Education Specialist (Data Must Speak), P-3, Temporary Appointment (364 days), ESARO, Nairobi, Kenya
Job no: 518211
Position type: Temporary Appointment
Location: Kenya
Division/Equivalent: Nairobi Regn’l(ESARO)
School/Unit: Regional Services Div (ESAR), Nairobi
Department/Office: Reg Serv – Prog Section, Nairobi Regn’l
Categories: Education, P-3
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
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, the Millennium Declaration and Education for All (EFA), 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” within which community participation in education is one of the five dimensions of an effective education system for learning outcomes.
In order to support progress towards the achievement of this output, UNICEF designed the “Data Must Speak” (DMS) initiative and successfully submitted funding proposals to the Global Partnership for Education and to Hewlett Foundation for its implementation. The DMS initiative: 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 analysis, dissemination and use of data on the impact of community involvement on school resources and performance. Started in 2014, the initiative is, in 2018, jointly implemented by Headquarters’ (HQ) and Regional Offices’ education teams in eight countries (incl. Madagascar, Namibia and Zambia and soon to join Angola). There is an increased demand from Country Offices (COs) of the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) to be part of it. While not all interested countries may join the initiative formally, reforms can be implemented to align the treatment they apply to data in alignment with DMS principles to ensure wider use and strengthened community participation. To meet the increase in demand, the additional support of a data specialist is required.
Under the guidance of the Regional Education Advisor and direct supervision of the Education Specialist (RBM), the incumbent will be part of the Basic Education and Gender Equality unit of the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO). The incumbent will also work in close collaboration with the System Strengthening, Innovation, Data and Evidence for Results (SIDER) team at UNICEF Headquarters Education as well as other colleagues of the Basic Education and Gender Equality unit of ESARO and other UNICEF regional offices. She/he will have close collaboration with other sections of UNICEF ESARO, in particular the Communication for Development (C4D) unit, and with Country Offices, staff of other UN Agencies, and Government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors ensuring successful UNICEF education programme implementation in Eastern and Southern Africa.
How can you make a difference?
The Education Specialist 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 ESAR; (ii) 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; (iii) support analysis of data on the impact of community involvement on school resources and performance and its communication/dissemination in a user-friendly manner; and iv) serve as the technical regional focal point for the implementation of the recommendations of the formative evaluation of the DMS Initiative.
Major duties and responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Education Specialist (RBM) and with regular guidance from the Regional Education Adviser, the Education Specialist (DMS) will provide the following:
- Build capacity and provide support to CO education teams and Ministries of Education 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 education equity 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
- Monitor the implementation of DMS activities, focusing on the achievement of the following results:
- Effective and timely implementation of DMS in the participating countries
- Cross-pollination and South-to-South cooperation
- Support to alignment with UNICEF’s global and regional strategic priorities
- Support analysis of data on the impact of community involvement on school resources and performance and its communication/dissemination in a user-friendly manner:
- Support country-level analyses of available evidence on the impact of community/parental participation on school resources and performance, using EMIS and MICS data
- Technical assistance and capacity building of CO staff and Ministries of education in disseminating and applying the results in education and C4D programming and planning.
- Serve as the technical regional focal point for the formative evaluation of the DMS initiative, focusing on the achievement of the following result:
- Lessons learned from the DMS activities in ESAR countries are reported and used for knowledge exchange within ESAR and more globally for informing the next implementation phases of the DMS initiative.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social Science with a major focus on statistics or economics, or equivalent.
- A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience at national or international levels in fields relevant to education economics and/or education Monitoring and Evaluation.
- Experience working in the UN or other international development organization an asset.
- Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of French an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
The functional competencies required for this post are:
- Leading and Supervising (I)
- Formulating Strategies and Concepts (II)
- Analyzing (III)
- Relating and Networking (II)
- Deciding and Initiating Action (II)
- Applying Technical Expertise (III)
