National Legal Consultant - Inclusive Education Legal and Policy Framework

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Wednesday 24 Nov 2021 at 22:55 UTC

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UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF’s office is accessible to a certain extent, and employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are needed for ensuring equitable working conditions.

Considerable progress has been achieved in the implementation of inclusive education (IE) in Serbia since its introduction in 2009. Under the leadership of the Ministry for Education, Science and Technological Development (MoESTD), with continuous UNICEF support over the past years, reform measures have been taken with focus on developing a comprehensive institutional and policy framework for inclusive education (IE). However, 12 years after, many children with disabilities, Roma children and those from poor households and living in rural areas are still lagging behind and are less likely to benefit from inclusion in mainstream education.

The National Report on Inclusive Education in Serbia (MoETSD with the support of UNICEF, 2018) published on the 10th anniversary of implementation of inclusive education in Serbia has taken stock of progress achieved, as well as challenges in making the national education system fully inclusive. One of the key challenges identified is the need to further improve the national policy and legal framework relevant to IE and harmonize with the international framework and standards as emphasized also in multiple international reviews and reports on the situation in Serbia, including concluding observations of UN committees for the Rights of the Child and for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Additionally, the process of accession of Serbia to EU demands full harmonization of the Serbian legal framework with the EU Law, and the Action Plan for Chapter 23 demands legal and practical changes in education which will improve inclusive education for every child. Legal changes should address further improvement in fully embedding the rights of the children with disabilities in national education laws and regulations related to the transformation of schools for education of children with disabilities and further development of additional support services for their learning in regular education, with focus in improving institutional mechanisms at school, local and national level, use of assistive technology and related in mainstream education, universal design, monitoring and financing of IE. This will also include recommendations on how to improve inter-sectoral collaboration at national, local and school levels.

Work Assignment Overview:

The purpose of this assignment is to provide a review of the national policy and legal framework against the international standards on IE. The consultant will perform comprehensive analyses of the IE relevant legal and policy framework of the Republic of Serbia, and work closely with the international consultant on findings related to the comparative analysis with international standards, as well as developing recommendations for further harmonisation. This will include the analysis of different sectoral laws which are of importance for the implementation and further development of IE. Based on the legal review and analysis, the national consultant will also support the working group for improvement of legal/policy framework relevant to IE. The individual consultant will work closely and coordinate with an international consultant engaged by UNICEF for this purpose.

Duration of the assignment: December 2021 – December 2022 (up to 48 workdays)

Detailed task description:

Task 1: Support the International Consultant in review and analysis of IE relevant legal and policy framework:

  • Provide inputs to the international consultant engaged for the preparation of the Analysis of the Legal and Policy Framework on Inclusive Education to develop methodology for the legal analysis, as well as an outline for the report on IE legal and policy framework.
  • Collect and review current national strategic and legal documents regulating IE and other relevant documents.
  • Conduct review and analysis of available data on IE for the purposes of the Analysis
  • Perform national legal analysis based on relevant national legal and policy documents, relevant data and existing reviews and reports
  • Support the international consultant to develop a report on the IE relevant national policy and legal framework and its alignment with the international standards, with findings and recommendations.
  • Facilitate a joint meeting /focus group with key partners/stakeholders to present the draft report, obtain feedback on and in line with the feedback prepare a final version of the report.

Task 2: Develop an overview of the report and promote report’s findings and recommendations:

  • Based on the final Report on the review and analysis of the national policy and legal framework, develop a brief report with key findings and recommendations.
  • Participate in the promotion of the Report and its findings and recommendations.

Task 3: Provide support to the MOESTD and other relevant bodies for further development of legal and policy framework relevant to IE:

  • Provide expertise and support the working groups established for development of IE legal/policy framework.
  • Provide consultative support for development of new and improvement of existing IE regulations.
  • Review draft regulations and provide recommendations for further formulation of the specific IE policy and legislation.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

  • University degree in human sciences, preferably education, law, pedagogy, psychology, sociology, or other humanities
  • Advanced degree will be an asset - national or international law on human rights and/or fields of education/inclusive education or any other area of inclusion of children and persons with disabilities
  • Excellent knowledge of the national education legal and policy framework and international and EU standards relevant to IE
  • Experience in legal and policy reforms in Serbia
  • Excellent analytical and communication skills
  • Experience in performing legal and policy reviews and analyses
  • Knowledge and experience in strategic planning and strategic approach implementation
  • Experience in education research and surveys will be an asset
  • Fluency in Serbian and English language

How to apply:

The application must include a financial proposal in RSD as a separate document, providing the following information:

  • Daily rate (all costs included, e.g. usage of mobile phone).

Important notes:

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

For every child, you must demonstrate UNICEF's core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org