Mission and objectives

Goodness and Mercy Missions (GMM) is a Cameroonian nonprofit organization founded in 2007 and based in the North West Region, holding Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2017. GMM works to break cycles of poverty and vulnerability through education, women’s empowerment, community development, and humanitarian relief, with programmes spanning school sponsorship, computer training, library services, school construction, solar energy distribution, peace building, and emergency assistance to crisis-affected families. Through this assignment, GMM aims to strengthen the evidence base underpinning its community-based early childhood education (ECE) work in the Boyo Division and surrounding crisis-affected areas of the North West Region, in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), with linkages to SDG 1, SDG 5, SDG 10, and SDG 16. The objective is to mobilize a team of academically motivated Online Volunteers to produce a structured comparative review of community-based ECE models implemented across Sub-Saharan Africa, identify viable design principles and delivery mechanisms suited to GMM’s operating context, and inform future programme design, partner engagement, and donor communications. Online Volunteers’ contributions will directly support GMM’s mission of delivering culturally appropriate, community-driven services to children and families affected by the ongoing Anglophone crisis.

Context

Early childhood education is often recognized as one of the most cost-effective and impactful investments a society can make in human capital, social cohesion and long term resilience and sustainable Development Goal 4 (Target 4.2) calls on all nations to ensure that every girl and boy has access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education by 2030. Despite this commitment, large gaps in early childhood education provision persist across Sub-Saharan Africa, and these gaps are particularly severe in regions affected by armed conflict, forced displacement, climate shocks, and chronic poverty. In Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions, the ongoing Anglophone crisis since 2016 has displaced hundreds of thousands of families, disrupted formal schooling, and weakened the institutional infrastructure that young children depend on, with similar patterns visible in other crisis-affected settings such as the Lake Chad Basin, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region. Against this backdrop, community-based ECE models that mobilize local caregivers, community structures, faith-based networks, and grassroots organizations to deliver age-appropriate learning and care have emerged as a promising response, yet these models vary widely in design, quality, financing, and outcomes, and consolidated evidence to guide practitioners working in crisis-affected contexts remains limited. Goodness and Mercy Missions, as a community-rooted organization with extensive experience in education and rural community development, recognizes that evidence-based programme design is foundational to delivering quality services for young children in fragile settings. Through online volunteer support, GMM seeks to compile and analyze comparable initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa in order to identify viable design principles, partnership arrangements, and delivery mechanisms suited to its operating context in the Boyo Division and surrounding areas. Online Volunteers will report to GMM’s programme team and collaborate via a shared virtual workspace to ensure coordination and knowledge sharing, and findings will inform GMM’s ongoing community-based ECE work and future programme design.

Task Description

Volunteer 1 – Comparative Framework Design Lead the design of a clear and replicable comparative framework for assessing community-based early childhood education models in crisis-affected Sub-Saharan African settings. Define explicit dimensions including governance and ownership, curriculum and pedagogy, language of instruction, caregiver and facilitator training, child protection safeguards, parental and community engagement, financing model, and measured outcomes. Document the framework in a short methodological note that will guide the work of all other volunteers. Volunteer 2 – Case Study Selection and Methodology Working closely with Volunteer 1, develop transparent selection criteria for case studies and curate a shortlist of community-based ECE initiatives implemented in crisis-affected or post-conflict areas of Sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades, drawing from at least four different countries or sub-regional contexts. Ensure methodological consistency across the team and prepare a brief methodology section for the final report. Volunteer 3 – Literature Review (Part A: Conceptual Foundations) Conduct a structured review of academic and grey literature on the conceptual foundations of community-based early childhood education in low-resource and crisis-affected settings. Cover topics such as child development in adversity, the rationale for community-based delivery, and quality standards in ECE. Review 8 to 12 sources from peer-reviewed journals and reputable institutional publications, and produce a summary table covering source, main ideas, methodology, key findings, and limitations. Volunteer 4 – Literature Review (Part B: Crisis and Displacement Contexts) Complement Volunteer 3’s review by focusing on the literature concerning ECE delivery in contexts of armed conflict, forced displacement, and protracted humanitarian crises in Sub-Saharan Africa. Examine themes such as security conditions, displacement dynamics, language and ethnic diversity, gender norms, and the role of faith-based and traditional community structures. Review an additional 8 to 12 sources and produce a consistently formatted summary table for integration into the final report. Volunteer 5 – Case Study Analysis (Cluster A) Apply the agreed comparative framework to a first cluster of selected case studies, typically two or three community-based ECE models, with attention to programme design, governance arrangements, and operational modalities. Produce structured case narratives suitable for inclusion in the comparative matrix, supported by clear references to source material. Volunteer 6 – Case Study Analysis (Cluster B) Apply the agreed comparative framework to a second cluster of selected case studies, ensuring complementary geographic and contextual coverage relative to Volunteer 5’s cluster. Pay particular attention to caregiver training, community engagement, child protection, and measured outcomes. Produce structured case narratives in a format consistent with Cluster A so that all cases populate the comparative matrix on a like-for-like basis. Volunteer 7&8 – Synthesis and Recommendations Consolidate findings from the literature review and case study analyses into a cross-cutting synthesis that surfaces comparative insights, identifies enabling conditions and constraints, and articulates evidence-informed design principles. Translate these principles into practical recommendations that GMM can consider in strengthening its community-based ECE work in the Boyo Division and surrounding areas. Volunteer 9&10 – Visualization, Editing, and Final Report Design a comparative matrix presenting all selected case studies side by side along the dimensions of the comparative framework, and prepare a short visual annex of supporting tables, charts, and conceptual diagrams. Lead the integration and final editing of all volunteer contributions into a single coherent comparative review report of approximately 6,000 to 9,000 words, including an accessible executive summary of no more than 1,500 words for practitioners, community partners, and prospective donors.

Competencies and values

Living conditions and remarks