Individual Consultant (Remote) at the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) – 4 Openings

Job Title: Individual Consultant: Rapid Assessment of the Playful Parental Engagement 

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

• The first five years of a child’s life is a critical period for their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. The experiences during this period have a major impact on their future.
• Research has shown that a child’s newly developing brain is highly plastic and responsive to change as billions of integrated neural circuits are established through the interaction of genetics, environment, and experience. 
• Optimal brain development requires a stimulating environment, adequate nutrients, and social interaction with attentive caregivers.
• Unsafe conditions, negative interactions, and lack of educational opportunities during these early years can lead to irreversible negative outcomes, which can affect a child’s potential for the remainder of his or her life.
• Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) is one of the best investment options to build human capital and the national economy and promote sustainable growth.
• Quality ECCDE yields a significant return on investment as the child transits to primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.
• These returns impact not only the child’s individual development but also that of their families and communities.
• To support ECCD in Nigeria, UNICEF Nigeria partnered with Universal Basic Education Commission to implement a playful parental engagement programme in eight states, which aims at enhancing parent-child interaction and promoting child development through play.
• The programme is focused on equipping parents with playful learning strategies and fostering a supportive environment for their children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development. Particularly, UNICEF extends its support to parents of the most marginalized children, including children with disabilities, to raise awareness of and demand for quality ECCDE and skills for playful parenting by working with parent and community groups, which include Mothers Associations, Fathers Groups, school-based management committees.

Responsibilities

• Increasing parents/caregivers’ knowledge of the importance of children’s early years, including both formal early childhood education and engagement with responsive caregivers.
• Effecting tangible behavioral change in their parenting practices, play-based engagement with their children, and demand for early learning services
• Enabling parents to develop new knowledge, attitudes, positive social norms, and recommendations for practices that can contribute to the quality development of early children aged 3-5 years.

Scope of Work:
This consultancy is for conducting a rapid assessment of the playful parental engagement programme in four states with the following assignments:

• Examine and document the programme’s immediate effect on parents and community members by collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data related to improvement of parental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding playful engagement with their children.
• Assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme. This includes the assessment of 1) the quality and accessibility of programme resources and training materials and 2) the effectiveness of programme delivery and parent engagement methods.
• Identify the strengths and areas for improvement in the current programme design and implementation against other similar programmes in similar contexts.
• Provide actionable recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and scalability of the programme.

Requirements

• Advanced University degree is required in designing and implementing education research and evaluation.
• A minimum of 6 years of experiences in supporting the implementation of ECCDE, early childhood, and parenting programmes and policy.
• Technical knowledge about ECCDE and parental engagement.
• Good understanding of ECCDE context and culture in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills and good understanding of qualitative and quantitative design and methods.
• Good report writing skills.
• Familiarity with the global landscape of playful learning and parental engagement programs is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

Application Instructions:

The application deadline is on 27th September, 2024. Therefore qualified and interested candidates can “CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT APPLICATION” It is important to visit the official website (link found below) for detailed information on how to apply successfully for this vacancy.

Website:

Official Job Website: https://unicef.org