Technical consultancy for a rapporteur of the MENA Education Network (MEdNet) Meeting - Quality Learning through Life Skills.

JUSTIFICATION/BACKGROUND

The UNICEF MENA Education Network (MEdNet) is the network of UNICEF education colleagues in the Country Offices of the region. The MEdNet Meeting is a meeting organized periodically by the UNICEF MENA Regional Office (MENARO) to discuss and engage with government counterparts from Ministries of Education, education partners and experts on education programmatic directions and initiatives relevant to the MENA region, and to define areas of work, collaboration and partnership.

The present MEdNet Meeting is going to focus on life skills as a key pillar of quality learning in MENA. An indepth discussion will also be held on citizenship education as one of the key dimensions of life skills. MENARO is presently working on an analytical mapping (AM) and a conceptual and programmatic framework (CPF) on life skills in the region; preliminary results of the AM and a working document on the CPF will form the basis of discussions at the MEdNet.

The objectives of this MEdNet Meeting are the following:

• Introduce life skills as a key pillar for quality learning in MENA.
• Engage with colleagues, partners and experts on the conceptualization and implementation of life skills and citizenship education in MENA.
• Ensure a consultative and participatory process that will feed into the AM and CPF.
• Promote a collaborative exchange of experiences and best practices on life skills in the region.
• Identify together with partners the way forward for mainstreaming life skills and citizenship education in MENA.

A variety of experts and partners will be invited to contribute to the work and discussion. There is a need to ensure that the expert presentations, country engagement and consultations are captured in a succinct and clear report. The MEdNet Meeting report will serve as an advocacy and planning tool for all stakeholders on the way forward. This requires an expert in education with strong writing skills.

OBJECTIVE AND TARGETS

The objective of this consultancy is to:

1. Participate to all plenary sessions and group work of MEdNet Meeting as per final agenda;
2. Take minutes and ensure consolidation of inputs from workshop participants and rapporteurs;
3. Write the final report of the MEdNet Meeting for publication and larger dissemination.

SCOPE OF THE WORK (WORK ASSIGNMENT)

The consultant is expected to actively participate to the MEdNet Meeting, which will be held in Amman from November 30 to December 4, 2015. The mission to Amman will include preparatory work (November 27-29) and participation to the first four days of the MEdNet Meeting, which will be dedicated to the life skills and citizenship education consultation and dialogue with national and international partners and experts.

The consultant will be responsible to take minutes during the MEdNet Meeting (four days), and consolidate the inputs from group work and plenary discussions including the presentations of group rapporteurs.

The consultant will write the final report of the MEdNet Meeting, which will cover the first four days of the meeting on life skills and citizenship education. The outline of the final report of the MEdNet Meeting will adopt the structure of the agenda as follows:

1. Setting the stage: The rationale for life skills
2. The status of life skills in MENA
3. Towards a working definition of life skills in MENA
4. Challenges to active citizenship and status of citizenship education in MENA
5. What vision for citizenship education in MENA?
6. A systems approach to life skills
7. A multiple pathways approach to life skills
8. A monitoring and evaluation framework for life skills
9. Way forward on life skills in MENA

The final report will need to be of high quality including editing and formatting, and will also include:

• Executive summary;
• Table of contents with list of acronyms and tables;
• Annexes (List of participants; Agenda; Key Note; Presentations; etc.)

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

(Tangible and measurable outputs of work assignment to be completed upon award of contract)

1. Final report of the MEdNet Meeting (40 pages excluding annexes) based on final outline to be defined by MENARO;

REALISTIC DELIVERY DATES AND DETAILS ON HOW THE WORK MUST BE DELIVERED

(i.e. electronic submission, hard copy, what computer programme should be used)

The consultancy will be undertaken from the location of the consultant with travel to Amman as per below timetable. Effective communication with MENARO will occur through email, telephone and Skype. The consultant will submit all deliverables in Microsoft Word format. Specific timeframe of the deliverables is as follows:

Time frameAction 27 November – 4 December (excluding travel days) Mission to Amman for the MEdNet Meeting; December 20 Submission of first draft MEdNet Meeting report; January 15 Submission of final report incorporating MENARO comments.

OFFICIAL TRAVEL INVOLVED

Travel will be required to Amman from 27 November to 4 December (excluding travel days). A separate TA will be issued to cover the travel.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE

(number of years of experience in a given area, CVs of proposed team members, examples of similar past work, etc.)

• Advanced degree in education, communication or related field including social science
• Expertise in report writing
• Relevant experience in education or related field (minimum 5 years)
• Previous work with the UN or International Organizations is an asset
• Proven track records of research and report writing in education
• Excellent communication and writing skills in English
• Familiarity with UNICEF Mission and mandates is a key asset

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS

(i.e. timeline, value of services rendered, etc.)

The following is a list of performance indicators that will be used for the evaluation of results:

• Completion of deliverables as per planned schedule.

• Timely response to feedback and emails.

• Quality of deliverables including accuracy, clarity and correctness of expression and structure.

• Alignment of draft deliverables to agreed outline.

FREQUENCY OF PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Ongoing performance review with supervisor.

Interested candidates should send their application to UNICEF MENARO - BID UNIT, menarobids@unicef.org including the following:

• A sample of written reports/documents.
• Curriculum Vitae.
• Proposed Fees # professional fees plus travel and allowances