JOB DESCRIPTION

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, champion.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The consultant will provide technical and coordination support to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS) and the Ministry of Interior (MOI) of the Czech Republic in implementing the refugee response workplans signed between UNICEF and the ministries (MOEYS, MOI) through:

• strengthening education system;
• providing non-formal education and skills-building activities for refugee youth;
• evidence generation and documentation.

Scope of Work

The Czech Republic hosts the highest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita in the European Union. Since the onset of the refugee crisis, over 600,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived, with approximately 400,000 still residing in the country. Among them, 26% are children and 43% are women. About 76,000 refugee youth aged 15-24 years reside in the Czech Republic. Around 1,500 new Ukrainian refugees 15-24 years old enter the Czech Republic each month (as of January 2025).

Since 2022, UNICEF Refugee Response Office in Czechia has partnered with local stakeholders in order to implement programmes supporting UA refugees. At the end of 2025, the office closure is anticipated and therefore partnership closures are planned for autumn 2025.UNICEF seeks to engage with a national consultant to support education section and CESTY programme which provides Ukrainian youth with opportunities to access education, develop skills and smoothly transition to quality first jobs in the Czech Republic.

Under the supervision of Early Childhood Development (ECD) Specialist in the UNICEF Refugee Response Office in the Czech Republic, the consultant is expected to:

1. Support implementation, monitoring, reporting of results and partnership closure for the refugee response in education

The role entails providing technical support to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS) and its implementing partners, including VISK and META, to ensure the partnership’s closure is in full alignment with the agreed deliverables. This includes supporting the dissemination of overall results, developing and publishing communication and advocacy materials, and organising a coordination meeting with all relevant stakeholders—such as government representatives, NGOs, and other partners—to formally hand over the programmes to the government. Additionally, the role involves documenting the partnership and its key initiatives for future reference and learning.

2. Support implementation, monitoring, reporting of results of the non-formal education and skills-building activities for refugee youth under the Cesty (Pathways) programme

The responsibilities include organising and documenting skills-building activities for refugee youth, ensuring that such initiatives are effectively implemented and aligned with the broader objectives of the programme. Furthermore, the role involves supporting sustainability efforts and thoroughly documenting the Pathway 3 approach, capturing key processes, outcomes, and recommendations to inform future interventions and promote long-term impact.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone
Deliverables / Outputs
Timeline / Deadline

Support implementation, monitoring, reporting of results and partnership closure for the refugee response in education

Provide technical support to MOEYS and respective implementing partners (VISK, META) for the closure of the partnership in line with the agreed deliverables.

Support the dissemination of the overall results

• Summary of data on outcome/output for each partnership.
• Contribution to each summary narrative and recommendations provided by UNICEF to each partner.
• Reporting results including indicators and narrative reporting is conducted in line with UNICEF requirement.

2 working days;

By 31 October 2025

Develop and publish communication/advocacy materials.

• 1 human interest story published
• 1 advocacy document to support accreditation of zero-classes finalized

1 working day;

By 31 October 2025

Organise a coordination meeting with all partnership stakeholders (Government, NGOs and other as relevant) to formally hand over the programmes to government.

• 1 coordination and network meeting organised and documented.
• 1 sustainability plan developed

2 working days;

By 31 October 2025

Document the partnership and key initiatives.

• 2-pager summarizing MoEYS partnership developed.
• 2-pager documenting MoEYS mobile teams developed.
• Methodological materials, research reports, assessments organized and documented in the SharePoint Knowledge folder.
• Partnership documentation completed and uploaded to SharePoint folder.

2 working days;

By 31 October 2025

Support implementation, monitoring, reporting of results of the non-formal education and skills-building activities for refugee youth under the Cesty (Pathways) programme

Provide guidance to Youth advisors on youth outreach, documentation and handover

• Weekly meetings with youth advisors with documented progress and agreed action points
• Full documentation of youth engagement and outreach portfolio

8 working days;

By 11 December 2025

Organise and document skills building activities for refugee youth.

• 2 events organized and documented.

2 working days;

By 31 October 2025

Support sustainability efforts and document the Pathway 3

• Cesty.space resources on non-formal education updated (NPI’s guidance)
• Guidance on channelling skills-building opportunities through Cesty.space developed and shared with SUZ, private sector partners and other stakeholders
• Methodological materials, research reports, assessments organized and documented in the SharePoint Knowledge folder.

3 working days;

By 31 October 2025

Estimated Duration of the Contract

20 working days between October and December 2025

Consultant”s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be office-based in Prague.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 20 working days to undertake this assignment.

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

• Bachelor”s degree in Education, Education policy, Early childhood education and care, Early childhood development, Social sciences, Human Rights, Psychology or other related fields.
• 3-5 years of professional work experience in the field of education in the Czech Republic required.
• Demonstrated experience in project management and coordination required.
• Strong knowledge of Czech Education system required.
• Demonstrated experience in working with Czech Government and local NGOs in the field of Education desired.
• Extensive experience in analysing systems and programs, concepts, guidelines, practical tools and manuals desired.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Excellent team working skills and respect for diversity.
• Ability to work through networking and in partnership.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in Czech and English required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family 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:

Please submit a full CV, a financial proposal (in USD), samples of previous work (attachment or hyperlinks), and a Cover Letter in your application. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements