International Consultant: To Develop a Holistic Early Childhood Development (ECD) Vision documents and Actional Plan, Nepal

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UNICEF Nepal Country Office is looking for committed professional to develop UNICEF Nepal Early Childhood Development (ECD) Vision document and action plan. The consultant will be engaged for 35 working days within a period of 6 months. This assignment will be remote with one-time travel to Nepal.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, result

Early childhood offers a critical window of opportunity to shape the trajectory of a child’s holistic development and build a foundation for their future. For children to achieve their full potential, the WHO, UNICEF, and World Bank’s Nurturing Care Framework requires five inter-related and essential elements to be ensured including good health, adequate nutrition, safety and security, responsive caregiving, and opportunities for learning. Globally approximately 200 million children under 5 years in low- and middle-income countries are estimated to be at the risk of not developing to their full potential, resulting in intergenerational transmission of poverty (Grantham-McGregor et al. 2007).

Nepal has shown significant progress in improving ECD-related service provision and indicators during the past decades. Out of 1000 babies born, 28 lose their lives before their first birthday. 2 out of 5 children under 6 months are not exclusively breastfed, which is strongly related to the fact that 1 million children under 5 are stunted. 1 out of 5 children aged 2-4 do not receive early engagement and responsive care. While Early childhood education is accessed by 9 out of 10 children in the wealthiest families, only 5 out of 10 economically disadvantaged families can do so. 8 out of 10 children aged 1-14 experience violent discipline at home. 8 out of 10 people live without access to safe drinking water. Furthermore, children from marginalized castes/ethnic groups and the poorest families are, in general, less likely to receive nurturing care. (CBS 2020)

To address these issues, UNICEF has been supporting the Government of Nepal in sectoral areas such as health and nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, social policy and education. There have been multi-sectoral efforts like Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Plan, Child Grant and Child Friendly School Approach to promote integrated services to promote holistic development of children. Further, to enhance the cross-sectoral convergence, there has been efforts to develop integrated ECD related policies, strategies, legislation, and services. The National ECD Strategy 2020-2030 aims to “realize the holistic development of all children of 0–8 years of age by conducting ECD programmes in an integrated manner”. Based on the strategy, Ministry of Health and Population, Family Welfare Division has recently approved National Health Sector Guiding Framework on ECD. Despite these multi-sectoral and cross-sectoral efforts, the sectors tend to fall back to their silos and missing out opportunities to ensure holistic development of children.

How can you make a difference?

With all sectoral expertise within UNICEF, UNICEF Nepal intends to develop a vision document and action plan to accelerate planning, delivery and monitoring of holistic ECD programming, based on the global ECD vision and maximise opportunities to strengthen the cross-sectoral integration and convergence to effectively ensure holistic development of children in Nepal. Particularly, the vision should clarify:

(1) The entry points and priority actions,

(2) Accountability matrix with clear roles and responsibilities of staff,

(3) Monitoring framework (with indicators, targets, MOV), among others.

Further, the consultant is also expected to develop fundraising briefs (two-pagers) in coordination with the Early Childhood Development (ECD) specialist.

Scope of Work:

Develop UNICEF Nepal Country Office Holistic ECD Vision document and Action Plan: in line with global ECD vision document, country’s ECD priorities, ongoing initiatives and available financial and human resources as well as global and regional priorities. The vision document and action plan can include the following components:

– Develop a conceptual framework and theory of change based on comprehensive desk review of existing literature and in consultation with UNICEF Nepal Deputy Representative and ECD specialist

– Design and implement a co-creation workshop with UNICEF sectoral leads, technical focal points and field offices.

– Clear programmatic framework with entry points and integrated priorities, governance and institutional mechanisms for implementation of holistic ECD programme including an accountability matrix, action plan and monitoring framework

– Develop fundraising briefs based on the global ECD vision

Duration of Contract: The total duration of the contract is for 35 working days over the period of 6 months starting from 01 July to 31 December 2024. The assignment will be remote based with one time travel to Nepal.

Deliverables for this Assignment:

Tasks/Milestone	Deliverables/Outputs	Timeline	Proposed Fee (In Nepalese Currency)
– Desk review – co-creation workshop with UNICEF field offices programme section chiefs and ECD focal points	Submission of a workshop presentation with conceptual framework, theory of change and guiding questions Submission of draft UNICEF Nepal ECD vision document with clear entry points and priority actions, accountability matrix, action plan and monitoring framework	By end August 2024 20 working days
– Receive inputs on draft ECD vision document from all programme sections/ field offices/ regional / global focal points – Incorporate comments and finalize the vision document	Submission of final UNICEF Nepal ECD vision document	By end September 2024 10 working days
– Develop fundraising briefs	Submission of 4 fundraising briefs developed based on the vision document.	By end December 2024 5 working days
	Total Fee

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Academic Qualification:

Advanced University (Master’s) degree in Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Development, Neuroscience or Development Studies

Work Experience:

The ideal candidate should possess a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience, including a proven track record in integrated ECD programmes.
The candidate should have additional experience in working in humanitarian and emergency contexts.

Specific Expertise:

Demonstrated experience in providing guidance and recommendations on ECD programmes to Country and/or regional offices, collaborating with various UN agencies.
Proven ability to support Country Offices in strengthening the ECD/ integrated programming of Country Programme Documents.
Engagement with UNDAFs, UNICEF SitAn, and strategic notes, showcasing a comprehensive understanding of the UN system and its planning mechanisms.
Demonstrated experience in utilizing evidence-based information for shaping and implementing ECD programmes, coupled with expertise in policy analysis, programme evaluation, and the development of strategies and action plans through participatory consultations/collaborative work arrangements.
Proven oral and written skills in English.
Excellent interpersonal skills.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Request to submit financial proposal as per deliverables.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

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International Consultant: To Develop a Holistic Early Childhood Development (ECD) Vision documents and Actional Plan, Nepal

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