Individual Consultant at the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Individual Consultant (to develop a proposal for the Global Partnership for Education System Transformation Grant in Nigeria)

Job no: 576599
Location: Abuja
Contract type: Consultant
Level: Consultancy
Categories: Education

Background

• Nigeria faces a twin crisis in education. There are 10.2 million children at primary school age and 8.1 million children at junior secondary school age who are out of school, although the basic education is free and compulsory.
• Due to the limited access to schooling and poor quality of education, about 75% of children aged 7–14 do not acquire foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills that serve as critical foundations for further learning and skills development.
• To address the educational challenges in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) in collaboration with development partners agreed to apply for the Global Partnership for Education System Transformation Grant (GPE-STG).
• Through the application process, the GPE-STG task team in Nigeria undertook an enabling factor analysis of the education sector.
• The analysis identified accessible, equitable and inclusive foundational learning as the prioritized policy area. 

Purpose

• The purpose of the consultancy is to support the development of the comprehensive proposal for the GPE-STG in consultation with the FME, the targeted States, and other stakeholders.
• This proposal is for the GPE-STG implementation at the federal level and the three states that UNICEF supports (Abia, Bauchi, and Kwara).

Objectives
The specific objectives of this assignment are to:

• Review key strategic and policy documents to ensure the alignment and complementarity of the proposals, including the Partnership Compact.
• Plan and facilitate consultations with the FME, the states Ministry of Education, State Universal Basic Education Boards, government agencies, and other stakeholders including the World Bank as co-grant agent to identify key priorities and strategic approaches for the GPE-STG implementation.
• Draft and revise the proposal for GPE-STG that integrates a) feedback collected through the stakeholder consultations and b) comments received from the Nigeria Education Group (NEG) and the GPE secretariat.
• Finalize the GPE-STG proposal with the endorsement of NEG.

Scope of Work
Under the supervision of Education Manager, the selected candidate will conduct and coordinate the following tasks:

• Review key strategic documents The consultant conducts a desk review of key strategic and policy documents that feed into the GPE-STG proposal. Based on the review, the consultant develops:
  • A desk review report, 
  • A revised GPE STG programme outline (The first draft programme outline is developed by UNICEF in consultation with FME and the targeted States) 
  •  Revised timelines for the GPE STG programme development.
• The documents to be reviewed include, but not limited to:
  • Education for Renewed Hope: Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector 2024-2027 
  • Universal Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) 10-Year Roadmap (2021—2030) 
  • State Education Sector Operational Plans of the three target states 
  • Enabling factor analysis § Partnership Compact 2024-2027: Foundations of Learning for All
  • Other relevant policy documents.
• Draft and revise the GPE-STG proposal documents:
  • The consultant drafts and revises the GPE-STG proposal documents based on the feedback received from the stakeholder consultation meetings in close coordination with UNICEF. The draft proposal will be also submitted to NEG and GPE secretariat for Quality Assurance Review twice.
  • The consultant reviews their comments and further revise the proposal in collaboration with UNICEF.
• Finalize the GPE-STG proposal The consultant finalizes the GPE-STG based on comments received from Quality Assurance Review 2 and the final review by NEG.

Task/Milestone:
Review key strategic documents:
Deliverables/Outputs:

• A revised timeline for GPE STG programmed development
• A desk review report 
• A revised GPE STG programme outline

Draft the GPE-STG proposal documents:
Deliverable/outputs:

• Draft GPE-STG proposal submitted to NEG (proposal includes TOC, result matrix, budget, workplans, MEL framework, among others)

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

• An Advanced University Degree in Educational Planning, Economics, Sociology, or any other relevant Social Sciences
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience in developing and implementing education programme at national and international levels.
• Demonstrated experience in strategy development for government and/or international development organizations. 
• Demonstrated experience in planning and facilitating stakeholder consultations. 
• Demonstrated proposal development and report writing skill
• Experience in working for UN organizations is an asset. 
• Experience in working for the Ministries of Education is an asset.
• Experience in working in the education sector in Nigeria or Africa is an asset. 
• Experience in GPE-STG proposal development is an asset
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset. 
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

Application Closing Date
30th October, 2024.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online