Call for Expression of Interest: External Technical Review Pool - Evidence and Learning on strengthening crisis and risk-related data

Background :

As part of their ongoing efforts to collect and share evidence and learning for strengthening education information systems and improved data in emergencies and protracted crises (EiEPC), UNESCO and INEE are pleased to launch their call for expressions of interest to join the External Technical Review Pool and support ongoing work to plug the gap in evidence and actionable learning for those working on EiEPC data and system strengthening.

Indeed, as education partners are developing significant expertise and knowledge in building system capacities in different crisis contexts, access to actionable knowledge and learning in realm of EiEPC and crisis and risk-related data –  particularly with national education systems, remains very limited. With support from ECW, and in collaboration with INEE, UNESCO is working to fill this knowledge gap by identifying, collecting, and disseminating practice-based evidence and learning that has attempted, and possibly succeeded, in strengthening crisis and risk-related education information systems with a particular interest on building system capacities on EiEPC data to provide practitioners, policymakers, and researchers with much-needed knowledge, evidence, and actionable learning. Evidence and learning collected through this work are be shared and disseminated on the INEE website as short case studies developed by UNESCO in close collaboration with the stakeholders implementing the practices, in a curated resource collection. 

External Technical Review Pool: 

UNESCO and INEE are calling on the EiE community to join the UNESCO Evidence and Learning to strengthen crisis and risk-related data and institutional education information systems external review panel and contribute to the production of quality and actional global public knowledge for those working on EiEPC data and system strengthening !

To ensure that evidence and learnings submitted relate to a practice that is in line with existing evidence, best practice, and established frameworks and standards within thematic areas of crisis and risk-related data, UNESCO is looking to set up a “pool” bringing together technical experts and specialists together experts who are as representative as possible of the diversity of actors involved in EiE data covering a range of thematic areas in crisis and risk data to participate in external peer review process.  

What will be asked of practitioners involved in the External Technical Review Pool ?

If any of the submissions cover a practice relevant to your area of expertise or experience, we will contact you directly and share the short case study documenting key evidence and learnings (never more than about 10 pages) to conduct the technical review to verify that the submission is related to a practice that is consistent with existing evidence, best practices, and established frameworks and standards in the thematic areas of crisis and risk data. A detailed review framework and short review form will also be provided to facilitate and streamline the process.

Within approximately one month, each reviewer will be asked to recommend one of the following actions to the UNESCO project team: reject, accept (without review), or revise, based on the assessment of the qualitative aspect of the evidence and learnings submitted and taking into account the following questions/issues: 

• Does the submission present evidence and learning that is aligned with best practices, standards and guidelines in your area of expertise?
• Does the submission present evidence and learning related to practice that is insightful, interesting, and usable by you, your organization, and others operating in your thematic area?
• Are there any major flaws, gaps, or inconsistencies in the evidence and learning?
• If published, would you and your organization consider using or expanding the evidence and learning presented?

The UNESCO project team will then liaise with practitioners to answer questions and/or make necessary modifications as needed, prior to publication in a curated collection of resources on the INEE website. 

Who can join the External Technical Review Pool? 

External technical reviewers must be able to demonstrate substantial technical experience in emergency education and/or thematic areas related to crisis and risk data, and may include practitioners, academics, field staff, donors, and policy makers. 

UNESCO and INEE particularly encourage expressions of interest from individuals from or based in crisis-affected communities and contexts who speak English, French and/or Spanish. Fluency in Arabic is also desirable.

If you are interested in joining this pool, please send a brief introductory email, describing your area of technical expertise and background related to education in emergencies to [email protected] by Friday, December 23, 2022.

All information on the process is detailed on the UNESCO Strengthening crisis and risk-related data and institutional education information systems webpage. Evidence and learning will also be included on the new INEE Evidence Platform (currently under development) which will serve as a go-to interactive space for INEE members and other partners, including practitioners, policymakers, and donor agencies, interested in engaging in, learning from, and taking up sound research.

This initiative is part of UNESCO's project ‘Strengthening institutional education information systems for data-driven EiE and resilience to crises’ funded by Education Cannot Wait, NORCAP and SIDA, aimed at enhancing the quality and coordinated use of institutional education information systems for EiE, and the continuous work of the Organization to address the aforementioned knowledge and evidence gaps 

If you have question or would like more information, please consult the repository webpage  or, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the team via : [email protected].