Consultant (S4D Youth Leadership programme) Pretoria, South Africa

Provide technical and related support to UNICEF South Africa in the implementation of the Sport for Development and Youth Leadership programme in the priority education districts

Background and Justification

Physical Education and Sport for Development (PES4D) is a strategy that is used by many developmental partners bring about social change and cohesion in distressed communities. This concept is based on the fact that sport and physical education is fundamental to the early development of children and youth and the skills learned during play, physical education and sport contribute to the holistic development of young people.

The Sport for Development programme (PES4D) forms part of the Department of Basic Education’s Child Friendly Schools Framework (CFS) also known as Care an Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) which seeks to increase access, retention, completion and learning achievement by supporting: comprehensive life skills; psychosocial support programmes; building partnerships with parent, learners and communities, civil society and private sector at school level; and improving school environment for health and safety.

UNICEF has been supporting the Department of Basic Education (DBE) for the past nine (9) years to implement Sports for Development (S4D) programme as a co-curricular initiative that addresses social issues through physical activity and life-skills. Since its inception in 2008, S4D has evolved to support the development of the School’s Sports Policy, teacher development through accredited training in Physical Education (PE), Youth Leadership training through the Girls, Boys Education Movement (GBEM)

In 2012 UNICEF together with the DBE launched a S4D Youth Leadership (S4DYL). The S4DYL programme provides opportunities for high school youth leaders to engage in meaningful activities, have a voice, take responsibility for their actions, and actively participate in sport and youth development programmes within their school. Currently we have 5 provinces that are participating in the S4DYL programme: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng with over 17 321 learners that have benefited from the programme since 2012

As part of S4DYL learners are required to organize inter-class sport tournaments at their schools. The S4DYL have 2 core activity areas: peer leaders leading weekly dialogues/discussions and peer leaders organising interclass tournaments. Learners, educators, district and provincial officials participate in the programme to ultimately be awarded a prize at the National Awards in the respective categories. The programme has begun to show results in encouraging young people take leadership roles, resilient under scrutiny.

Recent site visits revealed that S4DYL is one of the strongest catalysts towards influencing change amongst learner attitudes and behaviours in participating schools. Majority of the members of the S4DYL have reported an increase in self-confidence, communication skills and in their ability to work and function as part of a team. Members also demonstrated high levels of courage and resilience as they seek ways to reach learners who engages in risky sexual and substance abuse behaviour.

UNICEF therefore intends to expand and strengthen its current support to the identified critical districts by building capacity of educators, learners and key stakeholders from communities to implement Sport for Development with strong emphasis on youth leadership and community engagement to address various form of school based violence. This will be achieved through capacity building in of youth leaders to facilitate different sporting codes and community dialogues with an intention to build social cohesion and contributing towards ending school based violence. 

Scope of Work

1. Goal and Objective: 

To strengthen successful delivery of the S4D Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) within South African schools, through the training of educators, coaches, learners and community members as agreed with the Department of Sport (DSR) and Recreation and DBE.

2. Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered:

This assignment links to and will assist us to achieve AWP output 1.3 which that endeavours to have an  increased number of schools that meet national quality standards based on 'safe and caring child-friendly schools' (SCCFS) model, with a focus on quintile 1 and 2 schools.

3. Activities and Tasks:  

• Overall, support the education programme in the effective and  efficient delivery of the S4DYL Programme in identified critical communities
• directly contribute to the development of implementation plans for all [define number] new Youth Leadership (LP) programme sites and update plans for existing programme sites
• Provide technical expertise on social impact assessments in the identification and selection of new/additional school communities for programme expansion
• Provide technical guidance and specialised expertise on  PES4D that embraces social inclusion/integration thereby managing diversity in communities which lead to social cohesion, skill enhancement and overall community development
• Provide technical and programmatic assistance with school and community engagements on critical issues related to school based violence, such as bullying, Gender Based Violence and xenophobia.  
• Facilitate the training for educators, learners and key community stakeholders  on using sport as a tool to facilitate social change and behaviour for young people
• Develop, implement and monitor the social mobilisation strategy and plan in all identified communities
•  Support continuous monitoring of existing S4DYL programme sites, physically and virtually
• Prepare background documentation and notes for the record with action points following each meeting and/or briefing with key partners/stakeholders 
• Provide technical and specialist input to assist in preparation of audio visual, PowerPoint presentations
• Provide logistical and expert technical support to all communication and programmatic events related to S4D
• Contribute in the development of human interest stories including motion and still photography as may be appropriate in the course of carrying out the foregoing tasks
• Be ready when called upon to contribute to the factual production of quality donor and annual reporting through provision of required information, data, photos, stories and other forms of documentation  
• Subject to consultation and mutual agreement, undertake any additional task and/or responsibilities as delegated by the UNICEF supervisor.

 1.Management of consultancy :

The consultant will be managed by UNICEF and work in close collaboration with the Department of Basic Education, Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), the and local government to focus on  the schools and community structures supported as  to contribute towards making schools conducive environments for teaching and learning through use of S4DYL Programme. In consultation with UNICEF and the aforementioned government departments, the consultant will also work with other community based implementing partners in ensuring synergy in the implementation of the S4DYL Programme.

4.Outputs/Deliverables:  

•  S4DYL programme orientation in 10 new programme sites is delivered as identified in the expansion strategy of the programme and the report detailing the outcome is submitted   
• Programme support committees in all 10 new implementation sites in place and a detailed report regarding each committee’s performance is submitted.
• Concept note and strategy for social mobilisation within the context of Sport for Development developed, with special focus to prevention of bullying, gender based violence and xenophobia in school
• At least 5 community profiles where the social mobilisation strategy is to be implemented prepared and submitted
• Training manual on prevention of xenophobia as a supplementary module to the existing Youth Leadership manual developed
• Social mobilisation strategy in the identified communities ensure buy in from all key stakeholders implemented [This include holding school led community engagements and dialogues on issues that contribute to making schools unsafe with main focus on  bullying, gender based violence and xenophobia].
• Messages, posters and leaflets in support of the social mobilisation strategy with a special focus on the three focus areas developed
• Detailed report regarding the planning, organising and facilitation of 4 Provincial S4DYL Camps with programme partners
• Comprehensive report detailing planning, organising and facilitation of the S4DYL National Conference and Awards

Payment Schedule

Desired competencies, technical background and experience

The applicant must have;

•  A University Degree in Social Sciences, Sport Management/Science, Development Studies or other relevant qualification.
• A Postgraduate qualification will be an added advantage.
• Experience in working with government departments locally, provincially and nationally.
• Experience working with youth and community organisations.
• Excellent understanding of school based violence in the context of South Africa
• Excellent knowledge and skills in creating and managing change in communities, this involves understanding of community needs and setting direction and urgency for change
• Good knowledge and skills in building strategic alliances,  this involves engaging external stakeholder and being able to negotiate agreements and alliances based on a full understanding of the community dynamics, power and politics
•  Experience in high risk areas would be beneficial.
• At least 5 years’ experience working within the field of youth development at national level.
• Experience in designing and delivering Sport for Development youth leadership curriculum and training processes.
• Experience in managing data and programme quality assurance
• Excellent analytical and communication skills.

Good reading and writing skills in the English language.

 Administrative issues

• UNICEF will make a work space and the required work equipment available to the consultant when s/he is at the UNICEF offices.
• In a case where the consultant might not be based in Pretoria, South Africa, s/he has the option of working from his or her own office or a personal work station
• Should the consultant choose not to or unable to operate from the UNICEF office, s/he will be required to utilise their personal resources in getting work obligations completed

Conditions

• The consultant will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts
• As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.
• A work plan is to be submitted and ratified by the Education Officer (S4D) and approved by the Youth and Adolescents Development Specialist before any work is undertaken.

 All travel for official work purposes will be discussed and approved by the Education Officer (S4D)

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates are requested to submit their application to the following link: https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=507748 by 20 October 2017.

This notice will also appear on http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/, http://www.unicef.org/southafrica, UN Job List, UN Jobs.

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in ZAR) to undertake the terms of reference above (including admin cost if applicable).  

Applications submitted without a fee rate will not be considered.

We invite you to watch a short video on the system on how to apply: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePgDIQ9RVYs&feature=youtu.be 

If you have not been contacted within 1 month of the closing date please accept that your application was unsuccessful. Regret emails will be sent only to shortlisted/contacted candidates.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from South African nationals, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation