Job no: 557261
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Pristina
Level: Consultancy
Location: Kosovo
Categories: Child Protection
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, an advocate

The Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers (MFLT), together with the Office of Good Governance of the Prime Minister’s Office and Kosovo Disability Forum (KDF) have initiated the process of development and finalization of the draft Law on ‘Evaluation, status recognition, benefits, and services for persons with disabilities.’ This Law will define and regulate the evaluation procedures for the recognition of the status of persons with disabilities and shall determine the eligibility of persons with disabilities for benefits and services in Kosovo. Furthermore, it will provide an important opportunity to include the main principles that derive from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), based on a bio-psycho-social approach to evaluation, assessment, and determination of type of disability and developing individual action plans that address the specific needs of children and persons with disabilities.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) is committed to inclusive education. This commitment has evolved over time, from mere access to education for children with disabilities (often in special schools) to the creation of inclusive schools, and, finally, to a broader and more inclusive vision, one that considers systemic changes that necessitate the involvement of communities, cross-sectoral coordination and constant monitoring of implementation activities. The recent Kosovo Education Strategic Plan 2022-2026 has mainstreamed disability across all its objectives, a specific objective also envisages “Increasing the inclusion and active participation of students from marginalized groups, it requires from all municipalities to establish and functionalize pedagogical evaluation teams, and ensure the provision of support teachers and assistants to support children with disabilities in achieving learning objectives”. Standards for early childhood and for child-friendly schools have been established, and relevant professional development efforts have been rolled out, including those related to sign language assistants, inspectors, Individualized Educational Plan writing and monitoring, although implementation continues to be challenging.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF is seeking an individual consultant to conduct a bottleneck analysis on the access to education of children with disabilities with the objective to critically analyse the drivers for low access and use the evidence to develop a strategy for corrective actions. The report will be used to inform advocacy for design of cross-sectoral programs that can be flexible enough to meet the particular needs of families
in the most efficient manner – for example a combination of cash benefits, concessions, and in-kind benefits. In this context, there is a need to engage a local consultant, who will bring the necessary technical expertise to conduct this research.

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

Experience:
At least seven years of proven professional experience in the field of public finance/social services/social inclusion/or inclusive education.
Expertise in development and costing of strategic policies and legislation in the field of social services and/or social workforce strengthening
Previous experience working for UNICEF locally or internationally is an asset; previous experience costing and financing studies and/or bottleneck analysis tools is an asset
Excellent analytical, report writing and interpersonal skills

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: 17 Nov 2022 Middle East Standard Time
Deadline: 25 Nov 2022 Middle East Standard Time

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