Early Childhood Development Officer

Volunteering Teaching & Training

Overview

Provide technical and coordination support for Early Childhood Development in Ghana.

You have:

• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness.
• Works collaboratively with others.
• Builds and maintains partnerships.
• Innovates and embraces change.
• Thinks and acts strategically.
• Drive to achieve impactful results.
• Manages ambiguity and complexity.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications.

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a critical foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 2, 3, 4, and 10, which aim to ensure all children have access to quality early childhood development, and care. Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in Ghana is recognised as a foundation for human capital development, yet significant gaps remain in access, quality, and coordination. While policies such as the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy, and the integration of kindergarten into the basic education system demonstrate the government's commitment, implementation has been uneven. Many children, particularly in rural and disadvantaged communities, face barriers to quality early learning, nutrition, health, and protection services. Coordination across sectors-including health, education, nutrition, and social protection-remains fragmented, and investment in ECCD is insufficient to meet growing demand. Data gaps and limited public awareness also constrain advocacy for stronger policy and budgetary prioritization. Strengthening ECCD in Ghana is therefore critical to ensuring all children reach their full potential and contribute to the country's long-term social and economic development. In Ghana, UNICEF and partners are working with the Government to strengthen coordination, advocacy, evidence generation, and public engagement to advance the ECCD agenda. To strengthen these efforts, a volunteer will be engaged to provide technical and coordination support across advocacy, partnerships, evidence generation, and program design for ECCD. UNICE Ghana is committed to improving child development outcomes by implementing evidence-based programs, policies, and partnerships and strengthening the coordination between relevant sectors. To support these efforts, UNICEF Ghana seeks the support of a UNV to provide technical and coordination support across key priority areas, including evidence generation to inform advocacy, social and behavior change interventions, coordination across key sectors and program monitoring. The UNV will also assist in donor reporting, proposal development, and administrative coordination to ensure the effective and timely delivery of planned activities.

a) Program implementation and support Support the development of a national advocacy strategy for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD). Contribute to the design and implementation of the "I Will" campaign to increase public and stakeholder engagement on ECCD. Actively monitor ECD programmes/projects through field visits, exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.

b) Coordination Support Support building and sustaining effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation Build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on ECD programs/projects Participate in technical working groups and inter-agency platforms related to early childhood development (ECD)

c) Data and Evidence Support data collection, analysis, and visualization for ECCD indicators. Contribute to evidence generation efforts, including desk reviews, briefs, and case studies on ECCD in Ghana.

d) Resource Mobilisation Provide inputs for donor proposals, concept notes, and reports related to ECCD programming

Core values: Care Respect Integrity Trust Accountability Sustainability

Core competencies: Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1) Works Collaboratively with others (1) Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1) Innovates and Embraces Change (1) Thinks and Acts Strategically (1) Drive to achieve impactful results (1) Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations. * Self-motivation and ability to adapt professionally in a challenging environment and work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel * Proficient digital skills to deliver the assignment, including proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, among others), email, and internet.

The UN Volunteer will be based in Accra, Ghana, which is currently classified as a hardship category B and a family duty station. At sea level, the climate of the country is tropical-hot and humid with average yearly temperatures of about 27oC (80°F) and little daily variation. At the interior's higher altitudes, the average yearly temperature is 20 °C (68°F), and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies from 500 centimetres (200 in.) on the southwestern slopes to 100 centimetres (40 in.) in the northern lowlands. Food, household commodities, and clothing can be found in shops and local markets at reasonable prices. Some commercial banks are operating in the country, and Visa cards are accepted in very limited hotels. You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator.The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos."

Apply now

Potential interview questions

Added 7 months ago - Updated 7 months ago - Source: unv.org