Trainers to support Emergency Early Childhood Development Support for Ukrainian Refugees
Job Title: Emergency Early Childhood Development Response (ECDR) Trainer
Project title: Emergency Early Childhood Development Support for Ukrainian Refugees (ECDUR)
Post location: Online/On the ground (Bulgaria, or Moldova, or Poland, or Romania, or Slovakia)
Project background
The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) is a European NGO active in 41 countries representing over 20.000 service providers for persons with disabilities. Its objective is to promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities through effective and high-quality service systems, in line with the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The war in Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022 is having a significant impact on the lives of young children and their families. According to UNHCR, as of 21 June 2022, more than 8 million people[1] have fled their homes and crossed into neighbouring countries (over 3 million to Poland, over 924,000 to Romania, over 464,000 to the Republic of Moldova, over 426,000 to Slovakia and over 231,000 to Bulgaria[2]). Over 2 million refugees are children (many separated or unaccompanied), of which an estimated 600,000 are under the age of 5 years.
At the onset of the war, EASPD became active in view of supporting its members across Europe, especially in the border countries, to support the refugees with disabilities coming from Ukraine. This led to the creation of 6 Temporary Regional Offices to help coordinate this process and facilitate the transfer of information.
In July 2022, UNICEF and EASPD signed a partnership agreement to provide Emergency early childhood development action to support young children with disabilities, developmental or behavioural challenges or at risk of developmental difficulties affected by the Ukraine war (regional multi-country initiative, taking place in Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria).
Part of this project will focus on increasing the availability of trained Family Consultants (professionals with a background in child health, education, protection or related fields) who will provide ECD parental counselling, support children at risk and with developmental difficulties including disabilities through face-to-face and online sessions, and in collaboration with national partners build the cross–country referral pathways to maximise support from professionals across and within countries. It will also seek to increase the knowledge and competencies of families, especially parents from Ukraine, around early childhood support and other matters related to the development of children.
Under the project, 500 family consultants and 800 Peer Support Group Facilitators (UA / RU speaking) should be trained to provide early childhood development support, advice and referrals to families with children with disabilities, developmental or behaviour challenges or at risk of developmental difficulties, displaced due to Ukraine war. The training will be done in a cascade Training of the Trainers (ToT) approach by 10 international experts who will train 40 Emergency Early Childhood Development Response (ECDR) trainers from Moldova, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania.
EASPD is therefore looking for 40 ECDR trainers who will be able to provide training to 500 family consultants and 800 Peer Support Group Facilitators from Ukraine within the framework of the project.
Key functions/responsibilities
- Participate in a 4-day training (October 3-6, 2022) on the provision of family-centred and emergency support to families with young children with disabilities, developmental or behavioral challenges or at risk of developmental difficulties.
- Participate in a 4-day training on the provision of peer support for groups and individuals (dates TBD).
- Provide training to 60-120 family consultants on the provision of emergency support to with disabilities, developmental or behavioural challenges or at risk of developmental difficulties and their families.
- Provide training to 70-200 parents from Ukraine to be able to provide peer support for groups and individuals to other parents from Ukraine.
- Provide ad-hoc supervision & advice to the Family Consultants and Peer Support Group Facilitators throughout the lifetime of the project (until December 31, 2023).
- Cooperate and report to the National Coordinator’s organisation on the activities provided, follow the rules and procedures provided by the National Coordinator and EASPD.
Key competences
- Proven expertise in family-centred practices for early childhood development, especially early childhood intervention for children with disabilities.
- Proven expertise and experience in delivering training programmes and methodologies.
- Familiarity with the national specificities of social service systems in the project partner country, specifically around children’s and disability issues.
- Proven understanding and respect for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).
Core Values
- Care
- Respect
- Integrity
- Trust
- Accountability
Required qualifications
Education
Academic degree in nursing, medicine, education, public health, social work, psychology, or another relevant field.
Essential experience
- At least 3 years of experience in the disability or social care and support sector (including in education, health care or social support sector), with a particular focus on the provision of family-centred early childhood intervention.
- Previous experience as a trainer.
Desirable experience
- Professional knowledge of delivering Early Intervention Services.
- Understanding of Early Intervention Childhood (and related) programmes in Central and Eastern Europe.
- Experience in providing support to refugees or services in emergency situations.
Language Requirements
Fluency in English or Ukrainian, and the national language of the country you will be working with (Bulgaria, or Moldova, or Poland, or Romania, or Slovakia).
Remuneration
Each trainer will receive remuneration of 60 USD/day for the development and delivery of two 4-day pieces of training and delivery of ad hoc support (for Ukrainian citizens: in the form of vouchers or volunteer honorarium not to interfere with social services payments). The payment will be provided in two instalments.
Application process
Please send us your CV (in English or Ukrainian) and a short motivation letter (up to 900 characters) to lyzaveta.drannikova@easpd.eu by the 29th of September 23:59. Please add “Application to become ECDR trainer in [Country]” in the subject of your email.
[1]UNHCR. Operational Data Portal as of 21 June 2022. http://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine