National Consultant-Productive Inclusion Expert at UNICEF Ghana

Unicef View all jobs

  • Accra
  • Permanent
  • Full-time
  • 1 month ago
Job DescriptionAdolescent girls in Ghana face multiple, compounding barriers to education, economic opportunity, and social inclusion-particularly in rural areas where poverty is widespread and harmful gender norms persist. Girls aged 15-19 are nearly twice as likely as boys to be out of education, employment, or training. Early pregnancy and child marriage continue to drive school dropout, with over 1 million children out of school as of 2020, a disproportionate number of whom are girls. In rural areas, secondary school attainment for girls remains below 5%, and more than 10,000 girls have never attended school at all. These realities contribute to a lifelong cycle of poverty and missed opportunity.To respond, UNICEF and the Government of Ghana launched the Livelihood Empowerment and Productive Inclusion Programme -(LEPIP) to support out-of-school vulnerable and at-risk adolescent girls and young mothers aged 16-21. The programme is designed to deliver a tailored package of social protection, financial inclusion, life and livelihood skills, and access to essential services, empowering girls to transition from skills training to earning. It also engages government partners, civil society, and girl-led organizations to improve service delivery, accountability, and policy processes for adolescent girls.The programme aligns with the government's national social protection objective to ensure that all citizens realize their basic rights and are able to participate effectively in socio-economic life. LEPIP is a multi-sectoral initiative and is embedded within the existing social protection system: Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP), Complementary Livelihood and Asset Support Scheme (CLASS), Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR) as well as leveraging on other exiting government systems: health, child protection and education.It is designed to contribute to the achievement of a number of key targets under the Sustainable Development Goals. These include target 1.3- implement nationally appropriate social protection system and measures for all; target 10.2 -empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all; target 5.3- eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation, and includes a target to end child marriage by 2030.The programme began in 2024 in two districts in Northern Ghana and has reached almost 500 programme participants and is planned to reach 6000 adolescent girls by 2028 in 26 districts.Scope of WorkThe objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to UNICEF and the Government under the ongoing Livelihood Empowerment and Productive Inclusion programme. LEPIP is delivered under the leadership of MMDAs through implementation teams made up of the Municipal District Co-ordinating Directors (M/DCDs), nine (9) other staff from the MMDAs including Department of Community Development, Department of Social Welfare, Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana Health Service (GHS), and Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA). Fifteen districts (all in the northern part of the country) are on board the programme with several beneficiary communities. This consultancy is to provide support to the district implementation teams to deliver the programme effectively across the various communities. The section is working with government to expand to additional 9 districts in 2026The contract is to recruit three (3) consultants to undertake similar assignments at the specified locations.Each consultant would be expected to work with five implementation districts each currently on board the programme as well as support with the expansion to the new nine districts later in the year -this will involve onboarding processes that would lead to enrolment of cohort two beneficiary girls. Each consultant will eventually be providing support to eight districts. The consultants will work very closely also with the lead partner Ministry- the Ministry of Local Government Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and UNICEF social policy and inclusion sectionKey Tasks Include:
  • Support orientation and training workshop for new expansion districts to prepare them to start identification and screening of eligible girls.
  • Provide oversight responsibilities for district implementation teams in all new districts to carry out field activities in line with the programme operations manual.
  • Support the MMDAs to maintain appropriate training modules and accompanying teaching and learning aids for all aspects of the programme. This will involve continuous adaptation of the LEPIP programme operations manual.
  • Have oversight for the determination/selection of viable enterprise activities to be supported by the project in various beneficiary districts.
  • Supervise the selection of Training Service Providers in all beneficiary MMDAs.
  • Ensure the prompt review and processing of beneficiaries grant applications.
  • Ensure the timely disbursement of Grants and other required benefits to beneficiaries.
  • Support the maintenance of suitable networks for establishing market linkages for beneficiary investment/Income Generating Activities (IGAs).
  • Develop systems for effective partnership with other collaborating institutions and stakeholders.
  • Provide leadership in the introduction of appropriate technology and innovation towards optimizing the outputs and outcomes of beneficiaries' enterprise activities.
  • Support the development of strategies and guidelines to ensure the sustainability of beneficiaries' business activities.
Qualification required & ExperienceEducation:
  • An advanced university degree (master's or higher) in social policy, sociology, social protection, development studies, anthropology, economics, public policy, or other related fields.
Work Experience:
  • At least 5 years of expertise in social protection programming and delivery.
  • Experience in leading the implementation of cash transfers or skills programmes for productive and economic inclusion in the last 5 years.
  • Good understanding of the Ghana social protection landscape.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and public speaking skill is required.
  • Skills in facilitating high level engagement with policy makers.
  • Good understanding of the local government system and operations of the decentralized agencies.
  • Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required
Desirable:
  • Skills in facilitating high level engagement with policy makers.
Location: AccraClosing Date: 24thMarch, 2026HOW TO APPLY

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