International Indivudual Contractor Education in Emergency Specialist, Humanitarian Programm Of Tindouf, Tindouf based

Contract

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Title: Individual Contractor- Education in Emergency Specialist Reports to: Deputy Representative Duration: 11.5 months (to be renewed) Location: Tindouf - Algeria

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND OF THE MISSION The Core Commitments for Children (CCCs) are 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 is 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.

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. The Sahrawi refugee situation in Tindouf (South Western Algeria) remains one of the most protracted refugee crises in the world. 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. 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 responsive program to the continuing needs in Tindouf refugees camps (Algeria) especially in the actual COVID context. A specific attention will be paid to oversee and support the implementation of the multiyear strategy for the education sector through (1) the continuity of education and back to school, (2) capacity-building programs for learning outcomes improvement, (3) set-up of interventions to prevent and respond to school drop-out, (4) system strengthening (EMIS and curriculum revision, inclusive education) Under the guidance of the Deputy Representative and the supervision of the Humanitarian Programme Officer, the expert consultant will support the implementation of the Education component of the humanitarian programme carried out UNICEF Algeria 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 learning outcomes and promote 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 * Contribute to the elaboration of ToRs for the recruitment of national consultants * Support and monitor the partnerships 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 the piloting of a revised curriculum for first grades, teacher’s capacity development, propose a model for teachers’ incentives, development of the EMIS, the piloting of a catch-up programme 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 No Deliverable Due date 1. Methodological note and implementation plan Sept 2021 4. Detailed Education action plan including activities, budget, performance indicators and timeline Sept 2021 2. Conceptual note on the catchup program for OOSC and the setup of a distance learning programme December 2021 5. Proposal on teacher’s incentives distribution plan October 2021 4. Set up a referencing mechanism for special need children and adolescents January 2022 3. Development of a life-skills building activities for formal and non-formal education Mars 2022 6. Development of a competency-based teacher evaluation system Mars 2022 7. Report on the EMIS enhancement and implementation Mai 2022 8. Reports on the training carried out through the consultation period June 2022 9. Monthly progress reports Monthly

ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE CONTRACT 1st September 2021 15 Aout 2022

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 an asset. * Fluency in English (oral and written), good command of French language is required. Knowledge of Arabic (Hassania) is an asset.

SPECIFIC TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

The Education 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

Type of supervision that will be provided

The expert consultant will work under the guidance of the Deputy Representative and under the supervision of the Humanitarian Programme Officer and the Education specialist.

<pre dir="ltr"><em>*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.</em>