Technical Consultant – National Institute of Open Schooling

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women’s Country Office, based in New Delhi, India, works to accelerate the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women through the strengthening of strategic partnerships, technical and policy advisory services and advocacy with governmental, inter-governmental and civil society partners. In addition, UN Women CO is also leading and coordinating the UN system’s work on gender equality, including through ensuring accountability for results.

Aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and UN Women India Country Strategic Note 2023-27 Womens Economic Empowerment Outcome 1, UN Women is currently implementing the Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning Programme (SCE) to enable women to access education, employment and entrepreneurship.

SCE has enabled over 40,000 underprivileged young women and women in India to take up education, training, employment and entrepreneurship. The programme addresses the structural barriers young women and women face in realizing their full economic potential by trying out innovative pilots in all these verticals across project states viz Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. To support young women and women in getting skilled and gainfully employed, the project adopts an empowerment approach to livelihoods as against the instrumental approach where the focus is merely on skills/income generation. The activities to strengthen women’s learning and earning pathways, therefore, are coupled by the capacity building initiatives on making women aware about their rights and entitlements, raise voice against violations and demand accountability from duty bearers. The Programme adopts evidence-based policy advocacy, leveraging UN Women’s and implementing partners’ institutional relationships with key relevant Ministries such as Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Rural Development/National Rural Livelihoods Mission and Ministry of Human Resource Development. The programme intends to create a supportive ecosystem to enhance women’s participation in the workforce and opportunities of self-employment, at the state as well as national level.

The programme has been working closely with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) since 2020 to mainstream women in formal education. Over these years, UN Women has been able to support NIOS in developing the policy on Inclusive Education and the policy on Gender, which speak to the national and state commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment, mainstreaming gender in NIOS programmes and policies.

In this context, the Technical Consultant will work closely with the SCE programme team at UN Women India office in New Delhi, under the supervision of the Country Programme Manager, SCE Programme. The Consultant will focus on ensuring the smooth implementation of the Gender Policy at NIOS, for which a Gender Action Plan has already been created. In line with the NEP 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework, the Consultant will also focus on the development of the NIOS curriculum to ensure it is gender responsive.

Duties and Responsibilities

Support NIOS in implementation of the Gender Action Plan (GAP):

• Support institutionalization of the revised NIOS Gender Policy and undertake efforts to implement the Gender Action Plan as per NIOS norms.
• Represent UN Women on the Committee (NIOS) for Assuring Accessible and Sustainable Education.
• Prepare a sensitization and capacity development plan for NIOS staff based on the GAP recommendations with a detailed sustainability plan on how the efforts will continue beyond the tenure of the gender expert.
• Lead the strategic planning and execution of Gender Action Plans. This includes liaising with stakeholders, monitoring progress, and ensuring alignment with the overarching goals of gender equality and empowerment.
• Provide technical assistance to NIOS in evaluating and revising the current curriculum, ensuring it reflects gender inclusivity principles. This entails a detailed analysis of curriculum content, pedagogy, and assessment methods under the New Curriculum Framework based on NEP 2020.
• Provide policy and strategic advice to NIOS on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Draw on global best practices for diversity and inclusion in education and adapt them for the implementation of the policies at NIOS.

Manage and develop research and knowledge products on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

• Conduct workshops with different set of stakeholders to inform the ongoing work on women’s economic empowerment.
• Prepare analysis report to map the impact and effectiveness of Gender Action Plan Implementation.
• Engage line departments in NIOS for securing buy in for improved budget allocations, better infrastructure and effective delivery of the current programmes of NIOS.
• Develop briefs highlighting best practices in UN Women’s SCE programme in Odisha, Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan, in relation to NIOS engagement on ground.
• Engage with NIOS to write/co-author articles/papers in collaboration with UN Women, concerned with gender and education.

Any other work assigned by the supervisor in the thematic areas of education, vocational training, skilling and entrepreneurship and related areas.

Deliverables:

• Detailed GAP implementation plan prepared and submitted to UNW/NIOS – (by 31 May 2024)
• Capacity development plan for NIOS based on GAP recommendations prepared and submitted for approval – (by 30 June 2024)
• Regular analysis reports of the GAP progress in line with identified indicators – (end of each calendar month)
• Quality briefs on SCE best practices and D&I best practices in educational institutions - July 2024
• Smooth coordination with NIOS and successful implementation of GAP, including workshops/events with stakeholders - ongoing
• Development of a gender responsive NIOS curricula based on NCF – (by 30 November 2024)
• Time sheet and Monthly progress reports – (end of each calendar month)

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• Ability to develop training modules and curriculum
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow
• Good knowledge of technical area
• Ability to identify and analyze trends and opportunities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Minimum Masters degree in a relevant field such as International Development/ Social Sciences/Development Studies/Education/Gender Studies or related discipline.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience working with  national/state government on Gender Equality and Women’s rights is required.
• In-depth knowledge of NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 is required.
• Experience of building curriculum for educational purposes is required, experience/expertise in gender responsive pedagogy is an added advantage.
• Substantive experience of conducting trainings/workshops/capacity building exercises required.
• Work experience with national education institutions would be an added advantage.
• Experience on quantitative and qualitative research would be an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Hindi is required.
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Interested applicants should apply to this announcement through UNDP jobs site: jobs.undp.org.

Application:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs.
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.
• Applications received after the close date will not be accepted.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.                                                        

Evaluation and Selection Criteria:

Criteria for shortlisting of CVs will be based on the following assessment:

• Required Degree and Qualification.
• Minimum Experience relevant to the assignment.
• Working knowledge and experience of working with Community/Programme Partner/ State Government.

The evaluation process for selection of the candidate will be based on the following assessment:

• Interview - 80 Points
• Writing Samples - 20 Points

Please Note:

• Consultants are required to submit doctor's certificate to state fitness to work and travel for this assignment.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.
• The consultant is expected to use their own computer equipment. The office will not provide any computer equipment for this assignment.
• This is a full-time assignment. The consultant is expected to disclose any outside activity and shall not be permitted to take up any outside work during this assignment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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