GBLCAREERS

UNICEF Country office, Nigeria is implementing an Educate A Child(EAC) funded multi-year project on the reduction on OOSC – More OOSC in School as an expansion of the Girls Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3), a DFID funded multi-year Girls’ Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3) aimed at contributing to improved social and economic opportunity for girls in northern Nigeria. The goal of GEP3 is to contribute to more girls in target states in northern Nigeria completing basic education and acquiring skills for life and contribution to both DFID and Nigeria’s policy objectives for girls and women in the project states (Bauchi, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto

and Zamfara) in Northern Nigeria. The goal of EAC project is to contribute to a greater reduction of the number of children out of school as expansion of the Girls Education Project Phase 3 (GEP3), funded by the UK Department of International Development, in partnership with EAC in the project states (Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara) in Northern Nigeria. Both GEP3 and EAC projects align with the Government of Nigeria’s ten year strategic plan 2007 – 2017. The Nigerian Government through the Federal Ministry of Education has prioritized six key areas of which four directly align to GEP3; (1) Access and Equity, (2) Standards and Quality Assurance, (3) Strengthening the institutional management of education, and (4) Teacher education and development. GEP 3 purpose is achieved through the following program outputs:

• Increased enrolment and retention for girls in basic education;
• Improved capacity of teachers to deliver effective learning for girls
• Improved governance to strengthen girls’ education

GEP3 is implemented through the Federal Ministry of Education, State Ministries of Education and other Implementing Partners (IPs) who have experience in project implementation and monitoring.

UNICEF Nigeria is also implementing a DFID-funded North East Nigeria Transition to Development project (NENTAD) which aims to improve the access to quality education for 60,000 vulnerable children and young people (6-18 years) with a focus on girls and children with disabilities in IDP camps and host communities especially in less accessible areas in Borno and Yobe so that children have the knowledge and skills to cope with the current challenges they face and contribute to the social and economic development of their communities, and addressing some of the root causes of the crisis – disenfranchisement and lack of access to economic opportunities. An inequitable, poorly performing education system in the three states prior to the insurgency, with large cohorts of children and youth out of school, mostly from extremely poor homes, offered a fertile ground for recruitment into armed groups. The effective provision of equitable, inclusive and quality education can be a game changer turning years of underdevelopment, poverty, violence and radicalisation into self-empowerment and a brighter socio-economic future. Unlike countries where schools are collateral victims, the so called Western education was the prime target of the insurgents in Nigeria. The emergency in northeast Nigeria is a sad and perhaps unique case where the systematic destruction of the education system was a key objective and tragic result of the conflict. The Humanitarian Needs Overview reports an estimated 2.9 million children are deprived quality education or have no access to education at all. The Education Sector (EiE Working Group) estimates that the number of OOSC children in the 3 states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe is between 1.0 and 1.2 million. Since 2009, across the northeast, over 2,295 teachers have been killed and 19,000 have been displaced. Almost 1,400 schools have been destroyed with the majority unable to open because of extensive damage or because they are in areas that remain unsafe.

In addition to interventions specific monitoring needs, the real-time monitoring system scope is being expanded to accommodate monitoring and tracking data requirements for the EAC project and humanitarian projects leading to improved management of information for effective donor reporting. The existing system comprised of both offline and online data collection mechanism with transparent data integration and a data synchronization system between both server and client ensuring the same level of quality of service for both GEP3, EAC and humanitarian projects. The integration of any additional component as required should obey the existing server layer composed of set of flexible frameworks which can be customized to generate data interfaces for mobile devices for any specific data collection instrument without any additional investment in terms of IT development and in a flexible manner into the system using a metadata-description mechanism- dictionary, and adjusting the monitoring database structure. These necessary changes and upgrading require IT expertise not available within UNCIEF. The current system was developed with technical assistance from an international IT expert.

Deliverables

• (i) Revised last M&E tools (GEP3 and EAC); monitoring database adjusted based on the revised M&E tools and identified data gaps; mobile and web server platform updated with latest version of tools.

(ii) Revised humanitarian M&E tools; monitoring intervention database adjusted based on the revised humanitarian M&E tools and identified data gaps; mobile and web server platform updated taking into consideration humanitarian M&E tools.

• (iii) Conceptual and technical documentation on how to develop the solution; Web server platform updated with import, export functionalities; Import all collected data on web server platform.
• (iv) technical support provided to UNICEF M&Es state consultants during the key e-data collection phases
• (v) Functional real-time monitoring system with additional modules tested and deployed in humanitarian context; technical manuals adjusted based on the additional modules; core GEP3 staff trained to perform the system.
• (vi) Technical and functional specifications for LURITS developed; LURITS application all score functionalities implemented and tested; Technical manuals developed by the service provider reviewed; Technical support provided with regards to the deployment of LURITS system in sample schools.
• (vii) Online-base, mobile-based and excel-based reporting functions developed, tested and deployed.
• (viii) GEP3, EAC and humanitarian databases maintained, real-time monitoring platform maintained and updated.

Education:

Advanced degree in ICT, M&E, Information Management, computer science or related fields.

Experience:

• At least 5 years professional experience with ICT, M&E or Information Management.
• Competent in relational database design such as MS-Access or MS SQL Server with broad understanding of information management systems and technology,
• Extensive knowledge and skills of computer programs applications, particularly in the area of database management system (e.g.: SQL programming)
• Demonstrated experience developing innovative information technology solutions for developing countries.
• Previous experience developing data systems for mobile devices and familiarity working with open source applications and mobile platforms.
• Communicates effectively, both orally and in writing, to varied audiences,
• Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment, sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.

Language:

Fluency in English language and writing skills

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.