Consultants at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Job Number: 510006
Work Type: Consultancy

Purpose of the Consultancy

• The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical support in the review, adaptation, development and translation of early stimulation and communication training materials; build capacity of LGA level health workers (11) and community volunteers (70) in early stimulation and communication using the Care for Child Development (CCD) package.
• The CCD promotes physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of children in the early years, with focus on the first 1,000 days.
• The consultancy will in addition, provide monitoring and mentoring support to LGA facilitators, health workers and community volunteers. Two national consultants will be hired to work as a team on the tasks outlined. They will work individually in some cases and as needed within the LGA and in close collaboration with field office Education Specialist.
• These consultants will serve as the lead trainers and mentors for all communication and stimulation related trainings at the LGA level, with technical oversight, on-going mentoring and capacity building provided to same by the International ECD consultant.

Deliverables:

• Reviewed, adapted and finalized CCD training manual and trainees materials
• Revised counselling cards with illustrations
• Initial training and refresher training reports of health workers and community volunteers
• Monitoring and mentoring (monthly touch base) reports.

When there are some overlaps in deliverables, the consultants will work jointly to finalize the deliverables with the best possible quality, in additional level of effort as per days allocated to each activity can be adjusted across activities, increased or reduced provided it does not exceed the number of days. Timelines may change depending on implementation realities of the INP plus project.

Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required

• Masters degree in Early Childhood Care and Education, Education or any other social sciences.
• At least 8 years of experience and demonstrated experience in providing Early Childhood Care and Development training at the community level and at the in-service and pre-service level
• Experience in developing and implementing ECD interventions for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, especially those in emergency contexts.
• Deep familiarity and understanding of ECD context in Nigeria, especially in emergency contexts or and disadvantaged settings is added advantage.
• Strong editing and translation (Hausa and English) skills
• Experience in conducting programme monitoring and mentoring at the community level.
• Excellent workshop facilitation and training skills, especially with teachers and government officials.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills
• Fluency in English and Hausa language

go to method of application »

Job Number: 510027
Work Type: Consultancy
SSA National /International Consultant
(NOD or P4 Level)
Assessment of Communication for Development (C4D) in Basic Education
(Focus states Bauchi, Niger, Sokoto , Borno, Ebonyi, Bayelsa and Oyo States.)

Purpose of Assignment

• The purpose of the consultancy is to organise and coordinate a participatory process to collect and consolidate evidence on knowledge, attitudes and practices that affect school enrolment, retention and completion, which will eventually help in the design of a behaviour and social change communication strategy to support efforts to ensure that marginalized children enrol in school, start at the right age, attend regularly, and complete their schooling with meaningful learning outcomes at all levels of the education sector, especially for girls.
• The main focus of the consultancy are Bauchi, Niger, Sokoto, Borno , Ebonyi ,Bayelsa and Oyo states in Nigeria with view on wider implications and recommendations.

The consultancy has three specific objectives:

• To assess the status of current C4D in education efforts in Nigeria addressing the key issues related to education access, quality and accountability.
• To identify the key behavioural and social determinants (i.e. both barriers and opportunities) in focus states at each level of society (individual, family, community, institutional, policy level) that impact on education access, quality, accountability and capacity in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• To provide recommendations that will guide the next steps of the project (to develop a social mobilization and communication strategy that will improve marginalized girls enrolment in schools.

Deliverables:

• Inception Report: Provides foundation to consultancy and should be reflected in reports produced.
• Education Status Report providing overview of synopsis of current key trends on access, quality and accountability.
• Consultation Plan with outline of groups to be involved and respective roles, group sizes and composition, documents required to inform the discussions, expected outputs and time frames.
• Mapping Instrument and Interview Guides (adapted from Global mapping instrument)
• Mapping report providing an overview of the nature, focus, scope, scale and actors involved in supporting behaviour and socialchange efforts in the local Education sector.
• C4D in Education Situation Analysis report with inputs from the Mapping exercise and SWOT analysis on C4D interventions at policy/system level: national and subnational (e.g. C4D within Education Sector planning, budgeting, management/staffing, capacity development, local governance).
• Behavioural Analysis Report providing in-depth analysis of findings from primary research on barriers, opportunities, Participant Groups in relation to influencing the key recommended behaviours.
• Submission of Final Report with key recommendations for the development of National C4D in Education strategy

Key Competencies, Technical Background, and Experience Required
Technical background and professional Experience:

• Advanced Degree in the areas of Social Sciences, Anthropology, Communication, Gender and Child Rights
• Skills and expertise at developing results-based, multi-year operational plans (for national and sub-national levels)
• Minimum of 8 years professional experience in Communication for Development and International Development or Education across multiple development contexts, including experience in conducting C4D studies.
• Familiarity with participatory processes with specific focus on children, adolescents.
• Knowledge of social norm change processes, including participatory approaches to community led development.
• Experience in working across multiple sectors and levels from family, community, institutional and policy levels.
• Strong organizational and planning skills, inter-personal and communication skills.
• Experience working with UN agencies and UN priorities (i.e. Human Rights Based Approach, Vulnerability and Equity, Disabilities etc.).

Other desired characteristics:

• Demonstrated ability to assess and analyse complex situations in order to succinctly and clearly distil critical issues and draw out forward looking conclusions.
• Strong writing skills; experience in publication of technical reviews/reports and strong oral communication skills in English.
• Knowledge and ability to deliver products in high stress situations with excellent organizational skills.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills, ability to coordinate and synchronize work with people of diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Strong skills on consensus building, team work and consortium dynamics.
• Flexible and responsive to recommended changes as part of the review and feedback process
• This consultancy is expected to cover a period of 3 months.