Consultant Team Lead: Evaluation of the Child Labour: Exploitation of Children in South Asia Programme (CLECSAP), UNICEF South Asia

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, a future

How can you make a difference?

Child labour is often defined as "work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development"1. Children with disabilities are "those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."2 It is estimated that 160 million children – 63 million girls and 97 million boys – were in child labour globally at the beginning of 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide with 11.2 per cent among all boys being in child labour compared to 7.8 per cent of all girls3. Over the same period, it is estimated that approximately 24 million children – 7.4 million girls and 16.2 million boys in the South Asia region, aged between 5-17 years, were in child labour, accounting for 5% of all children in the region, with more than 10 million children aged 5-11 years engaged in child labour and 1.3 million of them in hazardous work.

There are significant gender disparities between boys and girls with more boys than girls engaging in child labour. Approximately 7 million (6.8) girls and 15 million (15.1) boys in the 5 to 17 years age group are in child labour. The gender disparity is more pronounced in the 15–17-year age group where child labour prevalence is more than five times higher for boys compared to girls. However, the gender gap in child labour narrows significantly when household chores for more than 21 hours is taken into consideration – indicating that it is an issue which affects both girls and boys. This situation has been compounded by COVID-19, which has heightened the vulnerability of children to different forms of abuse and deprivation. It is estimated that COVID-19 affected approximately 600 million children6 in South Asia, further forcing children into child labour.

The objective of the evaluation is to respond to child labour in India and Pakistan, the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA), in partnership with the UNICEF India and Pakistan Country Offices (COs), is implementing the Child Labour: Exploitation of Children in South Asia Programme (CLECSAP). CLECSAP is a regional programme, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) of the University of Sussex and Innocenti the Office of Research (OoR) of UNICEF. The programme contributed to the following outcomes (i) Government and partners within and across countries support the generation and use of robust data and evidence to inform policy and programming, track progress, and document lessons on the economic exploitation of children/child labour, including children with disabilities and children on the move; (ii) Effective child protection structures and mechanisms are in place to prevent and respond to the economic exploitation of children/child labour, including CWD and children on the move and (iii) Community-based mechanisms are operational to prevent and respond to the economic exploitation of children/child labour, including children with disabilities and children on the move.

For detailed TOR, please refer to the attached document. Final CLECSAP Terms of Reference- Team Lead.docx

Note: This is a home-based consultancy. Please submit your applications with the financial proposals. The applications without the financial proposals will not be considered.

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

The key qualifications of the Team Lead include:

• Minimum of Master’s degree in social sciences and development related areas is required.
• At least ten years of professional experience in evaluations/strategic analytic review exercises, with evidence of understanding global standards, theories, models, and methods related to evaluations and research.
• Expertise in conducting similar or related strategic programme evaluations, including proven track record of evaluation of similar multi-stakeholder programmes supported by UN or UNICEF.
• Strong prior working knowledge of relevant concepts such as child rights, economic exploitation of children, child labor and children with disabilities will be preferred.
• Experience in interacting with and collecting relevant data from different level of stakeholders
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English required.
• Demonstrated teamwork skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Ability to deliver products on time
• Ability to work on multiple tasks under pressure
• Knowledge of UNICEF programming
• Familiarity the socio-economic, political, and institutional environment in South Asia

Additional requirements

• Development of attractive products to disseminate complex information via Infographics and other means
• Design and implementation of small-scale surveys and qualitative interview techniques
• Knowledge of the social, economic, and political context

Language Proficiency:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English required. Knowledge of local language is desired.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

Competencies:

• Experience in interacting with and collecting relevant data from different level of stakeholders
• Demonstrated teamwork skills
• Ability to deliver products on time
• Ability to work on multiple tasks under pressure

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.