Gender and EiEPC Consultant, Programme Group, Education Section/UNGEI Team, NYHQ, remote. Req# 588814

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Consultancy: Gender and EiEPC Consultant  

Duty Station: Programme Group/Education Section/UNGEI Team

Duration: 1 January 2026 – 30 Nov 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF’s fundamental mission is to uphold the rights of every child, everywhere. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals, the Strategic Plan2026–2029 places equity at the centre of its education work. The education programme offer is designed to ensure that every child and adolescent has access to quality, inclusive, and resilient learning opportunities. It prioritises three key transitions in a child’s learning journey: readiness for school, acquisition of foundational and transferable skills, and preparation for life and work. These transitions underpin UNICEF’s focus on equitable access, improved learning outcomes, and continuity of education in emergencies and fragile contexts.

Within this framework, gender equality is recognised as both a right and a powerful driver of education system transformation. Girls in particular continue to face barriers that limit their access to and success in education, including discrimination, violence, poverty, and restrictive social norms. Addressing these inequities is essential to achieving sustainable and transformative progress for all children.

As part of this commitment, the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) was established in 2000. UNGEI catalyses action locally, nationally, regionally, and globally for girls’ education and gender equality through education. Its mission is to influence global policy, promote evidence-based solutions, and facilitate the sharing of good practice across contexts. By strengthening cross-sector collaboration and engaging diverse development actors, UNGEI accelerates progress towards gender-transformative education.

UNGEI is a global convener of partners working on gender equality in and through education. These include the UNGEI Partnership, Global Working Group to End School-Related Gender-Based Violence, Partner Coalition to End Gender Stereotypes in Schools, GCI Alliance, Feminist Network for Gender Transformative Education and Transform Education. These platforms consist of civil society organizations, international non-governmental organizations, multilateral organizations, representatives of Ministries of Education, donors, young feminist activists and academia.

The Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI) is a multistakeholder initiative to promote gender equality in and through education with partner countries in Africa. It is jointly coordinated by UNGEI and IIEP-UNESCO. GCI works with governments, civil society and young feminists to strengthen technical gender capacity, foster political will and support the transformation of harmful gender norms.

This consultancy will provide critical support to an initiative to bridge the gap between the gender equality and Education in Emergencies & Protracted Crises (EiEPC) spaces at global and country level. This will be done by contributing gender in EiEPC expertise to UNGEI’s global platforms and advocacy, as well as to the Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI), and by supporting UNGEI’s advisory roles in various fora.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Gender Equality Technical Assistance Initiative (TAI) aims to provide critical technical capacity support to partner countries to meaningfully include gender equality in education sector plans, policies and budgets and hold an inclusive sector dialogue on gender equality in education with all stakeholders (governments, civil society, technical partners, young activists). This will include  providing technical capacity support to Jordan and Pakistan (Balochistan province) and this consultancy will provide support to setting up the Gender Equality TAI in Jordan and Pakistan.

Scope of Work: The Gender and EiEPC Consultant is primarily