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Temporary Appointment (1 year) - Education Specialist (Data Must Speak Regional Coordinator), P3, WCARO, Dakar-Senegal #109145

Dakar

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: Dakar
  • Grade: Mid level - P-3, International Professional - Internationally recruited position
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Statistics
    • Education, Learning and Training
    • Information Technology and Computer Science
    • Managerial positions
  • Closing Date: Closed

Under the guidance of the Regional Education Advisor and direct supervision of the Education Specialist (Data, Monitoring and Evaluation), the incumbent will be part of the Education unit of the UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO). The incumbent will also work in close collaboration with the System Strengthening, Innovation, Data and Evidence for Results (SIDER) team at UNICEF Headquarters Education as well as other colleagues of the Education unit of WCARO and other UNICEF regional offices.

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, an education

Organizational Context

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, through everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Through the “promise renewed” commitment, and as part of efforts to strengthen organizational capacity to support quality education for all children, UNICEF has re-emphasized its focus on equity which is at the core of the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Millennium Declaration and Education for All (EFA), UNICEF works to ensure the right of all children to education. One of the key outputs under Goal Area 2 “Every child learns” in the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan is “Countries have strengthened their education systems for gender-equitable learning outcomes” within which community participation in education is one of the five dimensions of an effective education system for learning outcomes.

In order to support progress towards the achievement of this output, UNICEF designed the “Data Must Speak” (DMS) initiative and successfully submitted funding proposals to the Global Partnership for Education and to Hewlett Foundation for its implementation. The DMS initiative: i) provides direct field support and capacity building of Ministries of Education for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management; and ii) supports analysis, dissemination and use of data on the impact of community involvement on school resources and performance. Started in 2014, the initiative is, in 2018, jointly implemented by Headquarters’ (HQ) and Regional Offices’ education teams in eight countries (incl.  Chad, Niger and Togo). There is an increased demand from Country Offices (COs) of the West and Central Africa Region (WCAR) to be part of it.

Under the guidance of the Regional Education Advisor and direct supervision of the Education Specialist (Data, Monitoring and Evaluation), the incumbent will be part of the Education unit of the UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO). The incumbent will also work in close collaboration with the System Strengthening, Innovation, Data and Evidence for Results (SIDER) team at UNICEF Headquarters Education as well as other colleagues of the Education unit of WCARO and other UNICEF regional offices. She/he will have close collaboration with other sections of UNICEF WCARO, in particular the Communication for Development (C4D) unit, and with Country Offices, staff of other UN Agencies, and Government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors ensuring successful UNICEF education programme implementation in West and Central Africa.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the Job

The Education Specialist will (i) provide direct field support and capacity building for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management for the implementation of the DMS initiative in WCAR;  (ii) monitor the implementation of DMS activities in participating countries to facilitate cross-pollination, South-to-South cooperation and alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities;  (iii) support analysis of data on the impact of community involvement on school resources and performance and its communication/dissemination in a user-friendly manner; and iv) serve as the technical regional focal point for the implementation of the recommendations of the formative evaluation of the DMS Initiative.

SUMMARY OF KEY FUNCTIONS/ACCOUNTABILITIES

  1. Build capacity and provide support to CO education teams and Ministries of Education for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management for the implementation of the DMS initiative, focusing on the achievement of the following results:
  • Capacity building of CO staff and Ministries of education for designing monitoring tools, such as district/school profile cards and education equity indices.
  • Quality assurance of education indicators and data to be used in monitoring tools and related support to Education Management Information System (EMIS) strengthening
  • Technical support in collaboration with the C4D regional and HQ section for an effective plan for the dissemination and use of the monitoring tools

    1. Monitor the implementation of DMS activities, focusing on the achievement of the following results:
  • Effective and timely implementation of DMS in the participating countries
  • Cross-pollination and South-to-South cooperation
  • Support to alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities
  1. Support analysis of data on the impact of community involvement on school resources and performance and its communication/dissemination in a user-friendly manner:
  • Support country-level analyses of available evidence on the impact of community/parental participation on school resources and performance, using EMIS and MICS data
  • Technical assistance and capacity building of CO staff and Ministries of education in disseminating and applying the results in education and C4D programming and planning.
  1. Serve as the technical regional focal point for the formative evaluation of the DMS initiative, focusing on the achievement of the following result:
  • Lessons learned from the DMS activities in WCAR countries are reported and used for knowledge exchange within WCAR and more globally for informing the next implementation phases of the DMS initiative

    Impact of Results

    The key results have an impact on institutional capacity building (in particular of COs and Ministry of Education staff) and on strengthening national education systems and accountability, which, in turn, will lead to increased school attendance and learning outcomes.

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

    Education:

    Advanced university degree in Social Science with a major focus on statistics or economics, or equivalent.

    Experience:

    At least five years of work experience at national or international levels in fields relevant to education economics and/or education Monitoring and Evaluation. Experience working in the UN or other international development organization an asset.

    Language Requirements:     

    Fluency in French and working proficiency in English

    For every Child, you demonstrate, commitment

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

    The competencies required for this post are:

 

Core Values

 

  • Commitment
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Integrity

 

Core competencies

 

  • Communication (II)
  • Working with people (II)
  • Drive for results (II)

 

 

Functional Competencies:

 

§  Leading and Supervising (I)

§  Formulating Strategies and Concepts (II)

§  Analyzing (III) 

§  Relating and Networking (II)

§  Deciding and Initiating Action (II)        

§  Applying Technical Expertise (III)

 

 

 

Technical Competencies (all from Generic Education Job Description except for the last one which is specific to this post):

§  Good understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict, and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health and Communications within UNICEF).

§  Good knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming.

§  Good ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programmes and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.

§  Good education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Education), cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues.

§  Good education and policy sector analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education data sets, indicators, tools for analysis of equity, determinants of student access and learning, budget, cost and financing, education system management, political economy and application to education policy and strategic planning.

§  Good ability to support engagement with partners (e.g. Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education in Emergency Clusters, Education Provider Forums, Delivering as One, Inter-sectoral partnerships such as in

ECD), as well as networking with other key partners.

§  Good understanding of gender and inequity issues in relation to education and development and the application of gender / equity analysis to policy and planning in education.

§  Strong working knowledge of Excel and of a statistical package software

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.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

 Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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

This vacancy is now closed.
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