Consultancy: Review and Roadmap of UNICEF’s Inclusive Education Programming in East Asia and the Pacific Region, EAPRO, Bangkok, Thailand

The Education Section, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to map the progress of countries and UNICEF programmes in the region of East Asia and the Pacific in advancing inclusive education for children, with a particular focus on children with disabilities of pre-primary and primary school age, and to recommend a theory of change and roadmap for UNICEF’s regional work on inclusive education for children with disabilities based on the experiences in the countries.

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.

And we never give up.

 

For every child,

UNICEF Thailand works to ensure the rights of all children in Thailand. 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 East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant to map the progress of countries and UNICEF programmes in the region of East Asia and the Pacific in advancing inclusive education for children, with a particular focus on children with disabilities of pre-primary and primary school age, and to recommend a theory of change and roadmap for UNICEF’s regional work on inclusive education for children with disabilities based on the experiences in the countries. 

The consultancy has the following objectives:

1. To review and document the nature, successes, challenges and gaps of UNICEF supported Inclusive Education programmes for children with disabilities in each country in the EAP region, implemented since 2015;
2. Develop a regional theory of change for Inclusive Education and recommendations for future programming; and
3. Propose a roadmap for the next 3-5 years, which includes staged approaches (or game changers) to Inclusive Education for a variety of contexts to scale up interventions and accelerate results for children with disabilities.

Geographically, the evaluation will cover UNICEF Offices in: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, DPR Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, Viet Nam and the 15 Pacific islands.

 

Work Assignment:

The primary task of the consultant is to undertake a review of UNICEF’s Inclusive Education programming in EAP to identify successful practices, innovative approaches, gaps and Country Office needs for technical support. The end goal of the assignment is to produce a regional Theory of Change and roadmap for Inclusive Education programming at the regional level.

It is expected that the methodology will employ both a theory-based (re-constructing the theory of change) and a mixed-methods approach drawing on key background documents, monitoring frameworks at country and regional levels and interviews with key informants.  Key documents, data and a contact list of relevant informants will be provided once a contractual agreement has been made.

The review and analysis should be structured around the following general categories of UNICEF interventions:

• Improving laws and policies;
• Improving the quality of the learning environment;
• Developing teaching and learning materials;
• Building capacity of human resources and institutions;
• Changing negative attitudes toward inclusive education; and
• Improving data and monitoring systems on inclusive education.

 

The methodology should include the following steps:

Step 1. Desk review. The consultant will review prominent regional literature on Inclusive Education, UNICEF strategy documents from global, regional and country levels, data (where available) on the levels of education enrolment, participation and learning (against M&E indicators) regarding children with disabilities; and policy and programme documents provided by country offices. This step should produce: 1) a 5-page summary of key frameworks, strategies and data in the region on Inclusive Education; and, 2) a basic mapping of what UNICEF is doing in Inclusive Education at country and regional levels, using the six categories above as a framework.

Step 2. Data collection and discussions with key stakeholders. Based on the desk review, the consultant will develop an interview tool to collect and compile feedback from country offices on ongoing initiatives, approaches used, opportunities and challenges faced at the country level for each of the categories above. With UNICEF support, the consultant will discuss with 25 UNICEF Country Offices and other stakeholders to answer the questions in the interview tool.

Step 3. Good practices case studies. Based on the analysis above, the consultant will identify good practices as well as the use of innovative approaches and develop at least three case studies of ten pages each to document them.

Step 4. Data analysis Based on the data and analysis in Steps 1and 2, the consultant will compile and analyze the data based on the categories above. The consultant should use the following key questions to guide the analysis: 1) What is the nature of UNICEF programmes in the categories above and to what indicators are being used to track progress? 2) What are the successes, challenges and gaps in current work at country and regional level? 3) What changes if any should be made to the Theory of Change for Inclusive Education in the region? 4) What is the recommended roadmap for UNICEF’s programming in Inclusive Education from 2018-2021?

Step 5. Theory of Change and Roadmap. The consultant will use the analyses above to construct a Theory of Change for advancing inclusive education in the region. the consultant will then suggest a roadmap for inclusive education programming in the region at country and regional level from 2018-2021. It should include staged approaches for a variety of contexts to scale up interventions and accelerate results for inclusive education for children with disabilities.

Step 6. Draft report. The consultant will prepare a report, with the following sections:

• Situation of education for children with disabilities in the region;
• Mapping of UNICEF initiatives in Inclusive Education for children with disabilities;
• Successes, challenges and gaps in Inclusive Education programming at the country level;
• Case studies and current good practices in Inclusive Education for children with disabilities;
• Theory of Change for Inclusive Education at the Regional Level; and
• Roadmap for advancing Inclusive Education for children with disabilities in EAP.

The analysis and report should also consider the following cross-cutting issues:

• To what extent do initiatives address gender specific needs and barriers?
• To what extent do initiatives address the specific needs and barriers of children with disabilities?
• To what extent do initiatives address the specific needs and barriers of children of different age groups, including young children and adolescents?
• To what extent are initiatives specific to a particular country context (HIC, LMIC, LIC, humanitarian, emergency…), needs and available resources?

Step 7. Present the findings.  After sharing the draft report with UNICEF and receiving feedback from the RO, the consultant will develop a PowerPoint and webinar presentation, which will be presented to relevant UNICEF colleagues. The webinar presentation will serve to gather final inputs into the ToC to facilitate the finalization of the report.

Step 8. Finalize report. Based on discussions during the presentation in Step 7, incorporate suggested changes to finalize report.

 

Work Schedule and End Product:

Stage: Step 1. Desk review.

Intermediate Outputs: Summary report of desk review (5 pages)

Timeline: November 2018

 

Stage: Step 2. Data collection and discussions with key stakeholders.   

Intermediate Outputs: A basic mapping of what UNICEF is doing in Inclusive Education at country and regional levels, using the six categories above as a framework (Format TBC)         

Timeline: December 2018 -January 2019

 

Stage: Step 3. Good practices case studies.       

Intermediate Outputs: Three case studies of no more than 5 pages

Timeline: January 2019

 

Stage: Step 4. Data analysis.    

Intermediate Outputs: Discussion of preliminary findings with UNICEF EAPRO     

Timeline: February 2019

 

Stage:  Step 5. Theory of Change and Roadmap.

Intermediate Outputs:  Theory of Change diagram (based on UNICEF guidelines) and 2 page narrative

Timeline: February 2019

 

Stage:  Step 6. Draft report.

Intermediate Outputs: Draft report (25 pages), including sections listed above      

Timeline: February 2019

 

Stage: Step 7. Present the findings.

Intermediate Outputs: Webinar Presentation and PPT

Timeline: March 2019

 

Stage:  Step 8. Finalize report.

Intermediate Outputs:  Final report (25 pages plus annexes)

Timeline: March 2019

 

 Estimated Duration of Contract: 60 working days between November 2018 – May 2019.

 

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

• Advanced degree in Education, and/or Social Sciences with relevant work experience.  
• Minimum 10 years relevant professional experience, Experience working in issues relating to education, disability, social inclusion and/or related fields in developing country contexts.
• Strong experience in research, program management, monitoring and reporting.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and previous experience communicating with partners at different levels.
• Demonstrated ability in work planning and report preparation.
• Demonstrated skills in professional high quality writing in English.
• Experience working in the East Asia Pacific region highly desirable.
• Excellent communication skills in English.
• Experience working with UNICEF an asset.

 

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV or P-11, full contact information of minimum 2 references, availability, complete the attached two templates, and proposed daily professional fee in USD by 24 October 2018.

 FORM P11.doc

 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.

 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, and on any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

 

 

 

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