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National consultant, development of Guinea-Bissau’s System Transformation Grant proposal, 44 working days (Remote/Work from Home)

Apply now Job no: 578544
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Bissau
Level: Consultancy
Location: Guinea-Bissau
Categories: Programme Management

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.

The Education System in Guinea-Bissau is guided by laws and policy documents, such as Basic Education Law of 2011 and the Education Sector Plan 20217-2025. These emphasize education as human right, compulsory and free at the primary level. Despite progress in enrollment, 27% of children remain out of school (MIC 2018-2019), and primary school completion rates are among the lowest globally at 27%. Contributing factors include a shortage of qualified teachers, insufficient learning materials, and non-conducive learning environments.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a partnership and mobilizes and delivers funding to countries most in need of education support to transform their education system. GPE’s goal is to accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality through equitable, inclusive, and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century.  Guinea-Bissau’s Partnership Compact has been approved by the GPE in November 2024. Based on the findings of the Enabling Factors Analysis, the partnership compact has articulated the general education sector priority reform as ensuring that all children have access to quality basic education, with an emphasis on all children completing basic education with the necessary basic skills, strengthening the preparation of teachers and the management of the education system. The transformative thrust of this priority reform is on improving access and retention of students and decreasing grade repetition so that all children successfully complete grade 6.  The outcome areas identified in the Compact and endorsed by Local Education Group (LEG) are:

  1. Strengthened equity in access, retention and internal effectiveness of students in schools;
  2. Improved educational quality by strengthening the pedagogical skills of teachers and improving student assessment;
  3. Strengthened governance of the education system at central, regional, school and community levels.

The STG is intended to support the implementation of these priority reforms that the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research (MENESIC) and its development partners have agreed upon, as set out in the Partnership Compact.

Under the GPE 2025 strategic plan, Guinea-Bissau is eligible for the STG of $5.71 million. The primary purpose of this grant is to support the country in transforming its education system by making focused, evidence-based investments in programs that unblock system bottlenecks.

MENESIC, with support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) acting as a Grant Agent (GA) for the STG, is currently developing the grant application and related documents to access Guinea-Bissau’s approved indicative allocation for regular GPE system transformation grant in accordance with the strategic parameters for GPE support.

How can you make a difference? 

UNICEF is seeking an individual short-term consultant to facilitate national and sub-national stakeholder consultations with the technical task team comprised of MENESIC, development partners, Civil Society Organizations, and other key stakeholders. The consultations will ensure stakeholders’ engagement and the timely preparation, development, and finalization of the required high-quality Grant Application Package (Programme Outline, Programme Documents, Budget, and relevant annexes) to access Guinea-Bissau’s approved indicative system transformation grant (STG) allocation of $5.71 million in accordance with the strategic parameters for GPE support. The Grant Application Package development process will require intensive engagement, with a wide range of stakeholders, including partners, relevant education stakeholders and private sector in Guinea-Bissau, through the LEG, for inputs to ensure the required shared consensus and joint programme ownership.

The consultant is expected to work with an international consultant commissioned to lead the development of Global Partnership for Education’s System Transformation (STG) application package for Guinea-Bissau in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Investigation (MENESIC) and in consultation with the Education partners.

Scope of Work:

The overall objective of the consultancy is to support in the preparation, development, and finalization of the high-quality Grant Application Package (Programme outline/Concept note, Programme Document, Budget, and relevant annexes) in compliance with the guidelines and templates of GPE. Specifically, the scope of the assignment is as follows:

  1. Manage all the consultative processes, including convening, and facilitating consultation workshops and meetings required to gather and integrate inputs from key stakeholders such as MENESIC and members of the LEG to ensure shared consensus on interventions to be implemented based on the priorities of the Partnership Compact, Education Strategic Plan 2017-2025 and the processes to develop Programme Document.
  2. Support the review of the Partnership Compact, GPE Board Guidelines and Board Decision on Guinea-Bissau, MENESIC policy documents, evidence, strategies, and sector development plans, as well as other relevant documents to inform the development of the programme document.
  3. Support the development of the Concept Note, ensuring that it reflects inputs from the GPE Secretariat, MENESIC, and members of the LEG for approval by the GPE Secretariat. The Concept Note will include a) proposed components and key interventions, b) gender hardwiring, c) alignment with partnership compact priority areas and interventions, d) theory of change or results chain, e) key results and indicators, f) overview of implementation arrangements, g) sustainability, h) risk assessment, i) aid effectiveness, j) results-based financing (if applicable), k) programme costs by component.
  4. Support the review of the Programme Documents in the Grant Application Package to address and integrate inputs from the MENESIC, LEG, and GPE secretariat, ensuring that the final outputs incorporate critical inputs from stakeholders and meet all the required GPE Secretariat quality assurance standards.

 

Work Assignments Overview

Deliverable Set #1 (7 days)

Inception meeting held with UNICEF and key stakeholders to determine working modalities and arrangements.

 

 Deliverables:

  • Desk review/inception report submitted.
  • Consultation plan and materials, which include concept notes, agenda, and PPT presentations for each consultation meeting are submitted.

Deliverable Set #2 (30 days)

 Prepare and facilitate consultations with stakeholders and manage and support all the consultative processes, to ensure shared consensus on interventions to be implemented based on the priorities of the Partnership Compact, Education Strategic Plan 2017-2025 and the processes to develop Programme Documents for the STG:

  1. Support the organization of regional-level (in the 11 education regions) consultation workshops,
  2. Support of one (1) national consultation workshop,
  3. Support additional bilateral meetings to collect additional feedback from Government, development partners and donors.

Deliverables:

  • 12 consultation reports are submitted, which include key priorities, strategic approaches, and gaps, identified by stakeholders at regional and national level.

Deliverable Set #3 (7 days)

Review the Programme Documents in the STG Application Package, ensuring that the final outputs incorporate critical inputs from stakeholders and meet the required GPE Secretariat quality assurance standards.

 

  • The GPE-STG proposal is revised – feedback from consultations, including with the GPE team, is incorporated in the proposal, ensuring stronger alignment.

 

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

  • An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Education, Economics, Social Sciences, or another relevant field.
    *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree. 
  • A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in education programming, planning, and policymaking processes in the public sector or government.
  • Ability to engage and work with a variety of stakeholders (Government, development partners, civil society, indirect and direct program/project beneficiaries).
  • Analytical, with good computer and data analysis skills.
  • Experience of work in a UN organization is desirable.
  • Fluency in Portuguese, plus English or French is required.

Criteria for Selection

Interested candidates should submit the followings:

  1. A cover letter.
  2. A CV/resume (including the number of successful GPE grant applications/programme documents developed)
  3. A technical proposal
  4. A financial proposal including a breakdown of their all-inclusive fees (including professional fees, travel related costs).

The final selection will be based on the principle of “best value for money” i.e. achieving desired outcome at lowest possible fee.

 

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 committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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. 

Advertised: Greenwich Standard Time
Deadline: Greenwich Standard Time

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