Consultant for the Development of Child Protection Policy and Evaluation of CP Strategy-2014/5-2018/9

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Education and Opportunities.

Child Protection and Welfare Act 2011, states that it is the duty of State to formulate policies, which will among others, protect children from any form of discrimination and to take positive action to promote their rights; and -protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. UNICEF, in alignment with the Act, recognises that all children have equal rights to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence and that everyone has a responsibility to support the protection of children. Lesotho National Social Protection Strategy II 2021-2031 (NSPS), aims to strengthen child protection services and referral system to better support vulnerable children, introduce activities to prevent and respond to domestic and gender-based violence, and strengthen research and sensitisation regarding the protection of older persons. For child protection specific interventions and prior the development of NSPS II, government of Lesotho has implemented National Multisectoral Child Protection Strategy 2014/5- 2018/9 (NMCPS) aimed at providing a comprehensive coordinated system that prevents and responds to abuse, violence, exploitation, and neglect of children and protects children in contact with the law.

Although the country has policies such as Gender and Development and Learner Pregnancy Policy, children continue to experience unacceptable high rates of sexual and physical violence, with more than half of boys and almost one in three girls experiencing physical violence1. Further to that, COVID-19 has raised the profile of violence against women and children with reports2 indicating that COVID-19 presented unique challenges that increased child marriage as families and community structures broke down during the crisis, where 1 in 6 young women are believed to have been married before the age of 18.

The reports call for a continued need to create enabling policies for children. With the support of UNICEF, the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development (MoGYSACSD) is looking for a Consultant to develop a comprehensive national Child Protection Policy and provide technical support in evaluation of the NMCPS 2014/5-2018/9.

How can you make a difference?

Scope of work:

Lesotho Child Protection Policy is intended to set out approaches and procedures to safeguarding and promoting children’s rights and provide direction on how to address the pertinent issues and challenges confronting Basotho children on a day-to-day basis. Specifically:

• the policy needs to clarify to all stakeholders, the minimum requirements for child protection programme, including during emergency settings
• act as a national tool to promote transparency and accountability among stakeholders in child protection sector.
• It should also identify and provide strategic guidance on opportunities for improving their situation.

The purpose of this evaluation is to provide information about progress achieved towards outcomes and strategic approaches used by the government and key stakeholders, which can be used

• to inform policy advocacy work and the design, management, monitoring and implementation of its future programme.
• draw strategic lessons learned from the design and implementation of the programme and based on findings, identify lessons learned and provide practical recommendations for the next strategy.

Work Assignment Overview:

Tasks/Milestone****Deliverables/Outputs****Timeline (period/deadline)****Payment structure (% of the total fee)****a) Project Inception****Deliverable 1: Inception Report

Inception meeting between Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports, Arts, Culture and Social Development (MoGYSACSD) and the Consultant to agree on how to proceed with the formulation of the Lesotho Child Protection Policy and evaluation of the Strategy

Preparation and submission of the project’s Inception Report presenting a detailed methodology, a workplan, and a list of stakeholders to be contacted during the consultation process

14 days after start of contract30%b) Analysis of the Situation in the Child Protection Sector: Data collection at national and subnational levels****Deliverable 2: Situational Analysis Report

Solicitation of stakeholders’ inputs/views about the current situation in the child protection sector

Conduct a comprehensive desk review of documents relevant to the assignment, including research and study reports, review reports, policies, legislation, and strategies

Preparation and submission of the Situational Analysis Report consisting of an analysis of the current situation in the Child Protection Sector and of issues to be considered during the policy development and evaluation of the strategy

28th July 202330%c) Preparation of draft Evaluation Report and CP policy, including recommendations

Deliverable 3: Development of 1st draft of Child Protection Policy and Evaluation Report

Preparation and Submission of the First Draft of the Child Protection Policy and evaluation report including recommendations to UNICEF and MoGYSACSD.

25th August 202320%d) Policy Shaping and Finalization of evaluation report****Deliverable 4: Child Protection Policy and Evaluation Report: Final Drafts

Presentation of the advanced drafts and incorporation of stakeholder’s inputs

Submission of the final drafts for Policy and Evaluation Report to UNICEF and MoGYSACSD

08th September 2023

22nd September2023

20%

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social Sciences, particularly related to Child Protection, Human Rights, Public Policy, International Development studies, or any related field.
• Evidence of at least ten (10) years’ experience in guiding strategic planning processes and similar assignments carried out as required.
• Proven experience in policy and legislative drafting of the region especially Lesotho.
• Technical expertise of Child Protection sector, Sustainable Development Goals, especially those focused on socioeconomic upliftment of vulnerable groups
• Strong background and knowledge of the international, regional and Lesotho’s legislation and policies pertaining to child protection and children’s rights.
• Experience in conducting social research and analysis (Gender-Based Violence, Violence Against Children, Harmful cultural practices) is desirable.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills including interactive and interpersonal communication skills.
• Familiarity with UNICEF’s mandate and goals is an advantage.
• Proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit an online application through the Talent Management System (TMS) that consists as a minimum of the following:

• TMS Profile/ Curriculum Vitae
• Financial proposal that is all inclusive of all expenses related to the assignment

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

If you have not been contacted within 2 months of the closing date, please accept that your application was unsuccessful. Regret emails will be sent only to shortlisted/contacted candidates.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.