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 :
UNICEF’s fundamental mission is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, through everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. Through the “promise renewed” commitment, and as part of efforts to strengthen organizational capacity to support quality education for all children, UNICEF has re-emphasized its focus on equity which is at the core of the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and SDG4, UNICEF works to ensure the right of all children to education. One of the key outputs under Goal Area 2 “Every child learns” in the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan is “Countries have strengthened their education systems for gender-equitable learning outcomes”.
To support progress towards the achievement of this output, UNICEF designed the “Data Must Speak” (DMS) initiative, which i) provides direct field support and capacity building of Ministries of Education for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management and ii) supports research, analysis, dissemination and use of data. Started in 2014, the initiative is, in 2020, jointly implemented by the Headquarters’ (HQ), Regional Offices’, Country Offices’ (including in Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo) and Office of Research’s education teams. There is an increased demand from Country Offices (COs) of the West and Central Africa Region (WCAR) to be part of it. Since 2019, the DMS initiative has a new research component. The DMS research, by leveraging on existing administrative datasets and working hand-in-hand with Ministries of Education, aims at identifying “positive deviant” schools (i.e. schools outperforming in terms of learning, retention and equity other schools in similar contexts and with equivalent resources), investigating their positive deviant behaviors and practices as well as exploring the system, school, and community levers to optimally scale those good practices and behaviors to less performing schools. This research, co-funded by GPE/IDRC KIX initiative, Hewlett Foundation and NORAD, is adopting innovative methodologies such as scaling science and behavioral research.
Under the direct supervision of the Niger Education Specialist, the incumbent will be part of the Niger Education team and will provide technical and research support to three countries in West Africa: Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo. The incumbent will work in close collaboration and under the guidance of the Education Specialist (Data and M&E) at the West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO), the Sector planning, Innovation, Data and Evidence for Results (SIDER) team’s Education Specialist (RBM) at New York Headquarters and the Research on Education And Development (READ) unit’s DMS Research Manager at the Office of Research–Innocenti (OoR). She/he will have close collaboration with other sections, in particular the Communication for Development (C4D) colleagues, and with Country Offices, staff of other UN Agencies, and Government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors
Objectives :
The Data Must Speak Individual Contractor will (i) provide direct field support and capacity building for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management for the implementation of the DMS initiative in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo (ii) support those UNICEF COs and Ministries of Education to co-create the DMS positive deviance research component to increase government ownership and maximize research findings take-up and (iii) monitor the implementation of DMS activities in participating countries to facilitate cross-pollination, South-to-South cooperation and alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities.
How can you make a difference?
Build capacity and provide support to CO education teams and Ministries of Education in Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo, for the design and use of monitoring tools enhancing social accountability/community empowerment and equitable education systems/management for the implementation of the DMS initiative, focusing on the achievement of the following results :
- Capacity building of CO staff and Ministries of Education for designing monitoring tools, such as district/school profile cards and school indices ;
- Quality assurance of education indicators and data to be used in monitoring tools and related support to Education Management Information System (EMIS) strengthening ;
- Technical support in collaboration with the C4D regional and HQ section for an effective plan for the dissemination and use of the monitoring tools.
Support UNICEF COs and Ministries of Education in Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo, to co-create the DMS positive deviance research component to increase government ownership and maximize research findings take-up, focusing on the achievement of the following results :
- Support to country-level merging and analyses of available data such as EMIS, learning assessments/examinations and household surveys to identify and classify positive deviant schools in a given context ;
- Guidance to COs to design, organize and lead primary data collection in schools to investigate positive deviance practices and behaviors ;
- Capacity building of CO staff and Ministries of Education in research methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, and implementation research) as well as dissemination and application of research findings in education programming and planning.
For those three countries, serve as the technical focal point and monitor the DMS technical assistance and research activities for the DMS research component, focusing on the achievement of the following results :
- Effective and timely implementation of DMS in the three participating countries ;
- Support to alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities ;
- Lessons learned and best practices from the DMS activities in WCAR countries are reported and used for knowledge exchange within WCAR and more globally.
Supervision : The individual contractor will be based in Niamey, under the direct supervision of the Chief of Education Section.
Methodology : The incumbent will be part of the Niger Education team and will provide technical and research support to three countries in West Africa: Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo. The incumbent will work in close collaboration and under the guidance of the Education Specialist (Data and M&E) at the West and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO), the Sector planning, Innovation, Data and Evidence for Results (SIDER) team’s Education Specialist (RBM) at New York Headquarters and the Research on Education And Development (READ) unit’s DMS Research Manager at the Office of Research–Innocenti (OoR). She/he will have close collaboration with other sections, in particular the Communication for Development (C4D) colleagues, and with Country Offices, staff of other UN Agencies, and Government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors. The individual contractor will have access to the required documents and working tools to complete this assignment. The specific deliverables are listed below.
Evaluation Criteria :
The selection will be done through specific concrete steps: The first one consists of a shortlist of applicants based on individuals’ applications and qualifications. The next step will be a technical test followed by an interview with successful candidates that will assess further technical and UNICEF core competencies. Finally, for the recommended candidate(s), the panel will check their references as provided in their initial application.
Concerning the financial offer, the panel member will evaluate every applicants’ proposed rate and factor it in the recommendation based on best value for money analysis.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An Advanced University Degree in Social Science with a major focus on statistics or economics, or equivalent ;
- At least five years of work experience at national or international levels in fields relevant to education economics and/or education Monitoring and Evaluation ;
- Strong quantitative research and data analysis skills ;
- Extensive knowledge of database management software packages (e.g. SQL, Access…) ;
- Good knowledge of statistical analysis software packages (e.g.. Stata, SPSS, R…) ;
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including for fundraising purposes ;
- Demonstrated ability to work well as part of a team and to forge and manage partnerships with internal and external stakeholders ;
- Commitment to UNICEF’s core values of care, respect, integrity, transparency, and accountability ;
- Ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment. Experience working in the UN or other international development organizations is an asset ;
- Fluency in French required; Working knowledge of English required. Fluency in another UN language is an asset.
A part of their application package on the UNICEF online portal, interested candidates should submit :
- A cover letter (letter of motivation) ;
- An up-to-date CV ;
- A financial offer ;
- A copy of the highest obtained academic diploma.
Candidates should clearly state their ability and availability to fulfill these terms of reference, as well as provide their proposed financial compensation. The financial offer should be all inclusive (expected salary as well as any subsistence allowance and/or travel costs).
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
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.