Evaluation national consultant for the inter- sectoral intervention for case management of justice for children in Albania

Contract

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Type of contract: Consultant Duration: 9 months starting February 2023 Workplace: Home based with two travels to Tirana, Albania

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 fair chance https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=E1xkXZs0cAQ

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: Over 2,000 children interact with the criminal justice system every year as victims and witnesses in Albania. In the past 5 years, several laws have been adopted and amended, strengthening the child rights framework in Albania. The first National Justice for Children Strategy and Action Plan 2018-21 was adopted. In 2022, implementation of the strategy was assessed, and the next Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2026 is drafted and consulted with the public. However, the justice system is not yet friendly to and accessible by all children. It has been in this context, that in close collaboration with Ministry of Justice, other subordinate institutions and public agencies/authorities operating at the local level, UNICEF designed an intervention aiming to provide support services and a coordinated inter-agency (sectorial/institutional) case management approach to children in contact/conflict with the law (CCCL). Through this intervention, UNICEF Albania intended to address the existing and most pressuring bottleneck, that of the disconnect between the improved legislative framework in place and the absence of an inter-institutional collaborative practice to guarantee quality coverage of the needs of CCCL at local level. The intervention aimed to provide a practical case on how could, the new feature of inter-agency (sectorial) collaboration integrated in the Justice for Children Code, be translated in practice at municipal level, to support the case management for CCCL. In 2019, UNICEF initiated the implementation of the inter-agency (sectoral) intervention for case management for CCCL in Berat and Gjirokaster. In 2021, the support was extended to the districts/municipalities of Shkoder and Puka. Evaluation Rationale: UNICEF in Albania intends to commence the evaluation of the inter- agency (sectoral) intervention for case management of justice for children is Berat, Gjirokastra, Shkodra and Puka, implemented during 2019-2022 (hereafter, intervention). This evaluation is part of the UNICEF Country Programme Document, 2022-2026, Costed Evaluation Plan. The intervention is a flagship component of the justice for children output of the UNICEF programme, and included at the National Agenda for Children 2022-2026, and the drafted National Justice for Children Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2026. By interrogating progress made so far, this evaluation will be instrumental to helping the country office and government to determine the future approach to this area of work given UNICEF country programme priorities, defined results, and resources. In particular, the evaluation will examine the factors and conditions that have enabled/influenced the progress of the intervention to date, and the necessary measures to be taken for intervention’s adaptation, aiming its integration in the national systems, and ultimately its future scale up. While the evaluation will not be testing UNICEF’s Europe and Central Asia regional office modelling approach, it is important that the framework guides the conceptual thinking and informs the recommendations emerging from this evaluation.

The proposed approach for this evaluation is quasi-experimental, and theory based. The evaluation will apply mostly qualitative techniques. The detailed methodology for the evaluation will be fully designed by the evaluation team as part of the inception phase (report). A detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) for this Evaluation is published at UNICEF Albania website, which provides the step-to-step guidance for the exercise (https://www.unicef.org/albania/reports/j4c-evaluation-tor).) Deriving from the ToR for the Evaluation, there are two separate consultancy ToRs, one for the team leader of the evaluation – international consultant and the national (local) expert/consultant. This ToR stands for the evaluation team leader – international consultant for the evaluation of the inter- sectoral intervention for case management of justice for children in Albania.

Scope of Work: The undertaking of the Evaluation for the inter- sectoral intervention for case management of justice for children in Albania is planned to be conducted by a team of 2 consultants – the team leader (international consultant), and the national expert (local consultant). Each of them will have a direct contract with UNICEF Albania (separate). The team leader is expected to have primarily the evaluation expertise, whilst the national expert to have the J4C expertise. Distribution of tasks/responsibilities is clarified at the ToR for the Evaluation.

This TOR refers to the responsibilities, deliverables and timelines of work for the national expert.

The national expert will support the international consultant (team leader) in all the milestones of the process, including the support in designing the evaluation methodology, data collection, analysing data, drafting the inception and the final report with recommendations. Specific tasks of the national expert will include, but may not be limited to: - Review all relevant documentation related to the programme; - Support the process for the stakeholder analysis developed during the desk review/inception stage; - Contribute to the preparation of the Inception Report (IR). Tasks to be assigned by the Team leader and agreed with the UNICEF evaluation manager; - Conduct interviews with a range of key stakeholders and informants as per the inception report, in 5-6 municipalities (4 targeted municipalities and 2 additional control ones). - Prepare transcripts for the interviews/focus group discussions in English. - Contribute to the drafting of the final report, with tasks assigned by the team leader, in agreement with the UNICEF evaluation manager; - Maintain a high level of communication with the national expert and UNICEF staff involved in management of the evaluation. - The consultant is expected to comply with all the UNICEF procedures for the conduct of evaluation. - The consultant must demonstrate personal and professional integrity during the whole process of the evaluation; must respect the right of institutions and individuals to provide information in confidence and ensure that sensitive data cannot be traced to its source. Especially, the consultant must be sensitive to and address issues of protection, discrimination and gender inequality. The inception report and evaluation report will undergo several layers of review, until finalized and approved by UNICEF Albania Representative. The manager for this evaluation is the Child Rights Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at UNICEF Albania, who will work very closely with the Justice for Children Specialist. Monthly calls will be scheduled to discuss on the progress of work and any issues raised during the undertaking of the evaluation.

Work Assignment Overview

Task(s) / Milestone(s)

1.1 Desk Review - Complete the desk review of existing information on the country context, including national and subnational policies and priorities, all relevant programme related documents and reports, previous studies, research and evaluations. - Familiarize with all the guiding UNICEF documents for the conduct of quality evaluation. Preliminary list of documents is included at the TOR for the Evaluation.

1.2 Debriefing with UNICEF - Engage in 2 virtual discussions with UNICEF team and the national expert, covering, but not limited to: a) evaluation process, with its key milestones and deliverables b) roles and responsibilities among stakeholders for the evaluation management c) quality and ethical assurance steps, tools and templates for the evaluation deliverables d) list of materials for desk review e) timing and agenda for the inception mission.

1.3 Conduct the inception mission (IM) in the country - Once the initial desk review is completed, participate in the inception mission The purpose of the IM is to interact face-to-face with the UNICEF team on the evaluation the process and methodology; more specifically, to work on: a) refining the constructed TOC, including the narrative for causal relationship between activities, outputs and outcomes, risks and assumptions; b) completing the stakeholder analysis, including visualization of the interconnect; c) discussing the evaluation matrix, refining (if needed) the evaluation questions and developing the sub-questions; d) methodology – identification of control municipality(ies), agreement on the criteria of inclusion.

1.4 Lead the drafting and finalization of the inception report (IR) - As agreed with the international consultant and UNICEF manager, prepare contribution (of at least 10 pages) for the IR. The IR will be subject to quality assurance performed by the UNICEF team, a review conducted by the Evaluation reference group, an ethical review – if data collection involves vulnerable groups, sensitive subjects and/or use of confidential data – and, finally, an external quality assurance check that requires a satisfactory rating for the data collection phase to proceed. The approval of the IR by UNICEF Representative marks the completion of the Inception Phase. Considering the review process at least 3 Drafts of the IR are expected (subject to receiving satisfactory rating for the 2nd Draft). For further reference to this milestone, the proposed outline and the content of the IR refer to TOR for the Evaluation.

Deliverable 1 - Contribution to the inception Report Timeline – February 2023

2.1 Data collection - Conduct interviews with a range of key stakeholders and informants as per the inception report, in 6 municipalities (4 targeted municipalities and 2 additional control ones). This implies approx. 18 days within the country travel. - Prepare transcripts for the interviews/focus group discussions in English.

Deliverable 2 - Transcripts in English of all interviews/focus group discussions Timeline – April - May 2023

3.1 Contribute to the drafting of the report For further reference to this milestone, refer to the TOR for the Evaluation - As agreed with the international consultant and UNICEF manager, prepare contribution (of at least 10 pages) to the 1st draft evaluation report that will be subject to a review undertaken by UNICEF team. - Following the first review of the draft report, incorporate the comments provided and prepare contribution for the second report, alongside a response matrix detailing how comments were addressed. The second draft will be shared with for external quality assurance, evaluation reference group and be also reviewed by UNICEF team. - Prepare contribution to the mature draft report, coupled with a response matrix. - Organize and participate in the meeting to present and discuss with UNICEF and relevant stakeholders for the draft evaluation findings and recommendations.

3.2 Presentation to stakeholders of final Report - Contribute to the preparation of the presentation as per template agreed with UNICEF - Take part in the presentation to stakeholder in a 2 hour meeting

Deliverable 3 - Contribution to the Evaluation Report Timeline – June – September 2023

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required: An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in area of Law, social science, and related disciplines At least 10 years of documented experience in justice for children programmatic area; Experience and knowledge of inter-agency work and case management for vulnerable individuals; Experience in primary data collection, including with vulnerable individuals and children; Preferably previous experience in evaluation exercises; Ability to produce content for high standard Reports in English; Preferably familiarity with UNICEF and the UN system; Communication and presentation skills; Strong ethical awareness.

What to submit 1. Previous work conducted in this area of expertise including links, samples of work (the 2-3 most recent, and for which evaluation has played the leading role, and/or attribution of the consultant can be identified). 2. Cover letter to confirm the ability to perform the tasks, confirm qualifications, relevant for the TOR, and confirm that there are no potential or direct conflict of interest in the conduct of this evaluation. 3. A concept paper (not longer than 3 pages) providing the plan for conducting this consultancy, identifying the tasks / deliverables and the confirmation on the working days for each deliverable. In case of proposing different working days from the estimates in the TOR, a rationale should be provided. 4. Financial proposal in Albanian Leke (inclusive of all taxes). Financial Proposal to be submitted as a total (lump sum), detailing the breakdown per each task / deliverable, identifying daily working fee, administrative and travel costs. The travel related costs should be part of the amount for the respective deliverable for which travel is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. To view our competency framework, please visit 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.