Early Childhood Development (ECD) System Governance and Parenting Specialist

Update

UNICEF Tunisia Country Office (TCO) is supporting the government in raising the profile of the early years on the political agenda, with the aim of increasing public and private investments in Early Childhood Development (ECD), acknowledging that this period represents a unique opportunity for developing Tunisia’s human capital, reducing geographical and socio-economic inequalities, and contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
TCO is supporting the government in the implementation of the multi-sectoral and multi-partner ECD strategy, particularly in improving access and quality of pre-primary education, investing in responsive caregiving, improving health and nutrition outcomes, and strengthening the ECD strategy governance system, with a focus on the most vulnerable and deprived children. Furthermore, improving coordination and implementing integrated monitoring of the ECD strategy across eleven ministries, in collaboration with the private sector and civil society, is another important focus of UNICEF’s work in Tunisia.
Since 2020, the country has been piloting a Positive Parenting Programme designed to promote the ‘nurturing care’ of young children aged 0 to 6 through interventions in early stimulation and education, health, nutrition, and protection (violence prevention). The program was developed jointly by five ministries: the Ministry of Women, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, based on the Parenting Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices study, the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2018 data, and decentralized consultations with key stakeholders. The piloting started in 4 sites, and the institutionalization of the Programme by the end of 2025, is the main objective defined with the government counterparts.
UNICEF’s implementation strategy on ECD focuses on system strengthening through evidence generation, capacity reinforcement, and piloting innovative approaches and models.

The UNV will join a multisectoral team under the ECD Section that works on promoting the nurturing care of children (aged 0 to 6 years) through interventions in health, nutrition, child and social protection, early stimulation, and early childhood education, including social and behaviour change approaches for caregivers and communities.
Under the direct supervision of the ECD Manager, the UNV ECD – System Governance and Parenting will be supporting ECD Governance and the Positive Parenting Program. Primary responsibilities include program management, coordinating and ensuring synergies across multiple partners at national and local levels, and supporting the monitoring and implementation of activities at national and regional levels, as well as documentation and reporting.

She/he will be responsible for the following key functions/accountabilities:

•Support the coordination and monitoring of the ECD Strategy implementation, particularly pillar 7 - Governance and Financing interventions.
•Ensure regular outreach, liaison, and information sharing with national and regional stakeholders of the ECD Strategy.
•Support effective coordination of Parenting Programme interventions, facilitating synergies between different program workstreams (capacity building of service providers, quality control of documents and guides, community engagement activities, partner coordination, etc.).
•Support the expansion and institutionalization of the Positive Parenting Program.
•Support the drafting, monitoring, and regular updating of relevant program documents, including work plans, monitoring frameworks, reports, and strategies.
•Support the development of partnerships for program implementation, including outreach to potential partners, drafting calls for expressions of interest, terms of reference, Programme Documents (PD), and other relevant documents.
•Act as the Monitoring focal point for the ECD section, facilitating the monitoring and reporting of ECD program results by tracking program and operational indicators.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
•Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
•Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
•Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
•Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
•Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
•Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.