OVERVIEW
Parent Sector : Field Office
Duty Station: Harare
Job Family: Programme Coordination
Type of contract : Non Staff
Duration of contract : From 7 to 11 months
Recruitment open to : Internal and external candidates
Application Deadline (Midnight Duty Station Time) : 19-MAR-2025
UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST
In line with the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa’s strategy, the consultant will lead the design of targeted approaches and actions to advance strategic collaboration between UNESCO and key partners including bilateral and multilateral government financing organizations, vertical funds, international and regional financing institutions, private sector and foundations/philanthropic institutions. This will be done with the close collaboration and input from relevant staff working in the UNESCO Regional (Harare) and Country Offices (Maputo and Windhoek).
In doing so, the consultant is expected to consider the emerging trends in development and funding which call for diverse and innovative new approaches, noting the trend towards financing over funding and the significant projected overall reduction in development funding by the traditional donors. to partnership and financing. S/he will also consider the key internal/external platforms and frameworks which situate the Organization’s actions in the Southern Africa region.
TASKS
- Lead the development of a common understanding and approach between UNESCO’s technical staff, the director of the Regional Office, and Heads of Country Offices in Maputo and Windhoek with funding partners to enable a more profound and strategic engagement with UNESCO;
- Contribute to the identification, development, and implementation of new strategic partnership development and management tools, including those related to providing increased visibility for partner contributions.
- Contribute to the development of UNESCO’s Regional Strategy for Southern Africa (2026-2030) which takes into consideration the Resource Mobilization Plans of the National Offices. and work with all three offices to develop initial resource mobilization targets for the next two biennium (2026-2027 and 2028-29) and the bridge-year 2030 to the next strategy;
- Identify and support initial dialogue with government, global vertical and private sector funding partners with interest in investing in the Southern Africa region covered by the ROSA Office (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).
- Lead content development and coordination to enable UNESCO to entre high-level bilateral consultations with identified government and private sector actors for the development of a regional intersectoral comprehensive flagship on digital transformation, taking into account the work already done or being done in parallel by the Country Office in Namibia
- Interface closely with the Regional Office’s ADM Unit to identify training requirements for staff to develop accurate budget preparation for identified opportunities;
- Establish relationships with potential financing partners (bilateral government entities, global verticals, private sector, foundations, and philanthropic funders) interested in investing in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Engage UNESCO’s senior technical staff, the Regional Office Director, and Heads of Country Offices in Maputo and Windhoek in the process for them to promote, mobilize, and deepen cooperation, and ensuring sustained/increased engagement for increasing resource mobilization.
TASKS (continued)
- Support and strengthen one or two key donor partners’ integration of UNESCO’s technical areas in their policies and programmes. Identify opportunities for UNESCO’s technical and substantive input to donors’ development and related policies and strategies at the country and regional levels.
- Monitor regional trends and their implications at the regional and country levels in development cooperation and aid, as well as partner development policies, budgets, systems, andprocedures. Analyze and synthesize findings/information to develop project concept notes and proposals, take appropriate action, and/or advise the UNESCO Regional Office Director, Heads of Country Offices, and programme units at the Regional Office as needed.
- Prepare comprehensive and substantive briefs, reports, statistics, revenue projections, etc., for UNESCO’s Bureau of Strategic Planning (BSP) or as requested by the Director.
- Contribute to the development of UNESCO’s Regional Strategy (2026-30) which takes into consideration the Resource Mobilization Plans of the National Offices and develop a strategy with clear year-wise resource mobilization targets for Public and Private Sector Partnerships and Resource Mobilization (2026-30). This includes activities aimed at increasing flexible and predictable earmarked resource mobilization, ensuring guidance to key UNESCO staff on effective stewardship of partnerships with the identified donors.
- Contribute to the identification, development, and implementation of new strategic partnership development and management tools, including those related to providing increased visibility for partner contributions. Interface closely with the Regional Office’s ADM Unit to ensure accurate budget preparation for identified opportunities and help resolve any pending financial issues on current or past projects funded by the same donor.
- Drive content development and coordination for high-level bilateral consultations with identified government and private sector donors in line with UNESCO and partner priorities, with a specific focus on digital transformation and for which ensure close collaboration with the Director, Division for Planning and Programming in BSP.
OUTPUTS
- Successfully integrated UNESCO’s technical areas into donor policies and programmes, enhancing the alignment of donor strategies with UNESCO’s objectives
- Facilitated, and supported the development of a regional digital transformation for programme proposal covering both Country Offices in Maputo and Windhoek, and seven countries within the remit of the Regional Office and aligning with UNESCO’s strategic priorities on digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence and taking into account completed/ongoing work on the same topic by the Country Office in Namibia. This will ideally involve co-design workshops with key public and private funding organizations for the country-level modules with result matrices including workplan and M&E plan, and budget proposal;
- Integrated partnership and resource mobilization as a key component of the Regional Office Strategy for 2026-30.
- Developed a tailored Resource Mobilization Strategy for the UNESCO Regional Office in coordination with the Country Offices in Maputo and Windhoek, BSP, and Programme Units.
- Led the preparation and coordination for the director and senior staff missions to donor offices for consultations, including substantive briefs and presentations, targeted communication materials, and provided follow-up as needed.
- Liaised as required with officials in bilateral and multilateral government financing organizations, vertical funds, international and regional financing institutions, private sector and foundations/philanthropic institutions, to identify areas of common interest where the development of comprehensive proposals should be undertaken.
- Supported the preparation of technical-level discussions with government and private sector donor counterparts and relevant UNESCO colleagues as required.
- Proposed innovative means of ensuring partner recognition and visibility within UNESCO initiatives under the Regional Office Strategy for 2026-30.
Long Description
QUANTITATIVE MATRIX OF PERFORMANCE:
The consultant performance will be assessed against the key performance indicators (KPIs) and measurable metrics as below:
Successfully integrated UNESCO’s technical areas into donor policies and programmes KEY PERFORMANCE (KPIs) EXPLANATION OF METRICS Number of donor policies/programmes aligned with UNESCO objectives The total number of donor policies and programmes that have been adjusted to align with UNESCO's technical areas. Percentage increase in donor funding for UNESCO-aligned initiatives Percentage growth in donor funding for initiatives that align with UNESCO's objectives.
Number of new partnerships formed
The number of new partnerships formed as a result of the integration efforts. Led development of regional digital transformation programme proposal KEY PERFORMANCE (KPIs) EXPLANATION OF METRICS Number of bilateral and private sector financing entities participating in the countries covered by the proposal The number of bilateral and private sector financing entities participating in the countries included in the regional digital transformation programme proposal. Number of consultations held The number of in-person and in-country consultations held for the proposal development. Number of project country modules attracting donor interest The number of country-level project modules developed as part of the proposal receiving interest to fund from the bilateral donors and private sector partners
Completed proposal
The evidence of integration of the ongoing/parallel work of the country office in Windhoek in the proposal
Integrated partnership and resource mobilization in the Regional Office’s Strategy for 2025-30 KEY PERFORMANCE (KPIs) EXPLANATION OF METRICS Number of inputs for alignment the two strategies The number of inputs for alignment between outcomes and outputs of the Regional Office’s Strategy and Resource Mobilization for 2025-30 Completion of the costed result matrix for the strategy Collaboration for ensuring a costed result matrix for the Regional Office’s Strategy for 2025-30 that is inclusive of a budget for partnership and resource mobilization, communication and visibility, monitoring and evaluation, programme management and administration
Led preparation and coordination for director and senior staff missions