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Consultant - ECD Inclusion within Global Humanitarian Coordination Architecture Structures

  • Organization: IRC - International Rescue Committee
  • Location:
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Poverty Reduction
    • Architecture, Building and Property Management
    • Humanitarian Aid and Coordination
    • Education, Learning and Training
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Children's rights (health and protection)
    • Managerial positions
  • Closing Date: Closed

Scope of Work:

The Moving Minds Alliance (MMA) is a growing multi-stakeholder partnership of over 30 member organisations, including Foundations, NGOs, UN Agencies and Accademia, working to scale up the financing, policies, and leadership needed to effectively support the youngest children and families affected by crisis and displacement globally. The MMA is hosted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

The MMA’s Joint Advocacy Group on Humanitarian Architecture (JAG) is working to ensure that early childhood development (ECD) becomes a core component of every humanitarian response. To achieve this goal, the group is pursuing several areas of work focused on effectively embedding ECD work into OCHA-led processes such as the GHO as well as IASC policy channels and the global cluster architecture. In support of this work, the JAG is recruiting a consultant to gather and synthesize the experiences from other cross cutting issue areas in:

a) getting cross-cutting issues onto key agendas at the policy and global cluster levels;

b) integrating key elements of the topic into key existing clusters; and

c) representing the topic within the formal policy and global cluster structures.

Specific topics of interest that should be addressed in the final report include:

-          How are other cross-cutting topics such as gender, disability and inclusion, cash, youth, etc. addressed at the policy level within the IASC structure and (consequently) represented within the global cluster system? What elements of this are effective and what are not?

-          How does UNHCR internally coordinate and address these same issues at a global level?

For each of a) b) and c) outlined above, the report should address the perspectives of current and former global leads, OCHA inter-cluster coordinators on cross cutting topics and relevant UNHCR staff related to:

-          Which parts of their efforts worked and why?

-          Which parts didn’t work well and what would they have done differently?

-          Were there differences in how certain approaches worked at a global versus at response implementation level?

-          Was there any difference in how the coordination structures responded to locally led pressures for greater integration at crisis response levels versus global or ‘top down’ guidance? Which seemed more likely to lead to sustainable change and why?

-          Are there other pathways/entry points they considered or would recommend if doing this work again?

-          What from their experience do you think is most relevant to ECD actors as we think about this same work?

The report should also include the perspectives of current or former cluster leads and current workstream members who interacted with those cross-cutting issues as well as relevant UNHCR staff to provide an understanding of:

-          What is their understanding of Early Childhood Development in Emergencies (ECDiE) as a topic and how it relates to their sector?

-          What has been their experience in integrating various cross cutting issues into their own sector?

-          Were some issues more straightforward or more challenging to integrate and what were the factors that influenced this?

-          What resources and/or approaches were most successful? Consider here both globally led approaches, such as IASC guidance as well as efforts by clusters, including any examples at country level to integrate topics in a voluntary man or in response to other locally led initiatives and pressures.

-          What were least effective? Were there differences in how certain approaches work at a global vs. an implementation level?

-          Based on that experience, what would they recommend as the best way for the ECDiE community to accomplish a) b) and c) above.

Key Stakeholders and Relationships

-          Consultant will be accountable to the co-leads of the MMA Joint Advocacy Group (JAG)

-          Close coordination with other members of the JAG and MMA Core team (Director and Senior Manager Engagement)

-          Working relationship with key contacts within the humanitarian coordination architecture

-          It is expected that the work will be conducted virtually from the consultant’s normal place of work.

Core Consulting Tasks

-          Review relevant literature, both published and (where available) unpublished;

-          Conduct interviews and/or focus group discussions with current and previous representatives of cross-cutting topics (including gender, disability and inclusion, cash, youth) within the cluster system as well as with active members of those work streams;

-          Conduct interviews and/or focus group discussions with current and/or previous global cluster leads, relevant UNHCR staff and other relevant leaders within the cluster system;

-          Analyze the collected information in a systematized and rigorous manner, to be outlined as a brief addendum to the report; and

-          Work with the JAG leadership on necessary revisions to ensure completeness and quality of the final report.

Deliverables:

-          An inception report of less than 5 pages, outlining the proposed work plan (including a timeline, anticipated interviewees and source materials), the proposed structure of the final report and a clear articulation of the consultant’s understanding of the report and its objectives

-          A first draft/mid-contract report, outlining the initial findings and rough content to be included in the final report to ensure alignment with consultancy objectives; and

-          A final report addressing the questions outlined above and including:

o   A synthesized analysis of trends across various respondents and sectors;

o   Highlights of the most relevant conclusions for the ECDiE community, with a focus on good practice and lessons identified from other humanitarian topics; and 

o   Evidence-based recommendations for the ECDiE community regarding

§  Topics a) b) and c) outlined above;

§  Whether and, if so, how a position representing ECDiE within the global cluster system should be structured

This vacancy is now closed.
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