Senior Consultant (EiEPC Funding Advocacy), Geneva, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), 80 days in five months, Req: 563221
Job no: 563221
Position type: Consultant
Location: Switzerland Division/Equivalent: UNITED HOSTED FUNDS
School/Unit: Education Cannot Wait
Department/Office: O/P Geneva, Switzerland
Categories: Education, Partnerships, Fund Raising
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
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises (EiEPC). Translating the World Humanitarian Summit’s Agenda for Humanity into action, ECW’s efforts are geared towards improving access to inclusive and equitable quality education for crisis-affected girls and boys, with a particular focus on those left furthest behind. This entails, inter alia, facilitating joint planning and programming, strengthening humanitarian-development coherence, advancing the localisation agenda, and leveraging additional financing.
ECW channels its support through three different funding windows: the First Emergency Response (FER) window, the Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) window, and the Acceleration Facility (AF) window. The bulk of the funding is allocated to the FER and MYRP windows and is geared towards responding to the education needs in both sudden-onset and protracted crises. The funding that is channeled through the third window, the AF, is being used to tackle some of the systemic barriers to the effective provision of education in emergencies and protracted crises, including inadequate response and coordination capacities and the lack of quality data.
ECW is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while strategic guidance and oversight is being provided by ECW’s own independent governance structure. Day-to-day operations are being run by a dedicated Secretariat under the leadership of its Executive Director.
How can you make a difference?
ECW is currently looking for a senior consultant to help advocate for more and better funding for EiEPC and to support the establishment of a Financing Observatory to better track resource flows.
1) Advocate for more and better financing for EiEPC.
As agreed with its partners, ECW needs to raise at least $1.5 billion for its Trust Fund to be able to achieve the results set out in its new Strategic Plan (2023-2026). Meeting this target is critical, both in terms of achieving ECW’s direct target of supporting the 20 million children and adolescents who are most in need of assistance and its wider role in reaching the 222 million children and adolescents worldwide whose education has been disrupted by crisis.
Born out of a global advocacy movement, ECW has proven to be much more than a fund. As a leading voice for children in often forgotten crises, ECW has fostered a growing recognition by the international community that the SDGs cannot be realized unless dedicated efforts are made to reach children and adolescents left furthest behind. Indeed, ECW continuously advocates for EiEPC to be prioritized and this year, ECW’s advocacy efforts will be centred around the 28th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCC (COP28) and the Global Refugee Forum (GRF).
The COP28 will take place in Dubai on 30 November – 12 December 2023, and be structured around five key themes, including rewiring teaching and learning; lifelong pathways for green skills and jobs; educators at the frontline of transformation for climate resilience; education investment for climate and prosperity; and children and youth as the changemakers for the future of people and planet. As such, the event will provide an important opportunity to highlight the impact of climate change on access to education and learning progress, especially in the countries and contexts in which ECW operates.
The GRF will take place in Geneva on 13-15 December 2023, with an advance day for side events on 12 December 2023. Organized by UNHCR together with one or more co-hosts, the Forum will provide an opportunity to build on the progress made by governments and other stakeholders since 2019, including by considering opportunities, challenges, and ways in which burden- and responsibility-sharing in support of the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees can be further enhanced. In addition, the GRF will provide an opportunity to announce new pledges and contributions.
2) Help establish an ECW Financing Observatory
As a unique partnership and thought leader for the EiEPC sector – bringing together public and private donor partners, UN agencies, host governments, and civil society – ECW amplifies the recommendations of global bodies such as the UN High-Level Political Forum that are calling for better global cooperation and increased public expenditure on education and education in emergencies.
ECW acts as a convenor to drive reforms across the global EiEPC architecture. The proper tracking of resource flows to EiEPC is an important aspect of these efforts. It remains impeded by the complex funding landscape and the siloed working approach in the sector. ECW is in the process of establishing a new financing observatory, which will consolidate existing data on funding from all relevant modalities and present it on a common platform available to all partners.
Work arrangements: The consultant is expected to work out of the ECW Geneva Office, working closely with the Head of the ECW Geneva Office and different members of the Communications Team, the Partnerships Team, and the M&E and Global Reporting Team.
Key outputs:
- Impactful ECW engagement during both COP28 and GRF ensured, including through dissemination of key advocacy messages around the need for more and better financing for EiEPC.
- Preparations for the establishment of the ECW Financing Observatory completed.
Work Assignment Overview
Tasks/Milestone:
Deliverables/Outputs
Timeline
1. Advocate for more and better financing for EiEPC
Participate in preparatory processes for both the COP28 and the GRF, and actively contribute to their planning and organization
Impactful ECW engagement during both COP28 and GRF ensured (December 2023)
30 days
Ensure meaningful ECW participation and representation in both events
Impactful ECW engagement during both COP28 and GRF ensured (December 2023)
6 days
Develop content, including articles, interviews, speeches, pledges, videos, etc.
At least 10 key advocacy messages formulated and disseminated via ECW website and social media channels (December 2023)
24 days
2. Help establish an ECW Financing Observatory
Conduct interviews with 20-30 key informants, carry out a user survey and compile survey reports
Survey report completed and support and buy-in key actors and stakeholders ensured (October 2023)
14 days
Develop a concept paper
Concept paper developed (November 2023)
4 days
Develop TORs for the Steering Committee
Steering Committee up and running (November 2023)
2 days
TOTAL:
80 days
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in finance, economics, statistics, social sciences, law, or related field.
- A minimum of ten years of relevant professional experience in the EiEPC sector, preferably from inside the UN system.
- Excellent understanding of the EiEPC landscape, debates, policies, processes, and actors.
- Strong networker; extensive experience in building networks of (UN and non-UN) stakeholders.
- Proven experience in organizing major events and conferences.
- Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
- Fluency in English is required, including excellent writing skills. 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.
Advertised: Jun 19 2023 W. Europe Daylight Time
Application close: Jul 03 2023 W. Europe Daylight Time
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- Closes Jul 03 2023Senior Consultant (EiEPC Funding Advocacy), Geneva, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), 80 days in five months, Req: 563221 in Switzerland
Advocate for more and better funding for EiEPC and help establish an ECW Financing Observatory to better track resource flows.
