About the position

Background

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, a childhood.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of this consultancy is to inform education planning and budget advocacy through producing evidence on fiscal space and costing options for scaling up ECE toward achieving full coverage by 2030 or earlier. The consultancy will contribute to advancing UNICEF’s advocacy and ambition of universal access to at least one year of quality ECE for all children, as well as to the development of practical tools to support the government in articulating their financing commitment and framework for ECE to meet or exceed the SDG 4.2 target ahead of 2030 with affordable cost.

Objective

The main objective of this consultancy is to produce costing options and report toward reaching full coverage (100%) of early childhood education for children aged 5 years and 3 – 5 years.

Scope of the Exercise

This costing options exercise focuses mainly on government budget options at national and sub-national level; however, the role of private sector shall be mentioned in the report based on literature review and existing data sets. 

While the costing aims at full coverage of children below 6 years of age by 2030, different options will be explored with children aged 3-5 and children aged 5 years interacting by different relevant parameters at varying degree of target. The costing exercise thus will involve multiple costing options and extensive consultations with key partners particularly Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and General Secretariat of National Committee for Early Childhood Care and Development (GS of ECCD) and provincial departments of education, youth and sports, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Economy and Finance. The options shall consider transition plan and phase approach depending on available fiscal space toward reaching full ECE coverage prior to CSDG 2030 or by CSDG 2030.

Qualifications and Knowledge

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• At least master’s degree in the field of Economics or Finance or related social sciences with a major focus on budget planning, or relevant major
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience at national and/or sub-national levels in budget planning, preferably cross-sector budget planning
• Medium/Advanced skill in cost modeling using Microsoft Excel and other modeling program
• Proven experiences in development of cross-sector or sectoral costing for cross-sectoral national action plan, preferably related to the sectors of education, child protection, health, social protection, and/or other social science fields
• Excellent knowledge of Government Budgeting and costing system, preferably in the sectors of education and social ministries
• Excellent knowledge on cross-sector budget planning and financing, preferably at sub-national and departmental level
• Sound knowledge of the education sector in Cambodia or South-East Asian countries

Competencies

• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent organizational and facilitation skills
• Ability to work under pressure, meet tight deadlines, paying close attention to details and quality of work
• Proven good interpersonal and communication skills

Languages

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Khmer

How to apply

You need to apply online.

For more information: Click here