National Consultant- Expert for evaluative review of the 2017-2022 Platform for Early Childhood Care and Education in BiH, 25 working days, Remote/Work from home

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, education

In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) early childhood education and care (ECEC) is not readily available to all children, especially those from vulnerable families. The preschool enrolment rate in BiH for children 3 to 6 years of age is the lowest in Europe (25 percent) and children from vulnerable and marginalized groups have less access to preschool programmes. Besides enrolment, advancements are required in the quality of pre-service and in-service teacher education and there is a need to modernize ECEC programmes and practices in accordance with the national common core ECEC curriculum and the EU recommendation on High-Quality ECEC Systems. Additionally, most often ECEC community referrals which would facilitate inclusion- cross-sectorial and cross-disciplinary collaboration are yet to be established.

In 2017 the Council of Ministers adopted the Platform for the Development of Early Childhood Education and Care in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2017-2022 (further: the Platform). This is a milestone strategic-type document which defines the BiH vision and mission for ECEC development, which includes the following strategic objectives: a) increase the ECEC coverage, b) ensure the quality of ECEC, c) ensure regular funding, d) strengthen inclusion, and c) sensitize society about the importance of ECEC. The strategic objectives are followed by dedicated activities, indicators, competent implementation bodies, and the planned implementation period. In 2023 it is necessary to conduct an evaluation of the implementation of the specified activities to reach the envisaged strategic objectives. The Ministry of Civil Affairs (further: MoCA) has requested UNICEF BiH to provide technical support for this evaluation, which will feed into the development of an evidence-based revised Platform for the next 5-year period of ECEC sector development.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct the evaluative review to assess BiH’s contribution towards the advancements in the implementation and achieving the set goals of the Platform with the intention of using the evidence to feed into the development of the next 5-year plan of ECEC sector development. The evaluative review should be framed around the key evaluation questions (to be further defined in partnership with the government partners), such as relevance (how are the needs addressed), effectiveness (are the objectives met, why/why not), efficiency (were the right resources used), and what changes need to be made for future.

The intended audience of the evaluative review is education authorities in BiH and other ECEC stakeholders such as CSOs, academia, international organisations, preschool management and staff, and parents. The methodology will be based on a mixed-methods approach, which includes desk review, interviews and focus group discussions. As part of the envisaged quality assurance process, the methodology and the report will be finalized in partnership with the designated education authorities and UNICEF.

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

• Conduct desk review of background documents and develop evaluation inception report. Inception report (in BHS) of maximum 10 pages, excluding annexes, should contain a detailed implementation plan for evaluation, including data collection and analysis methodology and tools, an evaluation matrix (i.e. the main analytical framework), and the tentative outline of the evaluation report.
• Develop a one-day workshop agenda and conduct the workshop with government partners to validate the inception report methodology and implementation plan. Once the inception report is validated, the process of data collection will begin.
• Conduct key informant interviews/ focus group discussions with Government, implementation partners, communities, and other stakeholders and gather relevant data.
• Produce a draft evaluation report of maximum 40 pages, excluding the executive summary (of 5 pages maximum) and the annexes. The draft report will be reviewed by MoCA and UNICEF.
• Develop a two-day workshop agenda and conduct the workshop with government partners to validate the draft evaluation report. Upon the workshop, the final evaluation report will be produced.
• Present the evaluation report on the thematic meeting of the BiH Ministers of Education.

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

• Minimum of Master degree in social sciences or related field
• Minimum of 10 years of proven experience in conducting evaluations
• Extensive experience in designing and conducting evaluations and surveys, quantitative and qualitative analysis
• Experience in conducting evaluations related to ECEC
• Proven knowledge on child rights, human rights, gender equality and social inclusion;
• Excellent written and spoken BHS;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills;
• Excellent analytical report writing skills;
• Excellent conceptual skills;
• Ability to keep with strict deadlines;
• Knowledge of the country context related to ECEC;
• Familiarity with UNICEF’s mission and mandate is an asset.

Apart from mandatory documents, CV and motivation letter, all interested candidates are obliged to submit though the official UNICEF recruitment system the following documents:

• Methodological proposal for the assignment (up to 5 pages)
• Financial offer with all costs included (including consultancy fee cost, travel costs or any other administrative costs)
• One example of similar work/evaluation as an author or co-author.

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.