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Background and Purpose:

Despite growing recognition of the importance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Uganda’s human capital development, access to quality and affordable ECD services remains limited, particularly in rural, low-income, and underserved areas. National enrolment rates for children aged 3–6 years remain low, and the existing ECD infrastructure is often unregulated, underfinanced, and inequitably distributed. At the same time, youth unemployment remains a major socioeconomic challenge, disproportionately affecting young women and perpetuating cycles of poverty and vulnerability.

To address these interlinked challenges, UNICEF and UNCDF have developed the Skill and Transform Resilient Youth to Invest in the Development of Early Childhood (STRYIDE) initiative, an innovative programme that leverages blended finance and entrepreneurial models to increase access to quality ECD services while creating dignified employment opportunities for youth. STRYIDE will empower youth, particularly young women, with the skills, capital, and mentorship needed to establish and run sustainable ECD centres across five key demographic segments: urban, urban-poor, peri-urban, rural, and resource-constrained communities, including refugee settlements.
The first phase of STRYIDE aims to establish and/strengthen ECD centres across 4 districts, creating employment opportunities for youth and expanding access to children aged 3 – 5 years. The initial pilot of the STRYIDE initiative will incorporate testing a hybrid investment model that includes cross-subsidisation from better-resourced centres to those in underserved areas. As the programme transitions from design to implementation, close coordination with public, private, and civil society partners will be critical to ensure success, alignment with national policies, and long-term sustainability.

It is against this background that UNICEF seeks to engage a Consultant to provide technical support to the team overseeing the STRYIDE initiative, as well as broader support across related early childhood and youth-focused programming. The Consultant will play a key role in supporting implementation planning, partner coordination, resource tracking, reporting, and ensuring programme alignment with national development priorities and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Justification

The STRYIDE initiative is an ambitious, first-of-its-kind model that blends public and private financing to deliver quality ECD services while addressing youth unemployment. Its success depends on seamless programme design, coordination, and execution, in line with the evolving priorities of the Government of Uganda and UNICEF’s broader early childhood and youth programming.
To date, the UNICEF team has initiated the pilot phase of the STRYIDE programme by developing a training manual for ECD entrepreneurs and working through the Netherlands-funded PROSPECTS programme to identify potential youth entrepreneurs. The upcoming steps in the pilot phase will focus on testing the training content and providing microgrants to selected entrepreneurs to help them establish or expand their ECD enterprises. The full rollout of this pilot phase is planned over the course of the new country programme. As the initiative transitions into pilot implementation, there is an urgent need for dedicated technical support to ensure timely execution, adaptive planning, and effective coordination across multiple stakeholders—including government ministries, financial institutions, implementing partners, and young entrepreneurs.

In addition to STRYIDE, the ECD team is overseeing several other high-priority projects focused on caregiver support, private sector engagement, and expansion of ECD services in refugee and host communities. The complexity and scale of this portfolio demand additional capacity to support grant and programme management, partner engagement, progress monitoring, and knowledge sharing.

The proposed consultancy will:
Phase 1: Pre-pilot preparation
Phase 2: Pilot implementation and field-level oversight
Phase 3: Monitoring, documentation, and reporting

Major Tasks:
1. Provide technical support to STRYIDE during the pre-pilot phase
2. Contribute to cross-sectoral policy dialogue and strategic positioning of STRYIDE within government systems and investment frameworks
3. Facilitate coordination with Government counterparts in selected District Local Governments to plan for the enrollment and training of youth, including support for youth selection and onboarding.
4. Provide technical and logistical support for the youth training and engagements
5. Support in the issuance and tracking of micro-grant disbursements
6. Support the monitoring and documentation of the pilot
7. End-of-assignment reporting with recommendations

Deliverables:
1. Micro-plan for the STRYIDE pilot developed and validated
2. Briefing paper on STRYIDE’s alignment with SDG4, NDP IV, and Human Capital Development; support to at least 2 policy engagement events
3. District coordination plans developed; 40–60 youth enrolled and onboarded across selected pilot districts
4. Youth training and engagement activities successfully organized and supported; consolidated training schedules, attendance records, and activity reports submitted
5. Disbursement tracker established and updated; summary reports on allocations and utilization
6. Monitoring tools and templates developed; consolidated pilot implementation report with field updates, photos, and emerging lessons submitted
7. Final report summarising key achievements, challenges, and actionable recommendations

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

Technical Background and experience
• Education: University degree in international development, education, economics, social policy, public administration, or another relevant field.
• Professional experience:
o Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in programme management, policy development, or technical assistance in international development or the social sector.
o Demonstrated experience in managing or advising on complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives, preferably with a focus on early childhood development, youth empowerment, social enterprise, or innovative financing.
o Experience in fundraising, donor engagement, or proposal development for development or social investment programmes is a strong asset.
o Prior experience working with or within UN agencies, government ministries, or large international NGOs is highly desirable.
• Thematic expertise:
o Strong understanding of early childhood development systems and policies, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
o Familiarity with youth entrepreneurship and financial inclusion approaches, particularly those targeting young women and vulnerable communities.
o Experience in blended finance, social enterprise, or innovative financing models for development is an asset.
• Technical and soft skills:
o Strong strategic thinking, project management, and adaptive planning skills.
o Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including report writing, donor brief development, and presentation preparation.
o Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders across sectors and levels.
• Core UNICEF competencies (Level 1): Builds and maintains partnerships | Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness | Drive to achieve results for impact | Innovates and embraces change | Manages ambiguity and complexity | Thinks and acts strategically | Works collaboratively with others.
• Language requirements: Fluency in English is required (oral and written). Knowledge of another UN language or local Ugandan languages is an asset.

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 committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:
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 for ensuring 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.