UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office is seeking an individual consultant provide technical support on the improved Regional Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programming Dashboard, Assessment of Country capacities for ECD and Development of a Regional ECD Strategy for Holistic ECD in the East Asia and Pacific region.

Work Assignment:

Under the supervision of the Chair of the EAP CCWG-ECD, and in close collaboration with the Co-chair, other members of the CCWG and the Asia Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC), the global ECD team in UNICEF HQ, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

Initiate, develop and finalize reviews, updates and baseline assessments of the status of holistic ECD programmes/interventions in 14 EAP Countries, following desk reviews, communications with UNICEF ECD Focal Points, government partners as appropriate and other stakeholders and partners. The focus will be on the status and scale/coverage of programmes rather than impact-level data in various sectors from published or international sources. The consultant will carry out a mapping of ECD priorities, planned results, and progress, based on the ECD priority areas and indicators identified globally, through:

(a) Reviewing/updating of existing data in ARNEC’s ECD mapping, information on ECD in Country Office Annual Reports and Result Assessment Module (UNICEF online platform for result reporting);

(b) Desk reviews of country programme documents including ARNEC Mapping data, the 2015 Country Programme Documents (CPDs) and Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) and other key programming documents within UNICEF and ARNEC, which address ECD-sensitive programming for young children 0-8 years of age;

(c) Consultations with UNICEF Country Office staff to validate information and fill any gaps;

(d) Preparation of a summary analysis report of the information collected from the Country Offices including information on:

(i) current/innovative/effective ECD programmatic approaches

(ii) current strengths/gaps in programming, capacity, funding, progress towards results

(iii) countries with ECD as a priority in country programmes

Develop and consolidate Regional/Country Data and Key Indicators, and develop the layout for these indicators in final form for a Regional Dashboard on ECD. This will include:

(a) Consolidating indicators currently used / available for monitoring progress and mapping these based on existing frameworks such as Monitoring Results for Equity Systems (MORES),– not only for ECD as such but also with relevance to key cross-cutting sectors involved with ECD;

(b) Establishing linkages with the ARNEC mapping data/indicators;

(c) Developing recommendations for a key set of indicators for the regional dashboard and develop outline /lay-out of the regional ECD dashboard.

Prepare country capacity mapping and draft assessment: Conduct interviews (Skype/Lync) with occasional travel to Country Offices, as guided by the EAP CCWG-ECD, to determine their:

(a) Level of understanding of holistic ECD, identification of ongoing initiatives;

(b) Capacity needs that exist in UNICEF COs for initiating and implementing holistic ECD programs during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. This mapping of capacity needs should encompass all sectors in Country Offices. This deliverable will also explore sources of information on existing sectoral programming that contribute to ECD concerns, since there may be relevant work ongoing in a section that has not been labelled “ECD;” This will be a first step to develop comprehensive approaches to monitoring in 2016;

(c) Priority programming areas for Holistic ECD in each country;

(d) Key entry points/opportunities, partnerships and mechanisms to promote advocacy and implementation of holistic ECD;

(e) Challenges and bottlenecks in advancing the ECD agenda.

Prepare a draft Regional ECD Strategy: Working closely with the CCWG, develop a draft Regional ECD strategy that aligns with the global priorities as drafted by the UNICEF Global Technical Team (GTT), and also ensures inclusion of the regional priorities.

Knowledge sharing and communication: In collaboration with the Education KM officer, and the Communications section, establish a strong knowledge base at regional level on ECD including a mechanism to: (a) Consolidate and disseminate information and tools from HQ, RO, Country Offices and other networks;(b) Establish a roster of experts on ECD preferably from the region; (c) Connect and/or enlist the group with existing communities of practice on ECD.

Work Schedule and Expected deliverables:

Date : Deliverable

May 20, 2015: Inception Report and Work Schedule Outline

June 15, 2015: Status Update and summary report of virtual/in-person meetings with key members of the CCWG, ARNEC counterparts, and HQ team, Desk Review, Draft Template for Regional Dashboard, Outline of draft regional strategy

July 15, 2015: Status Update and summary report of virtual/in-person meetings with key members of the CCWG, ARNEC counterparts, and HQ team; development of draft template into regional dashboard format and inputting key information; participation in preparatory calls and meetings

August 15, 2015: Status Update and summary report of virtual/in-person meetings with key members of the CCWG, ARNEC counterparts, and HQ team, Trip reports as needed, draft 1 of regional strategy, Draft 2 of Regional Dashboard

September 15, 2015: Status Update and summary report of virtual/in-person meetings with key members of the CCWG, ARNEC counterparts, and HQ team, Revised Draft Regional Strategy, Revised Dashboard submitted, Presentation prepared for the ARNEC Regional conference

October 15, 2015: Status Update and summary report of virtual/in-person meetings with key members of the CCWG, ARNEC counterparts, and HQ team, Finalized dashboard, and Attendance and participation at the ARNEC Regional Conference

November 15, 2015: Status Update and summary report of virtual/in-person meetings with key members of the CCWG, ARNEC counterparts, and HQ team, , trip reports

December 15, 2015: Final Consultancy Report; Finalized Draft Regional Strategy, Trip report, Final edits and touches on regional dashboard, including feedback from Global Technical Team

Estimated Duration of Contract: 8 months staring from 1 May – 15 December 2015.

Official Travel: The consultant will work at UNICEF EAPRO, Bangkok, Thailand and travel to a few Country Offices (country list to be determined) in agreement with supervisor and Country Offices, under the guidance of the EAP CCWG-ECD.

• Advanced university degree, preferably in the Social Sciences, Child Development, Human Development, or other relevant field.
• At least seven years of professional work experience at national and international levels in programming for ECD, gender equality and women's rights, including international work experience and field work experience.
• Familiarity with UNICEF work and programming processes is an asset.
• Demonstrated capacity to review and synthesize large amount of information.
• Excellent communication skills in English (oral and written).
• Demonstrated capacity for achievement of deadlines.
• Knowledge of East Asia and the Pacific is an asset.

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV or P11, full contact information of minimum 2 references, availability, proposed monthly professional fee and all-inclusive travel cost to/from Bangkok in USD by 16 April 2015 to hrbangkok@unicef.org Please note the air tickets under UNICEF contract shall be re-routable, refundable type (economy class and most direct route). The consultant will be responsible for own travel insurance, visa fee and terminal expenses.

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Only short listed candidates will be notified.