The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical assistance to each of the governments of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu to strengthen their governance, coordination, and management of multi-sectoral ECD. The consultancy will involve engagement with the critical sectors in ECD, including but not limited to health and nutrition, education, child protection, social protection, and WASH. Using transparent planning and participatory processes, the consultancy will undertake the following main activities:

• To design and implement a comprehensive assessment of the national and sub-national enabling environment for ECD, including policies, regulations, programmes/services and stakeholders on ECD that will inform next steps on ECD in the country;
• To guide the establishment and strengthening of a multi-sectoral ECD coordination mechanism in government (may include development of terms of reference, interagency agreements, etc.);
• To support the development of relevant policy and planning instruments on ECD, for example, National ECD Action Plan that is comprehensive, multi-sectoral and properly resourced, with clear linkages and contributions from existing sector plans and budgets;
• To develop a national M&E framework and mechanism on ECD that effectively monitors the situation of young children and generates data and evidence for effective decision-making.