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: Consultancy for Management of Programmes on Equitable Access to Quality Education

Job No: 562152
Location: Abuja
Contract Type: Consultant
Duration: 50 days
Categories: Education
Level: Consultancy

Background and Purpose of the Assignment

• Nigeria is home to approximately 206 million people, 43 per cent of whom are below 14 years of age. By 2030, there will be close to 126 million children in Nigeria. Rapid population growth and the swelling child population will place significant pressure on the education system, including its infrastructure and resources.
• At the same time, Nigeria has the potential to reap a dividend from the impending youth bulge, but this will require significant investments in children’s and adolescents’ education and well-being. The country has developed policies that guarantee free and compulsory basic education and has seen increased access to education in recent years.
• Nigeria is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as reflected in current education policies, which guarantee free and compulsory basic education and which position quality of learning outcomes at the centre of the country’s education agenda. The Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) (2016-2019) and the Ministerial Strategic Plan (2018-2022) prioritize education access, learning quality and systems strengthening.
• A recent analysis of the country’s progress toward Sustainable Development Goal target 4.1 revealed evidence of initiatives in all states that aim to improve children’s access to quality education.
• These efforts have been met with increasing enrolment in recent years. However, there remain challenges in high out-of-school rates, dropout and persistent inequality.
• Nigeria has approximately 10.2 million children who are out of school (OOS) at the primary level, and accounts for 15 per cent of the total number of out-of-school children globally. Overall, 1 in 3 children are OOS in Nigeria, with 12.4 million having never attended and 5.9 having left school early.
• Two-thirds (66 per cent) of all OOS children are in the northeast and North-west, 86 per cent are from rural areas and 65 per cent are from the poorest socioeconomic quintile.
• More than 50 per cent of girls are not attending school at the basic education level, and only 1 in 3 adolescents eligible for senior secondary education are attending.
• Despite the efforts over the past years, both from the Government of Nigeria as well as its development partners, to strategically address the challenge of out-of-school children (OOSC), and to ensure that all children are in school and learning, progress in reducing the number of OOSC is not keeping pace with the growing child and youth population of Nigeria.
• Unfortunately, learning poverty remains an equally important challenge as well. More than 70 per cent of children of primary school age cannot read with understanding or solve simple math problems, and 50 per cent of students in primary education on average cannot read or write.
• These gaps in foundational skills are cumulative across the lifecycle, increasing learners’ risk of dropping out and impeding their ability to acquire the skills they need to thrive in the workforce, to be actively engaged citizens and to nurture healthy and prosperous families.
• UNICEF Nigeria Country Office (NCO), in its Country Programme Document (CPD) 2023-2027, aims to leverage its strategic partnership with the federal and state governments and other development partners to achieve the outcome, "by 2027, more children, including adolescents, particularly the most disadvantaged, participate in quality education, learn, and acquire skills for the future”.
• This will be realized by addressing three output areas: Education systems (output 1); access (output 2); and learning (output 3). For the output 2, NCO aims to improve equitable access to quality education from pre-primary to secondary education in both development and humanitarian contexts, by strengthening the capacity of governments, schools, communities and other partners to make education and learning accessible and inclusive for all children.
• UNICEF NCO seeks a consultant to manage the education programmes for output 2.
• The consultant will work with and provide support to counterpart governments (e.g., the Federal Ministry of Education, Universal Basic Education Commission, National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education) and education teams in UNICEF NCO and Field Offices to design, implement, and monitor education programmes and activities on expanding access to quality learning opportunities in Nigeria.

Scope of Work
Under the overall supervision of Chief Education, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks over the course of the contract:

• Work with the Federal Ministry of Education, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), and National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) to develop a national strategy for the implementation of Almajiri/Tsangaya schools in Nigeria.
• Work with UBEC and UNICEF Field Offices (FOs) to operationalize the National Framework of Action on Reducing the Number of Out of School Children in Nigeria by providing support for the organization of regional meetings and the development of state-specific costed action plans.
• Provide technical guidance and assistance to other consultants to review 1) Girl-4-Girl strategy documents, 2) draft re-entry guidelines for adolescent girls, and 3) draft national strategy on transition, retention, and completion for adolescent girls in secondary school.
• In collaboration with other colleagues, provide support for:
• Review of the existing framework for climate literacy education
  • Drafting a set of curriculum standards for basic education (pre-primary, primary, and junior secondary school),
  • Development and review of state policy/standards for implementation of inclusive education in selected states.
• Support situation analysis of alternative learning pathways and distance learning opportunities, including the development of a draft strategy on alternative learning pathways for Nigeria, which is led by another consultant.

Qualifications
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• An Advanced University Degree (Master's or Higher) in Education Development, Education Policy, Social Policy, International Relations, or a related field.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in education programming, documentation, and reporting.
• A minimum of 3 years of working experience with using education data to inform evidence-based decision-making to develop strategies for out-of-school children/adolescents.
• Strong knowledge of the Nigerian context and understanding of international development issues, including issues around alternative pathways to learning global best practices and out-of-school children in Nigeria.

Other Skills and Attributes:

• Experience working with UN agencies or other international development agencies.
• A good understanding of UNICEF’s programmatic areas.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with experience translating evidence for and communicating with a broad range of actors (including government) on sensitive issues.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.

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. 

Benefits

• 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. 

Application Closing Date
30th May, 2023 (W. Central Africa Standard Time).

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
• 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.
• UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable women are encouraged to apply.
• UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.