TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTORS/ CONSULTANTS
PART I
Title of Assignment
Protection of children on the move
Section
ESARO Child Protection
Location
Home, with travel to Nairobi, Kenya, as well as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and South Africa
Duration
70 days
Start date
20 February 2017
12th June 2017
Background and Justification
Nearly 50 million children worldwide have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced. More than half of these girls and boys have fled violence and insecurity; they may be refugees, internally displaced or migrants, and are particularly vulnerable. Migrating and displaced children are at risk of some of the worst forms of abuse and harm. Often dependent on human smuggling, they can easily fall victim to traffickers and other criminals. Many are subjected to extreme forms of abuse and deprivation during their journeys, and when, and if, these children reach destination countries, the threats they face do not disappear.
Mixed migration within Africa and out of the region is highly dynamic, responding to conflict and instability, political and social factors, climatic and environmental pressures, as well as national and international immigration and refugee policies. In recent years, population movement within and from the Horn of Africa region has become increasingly treacherous, yet there are significant gaps in reliable knowledge about children in mixed migration flows, particularly along the Southern Route, departing from Ethiopia and Somalia: why they move, what services they need and what happens to them on the migration pathway.
The paucity of information about children’s motivations to move from their countries of origin, and their experiences both en-route, in transit and in countries of destination, is contributing to there being limited protection, programmes, and tailored advocacy, and to decision-making that is not always in the best interest of children. Gathering and analysing child-specific data will help provide in-depth evidence-based information and will inform good practice programming going forward.
In order to respond to this challenge, UNICEF ESARO has partnered with the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS), a unit within the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) to interview children on the move along the Southern African Route, in order to increase our collective understanding of the experiences of children on the move, and better respond to their protection needs along the way. The RMMS is a regional hub aiming to provide: (1) Support and coordination, (2) Synthesis, analysis and research, (3) Information and data management and (4) Policy development and dialogue to support governments, agencies, institutions, and forums in the region to improve the management of protection and assistance response to people in mixed migration flows. The RMMS-UNICEF Project will initially focus on countries in the Horn of Africa where migration flows originate from, particularly Ethiopia and Somalia, travelling through the Great Lakes and Southern Africa.
Prior to commencing the data collection, UNICEF commits to ensuring that there is a critical incident mechanism in place, and a referral mechanism linked to existing key services in countries of origin, transit and destination, and that all monitors entrusted to interview children along the Southern Route are aware of the referral mechanism and are trained in interviewing children. The third aspect of the project will begin after 4-6 months of data collection, and focus on two aspects: 1) preparing a desk review on the situation of children in Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, upon which 3 child notices will be developed articulating the situation of children in those three countries of origin, and 2) developing a program guidance document, identifying key prevention and response systems, services and programmes required to respond to the needs of children in countries of origin, transit and destination along the Southern African migration route
Scope of Work
Goal and Objective
The objective of the consultancy is to support the RMMS data collection process to ensure that children with critical child protection concerns are adequately identified and referred to appropriate services as available
Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered: Explain briefly how this assignment links to the AWP/IR number.
Strengthening multi-country programming coordination is an identified deliverable under the rolling workplan. One of the activities to be rolled out in order to meet this deliverable is the collection of data on children on the move from Ethiopia and Somalia along the Southern African migration route. This consultancy is proposed to support the data collection process which will be undertaken by the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS) by establishing cross country critical referral protocols, and developing child appropriate data collection tools.
Activities and Tasks
Under the supervision of the ESAR Child Protection in Emergencies Sepecialist, and the overall guidance of the Child Protection Adviser, the consultant will undertake the following:
- Develop an inception report articulating the proposed methodology and approach to meeting the project objectives
- Consult with UNICEF staff, key Ministries and partners working in the field of child protection and migration in all of the selected countries to undertake a desk review of existing systems, referral protocols and key services available in the countries included in the project to respond to critical incidents, as well as gaps
- Undertake field missions in order to develop agreements with Country-specific actors on the critical incident protocol and referral pathways to services – including cross border.
- Draft simple standard operating procedures which describe the step-by-step process for the management and referral of critical child protection incidents that RMMS interviewers may encounter in the course of their duties (supported referral to focal points who will then ensure a coordinated response). Include the role and responsibilities of monitors and focal points, and cross-border considerations (add contact lists). The SOPs should build upon, and refer to existing referral mechanisms and services already available in country.
- Develop a specific module for interviewing children, in close collaboration with UNICEF and RMMS, as well as a training package incluing the agreed critical incident protocols and referral pathways, and the process and forms which will be used to interview children (sould include aspects of basic child protection, confidentiality, best interest and do no harm principles, and child friendly interviewing techniques)
- Present the SOPs through a series of webinars or VDO conferences to all participating countries and finalise
- Train all 30 monitors in interviewing children and referring critical incidents using the multi-country referral system and SOPs
The consultant is expected to draw from existing good practices, and encourage and support cross-regional and cross-country learning throughout the project
Methodology
Preparation and implementation Phase
The consultant will review documentation on existing services and referral mechanisms that exist in the Countries covered in the project, and consult with UNICEF staff and partners working in the field of child protection and migration, in particular RMMS, to develop standard operating procedures for supported referral of critical cases, and a survey module for interviewing children on the move. The consultant will train all 30 monitors in interviewing techniques and the standard operating procedures.
Reporting Phase
The consultant will prepare draft documents for the SOPs, survey module, and share with UNICEF, Country focal points, and RMMS for inputs and review before finalising
Work relationship
The consultant will work primarily with ESARO Child Protection in Emergencies Specialist, UNICEF Country Office Focal Points, and RMMS project manager
Outputs/Deliverables
Activity
Deliverables
Duration
(Estimated # of days)
Station
Timeline
- Develop an inception report articulating the proposed approach and methodology for
- a) Mapping existing referral mechanisms and key services available to children on the move in the countries included in the project
- b) Developing the SOPs on management and referral of critical CP cases
- c) Developing the module on interviewing children
- d) Developing the training package to be delivered to the RMMS monitors
- e) Training the monitors
Inception report
5
Home
By the 1st March (inclusive of feedback time)
- Consult with UNICEF staff, key Ministries and partners working in the field of child protection and migration in all of the selected countries to further undertsand and analyse the existing systems and services available in country, including referral mechanisms, and gaps
Desk review
20
Home
By 3rd April (inclusive of feedback time)
- Undertake field missions to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in order to finalise SOPs with Country-specific actors describing the step-by-step process for the management and referral of critical child protection incidents, role and responsibilities of monitors and focal points, and cross-border considerations. Agreements with Somalia will be undertaken remotely.
Finalised SOPs
27 days
Travel and home
By 15th May (inclusive of feedback time)
- Draft the survey module for interviewing children, in close collaboration with UNICEF and RMMS, as well as a training package incluing processes for critical incident protocol and management, referral pathways, and interviewing children (sould include aspects of basic child protection, confidentiality, best interest and do no harm principles, and interviewing as a minimum).
Survey module and training package
7
Home
By 29th May (including feedback time)
- Train all monitors in the package
Training evaluation report
3
Travel
By 5th June
- Present the standard operating procedures through a series of remote VDO conferences to all focal points in participating Countries
8
Home
By 12th June
- Produce a final report articulating the key achievements of the project, lessons learnt and recommendations for further actions
Final report
3
Home
By 20th June
Payment Schedule
Payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of deliverables as follows:
- 1st payment (inception report) 25%
- 2nd payment (finalised SOPs) 40%
- 3rd payment (final report) 35%
Desired qualification, competencies, technical background and experience
- A senior consultant with a minimum of eight years relevant professional work experience at national and international levels in development field, with a focus on women and children’s rights and violence prevention and response, in particular sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence and child protection.
- Advanced University Degree in social work, social sciences, political science, human rights law or other relevant field
- Experience in and knowledge of UNICEF’s activities at country/regional level in the implementation of programming related to violence against women and children, sexual violence, gender, and child protection.
- and establishing referral systems
- Experience and knowledge on issues relating to children on the move
- Experience and knowledge on developing training packages and delivering training
- Proven research skills and demonstrated expertise in analysis and development of technical papers and reports as well as programmatic guidance related to violence against women and children, in particular sexual violence, gender and child protection. Published work an asset.
- Ability to work independently.
- Excellent analytical, communication, writing skills in English language.
Administrative issues
The consultant will use own equipment (computer, digital voice recorder etc.) to produce deliverables. Office space will be provided in ESARO and targeted COs of Burundi, Somalia and South Sudan as available and necessary.
Conditions
As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary”.
The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.
Reference documents
Mc Evoy, 2016, “Documentation of UNICEF-IOM Collaboration on the Safe Return and Reunification of Ethiopian Unaccompanied Migrant Children From Third Countries”
RMMS, Save the Children, 2016, Young and on the move: Children and youth in mixed migration flows within and from the Horn of Africa
RMMS, Mixed Migration Trends Q2 2016
UNICEF, “Neither Safe Nor Sound: Unaccompanied Children on the Coastline of the English Channel and the North Sea”
UNICEF, 2016, Uprooted; the growing crisis for refugee and migrant children
UNICEF, Office of Research Innocenti (website with resources on Children on the Move) https://www.unicef-irc.org/research-watch/Children-on-the-move/
Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
How to apply:
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.
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