Deadline: 15-May-25
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is calling for Expression of Interests to Deliver Integrated Early Childhood Development Services under the EU Human Development Programme.
Objectives
- The specific objectives of the action are to support children of Zambia to reach their full potential and to improve young female adolescent’s resilience through improved nurturing care resulting from increased access to quality Early Childhood Development, decreased inequalities and strengthened coordination across government systems to improve service delivery in education, health and nutrition, child protection and social protection.
Sector and Areas of Specialization
- Education
- Early childhood development
Outputs
- To achieve the specific objectives, the programme will focus on six (6) main output areas namely:
- construction of fully equipped green infrastructure for ECE, including WASH facilities and access to energy;
- strengthening district education and health sector mechanism for parental engagement in nurturing care;
- improving integrated quality health and nutrition services for children (0-8) and adolescent mothers;
- improving access to education, protection, health & nutrition services for female adolescents;
- improving capacity for quality assurance, supervision, and sustainability of integrated ECDE and adolescent services; and
- strengthening inter-ministerial and stakeholder co-ordination at district and sub-district levels; and
- Strengthen ECD advocacy at community and national levels.
Expected Results
- The programme aims to improve early childhood development (ECD) outcomes in targeted districts through integrated, multisectoral interventions. Key expected results include:
- Increased Community Engagement & Awareness – through enhanced awareness and ownership of the programme among communities and local leaders.
- Strengthened Local Governance Structures – through Improved capacity of community and school management structures through training and support.
- Operational ECD Hubs – established and strengthened community-based ECD hubs delivering integrated services in health, nutrition, early learning, protection, WASH, and birth registration.
- WASH Assessment and Capacity Building – conduct household WASH surveys at 38 ECE sites and built district-level capacity in WASH operations and behavior change.
- Parenting Support – positive parenting education and counselling to caregivers to promote nurturing care, responsive parenting, and early stimulation.
- Access to Integrated Services – increased availability and uptake of essential services for children and caregivers at the community level.
- Adolescent Resilience – provide targeted support to enhance resilience among adolescent girls and young mothers.
- Capacity Building Across Sectors – trained multisectoral teams, at all levels delivery integrated ECD services at community level.
- Improved Coordination – strengthened multisectoral coordination at all administrative levels for effective programme delivery and monitoring.
- Enhanced Data and Reporting Systems – improved systems for data collection, use, and reporting of programme performance.
- Robust Advocacy – develop and implement an ECD advocacy strategy, including identifying champions, providing toolkits, and rolling out district and national advocacy efforts.
Eligibility Criteria
- Geographic Focus
- Zambia
- North-Western
- Luapula
- Zambia
- Expressions of Interest (EOI) are solicited from national and international NGOs and Civils Society Organizations having relevant expertise and/or experience as per shared scope of work on partnership basis. Interested NGOs are requested to submit the signed EOI
For more information, visit UNICEF.