Technology for Development Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

Guided by the 2030 Agenda principle of “leaving no one behind”, UNICEF Rwanda under the current country programme will contribute to five priorities under the social transformation pillar of the National Strategy for Transformation 2017–2024: (a) Ensuring access to quality health for all; (b) Reducing malnutrition; (c) Ensuring access to and improving the quality of education; (d) Moving towards a modern Rwandan household, and; (e) Enhancing graduation from poverty and promoting resilience. The country programme will be implemented as part of the United Nations Development Assistance Plan 2018–2023 (UNDAP II), specifically contributing to Strategic Result Area 2: Social Transformation.

Context

Global and Innovation Gateway (GIGA) is a UNICEF and International Telecommunicaion Unit (ITU) global initiative to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. It has launched in 2019, aiming at connecting every school to the internet. Giga is anchored in the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation’s finding 1A which states that by "2030 every adult should have affordable access to digital networks". According to the ITU, nearly 3.7 billion people remain unconnected from the internet, and by extension, unconnected to digital products and services that could dramatically improve their lives. Approximately 29% of 18-24 year-olds, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa, do not have digital access (~360m people) and thereby lack access to the same information, opportunity and choice as their more-connected peers. Unless things change, a big part of this rapidly growing group of young people is in danger of being left behind, excluded from the modern digital world. Giga enables universal school connectivity and provides support in three broad areas: (1) High level engagement and governance around school connectivity; (2) Technical assistance to map schools’ location and connectivity status; and connectivity infrastructure; (3) Procurement and market access interventions. Giga has been actively supporting the Government of Rwanda with their school connectivity agenda since 2019. Giga successfully mapped the school location and connectivity status information for over 4000 schools and continues to support the government in updating the map with recent data. Furthermore, Giga provides real-time monitoring of internet speeds in Rwandan schools, utilizes AI for school mapping and offers technical support for government-led school connectivity procurement processes. To accelerate the deployment of Giga in Rwanda, we require the services of a Technology for Development Officer who will support implementation of the initiative. For more information about Giga, please visit the website: https://giga.global/.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the primary supervision of the Technology For Development Specialist, or her designated mandated representative(s) and secondary supervision of the Giga Global Country Engagement Lead, the UN volunteer will: a. Act as primary focal point for coordination • Support the liaison between the Government of Rwanda, ITU area and regional offices, UNICEF Rwanda CO, the Giga HQ team and key sector ministries. • Support the planning and implementation of key initiatives and the preparation of relevant, linked communication and materials. • Support development and quality assurance during planning and deployment of Giga based initiatives; participate in establishing and maintaining standards, documentation and support mechanisms. b. Support the design of major Giga Rwanda events as required c. Develop relationships with counterparts in relevant institutions and the private sector • Develop partnerships and networks with key line ministries (education, ICT, USF etc.), local ISPs, innovators in the connectivity space, NGOs, the private sector, local media and academia to advance Giga in Rwanda. • Support the establishment of data sharing agreements with MNOs and ISPs and contribute to managing these relationships to ensure smooth and continued data sharing. these relationships to ensure smooth and continued data sharing. • Support the generation of partner-oriented communication materials, including clear concept notes and budgets. • Ensure stakeholder support to the project and facilitate timely communications. d. Provide technical support to Giga related activities • Work with relevant government divisions to collect, clean, and classify the required data for Giga activities. Support relevant government counterparts to re-incorporate cleaned and validated data back into the respective government registries. • Support the deployment of software tools for real-time monitoring of internet connectivity in schools. • Work with the Giga team to adapt the developed tools to the needs of Rwanda, and coordinate and mediate between all key stakeholders to achieve the results. • Identify and compile lessons and results from previous connectivity initiatives in Rwanda, especially those related to school connectivity, and integrate these insights into Giga programming and planning. • Provide technical input and operational support to the Community Information Workers initiative, including reviewing the draft training materials, providing input to and testing the RapidPro workflow, liaising with key government counterparts and Community Information Workers and providing coordination and monitoring support to the pilot. e. Knowledge Management activities including progress reporting, project communications, risk management and lessons learned. • Identify, gather, synthesize and share lessons learned from the deployment of Giga activities. Incorporate the lessons learnt into broader knowledge development, planning and management efforts including insights from other countries through the global and regional networks. • Share regular updates with the Giga HQ team. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities. • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.