National Consultancy: Costing for full coverage of early childhood education (ECE)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, play.

UNICEF started operation in Cambodia in 1952 and opened first country office in 1973 in Phnom Penh. More information on what we do in Cambodia is available at https://www.unicef.org/cambodia/.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this consultancy is to inform education planning and budget advocacy through producing evidence on fiscal space and costing options for scaling up ECE toward achieving full coverage by 2030 or earlier. The consultancy will contribute to advancing UNICEF’s advocacy and ambition of universal access to at least one year of quality ECE for all children, as well as to the development of practical tools to support the government in articulating their financing commitment and framework for ECE to meet or exceed the SDG 4.2 target ahead of 2030 with affordable cost.

Objective

The main objective of this consultancy is to produce costing options and report toward reaching full coverage (100%) of early childhood education for children aged 5 years and 3 – 5 years.

Scope of the Exercise

This costing options exercise focuses mainly on government budget options at national and sub-national level; however, the role of private sector shall be mentioned in the report based on literature review and existing data sets.

While the costing aims at full coverage of children below 6 years of age by 2030, different options will be explored with children aged 3-5 and children aged 5 years interacting by different relevant parameters at varying degree of target. The costing exercise thus will involve multiple costing options and extensive consultations with key partners particularly Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and General Secretariat of National Committee for Early Childhood Care and Development (GS of ECCD) and provincial departments of education, youth and sports, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Economy and Finance. The options shall consider transition plan and phase approach depending on available fiscal space toward reaching full ECE coverage prior to CSDG 2030 or by CSDG 2030.

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

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• At least master's degree in the field of Economics or Finance or related social sciences with a major focus on budget planning, or relevant major
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience at national and/or sub-national levels in budget planning, preferably cross-sector budget planning
• Medium/Advanced skill in cost modeling using Microsoft Excel and other modeling program
• Proven experiences in development of cross-sector or sectoral costing for cross-sectoral national action plan, preferably related to the sectors of education, child protection, health, social protection, and/or other social science fields
• Excellent knowledge of Government Budgeting and costing system, preferably in the sectors of education and social ministries
• Excellent knowledge on cross-sector budget planning and financing, preferably at sub-national and departmental level
• Sound knowledge of the education sector in Cambodia or South-East Asian countries

Competencies

• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent organizational and facilitation skills
• Ability to work under pressure, meet tight deadlines, paying close attention to details and quality of work
• Proven good interpersonal and communication skills

Languages

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Khmer

Please find the terms of reference for this consultancy in this attachment: TOR_ECE_Costing Option_TMS.pdf

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 committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).