Consultant on Regional Life Skills and Citizenship  

NOTE: Please note correction in the number of working days. The correct number is 65 working days

 

Consultancy Title:                Consultant on Regional Life Skills and Citizenship Education Framework (LSCE)

Location:                                Nairobi, Kenya with frequent travel to Somalia

Full/Part time:                       Full time

Contractual Modality:         Individual Consultant

Duration:                               65 working days

Closing date:                         18th June 2019

 

Organization Context:

 

The United Nations Population Fund is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. UNFPA’s new Strategic Plan (2018 – 2021) focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices

 

Purpose of consultancy:

 

This consultancy has been initiated by UNFPA Somalia in collaboration with UNFPA Arab State Regional Office (ASRO) in the effort to align, for UNFPA Somalia

and its implementing partner’s, the new Regional Life Skills and Citizenship Education Framework (LSCE).  

 

The Consultancy will consist of three specific tasks as outlined below:

 

1. Firstly, the Consultant will adapt the LSCE Model to Somalia context. This will entail reviewing the Regional LSCE model developed by UNFPA, UNCIEF and other regional and international partners, mapping of existing LSCE –related tools, references and programs in Somalia, as well as, developing a Draft Manual to support the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Somalia.
2. The Consultant (having reviewed all LSCE and training materials above) will produce one well adapted and tailor made LSCE Training Manual for Somalia, by integrating all relevant sections of the training manuals outlined above. The Consultant should ensure the Training Manual is clearly written and visually attractive to encourage and support users to roll out this initiative in Somalia
3. Thirdly, the Consultant will support the Youth and Adolescent Development Programme in rolling out a Training of Trainers (TOT) programme on life skills and citizenship education in 3 locations in Somalia, working closely with UNFPA Somalia, Ministries of Youth and Y-PEER partners in Somalia.

 

Background on Youth and UNFPA’s youth work in Somalia

 

Within the context of the 3rd Programme Cycle of Assistance 2018-2020 between the Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNFPA intends to adapt UNFPA’s Life Skills and Citizenship Education Training Manual to the Somalia context.

 

Youth in Somalia face an uncertain future. The vast majority of the Somali population is below the age of 35 according to population estimate surveys. Somalia is also a patriarchal society that is traditionally dominated by male elders. This results in the exclusion of young women and men from decision-making processes and has led to youth usually be excluded from politics. In Somalia, poverty, a lack of education and employment opportunities, and difficulties accessing healthcare severely affect marginalized groups – including youth.

 

In fragile states marginalized groups are also very often neglected and left behind due to a lack of education and economic opportunities that have driven young women and men to become more vulnerable to radicalization and seek alternative avenues of belonging and leadership. In Somalia this has led to youth often finding social inclusion within extremist groups such as Al-Shabaab. Youth feel a sense of grievance and have limited confidence towards government authorities and elders in delivering meaningful changes in their society.

 

The number of youth in Somalia are expected to increase in the coming years, providing an immense demographic window of opportunity to better engage the youth of Somalia economically, socially, and civically as they transition into the change-makers and decision-takers of the country.

Adolescents and youth form a significant proportion of the population in Somalia. They represent the transition from childhood to adulthood; they are the most important age group since their dynamics determine the social, economic, political, health and demographic future of society in Somalia.

 

Schools have the opportunity to improve children’s health, self-esteem, life skills, and behavior with interventions to promote health and prevent diseases (WHO, 1996). Young people learn about reproductive health issues from different sources; mainly from their parents, siblings, peers, and the media. Educating adolescents at this point in their lives can lay the groundwork for a lifetime of healthy habits. Thus, it is important that schools provide accurate information, opportunities to develop healthy attitudes, and skills-based learning experiences to help adolescent and youth make informed decisions and to reduce risky behaviors.

 

The Life Skill and Citizenship Education (LSCE) initiative spearheaded by UNFPA Regional office and other UN agencies was recently launched. UNFPA Somalia has its own version of life skills training, however, harmonization and adaptation to the country context is required and this requires a Consultant to adapt all LSCE materials for Somalia into ONE Training Manual, and to support a Training of Trainers (TOT) on the new Training Manual to ensure that UNFPA

 

Somalia have a pool of well-trained individuals with the capacity to undertake future life skills training in Somalia.

 

The Life Skill and Citizenship Education (LSCE) model offers a multi-dimensional and transformative vision of education that is humanistic, rights-based, life-long and systematic, many of the LSCE concepts are the core foundations of UNFPA’s Peer Education approach with emphasis on intricate themes such as SRH, adolescent girls’ assets, peace and security as well as behavior change on GBV.

 

The Somalia context is generally conservative but also has many challenges including child marriage, female genital mutilation as well as conflicts.

 

UNFPA is working closely with the Ministry of Youth and Y-PEER Network on implementing Life skills and an engagement programme in Somalia. The main objective is to support the implementation and institutionalizing of the skills building and civic engagement programmes at the UNFPA supported Youth's Centres in Somalia. The programme aims to enhance youth empowerment and engagement through enabling young people to use their voices, participate more actively in their communities, think creatively and critically about themselves and their roles in society, to make informed decisions, and to generally discover the untapped resources that exist within them.  

 

We therefore wish to adapt the LSCE model to the Somali context, to help support and give young people in Somalia a brighter future.

 

Background on the LSCE Framework:

 

The LSCE Conceptual and Programmatic Framework is an evolving Regional framework to be tested and refined at national level. It comes as a result of multiple consultations and engagement with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, which have also formulated country specific proposals for mainstreaming life skills and citizenship education at a national level within education systems.

 

The Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) Initiative is meant to revisit the concept of Life Skills and Citizenship Education in MENA, while providing a holistic, transformative and life‐long approach relevant to the MENA Regional 21st Century context. UNFPA is one of several United Nations agencies partnering in the initiative.

 

The LSCE Initiative has two main components:

• The development of a Conceptual and Programmatic Framework (CPF) on Life Skills and Citizenship Education that will serve as a guide to vision/strategy development and programming at country level, and;
• Provide technical support to support countries to plan and Roll out strengthened Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) training.

 

As part of the framework, a set of twelve core life skills for MENA have been identified using the four dimensional model of the Initiative:  Communication, cooperation, critical thinking, creativity, decision‐making, empathy, negotiation, self‐management, and respect for diversity, resilience, participation, and problem solving. All of these 12 core life skills are needed to develop a holistic approach to life skills building.  

 

The LSCE framework has also developed four “Dimensions of Learning” for each of the core skills. These are:  

1. The Cognitive Dimension or “Learning to Know”

2. The Instrumental Dimension or “Learning to Do”

3. The Individual Dimension or “Learning to Be”

4. The Social Dimension or “Learning to Live Together”

 

UNFPA Somalia supports life skills and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights programming for youth in Somalia. The results of this consultancy will support UNFPA Somalia to improve and align the Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) Training Programme for Somalia, as per the recommended LSCE Regional Framework.

 

The LSCE model has a strong SRHR and HIV/AIDs component, which UNFPA plans to build upon in Somalia, ensuring that various life skills tools and manuals that UNFPA and it Implementing Partners (IPs) use, are in line with the new Regional LSCE framework

 

As one pertinent example from the LSCE framework, under the Core Life Skill of “Negotiation” the ‘Learning to Be’/the Individual Dimension notes that: ‘the global prevalence of HIV and other sexual and reproductive health issues especially among youth has raised concerns and outlined the need to enhance their negotiation skills (Adamchak, 2006).  Indeed, negotiating effectively is essential for personal empowerment, particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health as it allows individuals to maintain their health by refusing pressure to become involved in risky behaviours (Sinclair et al., 2008; UNHCR)”1

 

Scope of work: (Description of services, activities or outputs)

 

1. The first component of this Consultancy will be to adapt the Life Skills and Citizen Education (LSCE) model to the Somali context.  Noting the above, the curriculum should be age-appropriate in both content and teaching methods and culturally acceptable.

 

Specific issues that the Consultant should ensure are addressed when adapting the LSCE Model to the Somali Context are outlined below:

• The curriculum will be gender sensitive and culturally appropriate to the Somali context.
• The curriculum will be age appropriate for 15 to 24-year-old youth and adolescents in Somalia.
• Ensure that the curriculum is based on social learning theories, such as social cognitive theory, social influence theory, cognitive behavioral theory, or the theory of reasoned action;
• Include activities that address social pressures on sexual behaviors, including activities that address gender relations;
• Provide modeling and practice of communication, negotiation, and refusal skills as part of the training curriculum
• Suggest active learning techniques (for each suggested discipline) that will involve the participants and have them personalize the information;

 

2. The second component of this consultancy will be to produce ONE Life Skills and Citizen Education (LSCE) Training Manual for Somalia. It is imperative that the Training manual is clearly written, visually attractive and clearly presented to support all future Somali Facilitators and Trainers to roll out this initiative in Somalia.

 

3. The third component of this Consultancy, is to support UNFPA Somalia and the Youth and Adolescent Development Programme to roll out a Training of Trainers (TOT) based on the revised Life Skills and Citizen Education (LSCE) Manual developed above, in 3 locations in Somalia, in collaboration with UNFPA Somalia, the Ministry of Youth and Y-PEER partners.

 

Specific Tasks

In view of the above, the consultant will be responsible for undertaking the following specific tasks:

 

Adaptation of the Life Skills and Citizen Education (LSCE) model to the Somali context:

1. Develop a Plan of Action and timetable for accomplishing various components of the consultancy, in consultation with UNFPA Somalia Youth officer.
2. Undertake desk review of the project’s studies; investigate similar or related studies/material developed by other UNFPA supported projects or in the Arab region or other regions; internet search on background material and documentation etc.
3. Assist in identifying, collaborate and consult with UNFPA Country office, the Regional Youth Advisor and all relevant partners in Somalia, in all stages of developing a revised LSCE Training Manual for Somalia. This will involve facilitating several consultation meetings with relevant partners.
4. Prepare and ensure timely delivery of the first Draft of the Curriculum
5. Revise/modify the curriculum as per suggestions provided by UNFPA Regional Office, Country Office and recommendations from the various meetings;
6. Finalize LSCE Curriculum for Somalia
7. Provide UNFPA Somalia with a finalized version of the LSCE Curriculum and Training Manual for Somalia that is clear, concise, well written and attractive for learners (well laid out and visually attractive).

 

Roll out a Life Skills Capacity Building Training Of Trainers (TOT) based on the revised Life Skills and Citizen Education (LSCE) Manual developed above.

1. Develop a comprehensive subject matter training plan that clearly highlights activities, resources required, the agenda and the training schedule to support the roll out of LSCE TOT Training in Somalia.
2. Conduct 3 x Training of Trainers on the newly developed LSCE Manual developed for Somalia, in order to sensitize and orientate national facilitators and trainers on the redesigned package (LSCE) for Somalia.
3. Ensure quality monitoring regarding specific skill addressed in the core LSCE curriculum, by conducting pre and post-tests as necessary. The Consultant is expected to provide all necessary support in administering the pre/post-test at the beginning and end of each training.
4. Consistently revise and develop the curriculum development based on feedback and field observations.
5. Coach and mentor trainers, facilitators, youth volunteers who will implement the Life Skill and Citizen Education (LSCE) programme in Somalia in future.

 

KEY DELIVERABLES:

 

Please see below the 3 main deliverables for this Consultancy.  

1. A Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) Training Manual developed, that is well adapted to the Somali Context (complete with all relevant Annexes and References). The Training Manual must be clearly written and visually attractive to support the roll out of this initiative in Somalia.
2. Conduct 3 x five-day Training of Trainers (TOT) capacity building workshops in three locations in Somalia, for key partners working with UNFPA Somalia that will be responsible for rolling out this initiative in Somalia.
3. Produce a final revised National LSCE Manual as well as training report on the TOT workshops that includes pre-post-test surveys, participants list, recommendations and any other related documents.

 

Duration, working schedule and Task Time frame

 

This Consultancy is for a total of 65 working days as outlined below:

1. LSCE Training Manual review and development: 3 months (40 working days)
2. Capacity Building LSCE TOT: Total 25 days (LSCE TOT rolled out in 3 locations in Somalia (5-day training x 3 locations, 15 days total). 5 days planning, 5 days producing Final LSCE TOT Report).

 

Supervisory arrangements:

 

The Consultant will work under the overall supervision of Head of Programmes at UNFPA Somalia. The Direct Supervisor will be UNFPA Somalia Youth Programme Officer for Somalia based in Nairobi. The Consultant will also be expected to work in close collaboration with the UNFPA sub-offices in Somalia

 

Consultancy Location:

 

The consultant is expected to be based in Nairobi, Kenya in order to liaise closely with UNFPA Somalia.

 

Travel:

 

The Consultancy will include travel to Somalia. All travel expenses directly related to the consultancy within Somalia will be facilitated and paid for by UNFPA Somalia.

 

Delivery dates and how the work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

 

1. Five-day Training of Trainers (TOT) capacity building workshops in three locations in Somalia completed by 30^th July 2019
2. A Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) Training Manual finalized by 30^th August 2019 and delivered in pdf format to UNFPA Somalia electronically.
3. Final Report of LSCE TOT workshops that includes pre-post-test surveys, participants’ lists, recommendations and any other related documents, delivered electronically to UNFPA Somalia by 30^th September 2019.

 

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, and equipment), if applicable:

 

• UNFPA will provide the contractor with relevant documents and connect the consultant with any key informants for skype interviews as may be needed.
• UNFPA will dedicate one of its staff members (Youth officer) to manage the process.  
• UNFPA will facilitate for the contractor to connect with any and all IPs/YPEER as needed.

 

 Qualifications

 

Languages Skills

• Excellent command of spoken and written English.
• Knowledge of Somali an asset.

 

Education

 

• University Degree in Education, Public Health, management, social/behavioural sciences or any other related technical field.

Experience

 

• 5+ years of experience designing empirical education materials, with specific focus on life skills.
• Proven experience in training youth and conducting Training of Trainers (TOT)
• Prior experience in curriculum development and refinement, coaching and mentoring, quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation with emphasis on working for and with young people
• Experience working in Somalia an asset.
• Conceptual and analytical skills with ability to produce high quality work.
• First-hand knowledge of the socio-cultural, economic and political situation in Somalia
• will be an added advantage.
• Willingness to work in difficult circumstances and travel to Somalia as well as understanding of the UN system.

 

Skills and Competencies

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Exceptional writing skills.
• Excellent organizational and multi-tasking skills.
• Ability to work under time constraints and deadlines in challenging settings.
• Ability to work in multicultural and multi ethnic environments.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish effective working relations with other stakeholders with experience in convening and facilitating of workshops and meetings.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to work in a team and good interpersonal skills.
• Must be committed to respecting deadlines of delivery outputs within the agreed time‐frame;
• Familiarity with UNFPA and UN operations will be an advantage.   
• Familiar with the UN system, with its Code of Conduct and with the Do No Harm approach

 

Payment schedule    

 

Payments will be made against deliverables outlined above, as per below

 

1. Training of Trainers (TOT) capacity building workshops completed: 30%
2. A Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) Training Manual finalized completed 50%
3. Final Report of LSCE TOT workshops finalized, that includes pre-post-test surveys, participants lists, recommendations and any other relevant documents – 20%

 

Disclaimer

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm

How to apply

Interested candidates are requested to register in our roster through the link below: https://consultantroster.unfpa.org/ and to send their expression of interest, curriculum vitae and information on previous similar work to somalia.recruit@unfpa.org on or before Thursday 18^th June, 2019.