National Consultancy on the implementation of the Сommunity Participation and Feedback Mechanisms, 100 w/d, Dushanbe, Tajikistan (for Tajik Nationals only)

Consultant Programme & Policy

Contract

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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,

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy, and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

UNICEF works with school communities to build environments in which equity prevails, stigma and discrimination recede; and directors, teachers, students, and parents have their voices through a participation process. It creates opportunities, under a social and behaviour approach, for parent's feedback about decisions in the educational sector that affect their lives directly, such as their children's education, by blending traditional and emerging approaches, and partnering with families and community leaders to understand their needs and motivations, work to identify their strengths, and lower barriers to positive changes. This work does not aim to change who people are: it is focused on supporting the positive change in the environment in which those people act to ensure individuals and communities adopt protective practices for children.

In the Republic of Tajikistan, UNICEF has long been engaged in support of pre-primary and primary education and on quality of education, as well as on inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized children (children with disabilities, girls, migrants, rural population) in education. This engagement has included a recent exploratory analysis of communication, feedback, and participation mechanism, carried out in 2021, that was part of a regional initiative to strengthen community engagement and accountability to affected populations in the Education Sector in Europe and Central Asia.

The work resulted in an option paper and roadmap that highlighted entry points to strengthen existing mechanisms, or establish new ones, to ensure education stakeholders participate in decisions that affect their life and can guide more targeted teaching, learning and educational policies, with a special attention to equity and inclusion.

A second phase of this initiative aims at implementing the roadmap and effectively establish a system to enhance participation and feedback, with the purpose to allow students, parents and caregivers to become a key partner in the education process and to enhance exchanges between students, parents, teachers, education institutions and the government. According to the analysis conducted, the initiative could be piloted at preprimary and primary school levels (1st through 9th grade). At these levels, such mechanisms could bring about some level of change.

UNICEF Tajikistan has been engaged in both policy and research work (with studies and advocacy) and supported implementation of education programmes at local level (capacity building for teachers, design of competency-based primary school programmes, and digital platforms development). It is important that linkages are established between previous and ongoing work in the area of education, and the work on participation and feedback.

To date, data on education governance, has not been consistently collected, analyzed and used for tracking quality and relevance of education, and informing policy development. This initiative can fill an important gap in the Education sector and can be beneficial to other sectors too (e.g. health, social security).

Despite legal and policy frameworks at national level support a modern vision of education and advocate for quality learning and inclusion, the reality at local and school levels often does not correspond to these policies. Participation of and feedback from students, parents and teachers can improve inclusion and equity, as well as quality.

This initiative has the potential to elevate what caregivers think and feel about school policies and practices, with a particular focus on inclusion of the most vulnerable and marginalized children. This means that there need to be channels and opportunities for voices to be heard, but also accountable addressee (UNICEF, government). Collecting feedback only makes sense if it is listened and responded to.

How can you make a difference?

The National Consultant will support the International Consultant in the process of discussing, designing, approving and implementing the Feedback Mechanism in the Educational System in Tajikistan.

In the working process, Tajikistan will be primarily focused as a start, on parental engagement, motivation and participation in inclusive school life by a set or communication channels which will enable parents’ voice to be heard and acknowledged by the school and the wider school and local community. The National Consultant will work closely with parents, implementing Focus Group Discussions. The schools, especially in smaller and rural areas, are the central pillar for the community to gather, relate and share information on community life. In that sense, approaching the Feedback Mechanism as a parental engagement will be a way of sharing key communal information of which education, social and health services, but also informal support and networks In that case, the National Consultant will work to connect to parents networks, community leaderships and local authorities in meeting, events, groups discussions.

The National Consultant will be responsible to engage a variety of caregivers, parents, guardians (mothers, fathers, grandparents as well as other relatives), and who care about migrant parents’ children, foster parents and parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities. This will ensure the adequate local participation during the process of the Feedback Mechanism in Tajikistan based on the role played by the family in the education and well-being of their children.

LOCATION/DURATION:

Duration: 100 working days

Location: Dushanbe, Tajikistan with multiple travels to target districts: The consultant might have in-country travels (maximum of 10 days) to provide capacity building to relevant staff.

Period: January – May, 2023

On-site: 80 days

Off-site: 20 Days

Reporting to: Social and Behavior Change - Specialist or National Officer

The objectives of this assignment the following:

• To provide assistance to the international consultant on development of community participation and Feedback Mechanism
• The National consultant will support and facilitate community participation through liaison and follow up with assigned task force, organization of meetings and events, translation of key documents and provision of technical support.

The consultant will actively engage the Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies/task forces in the process of co-review of the existing drafts and documents, and co-development of the final Concept/RoadMap, as well as of Community Participation and Feedback Mechanism, tools and capacity building materials for training of education stakeholders in identifying and providing support to children in need of assistance.

It is expected that the co-development process will include a process of training, testing, finalization, adoption and concrete recommendations for implementation. The assignment is expected to build on best practices/models of UNICEF country and regional office.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Building on work carried out in phase I (exploratory analysis, identification of entry points, options for implementation and roadmap), and working in closer collaboration with UNICEF Tajikistan, MoES and key stakeholders, the consultant will:

• Support UNICEF Tajikistan and the International Consultant to initiate discussions with the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES) and key stakeholders to ensure buy-in of the initiative and co-creation.
• Support UNICEF Tajikistan to identify locations, communities and schools (primary schools, special schools, boarding schools) where such initiative could be piloted.
• Contributing to adjusting modalities for community participation and feedback, based on existing structures and channels (e.g. parents councils, student councils, parent-teachers associations, digital platforms) and modalities of engagement used and preferred by the different groups of the population.
• Contributing to implementing engagement strategies for different groups of the population (teachers, students, parents and caretakers), with special attention to inclusion of the most marginalized groups (students with disabilities, parents and caretakers of children with disability, girls, migrants, non-urban population); and identify barriers and opportunities as perceived by them to adhere the feedback mechanism
• Contributing to implementing the designed system for feedback collection, analysis, reporting, and referral.
• Support in defining how and where evidence is going to be presented and how it can be used: in which fora, at what times, how is it going to reach key decision-makers (see list under bullet 2), how decision-makers will ensure accountability
• Contributing to closing the feedback loop by articulating local authorities, educational institutions, community representatives, taking action and reporting to the school community.

KEY DELIVERABLES/TIMEFRAME/PAYMENT SCHEDULE:

#

Deliverable

Number of days

Timeline

Payment schedule

1.

Preparation of the consultancy:

1. Orientation inprogramramme
2. Preparing a short summary of the criteria by which the local communities will be selected (with UNICEF)
3. Preparing a short summary of available and possible local governments and other stakeholders that can be involved in the programme (with UNICEF)
4. Finalizing locations for the programme (with UNICEF)

23

January 9-31/2023

25%

2.

Field work:

1. Selecting and connecting with all stakeholders (informal and preliminary)
2. Preparing a short summary of all available data and information on schools, hukumats, agencies, regional authorities in the 3-4 selected locations
3. Identifying local coordinators for each location - as well as possible moderators and trainers for the seminars
4. Assisting the IC with all meetings and presenting UNICEF or acting in cooperation with UNICEF colleagues at meetings
5. Keeping track of all actions and reporting to UNICEF

15 days

February 1-15/2023

15%

Launching the programme:

1. Awareness building seminars for parents
2. Start of regular community meetings on predefined topics of discussion (these need to be chosen in advance and parents need to be warned of the topics to be discussed)
3. Selection of the schools where the parental feedback will be presented; decisions on how to present it and what will be the effects; strengthening communications between teachers and parents and parents and students; empowering parents and teachers councils in schools
4. Feeding the information from the meetings and the school activities into the hukumats and child and HR agencies - assessment of first impact
5. Collecting all data for the reports on the findings at the community meetings and the actions in schools - first conclusions and ways of adapting to the challenges of realities

17

February 12-28/2023

15%

Monitoring the implementation of the CFM at community levels and at school levels:

1. Continuous communications with hukumats, agencies and regional authorities
2. Keeping records of all meetings and discussions and submitting to IC for final report

30

March – April, 2023

30%

Support the monitoring visits in Tajikistan (International Consultant):

1. With visits to all locations
2. Discussions with stakeholders
3. Ideas on continuity of the programme, multiplication and sustainability

15

End of April/2023

15%

Total

100%

Upon completion of the deliverables, the following documents shall be developed and submitted to the UNICEF Programme Officer in soft copy:

• Detailed workplan
• Workshop agendas and materials
• Frameworks (described in the tasks and deliverables section)
• Tools and detailed description of proposed approaches
• Periodic reports on implementation of deliverables

Performance indicators for the evaluation of results

The evaluation of the results will be based on:

1. Technical and professional competence (quality of the products delivered to UNICEF);
2. Scope of work (e.g. No. of meetings with the stakeholders);
3. Quality of work (quality of methodology, draft, and final report);
4. Quantity of work (completing the tasks indicated in the table above within the set timeframe)

In addition, such indicators as work relations, responsibility, drive for results, and communication will be taken into account during the evaluation of the Consultant’s work.

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

Education: Advanced university degree. It will be an asset if the university degree is in the field of Public Policy, Inclusive Education, Special Education, Social Policy, Social Sciences, Teaching and Curriculum Design or Management.

Work Experience: At least 5 years of work experience in a relevant field that makes the candidate able to deliver accordingly. Working experience in the government, international organization or civil society organization related to the above-mentioned areas is an asset. Background in Social and Behavior Change and Education is an asset.

Technical Knowledge: Knowledge of the local government and educational context of Tajikistan. Expertise in development of training materials and conducting training/workshops is required. Knowledge of inclusive education policies and practices, inclusive school structures and services, psychological and social services for children is an asset. VAC reporting and referral experience is an asset.

Competencies: Strong coordination skills, and analytical and conceptual thinking. Ability to work with large teams and guide policy discussions. Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills with stakeholders. Ability to work under pressure and commitment to work to a tight timeframe.

Language: Fluency in Russian and Tajik is mandatory. Knowledge of English is an asset.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application/CV.
2. A technical proposal with proposed approach to managing the consultancy deliverables, showing understanding of tasks.
3. Financial quote for the consultancy in TJS per deliverable, stating also the timeframe for completion of deliverable and/or daily rate in TJS.
4. Examples of previous, relevant work related to the deliverables.

Queries can be sent to dushanbe@unicef.org with the subject line “N****ational Consultancy on the implementation of the С****ommunity P****articipation and Feedback Mechanisms”.

Applications must be submitted electronically by December 23, 2022.

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.

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