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For every child, the right to education.

The Government of Turkmenistan, with the support of UNICEF, is strengthening integrated Early Childhood Development (ECD) services to ensure that parents and caregivers receive practical, evidence-based guidance as part of routine maternal and child health services. Building on UNICEF's global Early Childhood Development Programme Guidance, the UNICEF Parenting Framework, and the Child Development Guide for Turkmenistan, the initiative aims to establish a structured model for delivering parenting education through primary health care (PHC) facilities ("Houses of Health") and selected preschool education (kindergarten) settings to reach parents through complementary service delivery platforms. To expand the reach of ECD messages and support to families, selected preschool education (kindergarten) facilities will serve as a complementary platform for engaging parents and caregivers, ensuring that children and families are reached through multiple, reinforcing service delivery channels. This approach will complement existing health services by promoting responsive caregiving, early stimulation, nutrition, child development monitoring, positive parenting practices, and family wellbeing.

How can you make a difference?

To empower caregivers to make informed decisions, it is essential to address influential social norms, counter misinformation, and expand access to practical, culturally relevant guidance for parents in both Turkmen and Russian. Strengthening coordination between primary health care facilities and selected preschool education (kindergarten) settings will create a clear referral and support pathway, enabling families to receive consistent parenting guidance across the health and education sectors while reinforcing ECD for Health interventions.

This initiative aligns with UNICEF's Country Programme Document (CPD) 2026–2030 and contributes to the Early years flagship, "aiming to lay the critical groundwork in early childhood for lifelong health, learning and well-being." It is grounded in UNICEF's Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) approach, recognizing that sustainable improvements in child outcomes require not only quality services but also positive changes in caregiver knowledge, behaviours, and social norms. By equipping health workers and preschool educators with effective communication and facilitation skills, the programme will support meaningful engagement with parents and encourage the adoption of responsive caregiving and positive parenting practices. The initiative is planned under Activity 1.3.2 of the joint Annual work plan of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and UNICEF.

In this regard, to support the institutionalization of parenting support within the health system, UNICEF seeks to engage a national consultant to design an evidence-based and culturally appropriate training package for health professionals, pilot the approach, and develop recommendations for its phased scale-up. The assignment will contribute to strengthening the capacity of primary health care providers to facilitate parent education sessions, while also preparing preschool educators in selected kindergartens to deliver complementary parenting sessions that extend the reach of the programme. This will ensure quality implementation and establish a sustainable model that can be integrated into national in-service training systems and expanded across the country.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The purpose of this consultancy is to support the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and UNICEF in developing and piloting an integrated parenting support programme within primary health care (PHC) services and selected preschool education (kindergarten) facilities. The consultant will design an evidence-based, culturally appropriate training package based on UNICEF's Early Childhood Development (ECD) guidance, the UNICEF Parenting Framework, and the Child Development Guide for Turkmenistan. The consultancy will include the development of training and facilitation materials, delivery of a Training of Trainers (ToT), piloting of parent education sessions, refinement of the package based on feedback, and preparation of recommendations for institutionalizing and scaling up the programme nationwide.

In close collaboration with UNICEF Turkmenistan, the selected consultant will be responsible for designing and implementation of:

Review relevant UNICEF ECD, parenting, and child development guidances and assess the existing parenting support model within primary health care (PHC) and selected preschool education (kindergarten) services.
Design a comprehensive five group-based parenting sessions’ training package for PHC providers and pre-primary education facilities, including a facilitation guide, parent education modules, practical tools, and monitoring instruments in Turkmen and Russian languages.
Deliver a Training of Trainers (ToT) for approximately 25 national and subnational health professionals and 15 methodologists from pre-primary education facilities using participatory adult learning methodologies.
Test the parenting support sessions through selected PHC and pre-school (kindergarten) facilities and refine the training package in Turkmen and Russian languages based on feedback and lessons learned.
Develop supportive supervision and monitoring tools to ensure quality implementation and measure participant engagement and learning.
Prepare a final facilitation package in Turkmen and Russian languages, implementation and scale-up plan, and recommendations for institutionalizing the programme within the national health system.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: TOR national consultancy for ECD PHC training.docx

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

Minimum requirements:

Education: Public health, medicine, psychology, education, social work, social sciences, early childhood development, or another relevant field.

Work Experience: At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in early childhood development (ECD), parenting programmes, maternal and child health, health promotion, social and behaviour change (SBC), education, or related fields.
Demonstrated experience in designing competency-based training packages, facilitation guides, curricula, and learning materials for adult learners.
Proven experience delivering Training of Trainers (ToT) and facilitating participatory training for health professionals, educators, or other frontline service providers.
Experience developing monitoring and evaluation tools, documenting lessons learned, and incorporating feedback into programme improvement.
Experience working with government institutions and multi-sectoral partners; previous collaboration with UN agencies or other international organizations is an asset.
Skills: Strong knowledge of early childhood development, positive parenting, responsive caregiving, child health, and adult learning methodologies.
Excellent analytical, writing, facilitation, and communication skills.
Ability to produce high-quality technical documents and training materials within tight deadlines.
Understanding of ethical principles related to working with children and families.
Language Requirements: Fluency in Turkmen and Russian (spoken and written) is required. Working knowledge of English is an asset.

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF.

Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, in line with applicable organizational measures. Candidates selected for appointment are required to formally confirm their willingness to comply with any current or future vaccination requirements mandated by UNICEF, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Failure to comply with such requirements, where applicable and without a duly approved medical exemption from the relevant UN authority, may result in the cancellation of the selection or other administrative measures including separation from service

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates from all groups are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

National Consultant on Development and Piloting of ECD Parenting Support Training Package for Primary Health Care Services and Pre-Primary Education Facilities