National Consultant- Assistive Technology Peer Mentor – 2 Positions, 18 working days, Remote/Work from home

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, an education

Despite progress in increasing access, inclusive quality education remains limited as not many children with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) benefit from a continuum of inclusive quality learning from early childhood through primary, secondary and post-secondary education.

The total number of officially reported children with disabilities in mainstream education is less than 2 per cent of the total number of school children1 , whereas education authorities informally report a minimum 50 per cent higher number of children who need assistance in learning. This implies that there are children with disabilities who are not identified, are attending special education programmes, or are out of school.

Although the right to inclusive education is established under law at almost all levels in BiH2 , a significant implementation gap remains. In many cases, funding has not been allocated to provide needed services and programmes which support inclusive education. Schools are often physically and communication-wise inaccessible for persons with disabilities.

Schools also substantially lack accessible teaching approaches and materials. One of the main bottlenecks for inclusion is the lack of teachers’ capacities to provide quality inclusive teaching. Quality in-service professional development opportunities are not widely available and most often the teachers are not provided with the necessary expert support. Legislation, policies and national programmes which govern the availability, affordability and accessibility of assistive technology (AT) and specifically Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) are lacking.

With the support of UNICEF Swedish National Comittee, UNICEF in BIH has been tackling some of the identified constraints, including lack of AT resources and related professional training opportunities for teachers, as well as policy limitations. Since 2021, activities focused on infrastructure and teachers’ professional development for utilizing AT for inclusive education are being implemented in two distinct administrative units of BiH – entity of Republika Srpska and Canton Sarajevo.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this activity/assignment is to provide support to teachers in enhancing their proficiency, confidence, and competencies in using mid-tech communicators and other assistive technologies for inclusive education. The goal is to equip teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively utilize assistive technology in the classroom, promoting inclusion and accessibility for all students.

Aiming at expanding the good practices to the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC), UNICEF is seeking two (2) Individual Consultants Peer Mentors – teachers, experienced in using AT for inclusive education, who would support teachers in 10 participating education institutions (one mentor per 5 education institutions) of HNC, in introducing AT into their regular teaching practices.

Mentors are expected to provide continuous support to the assigned education institutions throughout the year of 2023, as well as to participate in the initial two-day training for AT in inclusive education, planned for the second half of May 2023. Total duration of this engagement is 18 working days.

The selected consultant will be responsible for delivering the following activities:

• Actively participate in the training of teachers, provide technical support to master trainers, agree on the mentoring dynamics and modality (Established communication with assigned institutions, outlined mentoring and communication plan).
• Provide tailored, online, mentoring support to the teachers (40) from assigned education institutions (5) over the following months of 2023: June, August, September, October, November, December (Minimum two group mentoring online meetups conducted per month, main constraints captured, solutions offered. Monthly report as per the main progress indicators submitted to UNICEF and HNC education authorities).
• Main constraints and mitigation methods/practices, one successful story per assigned institution and main achievements documented (Final report submitted to UNICEF and HNC education authorities).

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

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree in pedagogy, psychology, teaching degree, or other related field
• Minimum 1 year of experience in using AT for inclusive education
• Proven record in using AT for inclusive education
• Excellent command of mid-tech communicators
• Good understanding of UDL – Universal design for learning and Easy to Read standards
• Experience in designing and delivering dissemination trainings for peers - teachers
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Excellent analytical report writing skills

Qualified male candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

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.