 |
 |
International Development Jobs and Consulting Opportunities |
 |
||
|  |
|
The Bernard van Leer Foundation is a private grantmaking Foundation. Our mission is to improve opportunities for children up to age 8 who are growing up in socially and economically difficult circumstances. More information can be found at www.bernardvanleer.org SUMMARY We are currently searching for a consultant that can help us further develop our new India strategy focused on young children growing up in urban slums and can monitor existing investments on early learning in Orissa. The full-time assignment will run for 12 months, commencing with the start date of the contract. The consultant will be based in India with 2-3 visits to The Hague during the course of the consultancy.
BvLF goals in India BvLF currently has two goals in India.
1. Reduced rates of malnutrition and morbidity among young children growing up in urban slums (geographies to be determined)
2. Increased access to quality multilingual pre-school education services for 3-5 year old tribal children in Orissa
Why these goals in India? 1. Malnutrition and morbidity in slums: More than 150 million children in India are at risk of becoming malnourished due to the current global food crisis and a corresponding escalation in prices. This is compounded by high levels of child morbidity stemming from lack of access to safe drinking water, poor sanitation and lack of awareness about appropriate health and hygiene practices. 46% of children under 3 are underweight, 38% are stunted, and 19% are wasted. A USAID study in 2002 found that infant mortality rates were twice as high in slums as the national rural average, and that slum children under 5 suffer and die more often from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection than rural children. Our own research in 2010 in a sample of five major cities, found up to 65% of urban poor children were underweight, 77% were anaemic. There is, however, a major movement to change the conditions of the slums. Two of the most significant programmes are Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) – nationally funded urban renewal and slum upgrading initiatives investing 3 billion Euros per year in cities where urbanization and urban poverty are most dramatic. The challenge is to make those Euros count for young children in urban slums. 2. Quality multilingual pre-school: Out of the 8 million tribal people in the state of Orissa, 1.4 million are children 0-6 years of age. Among the tribal population in Orissa, literacy rates are 37%, compared to 63% for the state and 65% for the country. Although 77% of tribal children attend a centre run by the government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), more centres are needed. Where centres do operate, there are problems of poorly trained teachers who are regularly absent, unsafe physical infrastructure, and discriminatory attitudes towards tribal children and their parents. Many do not speak the official state language, and the absence of tribal languages in ICDS centres is one of the main barriers to improving learning outcomes. Only 4 to 5 per cent of centres use the children’s mother tongue as a language of instruction. To address these problems, the Foundation has been supporting the creation of multilingual pre-schools in Orissa since 2009.
Tasks for consultant We are currently searching for a consultant that can help us deepen our thinking regarding our new work focused on child malnutrition and morbidity in urban slums and monitor our on-going programme in Orissa. Specific tasks foreseen include the following: Goal #1: Reduced rates of malnutrition and morbidity among young children growing up in urban slums (geographies to be determined) 1. Monitor and report on a set of existing grants made under the draft strategy 2. Extend our stakeholder map to include networks of architects, urban planners, urban child health professionals, civil society networks and NGOs that have a track record in organizing slum dwellers and Indian philanthropists 3. Review and finalize our draft strategy document including continued vetting of core strategic ideas with key stakeholders in and outside of India 4. Write an end of year summary of progress to date synthesizing achievements and lessons learned from the first year of the work 5. Recommend new grants the Foundation should make to strengthen the strategy Goal #2: Increased access to quality multilingual pre-school education services for 3-5 year old tribal children in Orissa 1. Monitor and report on a set of existing grants made under the existing strategy 2. Write an end of year summary of progress to date synthesizing achievements and lessons learned from the programme to date
3. Recommend new grants the Foundation should make to strengthen the strategy
Profile required
Assignment The assignment is full-time and starts as soon as possible for a period of 12 months. We offer a competitive compensation.
Placement Based in India with 2 - 3 visits to The Hague over the course of the consultancy. Regular travel will be required within India. Application If you are interested in this position, please apply before 9 July 2011 by writing a letter of motivation and including a CV in .pdf or .doc format to hr@bvleerf.nl If you have any questions, you can email on this address or call Human Resources at +31 (0)70 3312-227/228.
|
Programme Officer India (Consultant)
ShareThis