Organization: UN Children"s Fund
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 12 Aug 2015
Background
UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), with their many partners, promote the use of effective interventions to help children survive and develop their potential during early childhood in responsive, caring, stimulating, and safe family and community environments. These interventions help to strengthen those most influential in guaranteeing the rights of all young children to take better advantage of all learning opportunities throughout life, and become more productive, healthier adults. Investment in the early years and in family and caregiver competencies will promote a good start in life for all children and a more successful future in transitioning into the early years of schooling.
The interventions during early years are supported by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the GENERAL COMMENT No. 7 (2005) Implementing child rights in early childhood.[1] It defines children as rights holders, and acknowledges that “For the exercise of their rights, young children have particular requirements for physical nurturance, emotional care and sensitive guidance, as well as for time and space for social play, exploration and learning.” The document stresses that “the Convention on the Rights of the Child is to be applied holistically in early childhood, taking account of the principle of the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights.” The CRPD further emphasizes that that “States Parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure the full enjoyment by children with disabilities of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children.”
The first three years of life are a period of incredible growth and development for children in all areas. Research points to the special vulnerability of children during gestation, infancy and very early childhood (Golding, Jones, Brune & Pronczuk, 2009).
The quality of a child’s early environment and the availability of appropriate experiences during sensitive periods of development are crucial in determining the strength or weakness of the brain’s architecture. These structures determine health, cognitive abilities and self-regulation.[2] During the early years, parents, other family members and other caregivers play a key role in preparing a responsive and stimulating environment for young children and, thus, for their early development and learning.
[1] GENERAL COMMENT No. 7 (2005) Implementing child rights in early childhood; COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD; Fortieth Session Geneva, 12-30 September 2005.
[2]National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Shonkoff JP (Chair). *The science of neglect: The persistent absence of responsive care disrupts the developing brain: Working Paper 12.*Boston, MA: Center on the Developing Child of Harvard University, 2012.
Some children are particularly vulnerable to the adverse conditions under which they live: children living in extreme poverty, those born with a disabling health condition or impairment, and those who experience a disability as a result of illness, injury, or poor nutrition. Children from disadvantaged groups are often excluded from school or do poorly when enrolled and subsequently are more likely to have poor self-esteem, limited work skills, low incomes, high fertility, high criminality, and provide poor care for their own children. As a result, their countries suffer an estimated 20% loss in adult productivity.[3]
Investment in early childhood programmes is essential because they can provide a “good and fair start” to children and help to modify distressing socio-economic, gender and other inequities. For all children, early childhood provides an important window of opportunity to prepare the foundation for life-long learning and participation, while preventing potential delays in development and disabilities. For children who experience disability and other barriers to learning, it is a vital time to ensure access to interventions which can help them reach their full potential.
One of the most promising ways to promote early child development for the youngest children, even in low-resource, as well as higher-income communities, is the WHO/UNICEF evidence-based intervention on Care for Child Development (CCD)[4]***.***Theories and scientific evidence on how to promote the learning of key developmental tasks contributed to the design of CCD. The growing evidence on the essential characteristics of quality caregiving provided a relatively new focus for CCD on developing caregiver skills. These skills—sensitivity and an appropriate response to the child’s cues—contribute to meeting the health, safety, nutritional and emotional needs of children, as well as to the development of their motor, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. The Care for Child Development (CCD) approach was identified by the Lancet Early Childhood Development Series (2011)[5] to be a successful strategy to improve young children’s developmental outcomes, particularly for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
CCD was initially developed as a module to provide caregivers information and recommendations for play and communication activities to help children learn. It was included in the counselling guidelines in the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy. Then, in 2007, it was revised to enable caregivers to be more sensitive and respond appropriately to the developmental needs of their young children, using the play and communication activities to develop their own skills. It is widely recognized that while families are able to support the growth and development of their children, they do not always have the tools to do so. So this material is designed to support the work of health, ECD, education and care service professionals in guiding and strengthening parents and other family members in caring for their children.
The intervention has been implemented in a variety of settings. An early evaluation in South Africa (2001) found that health workers could implement the counselling of Care for Child Development during sick child visits. CCD strengthened the assessment and treatment of sick children, as well as the nutritional counselling of their caregivers.[6] A large community-based trial in Pakistan found that the CCD activities to improve play and communication with caregivers through home visits and play groups had multiple benefits. The intervention
[3]Grantham-McGregor S, et al. Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. *Lancet*369:60-70, 2007.
[4]Link to CCD materials: http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_68195.html;
http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/care_child_development/en/
[5]Engle PL, Fernald LCH, Alderman H et al. Strategies for reducing inequalities and improving developmental outcomes of young children in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet *DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60889-1.*2011.
[6] Lucas JE, Copra M, Kress S. Field test of IMCI Care for Development: Report. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2001 (unpublished).
improved caregiver-child interactions, increased the frequency of play and communication activities in the home, reduced maternal depression, and improved the families’ use of health and early child care services, as well as improved the growth and development of children.[7] CCD has also been adapted for use in the WHO/UNICEF integrated community health and nutrition intervention Caring for the Child’s Healthy Growth and Development. It has been adapted for literacy programmes, and in infant care and early parenting programmes (Brazil), child protection services (Australia), and nutritional rehabilitation services (Mali). An international NGO has introduced CCD in private day care centres, maternity wards, and health clinics (Kenya). Therefore, CCD can have multiple entry points, including a wide-range of services and persons who work to strengthen families and improve child health, growth, and development.
UNICEF and WHO, after gathering over ten years of experience in CCD implementation, revised and published the CCD training package in 2012. The CCD Package was launched globally and in all UNICEF regions, sensitizing UNICEF ECD staff and focal points, including health, nutrition, education and child protection specialists, on the effectiveness of the intervention in improving child development. In 2012, as part of CCD promotional activities, UNICEF HQ in cooperation with regional offices for Western and Central Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, ran orientation training on CCD for over 60 representatives from 20 countries. The training materials have been translated into French, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, and Hindi. With initial support from UNICEF and WHO, the implementation of CCD is on-going, for example, in Moldova, Pakistan, and Mali. An evaluation found some of the earliest implementation sites sustained and full scale-up nationally in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.[8] .
Similarly, building capacities for the roll out of Care for Child Development started in LACRO in 2012, through a joint effort between WHO/PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and the Regional UNICEF Office. CCD was introduced to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and, based on the recommendations made by ECD experts from throughout the region, the CCD training package was then translated into Spanish and adapted to the regional context. First, the Spanish CCD-LAC version was tried out in a national training workshop in Panama in November 2013. Then in September 2014 the English CCD LAC version was presented in a sub-regional training workshop in St. John’s, Antigua.
In October 2014, the LACRO UNICEF Office together with the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Office led the first training workshop in the sub-region. They brought together a diverse array of partners and professionals from eight countries (Belize, Guyana, Suriname, Grenada, Montserrat, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines) to familiarize participants with the approach and explore possibilities for implementation in their respective countries. This initiative responded to the need to build capacity in the Caribbean region in preparation for ensuring that quality early learning opportunities could be offered to children 0 to 3 years, and to strengthen parenting and caregiving skills.
The current capacity building initiative (defined in this TOR) builds also on the former strategy meetings and training events conducted at global and regional level, of which the most prominent was the 2013 Ankara CCD workshop. UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), with their many partners have acknowledged[9]
[7]Yousafzai AK, Rasheed MA, Rizvi A, Armstrong R, Bhutta ZA. Effect of integrated responsive stimulation and nutrition interventions in the Lady Health Worker program in Pakistan on child development, growth, and health outcomes: a cluster randomized factorial effectiveness trial. *Lancet*384:1282-93, 2014.
[8]Engle PL, with national partners. Care for Development in three Central Asian countries: Report of a process evaluation in Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan. Geneva: UNICEF Regional Office, 2010.
[9] Declared as a resolution in the Ankara 2013 CCD workshop, and confirmed in subsequent interagency consultations throughout 2014 -15.
that one of the major bottlenecks to rolling out and scaling up CCD at the regional and global levels is the lack of senior level guidance.
The broad objective of this current effort is to optimize the identification, preparation and timely deployment of qualified professionals in supporting the Government, UNICEF and other partners in rolling out the Care for Child Development initiative. These professionals will represent the multiple fields of ECD, have in-depth understanding of country and regional contexts, and have the ability to support national partners in a variety of tasks for rolling out Care for Child Development.
An initial group of three UNICEF regions—West and Central Africa (WCAR), East and South Africa (ESAR), and Latin America and The Caribbean (LACR)—has identified that they are ready to scale up the Care for Child Development initiative in countries where: 1) there are opportunities for focused use of available resources and 2) the potential for greater coordination among the key country and regional partners. In addition to UNICEF and WHO other potential partners include the Aga Khan Development Network, PATH, UNESCO, Save the Children, and Plan International.
Purpose
Strengthening the child development and caregiving skills through the proven intervention of Care for Child Development (CCD) requires a cadre of well-prepared experts at global, regional and sub-regional levels to assist country programmes through the implementation steps.
Initial discussions with Regional offices (ESARO, LCARO and WACRO) and global partners has highlighted the fact that the Care for Child Development roll–out process, while locally driven, would benefit from a dedicated resource that could facilitate and steward the process.
To meet these country needs, the UNICEF ECD team, in coordination with WHO and other partners, is establishing a pool of Global CCD Consultants. Upon Regional or country request, Global CCD Consultants will be deployed rapidly and flexibly to support the Care for Child Development roll-out process. The Global CCD Consultants will also be able to support the efforts of regional and sub-regional consultants,[10] where they exist, and assist country implementation teams, including during the early introduction of CCD and the preparation of national[11] Master Trainers.[12]
The proposed TOR’s flexibility responds to the region-specific approach to CCD implementation, aimed at mainstreaming CCD in existing regional and country ECD efforts. The strengthened regional–level capacity will also allow for better coordination among key partners and timely follow up of the regional, sub-regional and country activities.
[10]The regional and sub-regional consultants are identified by key partners – UNICEF, WHO, WHO/PAHO, and others).
[11] Master Trainers are national professionals who deliver the Basic Course and train others at the country level. They may serve as focal points for their organizations and, on the country team, to facilitate the implementation plan.
[12] If schedules permit during an initial regional training event, Global CCD Consultants, selected for deployment globally, and Regional CCD Consultants, selected by regional offices, may be trained together. Regional offices will identify their requirements for recruiting their own regional consultants.
Duty Station
The consultant will be based remotely, and will be asked to travel to one or more of the three regions for regional and in-country support. The identified regions are West and Central Africa (WCAR), East and South Africa (ESAR), and Latin America and The Caribbean (LACR).
After the initial preparation, Global CCD Consultants should anticipate and agree to be available a minimum of one month, preferably more, over the next year in order to guide a region or country through its early implementation phase. The time may be spread out over the year, to fit the implementation schedule.
Timeframe
The duration of contract (start and end dates) will vary according to each consultancy based on specific regional/country needs and coordinated by UNICEF Regional Offices and their partners. We are expecting this work to be initiated in the 3nd quarter of 2015, and extend to target countries during 2015-2016.
Core functions, TASKS and deliverables
The below table below summarizes the core functions, played by the consultant – and corresponding accountabilities – -depending on the phase of the CCD roll out and its goal.
The core functions have further determined the skill set, and the technical background and experience for each of the phases.
The specific core functions of Global CCD Consultants in supporting this effort may vary from country to country depending on the needs of the country and where it is in the process of implementation. It is anticipated that, in general, the consultant will be responsible for ensuring the quality completion of the main phases of the Care for Child Development roll-out process in close coordination with the lead Government unit and facilitating Agency in-country (UNICEF, WHO, or other partner). The specific tasks (accountabilities) would be defined at the start of the engagement.
Tasks.The Global CCD consultant will guide countries through key advocacy, planning, and implementation steps, including providing technical support to:
a. Adapt the CCD package to the national (and sub-national) context, where needed, for effective entry points in a variety of health, nutrition, education, child care, and child protection services.
b. Collaborate with international and national partners to strengthen cross-sector support for early childhood development.
c. Develop regional and country capacity for planning, training (classroom, clinical, and field), implementation, and follow-up support, including the establishment of a monitoring system and support for programme evaluation.
The country teams will include focal points for CCD implementation and others in Government, UNICEF, WHO, and other facilitating partners. The country team will be key to moving the plans through the introduction, early implementation, and final expansion and scale-up of CCD in countries.
During the preparation period, approximately 21 days, the Consultants will develop their skills by providing training, technical support, and help to facilitate planning in the teams.
*Please see Core functions, Tasks and Deliverables in attached chart.
Preparation for the consultants
It is expected that Consultants will prepare for the tasks of supporting country implementation by going through a one-time training, aimed to review and update training, clinical, technical, advocacy, monitoring, and other skills. Their preparation includes many of the specific steps in the implementation process to develop the capacities of a country team, first under supervision of an experienced CCD Consultant.
This preparation includes, for example, review of key training skills, including clinical counselling and supervisory coaching (four days); and training of Master Trainers (six days). Next, they will guide the Master Trainers through the steps of introducing CCD to country implementation teams through a Basic Course in CCD (four days). For countries ready to begin the process of implementing CCD, the Consultants and Master Trainers will join country teams for a Planning and Adaptation Workshop to work through some of the early decisions and plan the implementation of CCD in their country (two days).
The organizers will pay for the travel/DSA expenses associated with preparing consultants for their future tasks.
Upon successful completion of this preparation, the Global CCD Consultant will be included in the UNICEF’s Roster of Global consultants, recommended for contracting by the Regional and Country offices.
Key skills, technical background, and experience required
The Global CCD Consultants will be comprised of a pool of professionals with proven experience in implementing the Care for Child Development initiative.
The requirements for members of this pool include:
· A Master’s Degree in Public Health or related discipline field (e.g. child development, psychology, early education, or child protection).
· Previous training in Care for Child Development (Basic Course and preferably the training of Master Trainers). Previous training in related packages of counselling families or front line workers will be considered an asset.
· 8 years of field experience at the senior-level in programming, provision of technical assistance, implementing and/or doing operational research.
· Strong teamwork and facilitation skills, proven in workshops and meetings.
· Strong organizational and coordination skills with multiple partners and Ministries.
· Working knowledge of English is required. Proficiency in both English and French/or Spanish/or Portuguese is considered a strong asset.
· Able to travel to assist implementation.
· Physician’s Certificate of Good Health and proof of Health Insurance Coverage should be provided prior to commencement of work.
How to apply:
How to Apply
Applicants are requested to send their submissions to <**pdconsultants@unicef.org>** with subject line: “Global Consultants for Rolling Out Care for Child Development at the (Regional/Country Levels)”by**12 August 2015, 5:00pm EST.**
Applications must include:
· Cover letter,
· CV, and
· P-11 form (http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc)
· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement
Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.
NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit
UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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