Project Description UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF has been active in the area of financial inclusion over the past 25 years, through a market development approach combining support to governments and regulators, as well as to the private sector in order to develop scalable products and services for under-served and un-banked populations. The mission of UNCDFby 2030 is to accelerate the development of services leveraging digital finance & innovation by providing the right balance of technical expertise and financial support to government, private & non-profit sectors & academia. Recently, UNCDF strategy ‘Leaving no one behind in the digital era’ is based on over a decade of experience in digital finance in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. UNCDF recognizes that reaching the full potential of digital financial inclusion in support of the Sustainable Development Goals aligns with the vision of promoting digital economies that leave no one behind.The vision of UNCDF is to empower millions of people by 2024 to use services daily that leverage innovation and technology and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Please refer to the link for further information: https://www.uncdf.org/article/4931/global-strategy-leaving-no-onebehind-in-the-digital-era. UNCDF in Uganda UNCDF has been present in Uganda since 1982, supporting the Government to create a functional planning and financial system for sustainable and inclusive local development. Today, together with the larger UN Country Team, UNCDF in Uganda has supported the Government to mainstream digitization and to effectively implement the Third National Development Plan and realize its vision of a Ugandan society transformed from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. UNCDF uses its financial tools and technical expertise in public financial management, SME development, and financial services development to incentivize actors across different economic value chains to think differently, break from their silos, and incubate new ways of serving the “last-mile”. Together we look for and invest in high-impact opportunities that can boost productivity, economies of scale, and above all development impact especially for women and youth. UNCDF seeks the services of a consultant to develop a digital strategy and proposals to support the Education Service Commission (ESC) to effectively and efficiently manage the recruitment of the education personnel in Uganda. Background of the Assignment The Education Service Commission (ESC) in Uganda was established under article 167 and 168 of the constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. It draws its mandate from both the constitution and the Education Service Act, 2002. Its mandate has expanded to include Education Service Personnel under Kampala Capital City Authority. ESC is responsible for approximately 68% of the public service of Uganda. The commission handles most of its activities of recruiting, confirming, promoting, and disciplining personnel manually. These activities are labor-intensive and paper-based. A lot of data is scattered in several manual files leading to delays in information processing and dissemination to the relevant individuals who need this information. Analyzing data is difficult since it is scattered in several manual repositories. Sometimes, data and information are misplaced or gets lost because of manual storage methods and scattered files. The situation is made worse by the huge volumes of applications received and the lack of sufficient storage space within the commission. The ESC recognizes the positive role technology would play in transforming the education recruitment sector. They believe that the use of a digital solution such as a web platform for recruitment processes and data analytics for better decisions, presents an opportunity to improve the service delivery to their audiences as well as the overall internal processes and cost of recruitments operations. The ESC partnered with UNCDF Uganda to develop a digital recruitment system to support the commission to effectively and efficiently manage the recruitment of the education personnel in Uganda. The ESC has a ready digital recruitment platform that will allow them to recruit teaching and non-teaching staff efficiently and effectively. However, there is need to support the commission by improving digital standards, skills, infrastructure and service in order to fully take advantage of technology in the area of education recruitment in Uganda. For more details please refer to the below links: https://www.uncdf.org/article/7376/digital-relevance-in-staff-recruitment-in-education-case-study-december-2021 https://www.uncdf.org/article/6854/fast-tracking-the-recruitment-of-teachers-with-online-applications-in-uganda | 
