UNICEF Pacific Consultancy - Technical Adviser for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Education in Emergency

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, passion

The Pacific is highly exposed to adverse natural hazards, such as tropical cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. In addition to the geological hazards that are ever-present along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the region is exposed to a range of hazards that are expected to be aggravated by climate change. Many countries in the region have noted the increased intensity of tropical cyclones and more extreme weather events in the wet and dry season cycle, leading to increased risk of drought and flooding These hazards sometimes result in disasters that prevent continuity of schooling due to damage to schools and communities. School closures in the Pacific have also been required during measles or dengue outbreaks as well. The experience with COVID-19 brought an increased understanding of the vulnerability of Pacific education systems, and the importance of building resilient systems prepared and ready to withstand and manage shocks, and ensure safe and continued learning opportunities for all students, including the most vulnerable.

Building on many years of experience supporting emergency preparedness and response in education in the Pacific, UNICEF Pacific in 2018/2019 supported the design and roll-out of a School-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Programme (SB-DRR) in 4 countries (Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tonga). The approach was piloted in 1-2 provinces/districts in each country in 2019, with the idea that a mid-year review in 2020 would capture lessons learned, particularly drawing on any experiences during the cyclone season, and identify needed recommendations to strengthen and support scale-up planning in those countries, as well as potential applications in other Pacific Island countries, particularly Kiribati and FSM.

In the meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic and the UNICEF Pacific Education programmes increasing system strengthening portfolio has reinforced the need for such a review, while also pointing to additional considerations required for a strategic and comprehensive approach to risk reduction and resilience building of and through education, building on a strong resilience focus in many COVID-19-inspired plans and interventions.

At the same time, the long history of emergency preparedness and response within the education sector, and growing interest by countries to review policies and approaches to EiE, together call for a review of existing policies, guidance and coordination mechanisms, as well as support to EiE response, to better understand effectiveness of preparation and response, including timely and clear assessments, action to ensure not only a quick return to school, but quick provision of extra support to ensure quality of teaching and learning post-disasters, psycho-social support, communication initiatives, relevant support from ECE to secondary/post-secondary levels, effective response to health outbreaks, and demonstrations of resilience, reconstruction and return to normalcy for children, teachers, families and communities.

How can you make a difference?

The objective of this consultancy is to improve and align disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness and response in education systems and schools. By creating linkages across these related programmes, cohesive and sustainable systems and practices will ensure children’s safety and continued learning in Pacific island countries.

Scope of Work: The consultant will provide expert technical support on risk-informed education systems, disaster risk reduction and resilience building, and education in emergencies to UNICEF-supported education programming in the Pacific.

The consultant is expected to provide technical support and guidance to multiple regional- and country-level activities, sometimes in parallel, maximizing synergies between related areas of work and responding to priorities for engaged countries. For example, Vanuatu has requested technical support to the review of the EiE policy and the SBDRR programme; all efforts should be made to avoid parallel consultation/review processes and to build synergies and linkages in the final reviewed documents. The below elements of the scope of work are not reflected chronologically, but thematically. Monthly workplans will be established to ensure clear communication and an appropriate fit between programmatic priorities and the working time for that month.

It is critical to note that, although the consultancy will provide support to multiple Pacific Island countries, it is expected and required that each country will play a guiding role in designing a country-specific process and results, thus avoiding the “cookie cutter” approach that is common in some multi-country efforts. Also, noting that opportunities and priorities in Pacific Island countries do shift over time, the consultant will be required to be flexible and adaptive, adjusting monthly workplans accordingly in collaboration with the UNICEF team.

Under the supervision of the UNICEF Pacific Chief of Education and with support from the Education Specialist based in Suva as well as the Chiefs of Field Office and Education Officers, the consultant will support Ministries of Education in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji in the following interlinked elements:

Inception Drawing on available global, regional and national literature, national/regional priorities, and key stakeholder guidance and engagement, the consultant will work with UNICEF in partnership with Ministries of Education, and in collaboration with National Disaster Management Offices (NDMO), to compile available information and experience on EiE, DRR and resilience building in education in the Pacific over the past few years, with a specific focus on Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, as well as other countries with established partnerships with UNICEF in these areas. The consultant will produce a brief inception report documenting findings and proposed priorities and plans for the consultancy. Separate inception phases may be expected for different elements of this work (e.g. the review and revision of the Vanuatu EiE policy and SBDRR programme should include an inception plan/discussion with local stakeholders on those specific tasks prior to initiation) to ensure that all relevant stakeholders have an opportunity to review and feedback on proposed plans and methodologies for those elements.

Review and Revision of the SBDRR Programme The consultant will design and conduct a review of the existing school-based DRR (SB-DRR) programmes in 4 countries (Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), considering findings from a regional review of DRR in education, as well as available data and information on SB-DRR in each country and new data, with new data and stakeholder perspectives collected as required during the process. The review of the programme should draw on complementarity with other DRR, resilience building and system strengthening efforts, including those supported by other partners and those related to COVID-19, identifying synergies with existing national disaster risk management as well as school management and improvement planning systems in each context. In 2 countries, this may include surveys, field visit guides, interview protocols and oversight to design and completion of the review, while in the other 2, a lighter approach implemented remotely is expected. This will include complementarity with relevant related programming supported by other partners (e.g. Save the Children) and include a review of experiences integrating SB DRR content in Safe Schools Trainings.

The review of the existing school-based DRR programmes specifically aims to (1) consider additional risks beyond those related to environmental hazards, (2) strengthen resilience, preparedness, response and recovery programming, (3) establish linkages to national-level policies and plans for DRR, education and Education in Emergencies, COVID-19 prevention and response, (4) identify opportunities for sustainable implementation and monitoring of the programme, and others, as relevant. The consultant will also review the potential for adaptations of the SB-DRR programme, potentially with other system strengthening efforts, to at least 2 other Pacific countries (to be determined jointly with UNICEF and the respective Ministries of Education). The findings of the reviews will guide/feed into in-country discussions on recommendations for revision and sustainable implementation plans specific for each country context. As part of this, the consultant may also compile relevant information and guidance on feasible options for support to DRR in other countries in the Pacific. This will complete with the revision of the SB DRR handbooks and training modules for 4 countries, including content revision and review/quality assurance/integration of feedback on the final graphic design versions (graphic design to be done separately). Given that SB DRR trainings have been shortened and integrated in Safe Schools training, the revisions to the training modules should consider stand-alone and integrated approaches where relevant, based on expected use.

Technical Support on EiE within a System Strengthening Approach (including Capacity Development) The consultant will also work with UNICEF in partnership with Ministries of Education to review and revise policies, guidance, tools, and capacities related to Education in Emergencies and Disaster Risk Reduction, including context-relevant approaches to emergency coordination within the education sector. This is expected to focus on three countries that have expressed an interest in support in this area, notably Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, focused on the review and revision of the National EiE policy and Education cluster terms of reference, plus operational planning and guidance. Training/orientation modules on the new policies and procedures will be prepared and tested, with a ToT (at minimum) benefitting from the consultant’s support.

The consultant is also expected to support the adaptation and facilitation of capacity building on EiE for Pacific island Ministry officials (e.g. CORE 1 & CORE 2 training) with a specific focus on ensuring relevance as per the uniqueness’s of the Pacific context.

Additional Technical Support The consultant will also provide technical support on an as-needed basis. This will include provision of DRR and climate resilience expertise and technical support to the broader UNICEF education team and programme, with proposed inputs and feedback on education sector plans, curricula, communication materials, and others, as relevant. This could include support to any emergency response or other emerging need related to this consultancy. Toward this end, the consultant will draw on national policies, plans, programmes and priorities for COVID-19, risk-informed programming, DRR, climate change adaptation and emergency preparedness and response within and related to the education sector, and ensure that these guide and inform UNICEF supported-programmes in ways that are relevant and build toward coherent national approaches and systems. By taking a strategic approach, the consultant will work closely with and bridge the gap between Education in Emergencies (EiE) and DRR as well as Climate Change adaptation/resilience and DRR in Education Sector.

Approach The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Education Specialist (Resilient Systems) and the Education Specialist (Education in Emergencies), as well as the broader UNICEF Pacific education team, including the Suva-based team as well as those based in Vanuatu, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Federated States of Micronesia. The consultant will partner with government officials and advisers, as relevant in each context, and is expected to use highly participatory approaches that build ownership and engagement of UNICEF and government colleagues, drawing on national, sub-national, and school/community consultations as relevant. To the maximum extent possible, education cluster members and partners (including in contexts where clusters are not strong or even present) should be engaged and clear information on their programmes sought, as the consultant is expected to build synergies and alignment between existing approaches, avoiding duplicative or parallel efforts. A national EiE consultant will be available in Vanuatu to support the work on the ground; in all cases, the relevant UNICEF staff and Ministry officials will be available to guide and support some elements of the work.

For all elements of the work that relate to training modules and plans, the consultant is expected to prepare, test and revise training modules and plans that are interactive and clearly targeted at key learning objectives, that are designed for non-expert facilitators (e.g. cascade model), and that do not require complex logistical support that may not be feasible in all contexts, noting the ultimate aim is to ensure those key learning objectives can be achieved at scale.

All elements of the work should be designed for feasible and relevant implementation through existing systems. Maximum effort should be made to reflect on cost-efficient and sustainable modes of training and monitoring, preferencing integration into existing systems over add-on approaches. Attention to the uniqueness’s of each level and type of school within the system (e.g. ECE, primary, secondary, boarding, government, public, special) as well as remote island/interior schools should be addressed, as relevant.

Some key reference documents are here: • 2019 EAPRO: Evaluation of UNICEF’s Disaster Risk Reduction Programming in Education in East Asia and the Pacific • School-Based DRR Materials for 4 Pacific Island Countries

Supervisor:

The consultant will be supervised by the UNICEF Pacific Chief of Education and will benefit from technical and contextual guidance from Education Specialists and Ministry of Education officials.

Contracting Period: 01 June 2021 to 15 May 2022 (Total of 240 working days - estimated)

WORK ASSIGNMENT Inception phase • Desk review, covering: - DRR in education in the Pacific, including regional DRR evaluation, other DRR in education initiatives, DRR as reflected in EiE/Education plans, and Education as reflected in DRR plans. Include related efforts from other sectors, including WASH, Protection, etc. - National policies, priorities, plans, programmes, and systems related to EiE, DRR, COVID-19, sector planning and school management (particularly but not exclusively Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, FSM, and Kiribati). - School-based DRR programme in 4 countries, including M&E and community engagement plans. - EiE experience, including available data, after-action reviews, etc. - UNICEF Pacific Education Programme, and especially system strengthening, EiE, DRR and related work • Inception conversations with UNICEF staff, EiE consultants/focal points. • Drafting and presentation of inception report with preliminary findings and proposed way forward/workplan.

2. Review of SB-DRR Pilot Year • Facilitate the review/revision of Theory of Change and monitoring framework for SB-DRR programme, and feasible/practical means to collect key data that capture change because of the DRR programme. • Design and support a review of the school-based DRR programme and revisions and scale-up planning for 2021 and beyond. This should seek to identify synergies with existing programmes and systems (e.g. school management and planning), build on the specific comparative advantage of UNICEF vis à vis other partners, reducing duplication and parallel approaches and improving complementarity and impact overall. The review should also identify gaps and required adaptations and may include linkages to emergency and COVID-19 response (and associated data collection) that took place following the SB-DRR roll-out in 2019. This may also include proposals for more comprehensive support, also including national risk assessments, disaster risk management policies/plans, and/or other, as relevant.

3. Technical Support to Vanuatu (collaboration with local EiE consultant) • Develop inception report outlining the results of the desk review and proposed plan, including as any updates to the proposed methodology and timeline. • Propose revisions to the draft EiE Policy, cluster ToR and process map for education response plan. Facilitate revision and validation through stakeholders’ consultations. Final draft submitted to MOET to be taken through the approval process. • Propose revisions to the SBDRR handbook and implementation plan; facilitate revision and validation through stakeholders’ consultations • Develop EiE and DRR training modules contextualized to Vanuatu • Design and facilitate (co-facilitate with local EiE counterpart) National and Subnational training. Produce training report and plan for roll-out implementation/monitoring. • Final deliverables (final report, final EiE Policy, SBDRR handbook and implementation plan, EiE and DRR training modules) incorporating all final feedback and quality assurance on final versions.

4. Technical Support to Solomon Islands • Develop inception report outlining the results of the desk review and proposed plan, including as any updates to the proposed methodology and timeline. • Propose revisions to the draft EiE Policy, cluster ToR and process map for education response plan. Facilitate revision and validation through stakeholders’ consultations. Final draft submitted to MEHRD to be taken through the approval process. • Propose revisions to the SBDRR handbook and implementation plan; facilitate revision and validation through stakeholders’ consultations • Develop EiE and DRR training modules contextualized to Solomon Islands • Design and facilitate (co-facilitate with local EiE counterpart) National and Subnational training. Produce training report and plan for roll-out implementation/monitoring. • Final deliverables (final report, final EiE Policy, SBDRR handbook and implementation plan, EiE and DRR training modules) incorporating all final feedback and quality assurance on final versions.

5. Technical Support to Fiji • Develop inception report outlining the results of the desk review and proposed plan, including as any updates to the proposed methodology and timeline. • Propose revisions to the draft EiE Policy, cluster ToR and process map for education response plan. Facilitate revision and validation through stakeholders’ consultations. Final draft submitted to MEHA to be taken through the approval process. • Propose revisions to the SBDRR handbook and implementation plan; facilitate revision and validation through stakeholders’ consultations • Develop EiE and DRR training modules contextualized to Fiji • Design and facilitate (co-facilitate with local EiE counterpart) National and Subnational training. Produce training report and plan for roll-out implementation/monitoring. • Final deliverables (final report, final EiE Policy, SBDRR handbook and implementation plan, EiE and DRR training modules) incorporating all final feedback and quality assurance on final versions.

6. Final report on SB-DRR review and revision in 3 countries. This should include a proposed process and considerations for revisions to the SB-DRR materials in Tonga, as well as for consultations/adaptations to other country contexts (e.g. Kiribati, FSM)

7. Technical support on integration of DRR and climate resilience in education policies, sector plans, curricula, training materials, and others as relevant.

8.Technical support on donor proposals to mobilize resources for DRR in education.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) is preferred with relevant post-graduate qualifications, potentially including public policy, social policy, planning and administration, emergency management, education, or another related field
• Minimum of 8 years’ experience related to disaster risk reduction, education, education in emergencies, climate change or related areas.
• Demonstrated experience with programme design and evaluation, research and data collection and analysis, scale-up planning, response, and communication/community engagement related to the technical focus of this ToR.
• Solid experience with education policies, planning and strategies, including as related to the technical focus of this ToR.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple complex activities and take a collaborative approach in achieving success.
• High level communication and relationship building/management skills, including with colleagues, partners and counterparts, and ability to support team building and stakeholder engagement.
• Proven ability to nurture development of new technical skills and knowledge among non-experts, while also securing context and culture-specific guidance critical to ensuring relevance and feasibility of the designed programmes.
• Commitment to champion gender equality and social inclusion issues in planning, practices and in support of service delivery

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.