Job no: 581264
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Pristina
Level: Consultancy
Location: Kosovo
Categories: Health

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, better start in life.

Under its 2021–2025 Country Programme, UNICEF Kosovo continues to work in close partnership with the Ministry of Health to strengthen the health and social service systems’ capacity to deliver equitable, integrated, and quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) services for pregnant women, newborns, and young children. A key component of this work focuses on ensuring that children aged 0–5, especially those from vulnerable and marginalized communities—including Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities, families living in poverty, and those in rural areas—receive timely, comprehensive, and nurturing care interventions that address their developmental, health, and social needs.

Kosovo faces persistent challenges in improving early childhood outcomes, with child mortality rates remaining the highest in the region and limited access to inclusive early childhood services. According to the latest Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), under-5 mortality rates, as well as developmental delays and unmet needs for early intervention, disproportionately affect children from marginalized communities. Data indicates that infant and child mortality rates in these groups are almost twice the national average, while gaps in early detection of developmental difficulties and limited access to quality services further exacerbate disparities in child health, development, and well-being.

In response to these challenges, the Ministry of Health, in partnership with UNICEF, is advancing the implementation of the Health Sector Strategy 2025–2030, the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Strategy, and the Action Plan for the Home Visiting Programme. These frameworks prioritize strengthening primary healthcare and community-based services to deliver integrated maternal, newborn, child health, and ECD interventions. This includes scaling nurturing care initiatives, institutionalizing standardized tools for monitoring child development, enhancing early identification and referral systems, and improving parenting support services, with a particular focus on equity and inclusivity.

Within this framework, the Early Childhood Development local expert will play a key technical leadership role in accelerating the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based, and family-centered ECD interventions. Under the supervision of the health officer, the consultant will support the integration of health, nutrition, early stimulation, responsive caregiving, and protection components within maternal and child health services, with particular emphasis on:

• Supporting strengthening the capacities of health professionals, home visiting nurses, and social workers to deliver integrated ECD services within primary healthcare services.
• Supporting Ministry of Health in operationalizing and scaling the implementation of the Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD) and other nurturing care tools within primary healthcare services.
• Providing technical expertise and coordination for implementation at scale and quality improvement of Group Care for Parenting programme within primary healthcare and community settings.
• Providing technical input and operational support for early detection, referral, and intervention services for young children with developmental difficulties and disabilities.
• Providing technical support to enhance intersectoral coordination mechanisms between health, social welfare, education, and community services to ensure seamless, integrated ECD service delivery.
• Supporting equity-focused outreach and evidence generation initiatives to inform targeted, data-driven interventions aimed at reducing disparities in child health and development outcomes.

The consultancy will also contribute to strengthening data systems for ECD, promoting the use of disaggregated data for decision-making, and supporting operational research and programme monitoring to improve service coverage, quality, and effectiveness.

How can you make a difference?

The objective of this consultancy is to support the Ministry of Health in strengthening integrated maternal, newborn, and child health services with a focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD). The consultancy will advance evidence-based interventions for nurturing care, early detection of developmental difficulties, and responsive parenting. It will contribute to UNICEF Kosovo’s 2025 Annual Work Plan by integrating ECD guidelines into primary healthcare, building the capacity of frontline workers, and scaling up innovative, family-centered service models to improve health and development outcomes for all children, especially the most vulnerable.

Deliverables/Outputs:

a) Support to programme development and planning:

• Provide technical expertise to integrate Early Childhood Development and Nurturing Care Framework principles into the implementation of the Health Sector Strategy 2025–2030, the Home Visiting Action Plan 2024–2026.
• Support the Ministry of Health and UNICEF in the design and implementation of ECD- health interventions, including the scaling of the Parenting Support Programme and the utilization of the Guide for Monitoring Child Development into Primary Health Care
• Facilitate consultations with health professionals, municipal authorities, and ECD stakeholders to ensure coordinated, evidence-based approaches in early childhood services at community and primary health care levels.

b) Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results:

• Provide technical support in reviewing and strengthening ECD data collection systems, with particular focus on early identification of developmental delays and risk factors among children aged 0–6.
• Support the design and analysis of ECD-related indicators within monthly and yearly reports and contribute to the development of routine monitoring frameworks for ECD interventions within Primary Health Care.
• Prepare technical briefs and recommendations for improving data use in decision-making at central and municipal levels, particularly to address equity gaps for vulnerable communities.

c) Technical and operational support to programme implementation:

• Undertake field visits and share information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks, and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical inputs for integrating ECD and nurturing care content into existing health training curricula and guidelines.

d) Networking and partnership building:

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts and other Kosovo stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to enhance programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to deliver concrete and sustainable results.
• Support UNICEF advocacy efforts by developing evidence-informed policy briefs, presentations, and advocacy messages to promote investment in early childhood development within health sector priorities.

e) Innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building:

• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Propose innovative approaches to improve outreach and service delivery for marginalized and underserved families, ensuring inclusive ECD programming.

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

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, pediatric health, family health, health policy and/or management, socio-medical, health education, nursing/midwifery, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of three years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public health planning and management, early childhood development, maternal and neonatal health care.

Experience working in the health sector, early childhood development, and/or maternal and child health in Kosovo or a comparable context is considered an asset.

Relevant experience within the United Nations system, international organizations, or related development agencies is considered an asset.

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language and/or the local language of the duty station is an asset.

UNICEF is committed to creating an inclusive working environment. We strongly encourage applications from individuals with disabilities, members of minority groups, and underrepresented communities.

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:

Deadline for application is 19 May 2025 COB.

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.

Advertised: 12 May 2025 Middle East Daylight Time
Deadline: 20 May 2025 Middle East Daylight Time