International Individual consultancy for the development of the Programme Document for the System Transformation Grant ,Maseru,Lesotho (70 days spread over 4 months)

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, Education

How can you make a difference? 

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: 

Development of the Program Document and Application for the Global Partnership for Education System Transformation Grant 

UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) to develop a Programme document for the System Transformation Grant (STG) from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Through a series of consultations with different stakeholder groups including relevant line Ministries, CSOs, NGOs, development partners, and teacher formations, Lesotho developed the Education Partnership Compact that identified Enhancing quality of teaching and learning for improved learning attainment in basic education, focusing on the most marginalized learners as a priority reform that will be achieved through education system transformation in the country.

In order to achieve this priority reform, the Compact further outlined three main pillars necessary for overall transformation: (i) Increased equitable and inclusive access to quality early childhood education to improve school readiness; (ii) Enhanced quality and efficiency of primary and lower Secondary Education for improved learning outcomes; and (iii) Strengthened evidence to support learning and its use in education policy and planning.

The MOET has been able to access GPE grants to fund elements of different pillars – the System Capacity Grant (SCG) mainly focuses on evidence generation and data strengthening through Education Sector Analyses, Joint Sector Reviews, EMIS, and Learning Assessments; the Multiplier Grant Phase I focuses on foundational phase interventions (pre-primary to Grade 4) incorporating both access and quality elements; and the Multiplier Grant Phase II focuses on upper primary and lower secondary interventions for out of school children. There is a gap on a comprehensive programme for improving learning outcomes in basic education and the System Transformation Grant (STG) will be used to cover this area. UNICEF has been identified as the Grant Agent (GA) to access and support the implementation of this grant. It is against this background that UNICEF, in collaboration with the MOET, seeks to hire an international expert to provide technical assistance to collaboratively develop a comprehensive proposal for the System Transformation Grant.

Purpose:

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop a comprehensive proposal for the GPE System Transformation Grant in consultation with MOET, LEG, and other relevant stakeholders while ensuring synergies with other grants (SCG and Multiplier) and the already-existing programmes supporting quality of education such as the Lesotho Education Improvement Project (LEIP) by the World Bank.

The specific objectives are:

1. Review key strategic plans and policy documents to ensure alignment to the country needs in basic education.
2. Facilitate consultations with key stakeholders including LEG members and experts as part of the process to identify and cost strategies and plans, as well as identify a pathway for sustainability beyond the grant’s life.
3. Draft and finalize the proposal for the System Transformation Grant, using GPE templates while ensuring relevant feedback from all stakeholders is included, in developing the strategy for achievement of the committed indicators for the programme.

Scope of Work:

Scope of the consultancy

The selected candidate will work closely with MOET, Local Education Group (LEG), sub-sector teams, development partners, other relevant stakeholders and experts on the following:

Review key strategic documents

The key documents include:

• The Education Partnership Compact
• The enabling factors and Independent Technical Assessment Panel Report for Lesotho
• Education Sector Analysis and the Education Sector Plan.
• Voluntary National Review report 2020
• The most recent EMIS statistics
• Other relevant policy and evidence documents.

The expected outcome is to develop an inception report with clear roadmap and methodology for the proposal development and a draft outline of the grant application taking into account the GPE Quality Assurance Review requirements. These deliverables are to be presented for fine-tuning during the consultations.

Facilitate consultations with education stakeholders

Consultant shall consult partners and stakeholders to review the draft document and appropriate strategies to achieve the targets in a coherent fashion. These consultations can be virtual and/or in person. Bilateral meetings will be required to collect additional feedback from stakeholders. These consultations shall create opportunities for dialogues on key issues and priorities that can directly or indirectly affect the programme implementation. The key deliverable is to prepare a comprehensive proposal documenting key bottlenecks and priorities for achieving the objectives set out in the proposal.

Draft and finalize the proposal for the System Transformation Grant

Following the consultations, the consultant shall draft the proposal based on the GPE proposed guidelines and GPE compact document. The draft document shall go through proper validation channels agreed by MOET, LEG, UNICEF, and GPE. Once a draft is presented and finalized at country level it will be shared with the GPE country team lead for feedback. Further, the consultant will finalize the proposal using the relevant templates to be submitted to GPE for approval. The expected outcome is the finalized full proposal for the GPE System Transformation Grant.

Tasks/Milestone: Deliverables/Outputs: Timeline (period/deadline) Payment structure (% of the total fee) Develop an inception report that will detail out the methodology to be adopted, work plan with clear responsibilities, quality assurance checklist as per the GPE STG guidelines and key milestones in the process of developing the programme document. The inception report will entail a desk review of the key sector and sub-sector documents also. Inception report 10 days 10% Undertake consultations with relevant stakeholder groups to understand current programmes and existing gaps, and identify priorities for the programme document in alignment with the Education Partnership Compact

Develop a comprehensive draft programme proposal which includes the theory of change, Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the quality assurance requirements of GPE and the budget as per GPE template Draft proposal document for the STG 30 days 40% Consultative workshops for review of the draft proposal by key stakeholders to inform revision of the programme proposal following feedback from the stakeholders Prepare presentation of the revised final proposal for the endorsement by the Local Education Group Revised proposal with a detailed budget ready for endorsement by the LEG 20 days 20% Prepare application package for submission to the GPE following LEG endorsement. This should be in accordance with the GPE guidelines for submission Final application package 5 days 20% Address any comments and feedback from the GPE Quality Assurance Review QAR feedback addressed 5 days 10%

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

• Masters

Enter Disciplines:

• Educational Planning
• Economics
• Sociology
• Social Sciences

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

The qualifications and skill areas required include:

• Advanced university degree in Education and/or Economics or related social sciences from a recognized institution
• Minimum of eight years of relevant work experience, preferably at national and international levels, in proposal development.
• Professional Experience of working with GPE grants and proposal development process especially basic education
• Demonstrated experience in strategy development for government and/or international development organizations in the social sector
• Fluency in English is a must

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts. 

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