Education Programming and Policy Senior Advisor

Background:

Led by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), USAID RETO: Research in Education for Transformative Opportunities, aims to assist key education stakeholders in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, to access, understand, and better utilize evidence to design, implement, and communicate about effective education programs and policies that contribute to violence prevention. Outcomes will be achieved through a multi-sectoral integrated approach that achieves behavior change in key stakeholders’ use of evidence and tools to positively impact youth through education to reduce violence.

The objectives include:

1. Gathering and curating existing evidence and knowledge on education’s role in violence prevention to address expressed needs of key stakeholders including local governments and civil society partners including local researchers.

2. Translating and disseminating evidence for use by key stakeholders.

3. Providing customized, demand-driven technical assistance to key stakeholders to help them utilize research findings and related best practices; and

4. Strengthening knowledge systems within countries to improve the use of evidence in decision making around education for youth violence prevention.

RETO will leverage the IRC’s strengths in violence prevention, education programming, and evidence-based research, and will work primarily through partnerships across the NCA countries. RETO’s project staffing and management structure consists of a regional team, with a small Senior Management team including a Chief of Party based in El Salvador, a Deputy Chief of Party in Guatemala, and the E2A Senior Advisor in Honduras. The project is expected to be implemented for three years, from 2021-2024.

The evidence for action specialist, also serving as a technical manager in his/her country, will report directly to the E2A senior advisor and will provide sound methodological guidance to in-country implementing partners in an assigned area of expertise (evidence mapping, knowledge products, education stakeholders).

Please Note: In the current COVID context, deployment actions will be carried out both in person and remotely, depending on the conditions in each country.

Major Responsibilities for this position include:

• Contribute to conduct critical appraisal and evidence syntheses. 
• Contribute to develop and oversee the project’s approach for evidence synthesis, and dissemination with effective modalities to strength institutional capacity to prioritized stakeholders.
• Advise the Senior Management Team (SMT) on the education context in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, specifically notable laws, policies, practices, strategies, points of contacts, and other information relevant for the effectiveness of the uptake of evidence.
• Identify technical experts in education that carry credentials and recognition within the education sector in each country as part of dissemination strategy.
• Assist RETO in “opening doors” at the highest levels of government institutions and help to ensure that the correct strategies and nuances are being considered to ensure that the evidence identified and synthetized, and knowledge products developed will be put into practice, and continue to be used by government institutions, after the life of the Activity.
• Cultivate relationships with highly strategic KES identified in each country.
• Provide follow-on support after technical assistance to track the use of evidence and knowledge products within KES institutions, specifically within their existing policies, processes, and structures.
• Provide guidance to local project staff, partners, and other stakeholders on creating linkages between evidence and practical program decision-making.
• Advise the private sector RETO partners on the implementation of policies and programs based on evidence using the EGM, KP, evidence synthesis, and other inputs generated by RETO.
• Advocate RETOs and IRCs experience and knowhow regionally and nationally when necessary.
• Review and provide input into project quarterly and annual reports, including MEL
• Review and validate advanced evidence products and communication pieces developed by the project’s team
• Communicate IRC's use of evidence approaches externally though project publications, engagements, and advisory support within NCA.
• Other related activities required related to your role according with the implementation plan or annual work plan de USAID RETO Project.