Consultant (Operational Manual), Education Cannot Wait (ECW), Hosted Fund, REMOTE, 8 months Req.# 567686

The purpose of this consultancy is to facilitate and manage the update of the OM and ensure a revised version is submitted to ECW’s respective governance structures for approval in 2024.

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 Cannot Wait (ECW) fund was established during the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 to help reposition education as a priority in humanitarian settings, usher in a more collaborative approach among actors on the ground and foster additional funding to ensure that every crisis-affected child and young person is in education and learning. ECW aims to support the delivery of inclusive, sustainable, quality education to children and adolescents in Emergencies and Protracted Crises (EiEPC). Working along the Humanitarian – Development Nexus ECW seeks not just to meet education needs, but to reduce risk and vulnerability to realize the common vision of a future in which no one is left behind.

ECW is hosted by UNICEF in New York; it also has an office in Geneva as part of the Global Hub for Education in Emergencies. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.

The first strategic period ended in December 2022. It oversaw and transformed ECW from a start-up fund and its vision among political, humanitarian and development leaders globally into a full-blown and global billion-dollar fund. Based on evaluations and audits, ECW has been assessed as a proven model and a highly effective global fund. As part of its professionalization, a professional firm (Cambridge Education) undertook the major task - in close consultation with the ECW Secretariat, the ECW Executive Committee (ExCom) and external stakeholders - of developing an Operatiional Manual (OM) 2020/21 fit for purpose and ECW’s specific mandate and contexts. The OM describes how ECW functions in terms of investment modalities and governance structure and operations.

During the first strategic period, several evaluations and assessments were conducted, including:

- Evaluation of Multi-Year Resilience Window (November 2021, Oxford Policy Management)
- Evaluation First Emergency Response Window (November 2020, Mokoro)
- Organisational Evaluation (December 2022, Mokoro)
- Internal Audit (December 2022, Office of Internal Audit and Investigations)

These evaluations and assessments were significant pieces of work that documented that ECW had successfully been established as a Global Fund for EiEPC in the United Nations with a strong inclusion of civil society. For each of the evaluations ECW has developed a detailed management response which was then approved by its ExCom and, in the case of the Organisational Evaluation, the High-Level Steering Group (HLSG). The programmatic and strategic recommendations from these evaluations have been reflected in the ECW 2023 – 2026 Strategic Plan.

Given that the evaluations and the internal audit were conducted after the OM was developed there is a need to update and revise the OM to ensure that it is consistent with the audit recommendations and management responses. A sub-group of ECW’s ExCom, the OM Advisory Group, has been created to oversee and advise on the update.

How can you make a difference?

PURPOSE OF THE WORK

The purpose of this consultancy is to facilitate and manage the update of the OM and ensure a revised version is submitted to ECW’s respective governance structures for approval in 2024.

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Develop a comprehensive process for updating the OM which includes moments for both the OM Advisory Group and the wider ExCom to advise, review and endorse the proposed revisions. The final version of the OM will need to be endorsed by the ExCom at their meeting in August 2024 so that it can submitted to the ECW High-Level Steering Group for approval at their September 2024 meeting.
2. Facilitate, advise and guide discussions on substantive issues which have been identified through the analysis of the management responses to the formal evaluations and internal audit. A priority issue which will need substantive discussion is governance and it is expected that the consultant will have prior experience on advising organisations in this regard so that they can propose options for the OM Advisory Group. The consultant will be expected to schedule and facilitate these discussions and draft new text and revisions to the OM text as appropriate.
3. Organise and oversee the update to the OM on technical issues. These are not issues which will require substantive discussion, but they will need to be discussed with the ECW Education Technical Reference Group, the Gender Reference Group and possibly the newly formed Refugee Reference Group. The consultant will be expected to schedule and facilitate these discussions and draft revisions to OM text as appropriate.
4. Support the OM Advisory Group Chair and Vice-Chair and the ECW Secretariat throughout the update process, scheduling meetings, preparing agendas and documentation, drafting text for the OM (both revisions to the existing text as well as new text where necessary) and systematically collating and documenting feedback and tracking subsequent revisions to OM text. The consultant may also be called upon to present to the OM Advisory Group and/or the wider ExCom on both process as well as content related issues.
5. Produce a first complete draft of the updated OM based on the outputs of the substantive and technical discussions and facilitate consultations on the draft with the OM Advisory Group and the broader ExCom as necessary, using the opportunity of the in-person ExCom meeting in Berlin in May 2024 to solicit feedback and inputs on the first draft.
6. Produce a final version of the OM in time for the virtual ExCom meeting scheduled for August 2024 and ensure any final edits are made in time for a final version to be send to the ECW High Level Steering Group by the beginning of September 2024.

DELIVERABLES

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in education, statistics, economics, social sciences, or related fields.  
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience in conducting similar work for political led organizations in the humanitarian and development sector in conflict and/ or crisis countries is required.
• Strong expertise in education, international development, and education in emergencies.
• Experience with the UN and other multi-lateral systems on a global and country level.
• Experience with reviewing and revising governance documents for multi-donor initiatives and funding mechanisms.
• Strategic vision, strong analytical capabilities, and sound judgement.
• Proven high-level facilitation, networking, coordination, negotiation, consensus-building and organizational skills.
• Advanced communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to convey concepts and recommendations both orally and in writing, in a clear, concise style.
• Demonstrate ability to draft/edit agendas, reports, presentations, and communication products.
• Availability to travel (to Geneva or New York)
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

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.