International Consultant to undertake the Evaluation of Bring Back Learning Programme in Myanmar (Open to Non-Myanmar Nationals Only)

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Tuesday 22 Nov 2022 at 17:25 UTC

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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

****UNICEF Myanmar****

About the Programme:

Guided by the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the principles of impartiality, neutrality and equity, UNICEF is responding to the current learning crisis faced by the children of Myanmar through a combination of multiple strategic interventions that are relevant to the current rapidly changing situation. Central to the response plan is the best interest of the child. These interventions fall under the “Bring Back Learning” (BBL) programme. The vision of the programme is to realize that all children in Myanmar have safe, quality, and continuous learning opportunities that help them to develop their full potential at all times. In order to achieve this, UNICEF has designed a dedicated two-pronged Education Response Plan; the plan’s interventions which are based on findings and experiences from the ground, gathered through implementing partners and targeted populations, comprise of immediate solutions (12 months) to cater for the most urgent needs. These will be followed by medium to long-term (1 – 1.5 years) priority work and will build upon the urgent response UNICEF has initiated, such as the initiative of Bringing Back Learning to Children through partnership with civil society organizations (CSOs). The medium to long-term interventions will also build synergies and reinforce the work initiated prior, such as education for most disadvantaged children including children affected by protracted conflicts and children from ethnic groups, as well as initiative of Open Learning to make learning materials, resources and support available and easily and widely accessible to children with focus on most disadvantaged children.

Using the two-pronged approach, UNICEF is focusing on not only providing remedial solutions within no time but is also ensuring that children have access to opportunities that help them to choose the type of relevant learning pathway they wish for in the long run. As such UNICEF’s response is to build upon what is existent, reinforce and expand the best practices while filling critical gaps, and not to develop a separate/parallel education. In addition, UNICEF takes the whole office approach, optimizing in-house expertise and experiences within the UNICEF Myanmar country office of over 220 staff located in nine different locations across the country for effective delivery of all of its programmes including Education, Child Protection, Health and Nutrition, Water Sanitation and Hygiene and Social Policy and Child Rights Monitoring, in close collaboration with the Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand, and Headquarters in New York.

With the onset of the current political crisis, UNICEF is implementing the proposed activities through alternative modalities including partnership with international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs). The main strategy will be to engage communities and strengthen their capacity and resilience to support children’s safety and continuity of learning. This will include community consultation to identify parents and families’ preference regarding children’s education and learning materials. Regarding the targeted beneficiaries, the focus is particularly on reaching the most vulnerable children including the poorest children, children with disabilities, displaced children, and those in hard-to-reach areas. In 2021, the geographical coverage of the proposed response plan and subsequent interventions was nationwide, with special focus on on most disadvantaged locations, such as areas that are affected by protracted conflicts in Rakhine, Kachin and northern Shan, and areas that are severely being affected by the current crisis especially in Southeast (Kayin, Mon, Bago East and Tanintharyi), Yangon, Chin, and Kayah. In 2022, the states like Sagiang, Magway, Ayeryarwady and Bago west were also included.

How can you make a difference?

Please find detail Scope of Work, Suggested Methodology and Proposed Timeframe here; International Consultant Bring Back Learning Evaluation.pdf

The evaluation is expected to be done remotely, though in person data collection will be done by a team of enumerators who will need to be organized/recruited by the team leader. In case the team leader cannot find a team of enumerators, UNICEF can provide details of partners who could support data collection. These would be hired and managed by the evaluation team leader.

The Programme has national coverage. Thus, locations selected for data collection need to be proposed by the consultant, along with a sampling framework and detailed considerations for the selection of the locations. Locations selected should lead to the evaluation considering different contexts/ circumstances of programme implementation. Locations will be finally agreed on with UNICEF.

Duty Station: Home-based/ Remote

Duration of the Contract:

November 2022- March 2023.Part time assignment. Around 45 days spread out through 17 weeks over a period of 5 months.

Description of Assignment:

Tasks 1:

Inception meeting via Skype

Deliverables 1:

Meeting Minutes

Responsible Party: Evaluation team leader, Evaluation, Management Team

Timeline: Week 1

Tasks 2:

Inception phase: All relevant documents are reviewed, explanatory discussions held, and inception report submitted compliant with UNICEF requirements

Deliverables 2:

Inception Report

Responsible Party: Evaluation team leader

Timeline: Week 1-2

Tasks 3:

Draft inception report reviewed by evaluation management team

Deliverables 3:

Comments Matrix

Responsible Party: Evaluation Management Team (No Time Needed from Evaluation Team Leader)

Timeline: Week 3

Tasks 4:

Second and final draft of the inception report presented to evaluation manager and reference group

Deliverables 4:

Revised inception report PPT for reference group (in English and Myanmar) Comments matrix with response to comments

Responsible Party: Evaluation Team Leader

Timeline: Week 4

Tasks 5:

Pilot data collection tools and conduct field-based data collection based on the methodology described in the Inception Report (in English and Myanmar)

Deliverables 5:

Data collected

Responsible party: Evaluation Team leader

Timeline: Week 5-8

Tasks 6:

Relevant analysis methods applied to analyse primary and secondary data and prepare preliminary evaluation findings report and presentation (ppt in English and Myanmar). During this time, the draft final report will begin to be drafted as analysis takes place

Deliverables 6:

Preliminary evaluation findings report (incl. desk review and literature search), PowerPoint presentation (in English and Myanmar), meeting minutes

Responsible Party: Evaluation Team Leader, Evaluation Manager,and Reference Group

Timeline: Week 9-11

Tasks 7:

Prepare and submit first draft of evaluation report

Deliverables 7:

Draft Report

Responsible Party: Evaluation Team Leader

Timeline: Week 12

Tasks 8:

Receive first draft and feedback to Evaluation team

Deliverables 8:

Evaluation Commenting Matrix

Responsible Party: Evaluation Manager (No time from evaluation team leader)

Timeline: Week 13

Tasks 9:

Revise the first draft and submit second draft final evaluation report to Evaluation Manager, Reference group and other stakeholders in a multistakeholder workshop and prepare presentation and other materials

Deliverables 9:

Second draft report and executive summary

Responsible Party: Evaluation Team Leader

Timeline: Week 14

Tasks 10:

Present evaluation findings, conclusions and draft recommendations at the multistakeholder validation workshop

Deliverables 10:

Powerpoint presentation in English and Myanmar

Responsible Party: Evaluation Team Leader

Timeline: Week 15

Tasks 11:

In addition to the feedback from PPT and workshops, receive written feedback to second draft of the report

Deliverables 11:

Evaluation commenting matrix 2

Responsible Party: Evaluation Manager Reference Group (No time from evaluation team leader)

Timeline: Week 16

Tasks 12:

Final evaluation report, executive summary, infographic and other materials finalized. All final materials will need to be submitted also in Myanmar

Deliverables 12:

Final evaluation report, executive summary, infographic and other materials (in English and Myanmar).

Responsible Party: Evaluation Team Leader, Evaluation Manager, Reference Group

Timeline: Week 17

Evaluation products expected for this exercise are:

a) An inception report (in English), including a summary note in preparation for data collection (in both English and Myanmar) and a PPT of the inception report (English and Myanmar) to present to the Reference Group;

b) A report of the initial evaluation findings from primary data collection (in English), including a desk review analysis and a PowerPoint presentation (in English and Myanmar) to facilitate a stakeholder consultation exercise;

c) A draft and final report (in English) that will be written in accordance to the Global Evaluation Report Oversight System and revised until approved (incl. a complete first draft to be reviewed by the evaluation management team and UNICEF; a second draft to be reviewed by the reference group, and a penultimate draft);

d) A PowerPoint presentation (in both English and Myanmar) to be used to share findings with the reference group and for use in subsequent dissemination events; and

e) A four-page executive summary (in both English and Myanmar) that is distinct from the executive summary in the evaluation report and it is intended for a broader, non-technical and non-UNICEF audience.

f) Two case studies illustrating key findings from the evaluation, which can also be shared with project partners and key stakeholders, including donors

Other Interim Products are:

  • Minutes of key meetings with the evaluation management team and the reference group; and
  • Presentation materials for the meetings with the evaluation management team and the reference group. These may include PowerPoint summaries of work progress and conclusions to that point

Outlines and descriptions of each evaluation product are meant to be indicatives, and include:

  • Inception report: The inception report (of maximum 50 pages excluding annexes) will be key in confirming a common understanding of what is to be evaluated, including additional insights into executing the evaluation. At this stage the evaluation team will refine and confirm evaluation questions, confirm the scope of the evaluation, further improve on the methodology proposed in the ToR and their own evaluation proposal to improve its rigor, as well as develop and validate evaluation instruments. The report will include, among other elements: i) evaluation purpose and scope, confirmation of objectives and the main themes of the evaluation; ii) evaluation criteria and questions, final set of evaluation questions, and evaluation criteria for assessing performance; iii) evaluation methodology (i.e., sampling criteria), a description of data collection methods and data sources (incl. a rationale for their selection), draft data collection instruments, for example questionnaires, with a data collection toolkit as an annex, an evaluation matrix that identifies descriptive and normative questions and criteria for evaluating evidence, a data analysis plan, a discussion on how to enhance the reliability and validity of evaluation conclusions, the field visit approach, a description of the quality review process and a discussion on the limitations of the methodology; iv) proposed structure of the final report; v) evaluation work plan and timeline, including a revised work and travel plan; vi) annexes (i.e., organizing matrix for evaluation questions, data collection toolkit, data analysis framework); and vii) an evaluation briefing note for external communication purposes. The inception report will be presented at a formal meeting of the reference group.
  • Initial evaluation findings: This report will present the initial evaluation findings from primary data collection, comprising the desk-based document review and analysis of the programme. The report developed prior to the first drafts of the final report should be 10 pages, or about 8,000 words in length (excluding annexes, if any)
  • Final evaluation report: The report will not exceed 50 pages, excluding the executive summary and annexes. It will follow the updated GEROS guidance that mentions frequent use of visual aids (such as infographics, maps, tables, figures, photos) to convey key information. The evaluation report will include in its annexes at least two case studies, which would also be triangulated into the findings but singled out in the report as stand alone.
  • PowerPoint presentation (both in English and Myanmar): Initially prepared and used by the evaluation team in their presentation to the reference group, a standalone PowerPoint will be submitted to the evaluation management team as part of the evaluation deliverables.
  • A four-page executive summary for external users will be submitted to the evaluation management team as part of the evaluation deliverables.

Reports will be prepared according to the UNICEF Style Guide and UNICEF Brand Toolkit (to be shared with the winning bidder) and UNICEF standards for evaluation reports as per GEROS guidelines (referenced before)

Quality assurance of evaluation key reports: The first draft of the final report will be received by the evaluation management team and UNICEF who will revert with comments within 5 days, and work with the team leader on necessary revisions. The second draft will be sent to the reference group (2 weeks) The evaluation management team will consolidate all comments on a response matrix and request the evaluation team to indicate actions taken against each comment in the production of the penultimate draft. The evaluation team need to revert with revised reports within one week of receipt of comments.

A one-day workshop will be planned to present findings, lessons learned and to co-create recommendation of the evaluation with project stakeholders. All reports, including drafts, will be written in English and submitted electronically. Some sections of the report may be deemed limited circulation to ensure safe participation of stakeholders in the evaluation (e.g., the list of organizations/persons consulted).

Ownership of data from the evaluation rests with UNICEF as per the copyright policy. The copyright of the evaluation report will rest exclusively with the UNICEF Myanmar. Use of the data for publication and other presentations can only be made with the written agreement of UNICEF Myanmar. Key stakeholders can make appropriate use of the evaluation report in line with the original purpose and with appropriate acknowledgement.

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

Master’s Degree or above in Education, Social Science, Economics, Public Policy or similar

The team leader, lead consultant, will be recruited by UNICEF to lead the BBL evaluation, with an appropriate balance of expertise and practical knowledge in the following areas:

  • Minimum of 10 years’ experience relevant to the TOR requirements.
  • Strong understanding of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the education sector
  • Good knowledge of issues related to girls, children with disabilities, IDPs, refugees and other vulnerable populations
  • In-depth knowledge and experience in writing reports and conducting similar evaluations in similar contexts
  • Should have strong analytical and oral and written communication skills, review experience and familiarity within Myanmar and/or the region
  • In-depth knowledge and experience conducting similar learning reviews in Myanmar or other similar insecure environments
  • Strong understanding of and expertise in community engagement processes
  • Prior experience of working with UNICEF in similar assignment.

Please complete and attach this "Expression of Interest" form in your applications: Expression of Interest_ Bring Back Learning Evaluation.doc

Remark:

II. The Field Survey Team (To be recruited by the lead consultant)

  • There will be 2-4 field survey teams, for different region of mixed gender in each team.
  • Each survey team will comprise of 2 (or 3) enumerators, with education background
  • All team members should have strong analytical and communication skills, interview/review experience and familiarity within Myanmar and/or the region
  • Fluency in local language
  • Each group will conduct Focus Group discussion (men and women, girls and boys groups separately), at community level.

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.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org