Short-term Individual Consultants/ Experts on Guided Play Activities

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

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 advocate

1. BACKGROUND

Zero to eight years is the period when a child’s linguistic, social-emotional and physical development is the fastest. Research shows that during this period, characterized as the early childhood years, most brain and language development is completed^[1]. This critical early period is when children start to develop thinking, learning, speaking, questioning, self-regulating and social interaction skills. During these significant years of early growth and development, the connections in the brain are intensively established^[2].

Accordingly, the aim of early childhood education (ECE)[3] is to prepare children for social and school life by supporting basic development areas like mental, socio-emotional, language, motor skills and self-care. Research shows that quality education during the early years increases the development potential of children and has a positive influence on their preparedness for primary school and on their success level in school during formal education in the short and medium term. In the long term, quality early learning plays an instrumental role in the development of skills that determine sustainable outcomes in life^[4]. This influence, in turn, points to the strength of ECE in building human capital by investing in the individual starting during the first years of life.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of [insert years] of relevant professional experience in
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT

Short-term individual consultants/experts will be required to travel within Turkey (to the 20 pilot provinces). UNICEF will cover the accommodation and travel expenses of the UNICEF approved trips within Turkey

ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE CONSULTANCY AND PAYMENT SCHEDULES

The contract will be effective from the date of signing until successful submission of the deliverables, which are estimated to require a total of 70 working days over seven months from December 2021 till June 2022.

Given the nature of the deliverables, they will have to be produced at different stages throughout the consultancy. Therefore, payments will be made upon successful completion of all deliverables. The two consultants should possess all the necessary equipment, materials, or software to deliver the tasks mentioned in this ToR. UNICEF TCO will not provide any stationery or a laptop.

COST OF THE CONSULTANCY

Payment schedule: UNICEF will issue a contract with two consultants respectively in Turkish Lira (TRY). The payment will be done in instalments upon deliverables as per contractual agreement and will be executed in TRY.

DUTY STATION

For some of the tasks, the short-term individual consultants/experts will work home-based. The implementation of the guided play activities will take place in 20 provinces (Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Aydın, Bitlis, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Istanbul, İzmir, Kastamonu, Konya, Manisa, Mardin, Samsun, Şanlıurfa, Tekirdağ, Trabzon and Van). The selected short-term individual consultants/experts are expected to travel to the pilot provinces to monitor the implementation and to attend cascade training to provide technical support. UNICEF will decide on the individual consultants’ travel provinces after the  signature of the contract, up to 10 provinces for each consultant hired.

QUALIFICATIONS and WORK EXPERIENCE

1. Education: University degree in pre-school education or equivalent.
2. Language: Professional excellence in oral and written English and Turkish is mandatory.
3. Experience: At least ten years of professional experience in guided play activities and in the area of play and creativity. Previous experiences conducting ECE teacher training and field monitoring, especially around guided play.
4. Knowledge: Clear understanding and sense of ethics with regards to children’s and women’s rights issues
5. Skills: Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills are necessary.

PROCESSES OF APPLICATION

Only individual applications are accepted, team applications will be disregarded.

Applications should be submitted in English and should include:

• Cover letter explaining how the prior experience is in line with the requirements described in this ToR.
•  P11 Form.doc Form or CV, where previous experience is provided in detail.
• Any other document demonstrating the previous related work.
•  Financial Template.docx proposal using the Financial Proposal Template.

The applications will be evaluated from technical and financial points of view.

Technical aspects will be evaluated using the criteria outlined in the below matrix:

The financial proposals will be opened only for the candidates that reach or exceed forty-nine (49) points out of a maximum seventy (70) points. Thirty (30) points will be awarded to the candidate that presented the lowest fee for the services requested. The remaining financial offers will receive proportional points ([lowest bid/bid] x 30 points).

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:

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.

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.