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Home-based: Communications and Advocacy Country Support Consultant (280 working days; with travel as needed) - Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS)

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Job no: 572263

Contract type: Consultant

Duty Station: Geneva

Level: Consultancy

Location: Switzerland

Categories: Education, Communication, Knowledge Management

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, a voice.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to support the Global Education Cluster reinforce communications and advocacy capacities of Country Education clusters to profiling their priorities, needs and results at both country and global levels. This includes ensuring country clusters and working groups have exchange and learning opportunities, including technical support, to develop and disseminate evidence-based and data-driven products. This work advances the GEC’s goal of grounding decision making and advocacy in the operational realities of education clusters and their partners.

Scope of work

Established by the Inter-agency Standing Committee as part of the cluster approach, the Global Education Cluster (GEC), co-led by UNICEF and Save the Children, works towards a predictable, equitable and well-coordinated response addressing education concerns of crisis affected populations by reinforcing capacities of cluster staff and partners, providing timely remote and direct field support, strengthening robust assessment and analysis, and advocating on their behalf.

Effectively communicating the progress, priorities, and results of this work is critical to ensure education in emergencies coordination is at the forefront of humanitarian response. The Consultant will ensure country clusters and working groups have exchange and learning opportunities, including technical support, to develop and disseminate evidence-based and data-driven products.

Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: Advocacy message bank for resource mobilization (55 days)

As a chronically underfunded sector in humanitarian response, ensuring country clusters and working groups have fit-for-purpose tools, guidance, and knowledge to advocate for the prioritization of education in emergencies response in their context is a key priority.

Deliverable 2: Strengthen knowledge and learning around influencing decision-making for effective communications and advocacy (45 days)

Ensuring cluster teams have the requested knowledge, skills and guidance to influence agenda-setting and decision making with the aim or strengthening the prioritization and resourcing of education in emergencies response.

Deliverable 3: Develop Workshop for country clusters and working groups to deliver on core cluster function around advocacy, including dissemination of new guidance on advocacy and influencing developed (45 days)

The Consultant will develop a flagship Communications and Advocacy Workshop for country clusters and working groups to support dissemination, uptake and cross-country exchange on best practices for effectively mobilizing support for the prioritization of education in humanitarian response.

Deliverable 4: Develop global campaigns with evidence-based and data-driven products to elevate priorities and challenges of country clusters and working groups (50 days)

The Consultant will support develop key campaign assets for the GEC to elevate priorities and needs of cluster teams across key global platforms, fora, and events, to be defined based on mapping of opportunities and ranking of country priorities.

Deliverable 5: Develop communications assets to highlight country level results, including technical support to Country Clusters and Working Groups (55 days)

The Consultant will provide technical support to country clusters and working groups to develop communication products, for both country and global-level channels. Products to be developed will be based on needs and priorities of selected country education clusters/working groups.

Deliverable 6: Develop visibility assets on country support and achievements (30 days)

Effectively showcasing the impact of coordination through education clusters and working groups, and the GEC’s support in this, is critical to demonstrate the added-value of investing in coordination.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / MilestoneDeliverables / OutputsTimeline / Deadline

As a chronically underfunded sector in humanitarian response, ensuring country clusters and working groups have fit-for-purpose tools, guidance, and knowledge to advocate for the prioritization of education in emergencies response in their context is a key priority.

Sub-deliverable: Preliminary advocacy bank and guidance to support resource mobilization and advocacy efforts of country clusters and working groups

By July 2024

Sub-deliverable: Advocacy messages based on new guidance for selected country clusters/working groups

By August 2024

Sub-deliverable: Final advocacy bank and guidance, applying learning from piloting

By September 2024

Ensuring cluster teams have the request knowledge, skills and guidance to influence agenda-setting and decision making with the aim or strengthening the prioritization and resourcing of education in emergencies response. This is a current gap in GEC resource.

Sub-deliverable: Draft guidance for country clusters and working groups on influencing decision-making for the prioritization of education in emergencies response

By October 2024

Sub-deliverable: Guidance contextualized for selected country clusters/working groups

By January 2025

Sub-deliverable: Finalize guidance, applying lessons learned

By February 2025

The Consultant will develop a flagship Communications and Advocacy Workshop for country clusters and working groups to support dissemination, uptake and cross-country exchange on best practices for effectively mobilizing support for the prioritization of education in humanitarian response.

Sub-deliverable: Inception phase to take stock of key skills gaps and needs among country clusters and working groups

By March 2025

Sub-deliverable: workshop package

By April 2025

Sub-deliverable: Workshop package with country clusters and working groups implemented

By May 2025

Sub-deliverable: Final package based on pilot

By May 2025

Sub-deliverable: Training of trainer on the Workshop package with the GEC Rapid Response Team

By June 2025

The Consultant will support develop key campaign assets for the GEC to elevate priorities and needs of cluster teams across key global platforms, fora, and events, to be defined based on mapping of opportunities and ranking of country priorities.

Sub-deliverable: Communications package developed for selected campaigns #1

September 2024

Sub-deliverable: Communications package developed for selected campaigns #2

By November 2024

Sub-deliverable: Communications package developed for selected campaigns #3

By January 2025

Sub-deliverable: Communications package developed for selected campaigns #4

By June 2025

Sub-deliverable: Communications package developed for selected campaigns #5

By July 2025

The Consultant will provide technical support to country clusters and working groups to develop communication products, for both country and global-level channels.

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #1

By February 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #2

By December 2024

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #3

By January 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #4

By March 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #5

By April 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #6

By May 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #7

By June 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #8

By July 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #9

By July 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #10

By August 2025

Sub-deliverable: Country communications and advocacy product #11

By August 2025

Effectively showcasing the impact of coordination through education clusters and working groups, and the GEC’s support in this, is critical to demonstrate the added-value of investing in coordination.

Sub-deliverable: visibility asset developed #1

By February 2025

Sub-deliverable: visibility asset developed #2

By May 2025

Sub-deliverable: visibility asset developed #3

By August 2025

Estimated Duration of the Contract

280 working days between June 2024 and August 2025.

Consultant’s Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be remote/home-based.

As part of this assignment, some international travels are foreseen. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 280 working days to undertake this assignment, without travel fees as this will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

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

• Master's degree in International Affairs, Humanitarian Affairs, Education, Political Science, Management or other relevant field.
• At least four (4) years of progressively responsible work experience in communications, advocacy, donor engagement, and partnership management
• Experience in the humanitarian sector an asset
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with proven experience in data collection and compilation
• Ability to write clearly and present complex strategies into synthesized reports and findings
• Ability to manage the available time and resources and to work to tight deadlines, with minimal supervision
• Previous experience with UN / UNICEF and knowledge of humanitarian clusters preferred
• Ability to communicate with high efficiency to diverse audiences
• Proven evidence of writing skills
• Ability to work collaboratively on research
• Excellent managerial/organisation skills and a solution-oriented attitude
• A strong sense of client orientation and a strong drive for results
• Demonstrated ability to work well both independently and within a multicultural team
• Written and spoken fluency in English. Other languages, particularly French, Spanish, or Arabic, are strongly desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

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.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV, a Cover Letter, and sample of previous work in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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.

Advertised: W. Europe Daylight Time

Deadline: W. Europe Daylight Time