National Consultant “Business Sector in Support to Early Childhood Development”

National Consultant “Business Sector in Support to Early Childhood Development”

UNICEF implements a 5-year Country Programme Document in Bulgaria, with a strong focus on early childhood years to ensure the best start in life for young children and their mothers. As part of this programme, UNICEF promotes nurturing care and parenting support programmes such as universal-progressive home visiting, parenting mobile app “Bebbo” early detection of developmental difficulties and early family-cantered intervention. These programme interventions are implemented in close collaboration with the three sectors, responsible for the policies in early childhood – health, education and social policy local authorities and academia, professional associations, NGOs and business partners.

UNICEF aims to enhance its engagement with private sector partners to achieve maximum results for children in the early years.

This consultancy will support UNICEF in Bulgaria in conducting a comprehensive deep dive to identify and map opportunities for business engagement, focusing on businesses with potential interest in the area of Early Childhood Development (ECD) – health, nutrition, early education and care, parenting support for nurturing care and parental engagement, family-friendly policies, including for parents of children with developmental difficulties.

Purpose of assignment:

The goal of this national consultancy is to leverage private sector strengths for joint innovation, scale-up of services, advocacy, and impactful communication for social behaviour change. More specifically:

• Identify and analyse opportunities for private sector engagement to drive results for children in the early years.
• Map private sector partners in the country with high potential impact who have additional (not only regulated by the government) policies and practices, which aim to support the future parents and parents of children in their early years. 
• Map private sector partners in the country that need to comply with the EU Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (Directive 2024/1760; the companies with HQs in EUROPE).
• Develop a good practice report with the best promising policies, practices and activities of the companies and roadmap for further potential engagement with the private and public sector partners in collaboration with UNICEF country program, emphasizing scalable impact, PPPs etc. Within this mapping, the report will include a short analysis of the supply and demand for parenting support and engagement package of services.  

Scope of Work:

Conduct a Situational Analysis:

• Assess the current landscape of private sector engagement in the support for ECD area (health, nutrition, early learning opportunity, early education and care, parenting support, including parents of children with developmental difficulties).

Company Best Practices:

• Analyse private sector best promising policies and practice in the area of support for ECD and the potential for collaboration in the area of parenting support and engagement.
• Identify the potential level of interest and attitudes toward potential engagement in the area of parenting support:
• level 1 (basic) – provision of evidence-based information (existing services, tools, materials) to every future parent, useful tools;  
• level 2 (basic +) – provision of evidence-based programmes and materials;
• level 3 (extra) -   all of the above + adapting the working space and establishing space and provision of equipment for parents (for example breastfeeding corner/room, room for employ, who need to work and stay with infant child or with a child with developmental delay/disability) and prioritize private sector partners with high potential for change and visibility.

Develop an Opportunity Map:

• Identify companies which are promoting good workplace practices and programmes focused on employees with young children, including- but not limited to – family friendly policies such as paid parental leave or breastfeeding support to working mothers, childcare support, parental support.
• Identify potential entry points for private sector engagement across key focus area, in line with UNICEF’s programmatic priorities for the early years in Bulgaria, and with specific reference to leveraging business role in society.
• Identify private sector companies, who have the potential to influence stakeholder and public actor, advocating for better policy environments and public sector investments in the early years, as well as supporting awareness raising campaigns with employees, customers, and wider public on the importance of ECD and parental support. 
• Identify a provider of products (e.g. digital innovations) and services for parents and children in the early years.
• Identify a provider of funding for (and financing of) ECD programmes through different forms of partnerships and innovative financing mechanisms. 
• Highlight existing and emerging private and public sector initiatives that align with UNICEF’s goals for the early years.
• Assess risks, challenges, and success factors for private sector engagement.

Develop a set of practical recommendations:

• How to engage prioritized business partners, including, the most compelling value proposition/s for UNICEF.
• Identify strategies for partnership building, co-creation, resource mobilization, and scaling of initiatives.
• Propose key performance indicators (KPIs) or a framework for assessing engagement success.

Assignment Overview:

Requirements:

• Master’s degree in business, social sciences, international development, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in private sector engagement, partnership development, corporate social responsibility, or related areas.
• Proven experience in developing strategies and roadmaps for private sector collaboration.
• Strong understanding of national context, and some understanding particularly concerning health, Early Childhood Care and Education, Early Childhood Intervention, parenting support, and violence prevention.
• Excellent research, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Proven ability to develop value propositions and foster collaborative partnerships.
• Fluency in Bulgarian and English.
• Strong analytical capabilities to interpret complex issues, identify potential risks, and propose appropriate solutions.
• Drive for results.

The assignment is envisaged to take place between 25.02.2025 – 31.05.2025.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications by 23 February 2025 to the following e-mail [email protected], indicating they are applying for “National Consultant “Business Sector in Support to Early Childhood Development”. The applicants should provide a CV in English, a proposed fee for the whole assignment in Bulgarian leva, as well as any additional supporting documents relevant to the application. Only short-listed applications will be moved to the next stage.