Regional Adviser (Early Childhood Development), P-5, ESARO, #86060, Nairobi, Kenya

The Regional Adviser, Early Childhood Development (ECD), will provide technical leadership, management guidance, and programming support throughout Eastern and Southern Africa in planning, designing, managing the implementation of and evaluating ECD programmes. S/he will serve as conduit between global and national levels in the achievement of ECD results within the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework, programmatic partnerships and compacts; will be responsible for facilitating the implementation and development of related UNICEF policies and strategies in the region, as well as facilitating capacity building for Country Office (CO) staff, key government counterparts and civil society partners. The ECD Regional Adviser will work under the guidance of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) Deputy Regional Director (DRD). S/he will also be supported through frequent consultation with the global ECD Chief and fellow regional advisors in ESARO.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

For every child, a good start

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

The Regional Adviser, Early Childhood Development (ECD), will provide technical leadership, management guidance, and programming support throughout Eastern and Southern Africa in planning, designing, managing the implementation of and evaluating ECD programmes.  S/he will serve as conduit between global and national levels in the achievement of ECD results within the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework, programmatic partnerships and compacts; will be responsible for facilitating the implementation and development of related UNICEF policies and strategies in the region, as well as facilitating capacity building for Country Office (CO) staff, key government counterparts and civil society partners.  The ECD Regional Adviser will work under the guidance of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) Deputy Regional Director (DRD).  S/he will also be supported through frequent consultation with the global ECD Chief and fellow regional advisors in ESARO.

The Regional Adviser (Early Childhood Development) will be responsible for promoting innovatory practices that can be taken to scale to ensure national coverage and that all children, especially the most vulnerable, are reached by key ECD interventions and will coordinate with those responsible for other outcome areas, including emergency and humanitarian contexts. S/he will ensure that results in the area of ECD are in alignment with regional priorities and global strategies and will strengthen regional technical leadership on ECD, as well as regional partnerships. 

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Leverage resources for Regional ECD initiatives, policies, strategies and implementation plans based on globally acknowledged scientific evidence, through:

• Strengthening the evidence base on programme implementation, policies and operational strategies for ECD.
• Developing and operationalizing regional ECD strategic priorities together with the UNICEF Regional Management Team, Regional Advisors, and COs.
• Driving technical leadership for ECD in the region through monitoring the trends and situation of young children and families, based on analyses of data. 
• Creating and maintaining relevant partnerships and networks with key stakeholders to support the programme, policy, advocacy and data needs of the region.
• Coordinating with colleagues involved in planning and resource mobilization to support the leveraging of additional resources for ECD.
• Contributing and taking a lead role on ECD issues in major regional forums and networks.
• Providing outcome specific, high quality and timely reporting on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC) commitments to Early Childhood, and those in the World Fit for Children (WFFC), Generation 2030- which spotlights the massive demographic growth in Africa in the next 15 years. 
• Increasing domestic budget toward ECD and early learning programming.
• Engaging the emerging private sector in the ECD agenda and linking ECD to the larger development agenda as outlined in the SDGs

2. Ensure that a young child's holistic development is fully integrated into global strategic plans, across programmes in ESARO, Country Programme Documents and UNDAF with measurable progress indicators and M&E plans, through:

• Working closely with the HQ global ECD team and informing global strategies to reflect national and regional priorities and bringing the latest global evidence and to the region and COs.
• Promoting implementation of interventions that address child development across developmental domains.
• Working with other UNICEF ECD regional advisors as part of a global technical team to promote a common understandings and programmatic strategies for ECD across the organization.
• Using knowledge gained from other regions and global initiatives, when relevant to inform regional and country practices in ESAR.
• Participating in and providing technical support to global and other regional initiatives. 
• Familiarity with and capacity to articulate ECD programming and policy to key African and sub-regional entities, including the African Union, the Regional Economic Commissions (RECs) and similar technical and policy making entities.

3. Provide technical leadership through clear and timely guidance and follow up with field offices as to ensure the effective implementation of ECD interventions, including by taking innovations to scale through:

• Facilitating technical leadership on country programme preparation and providing inputs for reviews, including indicator development, through interaction with country office teams and ECD Focal Points, where appropriate.
• Translating complex human development science to UNICEF staff, partner agencies and government counterparts in ways that are accessible to non-ECD experts
• Supporting the evaluation of new country programmes, including an assessment of current CPDs/UNDAF indicators.
• Contributing to the formulation of strategic plans and strategies, including the development of culturally appropriate implementation guidelines for both sectoral and cross-sectoral programming and the identification of relevant indicators and M&E mechanisms at the CO level.

4. Provide effective and efficient management of ECD programmes and projects, including cross-sectoral collaboration, through:

• Ensuring that the regional Office Management Plan fully reflects global, regional and CO priorities in ECD.
• Proving quality assurance support to programming around ECD in terms of programme design and monitoring to ensure global, regional and CO objectives are met.
• Providing guidance on general ECD policy and strategies.
• Supporting recruitment and identifying the human resource support required for effective programme delivery.
• Managing evidence and the analysis of programming in Early Childhood Development, and related areas, through documentation, annual reporting and assessment of best practices.
• Coordinating the effective dissemination of best practices, ensuring knowledge management.
• Fostering enhanced linkages with professional organizations and academia to support global knowledge-building efforts and regional networks and partnerships (including when/if/as necessary with private sector).
• Monitoring the overall commitment, expenditure and liquidation of programme funds in accordance with the programme budget allotments.
• Ability to communicate to non-ECD colleagues the value-added for inclusion of ECD programming into proposals, policies and programmes that are not conventional ECD entry points.
• Taking necessary action for the optimal use of programme funds at regional and country office levels; including provide feedback to CO on funding proposal.
• Management of donor funded projects

To qualify as a/an [champion or advocate] for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree or equivalent backgrounds, in Human Resources, Business Administration, International Relations, Social Sciences, Psychology or related areas.
• A minimum of Ten (10) years of relevant professional work experience in  Developing country work experience (for IP) or field work experience (for NO). 
• Background/familiarity with emergency and relevant professional experience in Developing country work experience  is considered 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.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

Our core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

This position is classified as “rotational” which means the incumbent is expected to rotate to another duty station upon completion of their tour of duty,

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.