Consultancy – Technical Support to Lead the Regional Policy Review, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO), Bangkok, Thailand

The Education Section, UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to provide technical assistance and guidance to the regional programme, with a particular focus on leading the regional policy review. The proposed programme aims to empower and equalize girls through gender transformation of education. UNICEF will advance towards that aim by intervening in three key outcomes: System-level impact: Advancing gender transformative education policies, curricula, and pedagogy School and community level impact: Empowering the most marginalized girls with 21st century learning and skills Regional Exchange: Policy mapping, capacity building, advocacy, and evidence generation through cross-border collaboration on gender transformative education

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 fulfilling 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, a better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region.  This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

How can you make a difference?

The Education Section, UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to provide technical assistance and guidance to the regional programme, with a particular focus on leading the regional policy review. The proposed programme aims to empower and equalize girls through gender transformation of education. UNICEF will advance towards that aim by intervening in three key outcomes:

System-level impact: Advancing gender transformative education policies, curricula, and pedagogy

School and community level impact: Empowering the most marginalized girls with 21st century learning and skills

Regional Exchange: Policy mapping, capacity building, advocacy, and evidence generation through cross-border collaboration on gender transformative education

Work Assignment: 

The work assigned is organized in terms of deliverables senior expert on addressing violence and gender in education is to complete. Under the supervision of the Regional Education Advisor, the expert will provide high level technical expertise to EAPRO, in collaboration with Country Offices, government counterparts and regional partners.

The expert’s work will be organized around the following key tasks:

Deliverable #1. Development of a Regional Roadmap for ending gender-based violence in and around schools and promoting gender transformative education policies 

This assignment will be carried out through close collaboration with SEAMEO, and other partner organizations including ASEAN and UNESCO Bangkok.

1a. Inception report

An inception report will mark the beginning of a comprehensive journey towards addressing school related gender-based violence (SRGBV) and promoting positive gender norms in and through education across SEAMEO/ASEAN countries. The inception report will lay the groundwork for the forthcoming workplan and should include: a desk review of existing policy frameworks and diagnostic tools for addressing school violence, including the Safe to Learn diagnostic tool, to guide development of a regional tool for countries to assess their own progress toward effective policies; a detailed methodology to produce a regional roadmap; a draft regional self-assessment diagnostic tool for the participating countries to evaluate their policies around gender and violence in education, enabling them to identify barriers and prioritize actions for improvement. The inception report will be reviewed and validated by UNICEF, SEAMEO and a core group of regional partners.

1b. Facilitation of Four-Day Workshop

The expert will, in collaboration with partners, facilitate a face-to-face regional workshop to serve as a platform for capacity building and hands-on training for SEAMEO/ASEAN countries to self-assess their own education systems readiness in promoting positive gender norms and ending violence. During the workshop, the expert will train and accompany country delegations through practical exercises and guidance, to conduct the self-assessment diagnostic tool to identify barriers hindering policy formulation, implementation, and delineate priorities for addressing these challenges. All related training materials, including the workshop program and plan, will be prepared by the expert to ensure the effective delivery of the workshop objectives. At the end of the workshop country delegations will be expected to produce an output document, highlighting the key gaps, challenges in their policy context and key priorities for addressing those gaps/barriers. This will require travel to the region.

1c. Regional Roadmap

Based on the output of the workshop and consultation with partners, the expert will develop a Regional Roadmap for Policy Action to emphasize priorities for advancing efforts to address school violence, particularly SRGBV, and foster positive gender norms in and through education in Southeast Asia. The roadmap offers a way forward for the region at the policy level and should include: summary overview of the regional context around school violence, gender, and learning; synthesis of barriers and bottlenecks hindering progress, as identified during the workshop; a regional roadmap or framework of actionable priorities for SEAMEO/ASEAN over the next five years; and a brief analysis of potential capacity needs to facilitate successful implementation. The roadmap will then undergo two rounds of technical review and validation by UNICEF and partners.

1d. Presentation of Roadmap at policy level event

The expert will prepare a presentation of the final roadmap document and present it at a high-level policy forum to be planned with partners as part of the programme. This may require travel to the region.

Deliverable #2. Helpdesk to provide technical support to countries on preparing their national policy analyses and related topics: 

The provision of helpdesk support offers tailored technical assistance to priority countries in finalizing national roadmaps aligned with the regional agenda. Working closely with UNICEF Country Offices, the support addresses specific needs and challenges, ensuring that national efforts are harmonized with regional goals.

Deliverable #3. Policy brief on learning, gender, violence, and well-being 

3a. Policy brief

In collaboration with the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Programme (SEA- PLM) Secretariat, and SEA-PLM quantitative experts, a policy brief will be developed to unpack and analyze the linkages between school violence, gender and learning for girls in the SEA-PLM 2024 data. Focused on unpacking enablers and barriers related to gender norms and violence in schools, the brief will shed light on critical policy priorities in the region. Based on quantitative tables, provided by the SEA-PLM Secretariat, the expert will be preparing the draft and final policy brief, narrative analysis of the data, policy implications and recommendations. The brief will also go through two rounds of review and validation by countries and partners.

3b. Power Point Presentation

Participation and presentation at the Policy Roundtable discussion on the SEA-PLM 2024 findings, with a thematic focus on violence, gender norms and disparities and well-being, planned in collaboration with SEAMEO and the Asia-Pacific Learning and Education 2030+ Networking Group, co-convened by UNICEF and UNESCO. 

Deliverables & Timeline:

Duration of Contract:  1 April 2024 – 30 June 2026 

Duty Travel:  The consultancy will tentatively require three travels to the region, based on approval by supervisor and office management and to be determined as per Inception report discussion. Exact travel destination and timeframe to be confirmed.

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

• Master’s or advanced degree in education, social sciences, gender studies, child protection and social services, international development, or a related field.

• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible relevant experience in the field of education, gender-based violence, including gender norms, mental health, and other related fields and in working with governments in low- and middle-income countries. Specific experience in School Related Gender Based Violence will be a strong asset.

• High level technical experience and knowledge in the area of gender and education in the East Asia and Pacific Region required.

• Substantial experience in working with SEAMEO, ASEAN, will be a strong asset.

• Proven experience of high-quality report writing and documentation.

• Resourcefulness, flexibility, and the ability to prioritize large amounts of work while under pressure

• Good analytical, facilitation, communication, and presentation skills.

• Politically and culturally sensitive, awareness of gender issues, with qualities of patience, tact, and diplomacy

• A minimum of 10 years of experience with either the UN

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposed daily professional fee in USD by 31 March 2024.

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.

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UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

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. 

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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.