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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, a future.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

Support with set-up & execution of an ECEC Fund, including technical advice to TSI projects.

Scope of Work

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. The European Pillar of Social Rights states that all children have the right to affordable early childhood education and care (ECEC) of good quality. It is in the earliest years of a child’s life that the foundation and capacity to learn is laid, and this is built on throughout life. Learning is an incremental process; building a strong foundation in the early years is a precondition for higher level competence development and educational success as much as it is essential for health and the well-being of children. Participating in early childhood education and care is beneficial for all children and especially beneficial for children in a disadvantaged situation. It helps by preventing the formation of early skills gaps and thus it is an essential tool to fight inequalities and learning poverty.

Realizing the rights of children to care, development and early learning requires significant investments into system-level reforms. Adequate resources are necessary for governments to initiate reforms that ensure young children and their families can access high-quality, affordable, accessible early childhood education and care that works in tandem with parental leave entitlements and is supportive of caregivers and mothers’ transitions to the labor market.

The current macro-economic situation, fiscal pressure, rising debt – or simply the emergence of new priorities – have made it more difficult to accelerate the scale-up of services, including in social sectors (education, health, social protection). These are crucial to contribute to significant gains in child well-being and creation of human capital. Moreover, ECEC reforms in the region need additional support to ensure they are cohesive and holistic, aiming to provide young children with the best start in life.

Innovative financing and public-private partnerships (PPPs), when structured well, can support governments in Upper-Middle (UMICs) and High-Income Countries (HICs) accelerate reforms to expand the coverage of affordable, high-quality ECEC services and to ensure services reach those who need them the most.

To harness the catalytic potential of innovative finance and PPPs, UNICEF ECARO is establishing a regional Childcare Fund to equitably scale affordable, high-quality ECEC services in the Europe and Central Asia region, while also building capacity in its country offices to successfully identify and leverage resources to scale ECEC provision but with a strong focus on quality and equity.

UNICEF is working with countries across Europe and Central Asia, as well as EU member states to support system reforms to improve access, quality and inclusion within the ECEC sector. UNICEF ECARO is working closely with governments in the region to provide technical support to select countries through multi-country regional initiatives, building on its learning and experience from previous TSI projects extending technical support to EU Member States through SG REFORM’s TSI instruments.

UNICEF is seeking a technical consultant in ECEC to support the creation of the Childcare Fund and the broader regional ECEC portfolio which entails ongoing work and developments related to advancing ECEC reforms for 0–6-year-olds, strengthening ECEC systems to better deliver affordable, high-quality childcare, preschool and diversified services across the region.

The technical consultant will work with the regional ECEC lead and will be an extended part of the regional ECD team, and will contribute to ensuring that the RO provides high-calibre technical assistance in the context of UMIC & HIC so country-led reforms in ECEC are cohesive, catalytic and where relevant, cross-sectoral. The consultant must be able to deliver within tight timelines, work independently and collaboratively across teams.

Objective

The overall objective is: Support the development and implementation of the regional Childcare Fund and support COs in the region with technical assistance and support.

Expected Results

1. Regional Childcare Fund is designed, launched and operating smoothly
2. COs in the region receive timely technical assistance for ECEC, particularly around innovative financing and PPPs for ECEC, leveraging and new models of technical assistance

Description of the Assignment

1. Support with the technical development and inception of the Childcare Fund leading to its eventual establishment and launch

• Collaborate with the extended Childcare Fund team and its team of consultants (including the Public Finance for Children, partnerships, and innovative finance consultants) to support the structuring of the Fund and its operational basis, specifically around its governance, coordination and management
• Liaise with different teams in the RO & HQ, including operations & legal teams to ensure the Fund’s operations and procedures are compliant with UNICEF’s operational procedures and legal guidelines
• Create a strategic results framework articulating the Theory of Change and key results expected from the Childcare Fund, in consultation with key team members
• Lead on developing the operational basis of the Fund’s windows and SOPs for how the different funding windows work together
• Provide quality assurance ensuring that all materials and information regarding the Fund are technically sound, aligned with the broader regional ECEC portfolio
• Create a governance mechanism for the Fund, including the set up of a Steering Committee for the Childcare Fund that will provide oversight and strategic advice about the Fund’s direction and priorities, while also safeguarding against potential risks
• Proactively anticipate and manage risks and offer mitigation strategies to ensure successful development and launch of the Childcare Fund

2. Project management for the Fund

• Prepare mid-term and end-term reports, as needed, that document implementation progress, highlight key challenges, and outline recommendations for sustainability and scaling of the Childcare Fund.
• Facilitate project coordination meetings, meetings with project consultants and stakeholders
• Organize periodic conversations and consultations with COs to ensure they are informed of developments and are in the know about the launch and implementation of the fund
• Support the development, in collaboration with the regional communications team, of a communication plan to disseminate and share information and updates regarding the Fund at key moments.
• Develop presentation materials (PPTs) for end-project meetings with stakeholders to summarize outcomes, impact, and next steps for the catalytic Childcare Fund

3. Country Engagement

• Lead on country engagement working closely with country offices to identify governments that can benefit from the Fund
• Create streamlined processes and country applications to the Childcare Fund’s windows for country governments to apply to the Fund
• Support COs & senior management in developing the pitch to their governments for the Fund
• Support COs in ensuring country governments’ applications to the Fund are complete and compliant with the relevant procedures and operating basis for the Fund
• Regularly update COs on key developments in the Fund

4. Technical assistance and support to countries in the region for initiating and financing ECEC reforms

• Offer practical, timely technical support to select country teams in the region to develop and implement new modalities of technical assistance to governments for ECEC (e.g. leveraging domestic financing etc.)
• Establish collaboration and coordination modalities at a sub-regional basis to provide guidance and support to select COs, building their capacities to scan and initiate action on emerging opportunities around ECEC reforms
• Provide TA support, in collaboration with the regional ECEC lead & when needed, to countries on key ECEC reforms and initiatives
• Monitor and assess progress on, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues/and or refer to relevant colleagues for timely resolutions

5. Support strategic and sustainable growth and consolidation of regional ECEC portfolio

• Identify strategic linkages for ECEC between different streams of work ongoing (e.g. European Child Guarantee; TSI projects; Childcare Fund etc.) to support cross-country learning and exchange of tools & resources through knowledge exchanges, webinars, brownbag conversations
• Develop and finalize the ECEC brief accompanying the Regional Education Strategy, outlining UNICEF’s regional value proposition
• Contribute to the development of regional policy briefs, papers, strategic program materials on key thematic issues related to ECEC (e.g. ECEC and skills, including green skills; ECEC and Family Friendly Policies etc.), investment cases etc.
• Support the development and organization of the regional ECEC technical learning network, initiating/building on systematic technical expertise provided to select EU Member States on ECEC through SG REFORM’s TSI instrument
• Ensure learning networks are responsive to different countries’/sub-regions’ ECEC reform priorities and agendas while facilitating cross-country learning & exchange, & where relevant, make links to the Child Guarantee hub currently under development ensuring ECEC capacity is developed within accession countries and others adopting the CG framework

Geographic Scope

The assignment for this consultancy is regional in scope, but will prioritize accession countries including: 6 countries in the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo , Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Moldova, Türkiye and Ukraine. Select countries in Central Asia may also be explored for this initiative.

Work Assignment Overview

Note on data availability and associated risks. It is expected the assignment will rely on assumptions and will make use of proxies. Data availability must not be considered a limitation for the delivery of the assignment.

All documentation should be submitted electronically, in English, to the regional ECD team.

Estimated Duration of the Contract

180 working days between July 2025 and March 2026.

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The Consultant will be home-based with no travels foreseen.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) based on 180 working days to undertake this assignment.

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

• Advance degree in education/early childhood development
• At least eight years minimum of relevant professional experience in international development/education/early childhood programming across a variety of contexts including UMICs and HICs
• Academic background in law & legal matters around finance contracts particularly for innovative finance is an asset.
• Fluency in English is essential. Knowledge of another UN language is considered an asset.
• Demonstrated experience and familiarity with legal and operational procedures
• Previous experience with UN agencies is considered an asset
• Experience in initiating and establishing partnerships with governments (national and sub-national), private sector and/or IFIs
• Familiarity with EU frameworks, financing mechanisms and instruments around ECEC and targeting children and families
• Demonstrated ability to undertake initiative, ability to work under competing timelines in high-pressure situations, and work collaboratively and creatively with teams
• Demonstrated examples of work across cross-functional teams and collaborations to build shared capacity and understanding of innovative financing solutions
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to think and act strategically, identify partnership opportunities for co-funding and alignments to advance impact

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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:

Please include a full CV and a Cover Letter in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants 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.