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
Background:
UNICEF in a partnership with the Ministry of Science and Education (MoSE), the State Agency on Preschool and General Education (SAPGE) and other national stakeholders has been implementing a joint programme of cooperation identified by the Country Programme for 2021-2025. Over the last few years, the access to quality inclusive education for children with disabilities was expanded from 12 to 40 inclusive schools enrolling over 250 children with disabilities, at the primary and secondary education levels. Capacities of schoolteachers, school leaders and other education personnel were strengthened to deliver quality inclusive education services for all children and specifically boys and girls with disabilities. Public awareness, knowledge and attitudes of children, parents, schools and local communities towards children with disabilities and inclusive education were enhanced through school and community-level communication for behaviour change activities addressing stigma, stereotypes and negative social norms related to gender and disability.
UNICEF developed productive cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan in supporting access to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education platform of the MoSE for specific groups of children and young people, including girls. The programme enabled adolescent girls from 5 regions of Azerbaijan discover their talents and abilities, enhance their learning achievements and develop their skills in STEM, ICT and 21st century skills to encourage them to pursue future STEM Careers. The 2024-2025 Rolling Workplan between the Ministry of Science and Education and UNICEF envisages introduction of green skills into the STEAM education for boys and girls in selected regions of Azerbaijan in 2024.
UNICEF and the Ministry of Science and Education in cooperation with relevant national and local stakeholders will launch 2 new initiatives on climate education for children at preschool and general education levels through the above-mentioned Green Skills through STEAM and the initiative on development of environmental awareness of young children and teachers at selected preschools of the country.
UNICEF also supports the national education system on development and future piloting of new financing and service delivery models in Early Childhood Education and Care. Technical assistance for revising preschool teachers' professional competency framework with focus on a child-centred and play-based approaches and research on family and preschool institutions' cooperation is another priority area of the bi-lateral cooperation.
How can you make a difference?
The main purpose of this assignment is to provide technical, administrative and coordination support to the UNICEF Country Office, the Ministry of Science and Education and other education partners in Azerbaijan in strengthening the education practices and capacities of the national partners in the key areas of cooperation in education, including Early Childhood Education (ECE), Inclusive Education and Climate Education.
Scope of Work:
Under the supervision of the Education Specialist at the UNICEF Azerbaijan Office and in consultation with Ministry of Science and Education and other relevant partners, the national consultant will support the project delivery by:
• providing technical support to UNICEF and the Ministry of Science and Education in implementation of the joint education programme, including the specific interventions on ECE, Inclusive Education and Climate Education, including monitoring implementation of the programme by the Implementing Partners, identifying and collecting any relevant information and data and providing reporting, including findings and recommendations on the status of programme implementation including available needs, capacities and resources and requirements for capacity building.
• assisting UNICEF and the MoSE, State Agency on Preschool and General Education, the Institute of Education and other implementing partners in development and field testing of relevant guidelines, recommendations, tools and methodologies in for organizing effective education processes in ECE, inclusive education and Climate Education;
• quality reviewing of the draft training materials, didactic and teaching materials developed by the implementing partners in the relevant fields;
• regularly monitoring and evaluating the relevant outcomes of the ECE, Inclusive Education and Climate Education project implementation vs the agreed project objectives, indicators, deliverables and timelines and performance of the partners/contractors. Submit monthly and monitoring visit reports.
• undertaking regular field visits and sharing information with stakeholders to assess progress in line with UNICEF’s relevant standards and requirements. Reporting on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• providing support in identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned from the implementation of the education interventions; following up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• building and sustaining effective close working partnerships with the Ministry of Science and Education, the State Agency on Preschool and General Education, Institute of Education, target preschools and schools, local Education Departments/Sectors and other local stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate project implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on the above-mentioned Education projects.
• Support to any other related task, as required.
|
Work Assignment Overview
|
|
Tasks/Milestone:
|
Deliverables/Outputs:
|
Timeline:
|
|
Technical support in the programme implementation
|
- Technical reports with analysis, lessons learned and recommendations
- Technical inputs and comments for the studies and evaluations to be conducted by the Education programme, e.g. KAP and other.
|
150 w/days
|
|
Providing professional guidance and support to MoSE, SAPGE and Institute of Education on strategies and approaches to strengthen quality of deliverables by the implementing partners in the joint initiatives on ECE, Inclusive Education and Climate education
|
Record of collected data and a summary of key findings in English
|
30 w/days
|
|
Regular field visits for monitoring and evaluating the relevant project outcomes
|
Monthly and monitoring visit reports
|
30 w/days
|
|
Quality reviewing the project training materials, didactic and teaching materials
|
Revised materials and education resources
|
10 w/days
|
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- A postgraduate degree in education, social sciences or any other relevant field.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in designing and/or implementing education or training programs.
- Previous project management experience in the development sector, including professional experience in programme planning, management and/or research in education.
- Excellent English communication, writing and analytical skills;
- Excellent Azerbaijani communication, writing and analytical skills;
- Ability to work in a team with tight deadlines;
- Availability for intensive travel to the project pilot districts;
- Familiarity with UNICEF’s mission and mandate.
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.