UNICEF seeks to recruit an international consultancy-investment Case on adolescent girls – Donor Toolkit Specialist – Senegal

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For every child, hope

 

Background

Since its creation in 2015, the UNICEF West and Central Africa Gender Unit has been working with regional sector teams and with Country Offices to define the results, strategies and interventions for advancing gender equality and the empowerment of adolescent girls across UNICEF’s key sectors (education, protection, nutrition, WASH, health, HIV). This engagement led to the development of the Investment Case for Adolescent Girls in West and Central Africa in May 2017, with a focus on three key areas: (i) girls’ education and skills building, (ii) protecting girls from violence and marriage and (iii) girls’ health and wellbeing.

The Investment Case for Adolescent Girls sets out the UNICEF vision for how enhanced investments in adolescent girls can be supported to achieve the rights of girls, break the inter-generational transmission of poverty and accelerate socio-economic development in West and Central Africa.

The objective over 2018/19 is to support 8 country offices to co-create a set of strategic assets to articulate and communicate country-relevant strategies and investments. These assets will leverage UNICEF’s expertise in education, child protection, health, WASH, HIV and nutrition and to convene the African Union (AU), Regional Economic Commissions (ECOWAS and ECCAS), governments, the UN, the private sector, civil society and communities to :

• Make the Case for Investing in Adolescents Girls – advocating with young people, governments and partners for strengthened investments in adolescent girls and calling for more targeted responses and increased young people’s voice and agency within national policies and programming ;
• Generate Data and Evidence for Scalable Solutions – supporting all partners to generate the required evidence for effective, scalable  and costed solutions, particularly through education, alternative options to child marriage and pathways for girls’ economic empowerment and autonomy ;
• Catalyze Much Needed investments – maximizing the value-add of partnerships, resources and innovations on gender transformative approaches to impact the lives of adolescent girls ;
• Engage, Reach and Empower Adolescent Girls – strengthening youth engagement platforms, investing in their leadership potential, and promoting innovative, multi-sectoral programming to reach and empower the most marginalized adolescent girls with relevant services, information and opportunities.

 

How can you make a difference?

 Objectives

The Gender Section is seeking a Donor Toolkit Specialist, with expertise in developing communication assets for donor engagement, who will support eight country offices in developing country assets in the framework of the Investment Case for Adolescent Girls in West and Central Africa.

The consultant will be tasked with (i) quality assuring Country Profiles, (ii) supporting offices to document promising practices on programming for adolescent girls, and (iii) preparing a co-creation workshop with countries to finalise the Investment Case Pack and support roll-out at country level.

Scope of work

As part of this work, the Gender team in WCARO is seeking a consultant who will provide guidance, quality assurance and support services to country offices to draft and finalise the following Investment Pack Country Assets:

Investment pack country assets
Asset	Description
Investment Case Country Profiles	This product will be an overview of each country’s specific realty, programming and opportunities, which can be used in developing the Investment Case further; it is intended to be used for both internal and external purposes, for future resource mobilization and programme development and will include information on: the country context, barriers for adolescent girls, data, strategic investment areas, innovations and partnerships.
Promising Practices on Adolescent Programming	This product will provide an overview of innovative solutions/programming on adolescent girls for internal and external use. It will support the exchange of best practices among various countries in the region and cover the following: context, gender challenges, details of a successful solution/action/intervention, results to date and opportunities to scale.
Human Interest Stories	A feature story from each country, describing a situation and/or solution experienced by (an) adolescent girl(s). This product will be compiled with other stories from the region and used in various events, proposals, presentations and/or partnership discussions.

 

Deliverables and Schedules

The Consultant will be responsible for providing technical assistance and quality assurance to country offices in developing the Country Investment Pack.

The key deliverables will include :

1. Identify at least 9 promising practices based on submissions from country offices and propose a methodology for documenting these (5 -10 November) ;
2. Prepare draft documentation of at least 9 promising practices on adolescent girls programming (2-pages per practices) that highlight gender results and strategies at sector level (10 December) ;
3. Quality assurance of draft Country Profiles – comments prepared for eight Country Profiles (10 – 24 November)
4. Review of Human Interest Stories submitted by Country Offices (by 10 December) ;
5. Agenda and report of the co-creation workshop (February 2019) ;
6. Final Investment Case Assets (February 2019).

Timing

DELIVERABLES[1]	DURATION (ESTIMATED DAYS)
Identify at least 9 promising practices based on submissions from country offices and propose a methodology for documenting these	2
Prepare draft documentation of at least 9 promising practices on adolescent girls programming (2-pages per practices) that highlight gender results and strategies at sector level	20
Quality assurance of draft Country Profiles – comments prepared for eight Country Profiles	5
Review of Human Interest Stories submitted by Country Offices (by 10 December)	3
Agenda and report of the co-creation workshop (February 2019)	10
Final Investment Case Assets	5
TOTAL	45 days

The assignment will start on 5^th November 2018 and end on 28 February 2019. Timeframes are indicative and will be finalized between the consultant and the supervisor.

Payments will be made upon completion of the following deliverables :

1. Workplan for documenting promising practices and review of draft Country Office Profiles (24 November) – 25% ;
2. Submission of at least 9 two-pagers on Promising Practices (mid-December) – 50% ;
3. Workshop report and final Investment Case assets (end of February) – 25%.

Reporting Requirements

• The Consultant will work under the supervision of the WCA Regional Gender Advisor, and will interact with numerous colleagues in WCARO Sections and with designated focal points at Country level ;
• The consultant will be guided by the Investment Case Country Briefing Package timelines and requirements ;
• All documents should be submitted electronically. Work will be conducted in English and French depending on the country preferred language.

Administrative Issues

• The consultant will work under the supervision of the Regional Gender Advisor, WCARO. The assignment is home based and does not require travel ;
• Regular progress meetings and consultations will be organized on the assignment will be managed via regular skype calls or in person meetings if the consultants is based in Dakar. No specific IT equipment is required for the consultancy.

 

Conditions of work

The ideal candidate will have excellent communication, donor relations and reporting skills as they apply to child rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. S/he will have direct experience in developing donor toolkits, donor reporting and in producing evidence-based communication materials on international development policy issues.

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, international relations, gender studies, economics or related subjects ;
• 5-7 years of relevant professional work experience in programme management, donor reporting, including preparation of policy publications and communication products ;
• Excellent writing and analytical skills (of publication standard), especially in synthesizing complex information for multiple audiences, in both English and French ;
• An understanding of gender issues in international development, and in the context of West and Central Africa in particular ;
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to work across different units and synthesize a range of different inputs and information ;
• High degree of flexibility and initiative to adapt to multiple work flows ;
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to handle and complete multiple assignments with competing deadlines ;
• Fluency in English and French is required ;
• Knowledge of the work of UNICEF and rights based approach.

 

For every Child, you demonstrate dedication

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The technical competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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.

 

Remarks :

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.