Lead Consultant Institutional Support for the District/School Profiles Project

1- Background, Rationale and context of the assignment:

Through the "promise renewed" commitment, and as part of efforts to strengthen organizational capacity to support quality education for all children, UNICEF has recently re-emphasized its focus on equity which is at the core of the new 2014-2017 Strategic Plan. One of the key output for education in the new Strategic Plan is "Enhanced support to communities with disadvantaged and excluded children to start schooling at the right age and attend regularly" and one of the related output indicator is "Countries in which the education management information system feeds findings back to communities/school management committees". In order to support progress towards this indicator, UNICEF-Education has submitted a project to the Global Partnership for Education/Global and Regional Activities (GPE/GRA) fund and the GPE Board has recently approved it for funding. The project, named "District/School Profiles" support five countries in setting up information feedback processes and tools for increasing accountability and community participation and improving school performance (learning outcomes, equity and drop-out rates' reduction). The project has started with two countries (Togo and Madagascar) and the three other countries (Nepal, Laos and Zambia) will join in early 2015. Based on the lessons learned from the implementation in the two first countries, there is a need for bringing in the support team a lead consultant, expert in policy dialogue and in supporting institutional capacity of Ministries of Education in order to make sure the tools and processes built thanks to the project are sustainable and become routinely used by the management of the sector and by communities/school management committees.

In addition, UNICEF has engaged in Monitoring Results for Equity Systems (MoRES initiative) and there are a lot of needs of support at regional and country levels for implementing that initiative in education, including by using the District/School Profiles project.

2- Purpose and scope of work:

The consultant will serve as the lead consultant for policy dialogue and institutional support to the Ministries of Education of the participating countries. In particular, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

i) Contribute alongside with the other members of the support team to the preparation of baseline analysis of existing processes and tools; The consultant will particularly focus on the assessment of the chain of liability and responsibility within the Ministry (from the central to decentralized level), particularly around monitoring and support responsibilities, and will propose recommendations to improve the overall framework based on the initial diagnosis.

ii) Animate senior management level consultation involving ministry representatives, development partners and NGOS, to produce roadmaps for integration of the tools prepared into the routine managerial processes of the Ministry of Education;

iii) Prepare action plan with i) timeline and articulation of processes of annual update and dissemination of the profiles at the relevant management levels, and ii) respective role and responsibilities of each actor involved;

iv) Contribute to the preparation of training material on the use of the profiles and processes for the relevant stakeholders.

The consultancy will involve travels to the project's beneficiary countries and to UNICEF-HQ (4 missions is the estimated number).

3- Expected Results:

The following results are expected by the end of the consultancy:

• Baseline analysis of existing processes and tools prepared in at least two countries

• Senior management consultation to prepare roadmaps for integration of the tools into the routine managerial processes of the Ministry of Education completed in at least two countries

• Action plan with timeline and articulation of processes of annual update and dissemination of the tools at the relevant management levels prepared in at least two countries.

• Training material on the use of the profiles and processes for the relevant stakeholders prepared in at least two countries.

4- Duration and timeframe:

Duration: 42 days over a period of 9 months

Start Date: 15 February 2015

End Date: 15 November 2015

6. Key skills, technical background and experience required:

• Master's degree in Education, Social sciences, Political Sciences or a related field.

• At least 15 years of experience in education management and/or education policy dialogue, most of which in developing countries.

• Extensive experience and knowledge of international aid in education sector. Knowledge and experience with the Global Partnership for Education a plus.

• Excellent communication, presentation and drafting skills in English and French.

• Capacity to coordinate teams of various cultural backgrounds.

• Excellent organizational skills and ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.

7. Working arrangements:

The selected consultant will work remotely. For the purpose of the assignment, he/she may travel to the supported countries and to NY/HQ.

8. Remuneration and incurred costs:

Payments will be made on a monthly basis calculating the number of days worked and amount of work completed and based on successful progress of work evaluated at the end of each month. The basis for the rate will be at the market rate. The consultant should propose the rate that they seek in their application.

9. Reporting and supervision:

The consultant will report to and work under the direct supervision of the Senior Advisor, Education Economist the Evidence, Research and Advocacy Hub and in collaboration with other staff and consultants of the UNICEF Education team.

HOW TO APPLY:

How to Apply:

Deadline for submissions: January 6th, 2015, 5:00pm EST

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV and P 11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc ) topdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line "Lead Consultant Institutional Support – Education".

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENT FOR DELIVERABLES CHART.