UNICEF Jobs - Peacebuilding M&E Specialist at United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

Organisation: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized.  Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path.The four-year Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy Programme (PBEA), is a partnership between UNICEF, the Government of the Netherlands, the national governments of 14 participating countries and other key supporters. The goal of the PBEA is to strengthen resilience, social cohesion and human security in conflict-affected contexts, including countries at risk of – or experiencing and recovering from – conflict. Towards this end, the programme will strengthen policies and practices in education for peacebuilding. Fourteen countries have been selected across East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and West and Central Africa to participate in the programme, including Uganda. PBEA supports diverse and complementary interventions to mainstream conflict sensitivity and promote peacebuilding throughout the education sector. PBEA-supported interventions place schools at the centre of peaceful communities where collaborative partnerships between institutions, schools and communities support social cohesion and access to and enjoyment of quality education.In order to achieve these results, the program will focus on five key outcomes. Outcome One aims to increase inclusion of education into peacebuilding and conflict reduction policies, analyses and implementation. Outcome Two will increase institutional capacities to supply conflict sensitive education. Outcome Three aims to increase capacity of children, parents, teachers and other duty-bearers to prevent, reduce and cope with conflict and promote peace. Outcome Four will increase access to quality, relevant conflict sensitive education that contributes to peace. Outcome Five is cross-cutting and will contribute to the generation and use of evidence and knowledge in policies and programming related to education, conflict and peacebuilding.PBEA spans engagement in the sectors of education, child protection, communications and advocacy:ECD Support: Bringing communities together around common goals, Increases retention and enrolment, Builds up service provision around the countryQuality and Child Friendly Schools which provide access to conflict-sensitive education, Education builds conflict resilience, Education is an important peace dividend, Education which provides economic opportunity is paramount to building peace, Teacher training to support implementation of national education curriculumViolence Against Children: Ending cycle of violence, Providing psychosocial support, Strengthening judicial and protection systems for children, strengthening the RTRR process and knowledge of same.Engaging Youth: (Support to employment and income generation, providing opportunities to engage in issues (U-Report), piloting the use of technologies, support to bringing back children to school, youth Scouts, etc.)Community Engagement: District Dialogues, Community baraazas, Communication campaigns, U-ReportAdvocacy Research, Learning, Policy: Advocate for the inclusion of Education in peacebuilding planning, programmes, and policies AND research agenda which helps UNICEF build knowledge base on youth engagement in particularJob Justification: Monitoring and Evaluation remains a crucial aspect of the PBEA program, which is piloting a new approach for UNICEF. Documenting change in areas of social cohesion, resilience and human security as a result of the program interventions underpins the ‘learning by doing’ approach of the program and requires a robust and highly specialized methodology that captures output and outcome level outcomes and substantively contribute to the overall implementation of the PBEA program research outcomes by generating useful knowledge about best practices and impact. Moreover, as we approach the last 12 months of programming it is imperative that a final-year M&E strategy is developed and implemented so that relevant lessons are captured and articulated into a PBEA 2 proposal to be submitted to the donor in the course of 2015.Job Summary: The            UNICEF Peacebuilding M&E Specialist will design and implement a comprehensive, innovative and participatory monitoring and evaluation methodology for the final year of the PBEA program utilizing qualitative and quantitative tools to guide the work of UNICEF staff and partners. Key Duties and Responsibilities:  Actively facilitate a broad stakeholder consultation exercise to identify ‘most significant change’ program areas for the remaining of the program, and to build consensus around key M&E processes and expected Outputs/OutcomesConduct a capacity needs assessment of relevant UNICEF staff and partners in relation to their role in the M&E process and develop/implement relevant training/mentoring interventionsIntuitively review program approach, methods, and tools and the remaining activities to be evaluated and identify strengths/weaknesses in relation to documenting peacebuilding impactReview existing internal/external data and identify opportunities for their utilization in M&E processes/productsDevelop an end-year M&E Plan that supports the program logic/theory of change and that links the interventions with immediate, intermediate, and end-of-program outcomes. The M&E Plan will also include all design, activity, reporting and monitoring templates.Intuitively review the relevant reporting mechanisms/calendar and identify/develop a supportive and timely M&E work plan, including all relevant activities and products e.g. annual project reviews, participatory impact assessments, process monitoring, operations monitoring and lessons-learned workshops.With stakeholders, set out the framework and procedures for the evaluation of all program activities. Review their existing approaches and management information systems and agree on any required changes, support and resources.Outline a complete schedule of UNICEF/PBEA M&E synergies which shows when all key activities will be carried out and when information will be available, and ensure responsibility is allocated to specific individuals (not organizations) for all M&E activitiesEstablish an M&E database (including a schedule for quarterly Programme Assurance visits (PQAs) and End user feedback) to record all relevant activity information required for each activity, including budget and expenditure, nature of services, indicator measures, strategies and statusIdentify, and design mitigation measures to address, issues and/or constraints that will affect the implementation of the M&E planOversee the collection, processing, and analysis of PBEA M&E data.Significantly contribute to the development of the PBEA Programme annual report. Inception brief/Presentation of outcomes of the consultation exercise and next steps (Inception brief)Capacity needs assessment and training/mentoring strategy developed. Initial trainings with all relevant stakeholders developed and implemented (Capacity building)Review of existing M&E system and plans for the remaining of the program (Evaluability)Paper outlining existing/source of relevant data and a strategy for their utilization (Data sources)Updated M&E Plan (M&E Plan), timeline, and templates (M&E Plan)Reporting/M&E calendar/framework developed (M&E calendar)Updated M&E work plan reflecting all relevant stakeholders’ inputs (M&E workplan)M&E schedule developed to link PBEA and UNICEF M&E systems (including PQA schedule) developed and interventions planned (PQA schedule) and shared with all relevant UNICEF staff/partners (M&E schedule)M&E Database developed and relevant UNICEF staff/partners trained in its use (M&E database)Ensure the M&E risk strategy drafted and presented to relevant UNICEF staff and partners (M&E risk strategy)Continuous collection, processing, and management of M&E data in collaboration with UNICEF programmatic focal points, PBEA implementing partners, and Ministry of Education and Sports counterparts (M&E data collection)Contribution to PBEA end report to reflect the efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability, and relevance (M&E final report) Methodology: Desk-based review of PBEA M&E Framework, participatory capacity building/meetings, field-based implementation of M&E activities and collection of data, desk-based analysis of M&E data, desk-based preparation of analytical M&E reports. Qualifications, Skills and Experience:  The ideal candidate for the United Nations UNICEF Peacebuilding M&E Specialist should hold an advanced university degree (or equivalent) in research or evaluation methods with evidence of high quality research and evaluation activities previously designed and conducted; Possession of a University degree in development, education, or related social science discipline, and advantageDemonstrated practical experience in quantitative and qualitative evaluation design, conduct, and managementPast experience developing M&E systems for multi-sector programs in resource-constrained settingsDemonstrable experience of assessing education and/or peacebuilding programs in Sub-Saharan AfricaProven ability to facilitate learning from M&E findings and implementation teams and other relevant stakeholders.Past exposure and experience in developing and implementing gender and conflict sensitive, participatory and innovative M&E interventions, including the use of ICT.Significant experience of designing and implementing M&E to capture cross-cutting issues such as gender.Proven experience with the logical framework approach and other strategic planning approaches and sound grasp of the intervention logic (Theory of Change)Willing to undertake regular field visits and interact with different stakeholders e.g. Ministry and District officials, education staff, children and youth, local civil society organizations, communities.At least ten years of relevant work experience in M&E for peacebuilding programmingWorking knowledge of local social, cultural, political, economic context in East Africa/Uganda an advantageFluency in spoken and written English is required All interested and eligible candidates who wish to join the UNICEF should send a cover letter, a Resume and a Personal History (P11) form, Download Here, via E-mail to: ugderecruit@unicef.org, with copy to mllamazares@unicef.org