PATH is an international organization that uses innovation to save lives and improve health, especially among women and children. We work in over 70 countries worldwide. In Mozambique since 2012, PATH has been supporting the national Ministry of Health and the Maputo Provincial Health Directorate (DPS) to integrate early childhood development (ECD) content into routine facility- and community-level health services. ECD content includes monitoring child development and counseling caregivers on age-appropriate play and communication activities.
Globally, the World Health Organization is promoting a concept called Nurturing Care, where it encourages governments and nongovernmental organizations to coordinate with each other to provide young children and their caregivers with an integrated package of ECD, health, nutrition, and protection services, with a view to promoting their optimal development. In Mozambique, PATH is collaborating with multiple partners to implement a 2-year pilot project in Monapo District of Nampula Province, which will build on existing partnerships and platforms in health, nutrition and child protection to reinforce ECD services for the youngest children (0–3 years), with special focus on children at risk of HIV and malnutrition. Key partners will include the Nampula DPS, Monapo district-level women, health and social action services (SDSMAS), UNICEF, ICAP, h2n (which supports community radios), and large USAID-funded projects such as the Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) and COVida.
Service providers will be trained to monitor the developmental milestones of children and to work with caregivers to promote responsive caregiving and age-appropriate stimulation. These service providers will include nurses, technicians, community health workers (APEs), MCSP-supported nutrition activists and volunteers, COVida activists, and other community partners still to be determined. Expected project results are improved caregiver practices, improved detection and referrals of children with developmental delays, and improved capacity of providers to deliver quality ECD services and thus to promote increased satisfaction with and retention in health services.
The District ECD Officer will support training and mentoring of these service providers jointly with their direct supervisors, to ensure that these practitioners promote optimal child development through their routine services. The District ECD Officer will report to the PATH Project Coordinator based in Nampula.
PATH is dedicated to building an inclusive workforce where diversity is valued.
PATH is an equal opportunity employer. Every qualified applicant will be considered for employment. PATH does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or orientation, genetic information, age, national origin, marital status, disability status, political ideology, military or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.