Sajeda Atari, MA, is a ZERO TO THREE Fellow. She is an Early Childhood Specialist at UNICEF-Jordan.
Ms. Sajeda Atari is an ECD Specialist at UNICEF-Jordan—leading UNICEF’s nationwide parenting support interventions strategically and technically. She also supports UNICEF’s parenting agenda in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. Ms. Atari contributed to the development of key resources, including MENA Regional Parenting Strategy. Currently, she is on a mission with UNICEF-Qatar to support advancing child protection and ECD in the country and in MENA region.
Through promoting positive parenting, UNICEF aims to empower parents and caregivers to adopt nurturing caregiving skills; create responsive parent-child interactions; and stimulate early learning and development—all factors that promote ECD and eliminate violent child disciplining.
Ms. Atari leads efforts to strengthen systems and support access to quality early detection and early intervention services for young children with disabilities. This is another priority area for UNICEF and for Ms. Atari, ensuring children with disabilities are provided with timely and appropriate early intervention. Otherwise, their difficulties can become more severe, often leading to increased poverty and profound exclusion.
Prior to UNICEF, Ms. Atari served in various technical and managerial roles within the NGO sector. She has translated and published several academic books to Arabic that are being taught in universities in Jordan and the region.
Ms. Atari holds an MA in Early Childhood Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she was a recipient of the Presidential Honors Scholarship. Additionally, she holds an MA in Special Education from the University of Jordan. In 2020, Ms. Atari earned certification in Early Intervention from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
