National Individual Consultant to provide technical support and coordination of activities on implementation of GIGA initiative in Uzbekistan

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.

Background:

Giga is a joint initiative of UNICEF and United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to connect every school to the internet, and every young person to information, opportunity and choice.

According to the ITU, nearly 3.7 billion people remain unable to access the internet and disconnected from digital solutions that could dramatically improve their lives. This limits them from accessing the same information, opportunity and choice as their more-connected peers. Unless things change, a big part of this rapidly growing group of young people is in danger of being left behind - excluded from the modern digital world.

The key objective of Giga is to connect 2 million schools and approximately 500 million children and youth by the end of 2025 by: using a strong data infrastructure to identify unmet demand and monitor the quality of connectivity; developing sustainable financing models that will address current market failures in terms of infrastructure and pricing; and, using suitable new technology to extend the reach.

Giga has 4 areas in which it can provide support:

• Map the location and connectivity status of all schools in the country, monitor the quality of connectivity in real-time and estimate the financial needs to bridge the digital divide in education.
• Develop structured and blended finance models to attract private and public investment to connect all schools in the country to the Internet.
• Advise on procurement processes for connectivity (i.e. aggregating demand for connectivity, launching a common bid, among others) to make the most efficient use of investments.
• Empower young people with Digital Public Goods, or open source software solutions, that can support education, health, and the SDG agenda.

To accelerate the deployment of Giga in Uzbekistan there is a need of a National coordinator who will provide technical operational and administrative support to UNICEF Uzbekistan in implementing Giga initiative in Uzbekistan.

Objectives:

The specific objective of this consultancy is to provide technical, operational and administrative support to UNICEF Uzbekistan in implementing the Giga initiative in Uzbekistan. S/he will act as the focal point and project coordinator of Giga project in Uzbekistan. S/he will interact with the different programmatic sections and local stakeholders (government actors, partner NGOs) in the country, and coordinate and execute the required activities to help complete the work under Giga in Uzbekistan.

The scope of work includes:

• Act as primary Giga focal point for coordination of work of relevant government counterparts, GIGA, ITU and UNICEF Uzbekistan.
• Lead UNICEF support to and provide critical inputs in design for major Giga events in 2021 in close collaboration with Giga Country Engagement team in New York.
• Development of a governance framework for the Giga initiative in the country.
• Coordinate the activities related to the ‘Mapping’ pillar of Giga.
• Coordinate the activities related to the ‘Empower young people with Digital Public Goods’ pillar of Giga including activity on conducting Needs assessment in DPG;
• Lead UNICEF support to implementation of pilots and testing of sustainable financing and community connectivity models
• Communication and branding of the Giga initiative based on the global strategy.

Timeline & Deliverables:

The consultant is expected to accomplish the assignment during the period 1 March – 31 December 2021. The following deliverables is expected to be provided by the end of assignment:

Activity-Deliverable-Timeline

1. Activities related to partnership and communication

1. Lead UNICEF work in designing of major Giga events in 2021 in close collaboration with Giga Country Engagement team in New York - List of major Giga events in 2021 - March; 2. Develop partnerships and networks with key line ministry (MOPE), local solution providers, innovators, NGOs, the private sector, local media and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative technologies - Partnership is developed - ongoing; 3. Develop Work Plan with the Government for the Giga initiative in the country - Work Plan with the Government is developed - May; 4. Organize workshop with the government and relevant stakeholders to complete an “opportunity brief” and identify specific areas of Giga support for the government’s ongoing programme on school connectivity - Workshop is help and opportunity brief is completed - May; 5. Work closely with Communication section on development of communication materials related to Giga initiatives - Communication materials related to Giga initiative are developed - Ongoing.

2. Activities related to the ‘Mapping’ pillar

1. Support implementing government partner (MOPE) to ensure timely collection, cleaning and analyzing the gaps in data for Giga mapping - Data collected and handed over to Giga Mapping team in HQ - April; 2. In collaboration with Giga team conduct workshop to present and discuss new tools and strategies to overcome gaps in location and connectivity data - Workshop is conducted, Minutes is prepared - April; 3. Coordinate work on piloting of new tools and strategies to overcome gaps in location and connectivity data - Mapping tools are piloted, and lessons learned captured - June-December; 4. Support government partner to develop action plan on the next steps to be implemented (data visualization, Integration of school mapping data with national information management systems, development of real time connectivity monitoring tools) - Next steps action plan is developed - May; 5. Coordinate work on implementation of the next steps based on the decision made - June-December; 6. Prepare process document on implementation of mapping activity - Process document is accepted - December.

3. Activities related to the ‘Empower young people with Digital Public Goods’ pillar

1. Coordinate work and provide technical and organizational support to Individual Consultant recruited on conducting Needs assessment on DPG - Needs assessment report is accepted - March-June; 2. Organize workshop with different stakeholders to discuss needs in DPGs - Workshop is conducted, Minutes is prepared - March; 3. Coordinate the work on implementing selected DPG solutions - Selected DPG solutions is piloted - June-December; 4. Prepare process document on DPG activity - Process document is accepted - June.

4. Activities related to prototyping sustainable business and community connectivity models

1. Support the external contractor to conduct the prototyping of the connectivity and financial models - Inputs for prototyping of the connectivity and financial models are provided - April-September; 2. Coordinate work to support government and private stakeholders necessary for the prototypes to run smoothly - Prototypes are run smoothly - April-June; 3. Provide regular updates to the Country Office and HQ teams on the progress of the prototypes - Progress reports is provided regularly - Ongoing.

Management:

The consultant will be working under the direct supervision and guidance of UNICEF Uzbekistan Chief of Education and in close collaboration with Education officer. The consultant will liaise between UNICEF and MOPE and other stakeholders to support the implementation of activities.

Resource requirements and payments:

According to UNICEF policy, the final fees will be set up based on the “best value for money” principle.

The candidates are requested to submit their financial offer consisting of fee for the services to be provided. The consultant will receive direct payment to his/her indicated bank account in Uzbek Sums based on the UN currency exchange rate. The consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance. Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel.

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

1. An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in technology, business administration or management, public relations, international development or other relevant fields.
2. Professional work experience in startups, business, management consulting or a relevant field, some of which should be in an international setting.
3. Proven capacity to work with collaborative teams across different locations and with different technical skills. Experience working with software tools, ideally in the phases of adoption and user requirements (user testing, user interaction, etc.)
4. Familiarity working with quantitative and qualitative statistics and government data is desired: census, EMIS, location data, etc.
5. Familiarity working with big data is desired: telcos, twitter, satellite imagery
6. Experience working with or managing relationships with MNOs and ISPs
7. Ability to communicate data insights and to translate into programmatic impact
8. Fluency in English, Russian and Uzbek is required.

Procedures and Working Conditions

Duty station for the assignment is Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The assignment will be conducted remotely, no space is required in UNICEF office, but consultant will be provided by UNICEF account.

The consultant will be responsible for any taxes that might arise because of this assignment and remuneration received from UNICEF, and UNICEF undertakes no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract.

Reservations

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if deliverable(s) incomplete, not finalized or for failure to meet deadlines and contract can be terminated within 15 days of notice.

UNICEF will reserve all copyright of developed materials/reports and will own primary data collected through this assignment. The materials cannot be published or disseminated by the institution without prior written permission of UNICEF. UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify the materials/reports in the future.

The Consultant must respect the confidentiality of the information handled during the assignment, and adhere to the ethical norms of UNICEF. Documents and information provided must be used only for the tasks related to these Terms of Reference.

UNICEF undertakes no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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.