National consultancy for Ministry of Education Public Financing for Children (PF4C), Education, 12 months, Baghdad, Iraq (Nationals only, Home-based with travel)

Contract Duration: 12 months

Working arrangement: Home based

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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to learn

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this national consultancy is to support the UNICEF Iraq Country Office (CO) in advancing evidence generation and capacity strengthening on Public Financing for Children (PF4C) within the education sector. The consultancy will work closely with the Ministries of Education (MoE) in Federal Iraq and Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and their General Directorates of Education (GDoEs) at the sub-national level to strengthen public finance management (PFM) practices and promote more equitable, efficient, and child-centred investments in education, with a particular focus on early childhood education (ECE) and pre-primary education.

 

PFM is a critical enabler for realizing children’s rights and improving their well-being, particularly in the education sector. Transparent, equitable, and efficient allocation and utilization of public resources are essential to ensure that children benefit from government budgets, policies, and programmes. This is especially important in ECE, where underinvestment and unequal access continue to limit developmental opportunities and contribute to long-term inequalities.

 

The consultancy aligns with the priorities outlined in the Iraq National Education Strategy (INES) 2022–2031, particularly Pillar 3: “Governance, Educational Management and Finance,” which emphasizes strengthening the legislative, administrative, planning, and financial capacities of the education system to improve education service delivery. Recognizing that PF4C implementation and advocacy must remain responsive to evolving government processes, policy opportunities, and sector priorities, the consultancy will adopt a flexible and adaptive approach.

 

While the overarching objective of the assignment is to support government systems in becoming more transparent, equitable, efficient, and results-oriented in the allocation and use of public resources for children in education, a key focus for this assignment will be the development of a PFM/PF4C framework for education, capacity building of key MoE and GDoE staff in PFM, and facilitating UNICEF’s high-level advocacy for PFM grounded in the principles of equity, efficiency, transparency, and accountability.

 

In practical terms, the consultancy will support the collection of education financing and expenditure data at both national and sub-national levels to inform PF4C evidence generation, policy dialogue, advocacy efforts, and capacity building. In this context, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will serve as a key counterpart for the success of this assignment, particularly for budgetary data collection and engagement on public financing processes. In addition, the consultant will support the design and implementation of a series of capacity strengthening activities for relevant MoE and GDoE staff through training, coaching, mentoring, and technical support on PF4C and education financing.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  External ToR TMC0005066.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have...

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in economics, public policy, business, public administration, or any other relevant subjects.
• A higher degree is preferred.

• Work Experience:
  • At least five years of relevant professional experience is required.
  • Experience working within national financial institutions, including if possible the MoF.
  • Experience in institutional capacity building including training, coaching, and mentoring.
• Language Requirements:
  • Fluency in Arabic (for analysis of budget documentation, policy documents and engagement with the Iraqi government)
  • Proficiency in English (for writing, presentations and communication with UNICEF and international consultant).
• Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
  • Very good knowledge of PFM systems, budget system, budget cycles, and fiscal frameworks in Iraq.
  • Understanding of social sectors, with special emphasis on education in Iraq.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and diplomatic acumen for direct engagement with both senior and technical-level government officials and other stakeholders.
  • Advanced knowledge of the MS Office/Microsoft 365 suite of applications (especially Excel and PowerPoint).
• Desirables:

• Fluency in Kurdish is an advantage.
• Knowledge of and experience in PF4C is a strong advantage.
• Prior experience of working with UN organizations

 

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template)  Financial proposal TMC0005066.xlsx