International Consultant - ECD and the Status of Pacific Young Children Report (remote with travel for 11 months)

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For every child, the right to education

How can you make a difference?

As custodian to the Pasifika Call to Action, the Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development (PRC4ECD) unites Ministers and Permanent Secretaries from education, health, finance, and social welfare in 15 PICTs (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu), and encourages countries to tailor the Call to Action to their specific contexts, and to drive collaboration among leaders, policymakers, and program implementers to address gaps in health, nutrition, protection, care, and stimulation that affect the development of young children across the region These efforts align with broader regional priorities, such as the 2050 Blue Pacific Strategy, the Pacific Culture Strategy, and sectoral goals set by Pacific Ministers of Education, Health, and Women. Together, these frameworks underscore the importance of parenting engagement as a central element in the holistic development of young children.

Since 2017, The Pacific region has made important progress in strengthening national and regional ECD systems, including through the Pasifika Call to Action on ECD, national ECD policies, multisectoral coordination mechanisms, workforce development, monitoring systems, and support for parents and communities.

The Pacific ECD Forum Leaders have strengthened the regional mandate for Early Childhood Development by endorsing in 2025 ECD as a standing agenda item within the People Centred Development thematic area of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. In 2025, the PIF Women Leaders Meeting endorsed the importance of ECD as a cross-sectoral priority linked to gender equality, social inclusion, resilience, child wellbeing, and long-term human development.

However, the current evidence based on children’s wellbeing remains fragmented across sectors, age groups, data systems, and regional processes. There is no single integrated regional picture of how Pacific children are faring from birth through childhood, nor a clear mechanism to consolidate evidence, identify emerging issues, and support policy action through regional governance pathways. Across the Pacific, young children continue to face significant risks to survival, health and development, including infectious diseases, injuries, malnutrition and limited access to early screening and intervention. Rural children face nearly twice the risk of early mortality compared with urban children, while nearly half of PICTs do not meet the 90% measles vaccination coverage target (ranging from 38% in FSM to 68% in Kiribati). Malnutrition remains a major concern, with anaemia affecting 25–38% of women and 27–49% of children, exclusive breastfeeding ranging from 39.6–77.1%, and minimum dietary diversity from 9.3–54.7%. At the same time, only 70% of Pacific 3- and 4-year-olds are developmentally on track, compared with 75% in low- and middle-income countries, while caregiver engagement in early stimulation varies from 77% in Kiribati to 97% in Fiji. These challenges highlight the need for integrated, cross-sectoral approaches that combine health and nutrition interventions with parenting, responsive caregiving, early stimulation, learning and early identification of developmental delays and disabilities1.

Available data point to both progress and persistent gaps in children’s developmental outcomes, foundational learning, health, nutrition, protection, inclusion, resilience, and wellbeing. These issues are shaped by wider social, economic, environmental and climate-related pressures, including poverty, household stress, food insecurity, violence, disability exclusion, digital risks, mental health concerns, neglect of young children due to lack of timely and relevant information, and changing family and community environments.

The ECD Status of the Pacific Young Children Report responds to outcomes of the 2026 PIF Women Leaders Meeting and the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, 2026. Ministers and Delegates supported its production in 2027, with subsequent updates to track contributions and progress against the 2050 Strategy, emphasising statistically sound survey methodologies and datasets to ensure credible evidence and regional representation. Forum Leaders recognized the report as an important opportunity to strengthen the evidence base for child wellbeing and human development and acknowledged the long-term social and economic benefits of investment in ECD for stronger, more resilient communities.

In this context, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and UNICEF, as Co-Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development, are progressing a Status of ECD in the Pacific Report in 2027, focusing on ECD for children aged 0–8 years. This is part of a staged process to develop an ECD and Status of Pacific Children Report, as endorsed by the Pacific Island Forum Leaders. In focusing on the early childhood years, this first report will ensure readiness to contribute to the ECD standing agenda item on the Leaders’ Meeting agenda, while establishing the foundation for analyses covering a broader life-course approach to child development, rights and well-being, which will be progressively developed over the following years to cover children and adolescents from birth to 18 years. The first report will inform discussions and decision-making through key regional platforms in 2027, including the Pacific ECD Forum in the Cook Islands, the PIF Women Leaders Meeting, and the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. Subsequent reports will progressively expand the analysis across the life course, ensuring that emerging evidence continues to inform regional policies, priorities, and governance processes.

 If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here:  International Consultant – ECD and the Status of Pacific Young Children Report.pdf

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

Minimum requirements: |(Qualifications/Experience/ Knowledge/Expertise/Skills)

• Education: Masters in Early childhood development, early childhood education, education policy and planning, public health, economics of education, or a closely related social science discipline
• Work Experience:
  • A minimum of twelve (12) years of progressively responsible professional experience in early childhood development, of which at least five (5) years in professional experience in programme planning, management, and research within the field of early childhood development.
  • Demonstrated professional experience in Pacific Island Countries, including direct technical work with Pacific ministries and governments.
  • Demonstrated experience developing ECD plans and costed implementation plans and providing direct technical assistance to ministries from different sectors, including policy implementation.
  • Demonstrated experience bringing analytical publications to print-ready standard in collaboration with designers and copy editors
• Language Requirements: Fluency in written and spoken English is required
• Knowledge/Expertise/Skills:
  • Demonstrated ability to translate systems analysis into ministerial-level policy recommendations and advocacy products.
  • Excellent analytical writing in English, with the ability to write for both technical and ministerial audiences.
  • Proven ability to work remotely across Pacific time zones, to engage government counterparts respectfully and effectively, and to deliver to firm deadlines within a regionally governed process
• Desirables:
  • Work experience in other small island developing states of comparable scale and geographic dispersion.
  • Familiarity with the Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Development (PRC4ECD) and with the Conference of Pacific Education Ministers process.
  • Experience facilitating multi-country validation and capacity-building processes

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template)  Financial proposal International Consultant for ECD.docx
• A detailed technical proposal Applicants must submit: (i) a technical proposal of no more than five (5) pages setting out the proposed methodology and workplan, and how the comparability constraints identified in the Scope of Work will be managed and (ii) an all-inclusive financial proposal itemising professional fees (daily rate multiplied by input days