National Consultancy- Education in Emergencies, 11.5 months, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

UNICEF Mongolia is looking for a national consultant who will provide support in ensuring effective and efficient coordination of UNICEF Mongolia's interventions and response actions to support education sector during and beyond pandemic.

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, a champion.

The government’s decision to close all education facilities including schools and kindergartens due to COVID 19 has directly affected more than 900,000 children under the age of 18. By order No A/43 of the Minister dated 27 January 2020, rapid response actions were decided to ensure education is continued during this time through broadcasting of TV lessons for pre-school, primary and secondary levels based on their respective curricula. The TV lessons continued since 3rd of February.

The schools re-opened in September but closed again in November 2020 due to community transmission of COVID-19 in the country. This has effectively halted the learning process of children nationwide for almost 2 consecutive academic years. As a result, many children including those from disadvantaged groups are at high risk of learning loss of a varying degree as well as their physical and mental wellbeing.

This requires for more rapid actions and response in terms of ensuring equitable and inclusive access to distance learning for all children as well as strengthening education system for emergency preparedness and response in the future scenarios.

In this regard, UNICEF Mongolia has working closely with the Government in taking major key response measures such as development of the Education sector contingency plan, safe- school re-opening protocols and support their implementation. Also, online interactive e-learning contents which complements existing TV lessons by ensuring children engagement and participation in the learning process was developed to support the provision of continuity of quality education. Moreover, in order to reach out to children with no access to TV and online platform, audio lessons as well as workbooks for both pre-primary and primary education have been developed and distributed to the target children and parents. In addition, UNICEF Mongolia as a co-lead for Education Cluster for Emergency, has been leading and coordinating education sector response measures, along with other partner organizations.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of Education Specialist, the consultant will work closely with sectoral specialists to ensure the implementation of emergency response activities of UNICEF Mongolia to COVID 19 but not limited to:  and strengthen emergency preparedness and response measures of country office for any further emergency. He/she will also work closely with the education cluster members to make sure contingency plan of education is implemented. The specific tasks include but not limited to:

• Take a lead on planning, implementing and monitoring of UNICEF Mongolia’s response actions to COVID 19 in education sector  (e.g., implementation of education contingency plan, safe school re-opening protocols and so on)
• Ensure cross-sectoral collaboration in UNICEF Mongolia’s COVID 19 response, wherever necessary
• Provide support in coordination and management of on-going initiatives around digital transformation developed in response to COVID 19
• Support the Education cluster coordination for emergency and actively participate cluster meetings
• Proactively identify areas of opportunity to improve the current circumstance and take necessary follow-up actions
• Documentation and knowledge management including facilitation and support of production of case studies, lessons learned, and visibility materials related to COVID-19 response.
• Provide support for coordination, collaboration and communication with regional office, cluster members and other partners in emergency response and preparedness
• Lead internal/external all types of reporting on COVID 19 response measures in education sector and support the relevant fundraising opportunities by developing compelling proposals to donors and funds.
• Work in close collaboration with the Education team and complete other tasks as assigned by the Education Specialist, and as necessitated by the emergency situation.

Contract duration (start and end date): 15 June 2021 – 30 May 2022 (11.5 months.)

      Type of engagement: Full time. Consultant will be eligible for 1.5 days paid time off (PTO) per month. During COVID-19 pandemic, specific internal procedures including COVID-19 care pathway will apply in addition to the Mongolian Government policies and measures.
 
Deliverables, Timeframe and Payment Schedule:  The consultant will be paid upon the presentation and acceptance of the satisfactory monthly progress report with the completion of key deliverables.

Project Management: Direct supervisor - Education Specialist

Frequency of performance review: Weekly progress and monthly performance review will be conducted by the direct supervisor to ensure the quality and timely delivery of given tasks.

For more detailed Terms of Reference please click  Consultancy ToR for Education in Emergency_ Ad.pdf

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

• Masters or advanced degree in education, social sciences, international development, humanitarian response or related field.
• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and/or international levels in education sector, preferably basic education
• At least 2 years of professional work experience in areas of emergency preparedness and response, and/or disaster risk reduction
• Solid 3-5 years of experience in programme/project management and coordination among different stakeholders will be advantage.
• Fluency in Mongolian and English (verbal and written).
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office and collaborative document software.
• Proven excellent project/programme coordination and management skill
• Previous experience working with humanitarian organization and humanitarian setting is a plus.
• Familiar with the UN system and knowledge about cluster mechanism is desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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 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.