International consultant to design a Social & Behaviour Change strategy aiming at preventing drop-out in upper secondary schools, in three Municipalities in Albania

Contract

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Type of contract: Consultant Duration: 5 months with one mission travel to Tirana, Albania Workplace: Home based (one travel to Tirana, Albania)

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Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment is to design a human-centred and evidence-based Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) strategy with the aim to prevent school drop-out in upper secondary schools in three Municipalities in Albania directed to young people.

Scope of Work:

1. Background and Context: Investing in Education is a key driver of future development. It is one of the most effective strategies to address challenges of migration, harness the opportunities of globalization and ensure that young people can develop and contribute to the economic growth of their societies. Even before the COVID-19 pandemics, Albania faced many challenges in education provision and inclusion. The administrative data from the Ministry of Education reveal drop-out challenges in several towns and municipalities, where social economic challenges overlap with school drop-out. When combining absolute numbers of students dropping out from secondary education, proportion of drop-out from upper-secondary, concentration of Roma population who are at much higher risk from dropping out compared to the general population, the most affected locations are: Diber, Durres, Has, Kukes, Kamza, Kruja, Elbasan, Korca, Fier and Tirana. From a very recent (preliminary draft findings) Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices survey on drop - out children in upper secondary schools in 4 Municipalities in Albania commissioned by UNICEF for the purposes of informing this SBC strategy, was revealed that: - Triangle “teacher – student – parent” is of crucial significance for not dropping out of school and an ongoing communication around the problems that accompany students both in school and in family is very important - Presence of psychologist and social worker in schools is considered of high importance – most of the students express the absence of these two important figures to discuss especially regarding bullyism they encounter. - Three elements that lead to dropping out of school according to young people are: migration, poverty and financial issues (they feel obliged to work), and the bullyism that they encounter in schools. - A percentage of students emphasize that school environment and school learning facilities as well as accessibility such as ramps are important. - Some students also expressed their desire to have a theoretical-practical coordination to connect more the curricula with the labor market and have child centered methodologies used in school. - Most students expressed that they know other students/ friends who have dropped out of school mainly because they must work and find no time for studies. - The most at-risk groups to drop out of school are Roma and Egyptian children and adolescents and children and adolescents with disabilities.

Furthermore, according to teachers, the causes for dropping out of school are: • Poverty and families in financial distress (children are obliged to work to provide for the family) • Children and adolescents who do not see their future/value in education • Social problems / family problems such as: divorce, parents passing away and / or with illnesses • Students that come from Roma and Egyptians communities have a tendency to drop out of school

To address these issues, UNICEF Albania is seeking the services of an international consultant to develop an SBC Strategy aimed at preventing school dropout directed to young people in upper secondary schools in three Municipalities. The strategy should be evidence-based, culturally sensitive, and consider the social, economic, and political context of Albania.

2. Objectives: The objectives of the consultancy are to: a) Conduct a desk review of existing literature on school dropout in Albania and globally, including policies, strategies, and interventions aimed at reducing dropout rates. b) Conduct and facilitate a workshop with relevant stakeholders to co-design the first draft of the SBC strategy. c) Develop a comprehensive Social & Behavior Change Strategy to address school dropout in upper secondary schools in Albania, directed to young people based on evidence and best practices.

Work Assignments Overview:

Deliverable 1: Inception Report (Detailed Inception Report based on the desk review and online meetings with UNICEF staff and relevant stakeholders)

Task 1.1 - Desk review of the documents/studies on the Albanian context regarding dropout. Task 1.2 - Conduct 3 online calls or more with UNICEF and stakeholders in Albania to get familiar with the situation and answer queries coming after desk review.

Task 1.3 - Submit a draft inception report to UNICEF for feedback and schedule on how the SBC strategy will be developed.

Task 1.4 - Incorporate UNICEF feedback and submit the final inception report.

Timeline - 2 weeks after the contract has been signed

Deliverable 2: Outline of the workshop Outline of the SBC strategy (Undertake a mission to Tirana, Albania for 5 working days to assess the situation and lead a workshop with relevant stakeholders to co-design the SBC strategy)

Task 2.1 - Conduct meetings with UNICEF and other partners. Task 2.2 - Conduct a workshop with all partners to define the behaviours and co-design the SBC strategy.

Task 2.3 - Develop an outline and main highlights of the SBC strategy.

Timeline - 2 weeks from the start of the mission to Albania

Deliverable 3: Develop an SBC Strategy.

This document will outline the comprehensive strategy to address school dropout in upper secondary schools in Albania directed to young people. The strategy should be evidence-based, culturally sensitive, and consider the social, economic, and political context of Albania. The strategy should include an M&E Framework, Theory of Change, Human Centered Design

Task 3.1 - Prepare a draft SBC strategy and submit to UNICEF for feedback. Task 3.2 - Prepare a final SBC strategy (after consolidating the comments and feedback from UNICEF).

Task 3.3 - The final report shall contain, but not limited to a short summary, an M&E framework, Theory of Change, implementation plan (including clear targets, timelines, and budget estimates).

Timeline - 3 weeks after the submission of the previous deliverable

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required: - Advance University Degree in social and behavioral science, including education, sociology, anthropology, communication studies, communication for development, psychology, political science, economics and/or related technical field and disciplines. - A minimum of 10 (ten) years of progressively responsible professional experience and demonstrated track record, in one or more of the following areas is required: research and analysis on the field of SBC, SBC planning and strategy development, and/or SBC capacity building. - Proven experience in strategy development; designing, implementing, managing, and delivering result-based programs/projects with a focus on SBC; preferably in education programmes. - Previous relevant experience with UNICEF, United Nations agencies, international cooperation agencies or government institutions is considered an asset. - Familiarity and knowledge of the education system and specifically dropout prevention will be an advantage - Excellent spoken & written English is required.

What to submit

1. Updated CV 2. Letter of interest, summarising the educational background, the working experience that is relevant to the assignment. 3. Proposed methodological approach (not more than 2 pages). 4. Financial proposal in USD (inclusive of all taxes).

The financial proposal shall be submitted in USD and must include the consultancy fee, the communication costs and all other individual expenses or applicable costs.

Please note that travel costs are also to be estimated as per TORS deliverables and tasks and included in the lump sum financial offer.

The financial proposal must be broken down per deliverable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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