Location:

Athens, Greece
Salary:

negotiable / YEAR
Job type:

CONTRACTOR
Posted:

1 month ago
Category:

Audit and Oversight, Evaluation
Deadline:

27/03/2024

JOB DESCRIPTION

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 future

With the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe during 2015/2016, Greece, as one of the primary entry points to Europe, received over a million refugees and migrants since 2016 from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Recognizing the additional needs of new arrivals in the country, the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports (MoERAS) launched in 2016 a refugee education programme by introducing second-shift, Reception Facilities for Refugee Education (DYEP) in Greek schools for all refugee and migrant children of compulsory school-age (5-15 years old) living in reception and accommodation sites. For kindergartens, classes were established within the sites under the DYEP scheme. Refugee students living in urban areas were enrolled in public schools’ regular classes in the morning, some of which were complemented with the support of reception classes. The programme also included the establishment of Refugee Education Coordinators (REC) to facilitate enrolment of children residing in camps and urban accommodation by resolving bureaucratic barriers (e.g. vaccinations, transportation, coordinating with schools and the MoE), facilitating communication with parents as well as principals and teachers.

Yet, despite the measures in place, while the number of refugee and migrant children enrolled in formal education begun to grow over the years, significant gaps remained . As of September 2020, there were approximately 120,000 refugees and migrants living in Greece, of which, 33,000 were estimated to be of school-age (4-17 years old), including nearly 4,000 unaccompanied children .

An assessment carried out by the Education Sector Working Group, led by UNICEF, found that only 42% (13,800) of refugee and migrant children were enrolled in Greek public schools during the 2019-2020 school year, with the particular school year seeing a deteriorating situation in terms of school access, partially due to COVID-19 restrictions. In parallel, some pre-COVID-19 enrolment barriers remained, and were largely determined by geographical locations, age groups and types of accommodation. The most challenged areas were the Aegean islands, where the majority of children are living in Reception and Identification Centres (RICs), and the percentage of enrolment in formal education falling to 2%.. Barriers to education for refugee and migrant children are multi-faceted and include an insufficient number of places in local schools and children awaiting needed documentation and relevant delays in issuing such documentation .

Delayed employment of teachers in DYEP and reception classes as well as delays in transportation provision for children residing in Open Accommodation Sites also hinders enrollment in public schools .
Given the wide range of needs and gaps described above, the Government of Greece and UNICEF, with the support of DG Home, decided to launch in September 2021 a 2-year programme (Sept 2021 – Aug 2023) that got extended to an additional year (Sept 2023-Jun 2024) which is focused on refugee and migrant children’s education. This programme is supported by two MoUs signed by UNICEF and the Ministries of Education and Religious Affairs and Migration and Asylum outlining the joint cooperation.

Within this framework, the ACE programme aims to respond to the needs through a comprehensive approach, summarized in the below objectives. Objective 1 – Support school-readiness and facilitate access to education for all refugee and migrant children through the establishment of Homework and Creative Activities Centres (HCAC) across Greece. Objective 2 – Improve transition and build bridges for a successful integration to school though strengthening of the enabling environment, including teacher’s capacity building, communication with families, sensitization of communities, and monitoring of access and attendance.

The evaluation has two main purposes: accountability and learning. The evaluation will provide to the duty bearers i.e. the Government, the donor (vertical accountability), and to the relevant partners as well as to the right holders population groups (horizontal accountability) benefited from the programme with solid evidence on the extent to which the programme envisaged its objectives (summative evaluation).

How can you make a difference?

Support the Team Leader / Senior Evaluation Specialist, providing substantive feedback, based on experience and skills that complement the team leader’s, particularly on research and quantitative analyses.
Compile, clean, and process quantitative and qualitative data for evaluation analyses, including the triangulation and validation matrix, using relevant data sources to ensure both internal and external validity.
Ensure data are securely stored, with private or confidential information securely removed.
Support Team Leader with primary data collection, analytical activities, project management, and dissemination, at the request of Team Leader and evaluation manager.

Work Assignments Overview	Deliverables/Outputs	Delivery Deadline
Inception Phase Activity: Drafting of evaluation methodology and design	Deliverable: Inception report	6 days (April 2024)
Data Collection and Data Analysis Phase Activities: – Desk review – Key informant interviews (estimated 13) – FGDs (estimated 5 FGDs with children and 5 FGDs with teachers) – Analysis of primary and secondary data Presentation of emerging findings	Deliverable 1: Validation and triangulation matrix Deliverable 2: Report on the emerging findings	30 days (April-May 2024)
Draft evaluation report and review Phase Activities: Validation/recommendation workshops & feedback collection	Deliverable 1: Report on the Validation recommendation workshops & feedback collection Deliverable 2: Final draft report, Final clean datasets, and other relevant background materials	10 days (May – June 2024)
Final reporting Phase and Dissemination and Advocacy Final report incorporating the feedback and comments provided by all stakeholders and the QA Review Presentation of the findings, conclusions and recommendations at a workshop with key evaluation stakeholders	Deliverable 1: a. Final Report [must be compliant with the UNICEF-Adapted UNEG Evaluation Report Standards (2017)] b. PP presentation, c. dissemination and advocacy plan	5 days (June – July 2024)

Estimated 3 travels within Greece, outside Athens as following: 2 days in Northern Greece, 2 days in the Aegean islands and travel in broader Attica region .

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

An Advanced University Degree (master’s degree or higher) in the social sciences, economics, public policy, statistics, or in research methods or other relevant areas is required. A degree or certification/ accreditation in Evaluation is a significant advantage.
More than five years of professional experience in evaluations, research, mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) data collection and analysis.
Prior experience leading qualitative interviews, including focus group discussions and workshop-style meetings.
Experience supporting with documentation reviews and mixed-method data gathering and processing.
Experience participating in evaluation exercises within the UN system.
Ability to independently support or lead one or more elements of the work as a complement to the strengths of the Team Leader.
Excellent written and oral communication skills in Greek and English.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants are invited to:

a. Complete their UNICEF profile

b. Attach relevant academic degrees, latest CV and motivation letter

c. Indicate a lump-sum amount quoted in Euro for the whole assignment. The amount should be provided per deliverable by completing the consultancy financial proposal table which can be assessed through this link: Consultancy Financial Offer_.xlsx

PLEASE NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS FROM CANDIDATES WHO DO NOT SUBMIT A FINANCIAL PROPOSAL TABLE WILL BE CONSIDERED INCOMPLETE AND WILL NOT BE FURTHER REVIEWED.

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.

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.

Consultants must have their own equipment, tools and materials needed to perform their services.

They will use their own laptops/computers, any application or system needed to complete the assignment. This applies to facilitators as well, that may need flipcharts, facilitation cards, any printed material, etc. They need to provide the full service without using UNICEF resources.

The access to UNICEF email and system is restricted to UNICEF staff therefore consultants should not be granted access unless it is imperative to complete the assignment.

This job has expired.