OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station: Nineveh

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : 5 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 20.07.2023

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

Background and Objective

The Mosul University library was extensively damaged during the conflict with ISIL/Da’esh. The space once housed more than one million books, periodicals, manuscripts and government publications from as early as the 1920s. As a house of learning and knowledge at the center of the University, the Library was among the first institutions targeted by ISIL/Da’esh after their occupation of Mosul in 2014. The Library was deliberately set on fire, almost all of its collection was destroyed, and its building severely damaged.

In the absence of the central library, approximately 50,000 students, university lecturers, and staff do not have easy access to required literature for their research and academic projects.
UNESCO aims to build resilience and promote rapid recovery and transition in Mosul. Education provides physical, psychosocial, and cognitive protection that can sustain and save lives during a crisis. Education remains a fundamental human right, and quality learning opportunities should be available for all ages.

The Mosul University library plays an important role in realizing this objective by supporting the revival of the spirit of Moslawi youth, ensuring access to a safe learning environment, especially for young girls, and fostering peaceful coexistence among the youth of Mosul.
The physical infrastructure rehabilitation of the Central Library was completed in February 2022, but, the operationalization of the library requires urgent support to put in place the necessary measures for designing library functionalities and providing the modern tools and instruments necessary to effectively perform those functionalities from acquisition to archiving and digitization of the existing old and new library materials and holdings. Additionally, technical and professional capacity strengthening of the library staff through tailored practical training programs is essential. Currently, the gaps within institutional and professional capacities of the Central Library undermine the wider investment and prospects of the university in offering a holistic approach to learning and research.

With the overall objective of making the Mosul University Library fully functional and ensuring that it is perceived as an essential knowledge resource and a cultural connecting place, UNESCO will implement the following activities:

Long Description

1- Capacity-building: Develop and implement a training program for more than 80 Library staff in various areas such as access to services, acquisitions, cataloguing, archive management, conservation, digitization, repository management, reference services, LIS use and communication. Training will be followed by practical application throughout the project duration.

2- Library Information system (LIS): Selection, customization and deployment of an enterprise software solution, covering the Library local functions and remote e-services, including acquisition, warehousing, interchange and virtual integration with other libraries’ content and catalogues, cataloging, classification, collection management, local and remote access and circulation/borrowing/reading/interlibrary loan, reference services, research and instruction, patron and subscriber relation management, management of scanned materials, periodicals, e-books, rare materials and manuscripts.

3- Conservation, restoration, digitization, and indexing/cataloguing: Restoration, preservation, conservation, digitization and bookbinding of rare and other endangered library materials including manuscripts and historical documents.

4- Partnerships: Establishment of partnerships with relevant institutions across the world, thereby reinforcing sustainability of the library’s functions and operations. These partnerships shall, in particular, facilitate the provision of advice and support to capacity building as well as result in agreements on acquisitions of relevant up-to-date knowledge material.

Specifically, the Consultant will undertake reviewing the project document’s components, outputs and activities against the reality on the ground and, in discussion with the Project team, key project partners, to identify the potential gaps/areas that need to be re-examined. The consultant will lead the inception phase of the project implementation, focusing on implementation recommendations, workplan and bring the required expertise and human resources.
The Consultant will work collaboratively with the MoHESR (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research), University of Mosul, and UNESCO team.

Long Description

Duties and Responsibilities of the Consultant

Under the overall authority of the Director and UNESCO Representative to Iraq and direct guidance and supervision of the Chief of Education, UNESCO Iraq Office and the Project Officer, the Consultant shall be responsible for leading and conducting the Project Inception Phase through the achievement of the following objectives and tasks:

• Share the project details with the library and re-align its components according to the current reality.
• Finalize the project inception report and detailed workplan.
• Draft the TORs of the key-experts for components 1, 3 and 4. (Listed below
• Prepare the design study and procurement dossier for component 2 (the Consultant as a key-expert for this component).
• Identify the library’s current reality and what has been achieved in it during the last two years.
• Introduce and discuss the project components and its details with the library leadership.
• Draft the final detailed project plan including its necessary re-alignment to adapt to the current reality.
• Prepare the TOR’s of the first stage key-experts for components 1, 3 and 4.
• Prepare the Library Information System (LIS – component 2) design study with the required procurement TOR’s and BoQs (training, software and hardware)
• Develop a procurement plan with the estimated costs.

Duration and duty station of Assignment

The consultancy is based in Iraq / Nineveh with the duration of 5 months.

Timeline and Expected Output/Deliverables

• Inception report (including the detailed project plan and the proposed re-alignments), submission by 31 August 2023
• Three ToR’s of the project key experts for components 1, 3 and 4, submission by 20 September 2023.
• Library Information System design study (LIS – component 2) with the required procurement TOR’s (training, software and hardware), submission by 30 November 2023.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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Required Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

• Advance University degree in informatics, library design and management with professional training in information technology management or relevant fields.

Work Experience

• At least 7 years of relevant work experience on libraries functions development and establishment of Management Information Systems.
• Previous experience with academia and universities is required.

Language

• Excellent knowledge of English (written and spoken)
• Good Knowledge of Arabic (written and spoken)

Desirable Qualifications

• Background knowledge of the Iraqi and Moslawi context and the related UNESCO educational interventions.
• 10 years of experience with an INGOs, and United Nations entity within the MENA region.
• Experience with academia and universities in the Middle East region specifically in Iraq.

Skills and competencies

• Demonstrated ability to manage data collection processes and coordination.
• Highly organized and extremely detail oriented with regards to project development and quality control.
• Clear and effective communicator, both written, visual (i.e. graphs/charts) and verbal.
• High level of initiative and proactive approach to building relationships; a team player.
• Flexible and focused on identifying possibilities and solutions.
• Advanced knowledge and skills in library management and archiving systems.
• Solid knowledge and expertise in the education sector and in reviewing different education challenges, preferably with a particular focus ICT and IMS (Information Management System).
• Proven capacity to analyze data and prepare reports outlining needs assessment findings and recommendations.
• Organizational skills, including in establishing plans and priorities, as well as in implementing them effectively, and devising implementation strategies that take account of and mitigate risks.
• Proven leadership and managerial skills, teamwork, a broad general culture and sound analytical capacities, high sense of objectivity, professional integrity and political astuteness.

Application Process

Interested candidates should click on “Apply Now”, then download and complete the Employment History form (Word file). At the end of the Word file, insert extra pages with the following required information in English:
* Upon completing the Word file with all the requested information above, upload the file at the “My Employment History Form /MyDocuments” section of the online application form. Only applications with the below requested information will be considered.

1- A Technical Written proposal
(2-3 Pages Maximum) consisting of:

An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV), and a statement indicating how your qualifications and experience make you suitable for the assignment.
• A description of your proposed approach and methodology for undertaking the assignment.
• List of work assignments and/or THREE (03) contacts as references – to be filled and returned to UNESCO as part of the submission.

2-A Financial proposal
showing the amount to be charged for the assignment expressed as an overall lump sum, which should be quoted in US Dollars only. Any travel and subsistence requirements should be indicated separately. Please design the payment scheme against a clear and specific set of deliverables and milestones as reflected in the work plan.

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

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