Health and Early Childhood Development Officer

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behavior towards children.

UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.

UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families.

UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities.

The Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Health Section at UNICEF Country Office in Montenegro is seeking national UNV support for the period December 2024 - December 2025 that will provide critical support for the accelerated implementation of the current Programme Outcome “Early Childhood Development: Getting the Best Start to Life” of the Country Programme 2023-2027. The national UNV will support the ECD Section’s ability to ensure the technical excellence and quality of programmatic work on early childhood development and health with respect to one or more of the priorities — immunization, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition, parenting support programmes, early childhood intervention for children with disabilities and strengthening primary health care including home visiting nurse service. National UNV will be working, in particular, on health systems strengthening with focus on pediatric, home visiting and counselling services, children’s routine immunization (Montenegro has some of the lowest coverages in the world, in particular for the first dose of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine), improving the quality of hospital care for mothers and newborns including small and sick newborns, modernizing early intervention for children with disabilities in line with international best practice and latest evidence, supporting parents to ensure their children’s health and wellbeing. The national UNV will be supporting policy advocacy, development of national standards, capacity building of professionals including in interpersonal communication, development of innovative services and programmes including mobile app for parents. The national UNV will also be working closely with Social and Behaviour Change Officer on influencing behaviors, social attitudes, beliefs and actions by communities, individuals and societies on children’s health, survival and wellbeing, to achieve sustainable, locally-owned and concrete results in improving the survival, development and wellbeing of children in the country.


In addition to duty station specific vaccine requirements, appointments 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 appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities


- UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children.

- UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

- 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.

- UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children.

Under the direct supervision of Early Childhood Development Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Research and analyze regional and national political, social and economic development trends having an impact on ECD and Health. Collect, analyze, verify and synthesize information to facilitate programme development, design and preparation.
• Prepare technical reports and inputs for programme preparation and documentation ensuring accuracy, timeliness and relevancy of information.
 Work closely and collaboratively with ECD Officer and other colleagues and partners to collect/analyze/share information on implementation issues, suggest solutions on routine programme implementation and submit reports to alert ECD Officer for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep records of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
 Participate in meetings with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by ECD Officer, higher management and other stakeholders.
• Prepare inputs for programme/donor reporting.
• Undertake field visits and surveys and/or collect/share information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances and support resource mobilization for ECD and Health programme/projects.
• Review the completeness of data reports with key monitoring and evaluation information.
• Facilitate communications and workflow of the ECD and Health Section to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of operations and outputs.
• Take minutes of meetings, ensuring accuracy, attention to detail and coherence.
• Support capacity development activities of the ECD and Health Section by supporting the logistical arrangements made by relevant Programme and Operations Associates.
• Any other duties as assigned by Early Childhood Development Officer.
• Handover Report: Upon completion of the assignment, the UNV is required to submit a comprehensive handover report including all relevant activities, progress, and any outstanding tasks or issues. This report should be submitted two weeks prior the assignment expiration to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of work.