PURPOSE

At the Bernard van Leer Foundation, we believe that giving all children a good start in life is both the right thing to do and the best way to build healthy, prosperous and creative societies.

We are a private foundation focused on developing and sharing knowledge about what works in early childhood development. We provide financial support and expertise to partners in government, civil society and business to help test and scale effective services for young children and families.

THE POSITION

Since 2017, BvLF has been working to support young children (0-5) and caregivers affected by crisis and displacement through its Global Displacement Portfolio, led by the Representative Global Displacement and supported by the Global Displacement Coordinator who is based in The Hague (Netherlands). This position is a fixed-term maternity cover for the Representative Global Displacement.

Evidence indicates that early childhood services, including those that support and guide parents, caregivers, and families in times of crisis, can mitigate the negative effects of trauma and stress on young children and promote resilience and well-being. The provision of these kinds of services to refugee and migrant families who have had to leave their homes, is lacking in crisis contexts across the globe.

 Initially focused on supporting Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan and Lebanon, since 2022 the Global Displacement Portfolio’s remit is global. The purpose of the portfolio is to identify and support good practices in early years programs and policies in crisis contexts, and incorporate insights from these experiences into learning and advocacy aimed at scaling up support for displaced families everywhere.

The Maternity Cover for Representative Global Displacement will join the Foundation at an exciting time, with the ability to shape the portfolio in new ways. Over the course of 2023, the Bernard van Leer Foundation will transition towards its 2024-2028 strategy. For the Global Displacement portfolio, this will see a shift towards a greater focus on the local level from where the Global Displacement team can help to raise up leadership and ideas to support those advocating for the localization of humanitarian response globally. The Maternity Cover will play a leading role in operationalizing this new strategy.

 PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

 The Maternity Cover Representative Global Displacement will lead on three main pillars of work:

1.      Maintain existing, and build new partnerships that demonstrate best practice in early years programmes and policies, with the potential to transform the way aid is designed and delivered

2.      Support increased uptake of such practices through active engagement in relevant leadership networks and global humanitarian community platforms and systems, including but not limited to the Moving Minds Alliance

3.      Link displacement-grant related approaches, partners and leaders in BvLF Core Countries to opportunities for funding, greater visibility and/or learning through the Global Displacement portfolio network.   

 The Maternity Cover for Representative Global Displacement serves as the Foundation’s primary point of contact for partnership development and advocacy by consistently expanding our network, sourcing new projects for financial support and representing the Foundation through speaking and writing in public for a. Key areas of responsibility include:

• Develop transformative partnerships including components of financial support, technical assistance and advocacy with (local) government, implementing organisations, business, academia, non-governmental actors, and foundations to:

• Expand the use of a child-friendly lens in cities hosting large numbers of displaced people (Urban95)

• Explore pathways to improve the wellbeing of displaced caregivers with young children

• Develop and gather strategic thinking and knowledge on the future of humanitarian response

• Maintain and strengthen partnerships through active monitoring, advising, advocacy, project management and the provision and/or facilitation of technical assistance

• Ensure all projects have robust documentation and evaluation activities built-in

• Actively engage in humanitarian response platforms, advocating for and advising on how to better support young children and caregivers affected by displacement through existing and new response structures, policies, and funding streams

• Contribute to the knowledge base of the Foundation by regularly sharing insights and knowledge coming out of the work in the Global Displacement team with the global Foundation team, as well as individual Core Countries

• Manage consultants, an operational budget for activities, and a small team, with support from the Foundation headquarters in the Netherlands.