Application Deadline: November 15th 2016
Each year, nearly 250 million children fail to reach their developmental potential due to poverty, chronic malnutrition and a lack of appropriate care and early stimulation; a disproportionate number of these children live in the Africa and South Asia regions. Within the World Bank, a team of professionals from across sectors has been assembled to support the ‘Investing in the Early Years’ initiative. The team aims to leverage new and existing World Bank operations, analytical work, and partnerships to: 1) build country demand; 2) increase the scale, scope and coverage of key interventions in each sector; and 3) strengthen cross-sectoral linkages in client countries.
The World Bank is launching a recruitment drive for qualified consultants to support the ‘Investing in the Early Years’ initiative. The World Bank seeks to identify a pool of early years experts (in the areas of nutrition, early stimulation/early learning, and child/social protection) to support country governments and World Bank country teams with analysis and technical assistance. The World Bank will hire short-term consultants for an initial 30-50 days of work during September 2016-June 2017. This initial assignment may be extended to up to 150 days of work in the same period.
The World Bank seeks to identify a pool of early years experts (in the areas of nutrition,
early learning/early stimulation, and child/social protection) to support country governments and World Bank country teams with analysis nd technical assistance.
The World Bank will hire consultants for an initial 30-‐50 days of work during Fiscal Year
(FY) 2017, which runs from July 2016 to June 2017. This initial assignment may be extended to up to 150 days of work in the period. The World Bank is recruiting
consultants and senior consultants with proven experience in the areas of nutrition,
ECD, early stimulation and early learning, and social protection.
The bulk of the work will pertain to Africa, with some support to countries in South Asia,
East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, and Middle East/North Africa.
The exact areas of focus will vary by country, but could include the following: health/education/social welfare workforce development and policies, curriculum
development, quality assurance, family and community engagement, learning environments and learning through play, engaging with the non-‐state sector,
and coordinated programming across sectors, including Health, Nutrition
& Population, Education, Social Protection, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, and
Agriculture programs.
Consultants and senior consultants will work under the guidance of the Early Years Team
(with sector-‐specific reporting arrangements) for the initial 30-‐50 days.
Additional days will be added to consultants’ contracts depending on performance, country
needs, and consultants’ availability. Specific duties and responsibilities might include:
• Support World Bank Task Teams in the design, strengthening, and implementation of
operations with an ‘early years’ focus, including additional finance within existing operations
• Lead or contribute to pieces of research and analytical work
• Support policy dialogue with government (could include sharing good practices from other countries/regions)
• Contribute to the design and implementation of ‘early years’ policies, programs,
pilot activities, scale up strategies and M&E Consultants may be based anywhere
in the world, but should be available to travel to Washington, DC and countries in Africa and/or South Asia as required for the assignment.
Consultants will initially be hired through one of the trust funds below.
Additional days or follow up contracts may be negotiated directly with World Bank
Task Team Leaders in specific countries or teams, based upon business need.
Experience and Skills Requirements
Senior Consultant
• At least 10 years of experience in ECD/early learning/public health nutrition/social
protection policy and programming in developing countries. Some combination of expertise
in early learning, health and nutrition, and social protection strongly desired
• Specific experience in one of the following content areas desired:
o Early Childhood Education teacher training, pedagogy and/or curriculum development;
o Child-‐centered and play-‐based learning;
o Parent engagement;
o Early learning standards, accreditation and quality assurance;
o Assessment in early childhood; Education finance;
o Public-‐private partnerships and engagement with the non-‐state sector in ECD;
o Regulatory analysis in education;
o Public health and nutrition policies and strategies
o Adolescent, maternal, infant, and young child nutrition
o Design of community-‐based nutrition programs
o Nutrition capacity development
o Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) promotion
o Nutrition social and behavior change communication (SBCC)
o Costing, financing, and budget analysis for nutrition
o Policies, programming, and measurement related to micronutrient deficiencies
o Social protection,and especially integration of accompanying measures into cash
transfer programs.
o Delivery of human development services in conflict and fragile environments
• Experience working in developing countries in Africa and/or Asia
• Master’s degree in public health, nutrition, education, economics, public administration,
or a related field. PhD preferred
• Strong analytical and communications skills
• Able to work both independently and collaboratively with a wide range of teams
• Previous experience working for the World Bank and familiarity with World Bank operations desired
• Fluency in English required. Fluency in additional languages, such as French, preferred
for work in certain countries
• Able to work a minimum of 30 days in FY 2017
Consultant
• At least 5 years of experience in ECD/early learning/public health nutrition/social protection policy and programming in developing countries. Some combination
of expertise in early learning, health and nutrition and social protection desired
• Specific experience in one of the following content areas desired:
o Early Childhood Education teacher training, pedagogy and/or curriculum development;
o Child-‐centered and play-‐based learning;
o Parent engagement;
o Early learning standards, accreditation and quality assurance;
o Assessment in early childhood;
o Education finance;
o Public-‐private partnerships and engagement with the non-‐state sector in ECD;
o Regulatory analysis in education;
o Public health nutrition policies and strategies
o Adolescent, maternal, infant, and young child nutrition
o Design of community-‐based nutrition programs
o Nutrition capacity development
o Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) promotion
o Nutrition social and behavior change communication (SBCC)
o Costing, financing, and budget analysis for nutrition
o Policies, programming, and measurement related to micronutrient deficiencies
o Social protection, and especially integration of accompanying measures into cash transfer
programs.
o Delivery of human development services in conflict and fragile environments
• Experience working in developing countries in Africa and/or Asia
• Master’s degree in public health, nutrition, education, economics, public administration,
or a related field
• Previous experience working for the World Bank and familiarity with World Bank operations, desired
• Strong analytical and communications skills
• Able to work both independently and collaboratively with a wide range of teams
• Fluency in English required. Fluency in additional languages, such as French, preferred for
work in countries with additional language requirements
• Able to work a minimum of 50 days in FY 2017
Application Process
- Please complete an online application and submit your resume to us.
- Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but should be submitted no later
than November 15, 2016 (earlier is strongly preferred).
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