Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Specialist, Temporary Appointment (364 days), NO-3, Kyiv, Ukraine, #129893 (for Ukraine Nationals Only)

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UNICEF Ukraine

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The start of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine has had wide-reaching social and economic consequences, including those stemming from large-scale displacement, physical damage to buildings and infrastructure, and increased civilian casualties. As of June 2024, about 6 million people are refugees outside Ukraine1 and approx. 3.5 million people are internally displaced within Ukraine. In addition, some 6.9 million people remain in frontline areas (mainly in the east and south of the country) or in communities hosting large numbers of internally displaced people (mainly in the north and west). Physical and psychological stress limits the well-being of the population affected by the conflict and affects the social fabric. Reduced response capacities and overloading of local services are exacerbating the situation. While the war-related emergency continues, Ukraine has started to orient towards recovery in the Central and Western regions to build back better and prioritize policy reform.

UNICEF is dedicated to advancing the rights of every child, everywhere, focusing its programs, advocacy, and operations on this core mission. The organization’s Equity Strategy is at the heart of its commitment, aiming to rectify disparities by prioritizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families. This strategy translates the commitment to children's rights into action, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and is essential for fostering sustainable growth and stability within nations.

Within its new Country Program Document for Ukraine (CPD), UNICEF Ukraine has included Early Childhood Development (ECD) as one of three ‘Leadership Areas’ for the organization over the coming five year UNICEF’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2025. The ECD Leadership Area, known as Better Start to Life, is meant to serve as the ‘foundation’ for the other two ‘Leadership Areas’ - Better Care, which is anchored within Child Protection and focuses on the most vulnerable children with an emphasis on those at risk of abandonment and/or institutionalization, and prevention and  Better Learning and Skills which focuses on learning loss due to COVID and the war from pre-school through adolescence.

The health and nutrition programme takes a systemic, integrated multisectoral approach to Early Childhood Development (ECD) to embed nurturing care for young children in child-centred, resilient, gender-transformative and inclusive policies, programmes and parenting practices, pre-empting the intergenerational impact of the war, climate change and environmental degradation, in line with the global evidence showing that investing in young children has high returns later in life.

UNICEF Ukraine's Health section has made notable progress in integrating Early Childhood Development by implementing the Nurturing Care Framework within Primary Health Care. This effort includes providing facility-based ECD services through Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS) in primary health facilities, expanding the home visiting programme, introducing child development monitoring, offering IYCF counselling, and mapping zero-dose immunized children to better understand vaccine hesitancy or refusal. The programme includes providing parenting support at health facilities and during home visits and coordinates referrals to other health, social and educational sectors.

To spearhead these efforts, UNICEF Ukraine is seeking to appoint a Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Specialist who will be responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring nutrition and ECD