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

In everything we do, UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents. Together with our allies, we work in 190 countries and territories to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, primarily focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded worldwide. UNICEF works to put the rights and well-being of the most disadvantaged children at the heart of the social, political, and economic agenda, in line with our equity focus, working across our organization and with our partners in government, civil society, and the private sector to support shifts in public policy, fuel social engagement, and increase investment for children.

UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices. In its role as a regional office, UNICEF has co-leads with Save the Children, the Regional Education Working Group (GRE-LAC) since 2011. As part of the commitments to support the Ministries of Education, UNICEF leads the GRE-LAC secretariat within the framework of the Regional Working Group on Risk, Emergencies and Disasters for Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC) and the interagency coordination platform Response for Venezuelans (R4V) to support the response of the Ministries of Education and the Humanitarian Coordination Mechanisms to emergencies in the education sector, including disaster risk management and the migration. Promoting the implementation of global and regional frameworks, such as the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSS) endorsed by the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (GADRRRES), the Global Education Cluster Strategy (GEC) 2022-2025, and the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE) of the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), to guarantee the right to education for all children, adolescents, and young people in the region.

One of the commitments of UNICEF-LACRO as co-leader of the GRE-LAC and as the regional affiliate of GADRRRES is  to support the implementation of the Comprehensive School Safety policy survey in the LAC countries and mapping the endorsement to the Global Comprehensive School Safety Initiative

For more information about UNICEF and its work: www.unicef.org/lac 
For more information about the GRE-LAC and its work: https://grelac.org/  

https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/latin-america-and-caribbean/education

For information about partners: What We Do | GADRRRES

https://inee.org/es     https://www.educationcluster.net/  

How can you make a difference? 

The consultant must coordiante the Regional Education Working Group (GRE-LAC) in collaboration with global partners such as GADRRRES, INEE, GEC and subregional networks. Leading the implementation of the 2025-2027 Work Plan and the strengthening of humanitarian coordination mechanisms in the education sector. Will also provide technical support to the EiE team to ensure a comprehensive and effective emergency response.

Specific Tasks:

• Act as the Secretary of the Regional Education Working Group (GRE-LAC), overseeing the organization, implementation, and monitoring of the 2025-2027 Biannual Work Plan.
• Promote the development and strengthening of capacities in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), emergency preparedness, and response in the education sector, addressing needs at regional, subregional, and local levels.
• Foster coordination within the regional group and strengthen collaboration with global (GADRRRES, INEE, GEC) and regional partners (CSSI and CECC-SICA) to facilitate the exchange of best practices, enhance advocacy efforts, and elevate regional issues, ensuring cohesive and well-supported responses to educational challenges in crisis settings.
• Coordinate GADRRRES initiatives as a regional affiliate within the framework of the 2024-2025 Work Plan, reinforcing UNICEF’s leadership in refugee and migrant education and focusing on improving learning outcomes in humanitarian contexts to ensure school resilience against disaster risks.
• Facilitate capacity-building activities of National Humanitarian Coordination Mechanisms in the education sector, focusing on DRR preparedness and emergency response to ensure coherent strategies and regional coordination that safeguard the right to education.
• Facilitate knowledge exchange, strengthen regional partnerships, and ensure that educational interventions are contextually relevant and effective in mitigating disaster impacts while promoting educational continuity.

Expected results:

• The Secretary of the Regional Education Working Group (GRE-LAC) for Latin America and the Caribbean has implemented the 2025-2027 Work Plan. It has ensured coordinated efforts across the region, leading to more effective responses to education needs in emergencies.
• Global, regional, and subregional partners have been supported in promoting a more unified regional response, allowing quicker and more coordinated action to improve educational outcomes for children and adolescents in crisis-affected areas.
• Capabilities and skills in DRR and EiE at the national, regional, and global levels have been expanded and strengthened, and knowledge and information have been timely and efficiently disseminated to all relevant partners.
• The national Humanitarian Coordination Mechanisms (clusters, education groups, and roundtables) of the education sector in Latin America and the Caribbean have enhanced a collaborative response to ensure a more effective rights-based response to educational needs during emergencies.

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

• Master’s degree in education, social sciences, international relations, public policy or any related field.

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in emergency education, disaster risk reduction and project management support.

• Program management experience at the UN system agency or other similar organization is required.

• Demonstrated experience working in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders, including UN agencies and INGOs, national authorities, and national/local partner agencies are required.
• Fluency in Spanish and good knowledge of English is required.
• Project management of EiE and DRR projects in the LAC Region is an asset.
• Experience working in both development and humanitarian contexts is an asset.
• Understanding of work of the Humanitarian clusters and education global initiatives (desirable).
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset. 

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

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

 UNICEF competencies: building and maintains partnerships, demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, drive to achieve results for impact, innovates and embraces change, manages ambiguity and complexity, thinks and acts strategically and works collaboratively with others.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

Administrative details

Supervision: The consultant will work under the overall supervision and guidance of the UNICEF LACRO Education Specialist.

Workplace: The consultancy is Office-based. Travel may be involved. International/national travel may be required, discussed and agreed with the consultant (a separate travel line will be included in the contract). Travel cost will not be part of consultant’s fee and will be paid based on actual cost as per UNICEF regulations.   

Duration:  Estimated start date is November 15, 2024, until November 1st, 2025 (11.5 months)

How to Apply: Application should be submitted online and should include: TMS application form duly completed, Cover Letter, Study certificates and Financial proposal (Daily fee or deliverable fee and travel cost).

Qualified candidates are requested to indicate an all-inclusive (lump sum) fee for the services to be including all associated administrative and travel costs.

Consultants must have their own equipment, tools and materials needed to perform their services. They will use their own laptops/computers, any application or system needed to complete the assignment. They need to provide the full service without using UNICEF resources. The access to UNICEF email and system is restricted to UNICEF staff therefore consultants should not be granted access unless it is imperative to complete the assignment.

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.