1. Background

Across West and Central Africa, attacks on education, school closures due to insecurity, forced displacement, and increasing numbers of out-of-school children continue to undermine access to safe and quality education.

To support evidence-based advocacy on the protection of education, partners will produce the 2026 Education Under Attack in West and Central Africa Advocacy Brief. The brief will present updated regional and country-level data and analysis on:

• Attacks against education;

• School closures due to insecurity;

• Children affected by school closures;

• Out-of-school children;

• Funding gaps.

Data will be compiled from multiple secondary sources and consolidated into a regional dataset. The consultant will support data cleaning, harmonisation, analysis and production of a limited set of visual products to inform the advocacy brief and a regional advocacy event on Education in Emergencies (EiE) in the region, to be held in Dakar in September.

The dataset is expected to consist primarily of country-level indicators and therefore does not require extensive statistical analysis. Given the relatively straightforward structure of the dataset and the use of pre-existing country-level indicators, the assignment is designed as a rapid support consultancy focused on producing advocacy-ready outputs.

2. Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to ensure that the data used in the advocacy brief are:

• Cleaned and harmonised;

• Consistent across countries and sources;

• Analysed to identify key regional trends;

• Presented through clear and advocacy-oriented visuals.

The consultant will provide a concise analytical package that can directly support drafting of the regional advocacy brief.

3. Scope of Work

NRC and partners will provide the consultant with the datasets, sources and guidance on priority indicators. For the purpose of this consultancy, "indicators" refer to the various data points and parameters collected and analysed for each country, including but not limited to attacks on education, school closures, children affected by school closures, out-of-school children, forced displacement figures and education funding gaps. These data will be primarily provided by country focal points.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Task 1 – Data Cleaning and Harmonisation

• Review all datasets and source files.

• Harmonise country names, ISO codes and indicator definitions.

• Verify consistency between sources and years.

• Identify missing values, duplications or inconsistencies.

• Organise all indicators into a clean and structured master dataset.

• Document any assumptions or data adjustments.

• Task 2 – Descriptive Analysis. The analysis is expected to remain descriptive and advocacy-focused rather than academic or statistical in nature. Conduct a concise analysis of:

• Regional totals and country-level figures.

• Key trends between 2024, 2025 and 2026 (where available).

• Most affected countries.

• Relationships between attacks on education, school closures, displacement and out-of-school children.

• Key advocacy-relevant findings and headline figures.

• Confronting education data with funding gaps.

• Task 3 – Visualisation and Mapping. Produce a limited package of publication-ready visuals, including:

• Trend graphs;

• Country comparison charts;

• School closure visualisations;

• Out-of-school children visualisations;

• Funding gaps visualisations;

• One or two regional maps showing the geographical distribution of key parameters (attacks, school closure, out-of-school children, etc.).

All visuals should be delivered in editable formats suitable for inclusion in the final advocacy brief and for supporting the regional advocacy EiE event planned for September.

4. Deliverables

The consultant will deliver:

• Deliverable 1: Cleaned Master Dataset

• Harmonised Excel database;

• Standardised indicators;

• Clear variable labelling.

• Deliverable 2: Data Cleaning Note and analytical summary. Including:

• On Data (one page max): Data cleaning steps undertaken; Data limitations identified; Assumptions made during harmonisation.

• Analysis (about 3 pages): Key trends; main country comparisons; 5–10 headline findings; suggested key statistics for advocacy messaging.

• Deliverable 3: Visualisation Package. Including:

• 5–8 publication-ready charts and graphs;

• 1–2 regional maps

• Deliverable 4: Final Presentation / Handover. Brief presentation of:

• Findings;

• Key messages;

• Data limitations;

• Recommended visuals for the final advocacy brief.

5. Duration and Workplan

Total level of effort: 4 working days

The consultancy is expected to take place between July and August 2026 to accommodate progressive data collection and validation.

• Mid/late July : Initial review, cleaning and harmonisation of first datasets : 1 day

• Mid/late July Preliminary analysis and identification of key findings 1 day

• Mid August : Analysis : 1 day

• Late August : visualisation and handover :1 day

6. Required Profile

The consultant should demonstrate:

Essential

• At least 3 years of experience in information management, data analysis or humanitarian assessments.

• Strong skills in Excel and data management.

• Experience producing charts, graphs and basic maps.

• Ability to analyse and present data for advocacy audiences.

• Strong attention to detail and ability to work within short timelines.

Desirable

• Experience in Education in Emergencies.

• Familiarity with humanitarian datasets and indicators.

• Experience with education, protection or displacement-related analysis.

• Knowledge of GIS software (QGIS, ArcGIS or equivalent).

7. Reporting and Coordination

The consultant will report to the Regional Advocacy Lead and will coordinate with designated focal points as required.

The consultant will participate in:

• One inception call;

• Ad hoc clarification exchanges during the assignment;

• One final handover meeting.

8. Data Protection and Confidentiality

The consultant shall:

• Treat all datasets as confidential.

• Store and transfer data securely.

• Not share any data or outputs outside designated recipients.

• Return all final products to NRC upon completion of the assignment.

• Delete working copies if requested by NRC.

9. Application Requirements

Interested consultants should submit a technical proposal outlining their approach and methodology, a financial proposal, one or two examples of previous analytical products, dashboards, maps or data visualisations; and a CV demonstrating relevant experience, to sn.procurement@nrc.no.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Proposal/Bid Quality (Demonstrated understanding of the scope of the ToR, via a clear proposed methodology) - 25 %

• Capacity (Demonstrated reliability, as illustrated by relevant previous experience and quality of samples sent)– 25 %

• Relevance (Academic qualifications, relevant experience in data cleaning and analysis)– 25 %

• Financial Offer- 25 %

How to apply

Tender documents

Download the full ITB with detailed instructions HERE

For additional information, please send your inquiries to:sn.procurement@nrc.no before the closing date

Submission process

All interested and eligible firms/ consultants are requested to submit their bids to sn.procurement@nrc.no

Deadline: All bids must be submitted no later than 22nd July, 2026 at 5: 00 pm (Dakar time) by email to sn.procurement@nrc.no

Late bids will be automatically rejected.