Early Childhood Development Inclusion Consultant - National Candidates Only

Background of the project 

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. At-work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

In response to the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon in mid-2012, IRC opened a country office and launched humanitarian assistance programming. IRC operates throughout Lebanon, with the main office in Beirut and field offices in Qobayat, Zahle, Tripoli and Mount Lebanon. IRC’s programs assist Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in host communities across multiple sectors: education, livelihoods, protection, women's protection and empowerment child protection and early childhood development in close coordination with national partner, the Lebanese Government and broader humanitarian community.

High-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs provide the foundation for children’s future academic success, health, prosperity, and wellbeing. A large body of scientific evidence emphasizes the need for increased investment in early childhood, particularly for children experiencing conflict, crisis, and displacement; these children are extremely vulnerable to the long-lasting effects that prolonged stress has on the developing brain.

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the IRC were awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant to make real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. With the extraordinary investment of $100 million, our partnership will transform the language, early reading, math, and social-emotional skills of a generation of children ages 0-8. Focusing on children in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria over the next five years, the plan combines the depth of in-person services, reaching 1.5 million children, with the breadth of mass media, reaching 9.4 million children. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.

Scope of work

The ECD Lebanon team is aiming to develop a training package on inclusion with ECD focus covering the Nurturing Care Framework components. As Ahlan Simsim has a particular focus on inclusion of children and/or caregivers with disabilities sensitivity of different gender, the ECD Inclusion consultant will provide a holistic inclusion work that cover the following tasks/ themes integrated in the developing materials: 

• Develop a work plan with a timeline for materials development in coordination with the ECD Senior Technical Quality Manager
• Actively read all relevant Ahlan Simsim caregivers’ material to familiarize herself/himself with Ahlan Simsim approach
• Develop an outline of content for the different materials and map the existing resources/content that will be included in each section.
• Actively review relevant ECD inclusion materials on responsive caregiving, provide technical input and suggest adaptations, and produce new content including: 1) Resource guide on responsive caregiving for children with disabilities. 2) Training guide on responsive caregiving for children with disabilities. 3) Training ECD Lebanon team on responsive caregiving for children with disabilities.
• Build capacities of ECD IRC teams around inclusive development and education including developing training plan agenda, and content, and training the team on all developed content.
• Ensure that inclusion content adhere to best practices, professional global standards and principles. Ensure that the content is aligned with the Ahlan Simsim themes ensuring the enrichment not duplications.
• All material to be submitted in Arabic Language

Requirements:

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience, in Special Education, Educational Psychology or related field
• Experience providing guidance on inclusion of children with disabilities
• Experience developing curricula and/or training materials
• Knowledge of the Middle Eastern context, Lebanon Context is an asset
• Experience in early childhood development 
• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and strong working proficiency in English