Senior Consultant (GPE Climate-smart initiative) UNESCO-IIEP

OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station: Paris

Classification of duty station: [[filter12]]

Standard Duration of Assignement : [[filter13]]

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : From 7 to 11 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 28 June 2024

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

This consultancy contract is  for a period of 11 months and  is home-based with frequent travels to partner countries.

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Background and rationale

One billion children – nearly half of the world’s children – live in ‘extremely high risk’ countries on account of climate and environmental shock and stress. Nearly 40 million children a year have their education interrupted by climate-induced disasters and subsequent disease outbreaks following extreme weather events. Climate change is also linked to multiple indirect effects on children’s education, increasing risks of malnutrition, disruption of livelihoods, increased child marriage and child labor, which keep children out of school.

Teachers are often not prepared to teach about climate change and environmental subjects, and schools are often not well-equipped to prepare students to become empowered to both find and apply solutions and mobilize their communities for climate action. The foundations of a just transition to green livelihoods and lifestyles depend on the ability of education systems to provide relevant, quality, equitable learning opportunities to all children.

GPE partner countries as a whole are particularly vulnerable to climate change; out of the top 60 countries ranked by UNICEF as having the highest children’s climate risk in the world, 55 are GPE partners. In a survey of all GPE Partner countries in February 2023, 88.5% of survey respondents (23/26) indicated their demand for this type of support.

The Climate Smart Education Initiative aims to enhance countries’ capacities to mainstream climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability into education sector plans, budgets and strategies as well as to enhance education ministry capacity for cross-sectoral coordination on climate and environment-related policy and programming.

CSESI inception and implementation process at country level

The implementation process for the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative follows a cycle with the following steps: (1) Inception phase : identification of country need and demand,) identification of country priorities and validation by the LEG ; (2) Development of costed technical workplan; (3) Endorsement by the Ministry of Education; (4) Implementation of capacity support; (5) Monitoring, adaptation and learning; (6) Close out and evaluation.

Long Description

Purpose of the Assignment

The assignment for this consultancy is to support the inception and implementation of the Climate Smart Education Initiative on behalf of IIEP in up to three countries, including Pakistan, Cambodia. The third partner country is yet to be confirmed.

Duties and Expected Outputs

Duties and Expected Outputs

Specifically the consultant will be tasked to:

1. Lead the implementation of the Pakistan inception phase on behalf of UNESCO IIEP by: 1) reviewing the inception report  developed by the Initiative’s partners and relevant documents on planning and data for climate change in Pakistan, 2) conducting virtual stakeholder consultations to complement the findings and have an initial contact with the key stakeholders in the four provinces, 3) participating in a scoping mission at federal level to validate the findings and define priority areas of work based on the inception report in the four provinces of Pakistan, and 4) developing a  workplan and budget for a regional programme for the four provinces based on the inception report analysis and stakeholder consultations.
2. Lead the implementation of the initiative’s activities in Pakistan, including through facilitation of regional workshops bringing together the 4 provinces, as determined by the inception process.
3. Lead the implementation of the initiative’s activities in Cambodia including: 1) the development to of a national risk analysis and operational plan for climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability, 2) the development of a survey tool on the impact of climate change on education.
4. Lead the implementation of the inception phase in one additional country by liaising with and coordinating inputs from the global initiative team, the technical teams, and country-level colleagues for: 1) the development and implementation of scoping missions, and 2) the development and finalization of country-specific programme documents in up to one additional country, to be determined,
5. Support coordination with administrative and finance colleagues to support disbursement of funds to implementing entities including UNESCO FOs and sub-contractors as relevant
6. Work in close collaboration with the technical teams and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning officer for the programme to monitor implementation.

Long Description

Timetable and deliverables

1. Submission of Pakistan scoping mission report and inputs for final workplan and budget for a regional programme, 30 September 2024
2. Submission of Cambodia risk analysis, 30 December 2024
3. Submission of scoping mission report and inputs for final workplan and budget for a third country, 1 March 2025
4. Submission of Cambodia operational plan, 30 June 2025

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Academic qualifications

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in the field of education, international development, social sciences or economics.

Years of relevant work experience

• At least ten years of experience in the field of education technical cooperation projects, in particular in the area of crisis-sensitive planning, of which preferably seven years acquired at international level.

Competencies

• Excellent knowledge of the issues surrounding education in the context of developing and/or emerging countries, in particular of those related to educational planning and management in Pakistan and Cambodia.
• Confirmed understanding of contemporary developments in the global education arena and of effective strategies for improving educational planning and management, in particular in crisis-affected contexts.
• Ability to design, manage and implement development programmes/projects with considerable autonomy.
• Proven competencies to advise Member States on questions related to the role of education in preventing crisis and mitigating its effects.
• Ability to design and implement training programmes and capacity development workshops.
• Ability to work with and lead multicultural teams.
• Ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Excellent ability to build and sustain effective partnerships inside and outside of the Organization.
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written).
• Excellent IT skills, including knowledge of MS software (Word, Excel etc.)

Language requirement

• Excellent knowledge of French or English and good knowledge of the other language.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in developing training materials
• Knowledge of other official UNESCO languages (Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Russian).

Supervisory arrangements

Under the overall authority of IIEP Director and the Technical Cooperation Team lead, the consultant will report to the lead of the Equity and Resilience Cluster and will lead on the implementation of the first four steps of the process as outlined above on behalf of the UNESCO-IIEP.

Duration:

This consultancy is for 11 months.

Additional information

• This Consultancy is home-based with frequent travels to partner countries.
• IIEP will cover all  travel costs as and when travel to partner countries are  identified.
• Travel expenses will be covered by IIEP according to UN travel rules (airplane tickets + DSA) including the visa required.
• Payment is conditional on the completion of the tasks and the satisfactory submission of the deliverables within the deadlines defined above, unless otherwise agreed with the project leader.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Candidates who meet the required qualifications are invited to apply before 21june by submitting:

• An updated CV (maximum five pages) via UNESCO CAREERS
• A technical and a financial proposal (maximum 3 pages) to  : consultancytc@iiep.unesco.org

NOTE : The CV together with the technical and financial proposal must be sent to the email address consultancytc@iiep.unesco.org for the file to be eligible. 

The technical and financial offer should briefly outline:

• The consultant’s appreciation of the mission, its scope, and the challenges for its implementation.
• The consultant’s understanding of the assignments, highlighting his/her relevant experience.
• The consultant’s proposed remuneration based on the deliverables requested.

Applications that do not include this information will not be considered for the following phases of the counting process.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The consultant may be selected before the date indicated above.

Only retained candidates will be contacted.

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

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