social/Behavioural Sciences or a related technical field.
Minimum of 8 years of progressively, responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in developing, implementing and supporting education programme and policies, strategic planning with substantial experience in emergency and crisis situations. Experience in developing countries and crisis affected contexts is required.
Relevant co-ordination experience in humanitarian education programme development and management in a UN system agency or international organization (World Bank, etc.) is required. Experience working with diverse stakeholders or multi-stakeholder partnerships is highly desirable.
Relevant work experience in Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf would be an asset
Familiarity with emergency is considered is required
Fluency in Arabic, English (oral and written), good command of French language is required. Hassania is an asset. SPECIFIC TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED
The Education in emergency Specialist will have a good understanding of the overall development context, including issues such as poverty, protracted conflict, and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa. The Specialist will master inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health, Communication for Development and Communication.

The Specialist will …

• Have a good knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming. Good ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programme and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including authorities, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas

• Have education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Education), cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues

Have a good education and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets and indicators; tools for analysis of equity; determinants of student access and learning; budget, costing, and financial management in education systems; and education policy and strategic planning

• Have a good understanding of gender and inequity issues in relation to education, development and the application of gender / equity analysis to policy and planning in education

• Comprehend policies and strategies to address issues related to resilience: risk analysis and risk management, education in conflict situations, natural disasters, and recovery.

• Be able to support efforts to mobilize resources for education, and monitor related results, including contributing to the development of workplans and other relevant program documents including those pertaining to data collection, assurance and analysis.

• Be able to timely contribute to situation/progress/status reports for management, donors, budget reviews, programme monitoring and evaluation, annual reports, reports linked to Humanitarian Performance Monitoring (HPM) etc.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The assessment will be based on the following methodology:

• Score for the technical proposal: 80 points

• Score for the financial proposal: 20 points

The technical offer must include: a motivation letter demonstrating the candidate's ability to carry out this consultation (15), a detailed implementation schedule and the methodological elements (35), an updated and detailed CV (30).

The financial offer must include the daily rate applied and the budget details. The financial offer must include all costs relating to the services to be provided, including national travel costs based on anticipated missions, etc.

The evaluation of financial offers will be made only for applicants who have obtained at least a score of 40 points at the end of the technical evaluation.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The expert will be able to work partially from home, with regular missions in Tindouf.

The expert consultant will be able to rent an accommodation or an hotel room in Tindouf city and commute daily (5 days a week) with UNICEF team to Rabouni located 30 minutes far from Tindouf.

Activities will be implemented out of UNICEF office located in a compound hosting UN agencies and NGOs offices and frequent visits to the camps are anticipated.

Tindouf is 02h30 from Algiers by plane (at least 5 flights per week). Life in Tindouf is pleasant, though very hot during the summer (May to September), safe and reasonably cheap (social life, gym, swimming pool, good internet…).

Some specific security arrangements need to be observed and impose some constraints in terms of work schedule.
SUPERVISION

Supervisor's Name: Front Line Supervisor:

Deputy representative

Superviseur de deuxième ligne :

Humanitarian Program Officer

Education Specialist