Recrutement d'un(e) consultant(e) individuel(le) - Cartographie régionale l'enseignement e des STEM
Organizational Context
The UNESCO Regional Multisectoral Office for West Africa in Dakar, in collaboration with UNESCO-IISTEM, is implementing a regional mapping initiative for STEM education across 15 West African countries. This initiative aims to strengthen STEM teaching in Africa. The mapping relies on a global questionnaire that needs adaptation and translation into French, English, and Portuguese to suit the sub-region's linguistic and institutional realities. The Regional Office seeks a consultant to lead this mapping exercise, from questionnaire adaptation to final report production.
Job Purpose
The overall objective of this mission is to produce a regional mapping of STEM education in West Africa, creating a harmonized comparative database across 15 countries. Specific objectives include proposing a data collection methodology for each country, ensuring quality control, and translating the global questionnaire into French, English, and Portuguese while maintaining data comparability. The consultant will adapt the questionnaire to the sub-region's linguistic and institutional contexts and the proposed electronic collection tool. Furthermore, the role involves coordinating data collection across all 15 countries, collaborating with UNESCO focal points and national consultants. The consultant will also develop and apply a methodology for processing, analyzing, and presenting collected data, culminating in preliminary and final reports detailing the regional mapping results.
Responsibilities
The consultant will analyze the comprehensive global STEM education mapping questionnaire developed by UNESCO-IISTEM and propose a data collection methodology for all fifteen West African countries. This includes adapting and translating the questionnaire into French, English, and Portuguese, ensuring conceptual consistency and data comparability across versions, and adjusting items for West African institutional realities in consultation with UNESCO Dakar and UNESCO-IISTEM. Responsibilities also involve coordinating data collection by liaising with UNESCO representatives or focal points in 12 countries and technically coordinating three national consultants in countries without direct UNESCO representation. The consultant will monitor questionnaire dissemination and response rates, provide continuous methodological support, and facilitate information flow during data collection. Furthermore, the role requires developing and validating a methodology for data processing, including cleaning, linguistic harmonization, and comparative analysis. The consultant will define the results presentation format, analyze collected data, and produce a regional synthesis. Finally, the consultant will draft preliminary and final reports in English or French, incorporating UNESCO's feedback for the final version.
Work Experience
Candidates must have a minimum of 10 years of experience in designing and managing multi-country surveys or data collection initiatives. Proven experience in coordinating teams or consultants across multiple countries simultaneously is essential. Knowledge of STEM education challenges in Africa is required. Experience with international organizations such as UNESCO or the African Union is highly desirable.
Skills
Excellent written and oral proficiency in French and English is required, with Portuguese language skills being a strong asset. Solid quantitative data analysis skills, including interpreting statistics and presenting results through reports and visualizations, are essential. The role demands a hybrid profile combining confirmed methodological expertise in multi-country surveys and multilingual data harmonization, strong knowledge of the STEM/education sector, and demonstrated capacity to coordinate operations across 15 countries efficiently. Core competencies include Communication, Accountability, Innovation, Knowledge Sharing, Planning and Organization, Results Focus, and Teamwork.