Evaluation team leader - international 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: 8 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. The 2019 country progress report issued by the European Commission, confirmed that in Albania significant structural gaps in juvenile justice remain, and fulfilling the regulatory framework would require a shift in the administrative culture, considerable capacity building, specific adapted infrastructure, the establishment of community services, and inter-disciplinary and interinstitutional coordination at the central and local level. The justice system operates in a context of social inequality and lack of assessment of social factors and circumstances. 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. Evaluation purpose: The evaluation is summative, as UNICEF’s support to the interventions have concluded. However, the evaluation is formative, considering its forward-looking perspective to inform future work. The evaluation purpose is two-fold in line with UNEG evaluations; although the learning component is the strongest considering the rationale described above: - Accountability: Independently demonstrate to government/target populations/donors the results of the intervention - Learning: To understand how and why the approach works, and in what conditions so that it can be adapted and understand other measure can be taken for intervention’s integration in the national systems for its future (potential) scale up.

Based on the overall purpose, the three primary objectives of the evaluation include: 1. Assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and (to some extend) impact and sustainability of the intervention to understand what worked and why; 2. Assess the extent to which the implementation of the intervention addresses child rights and Leave No-one Behind (gender and other excluded and marginalized groups). 3. Document the lessons on the conditions required for the intervention to yield positive intended results given current and future contexts; 4. Provide recommendations for improving/consolidating/adapting the intervention, and advising on potential pathways (areas of work) for its integration in the national systems, aiming its scale up in the future.

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. Please click here to view 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). Distribution of tasks/responsibilities is clarified at the ToR for the Evaluation. It is expected that the team leader will be overall responsible for guiding the work of the national consultant. At any time during the process, the UNICEF evaluation manager should be consulted and know the division of work between the team leader and the national consultant. The team leader is expected to have primarily the evaluation expertise, whilst the national expert to have the J4C expertise. This TOR refers to the responsibilities, deliverables and timelines of work for the international consultant that will act as the team leader for the evaluation. The team leader will be responsible for leading the evaluation, designing the evaluation methodology, developing tools, data collection, analysing data, conducting debriefing sessions, drafting the inception and the final reports with recommendations, guiding the national expert, and presenting the final report.

Specific tasks of the Team Leader will include but may not be limited to: - Complete the desk review of existing information on the context including national policies and priorities and UNICEF’s work and all relevant programme documents and reports, previous studies, research and evaluations. - Familiarize and adhere to all the guiding UNICEF documents for the conduct of quality evaluation - In agreement with UNICEF evaluation manager, divide the roles and responsibilities with the national expert during the entire evaluation process - Lead the process for the stakeholder analysis developed during the desk review and IM. - Lead the work for the preparation of the Inception Report (IR), with completed evaluation matrix. - Develop and provide detailed methodological guidance for the national expert with regards to the data collection tool development and define the overall direction for data analysis and quality assurance. - Conduct interviews with a range of key stakeholders and informants as per the inception report. - Lead the conduct of analyses and report writing. - Submit the IR, the draft and final evaluation reports, and develop and deliver a power point presentation on the IR, the main findings and recommendations emerging from the evaluation once the evaluation report has been finally approved. - Manage the evaluation work plan, respecting deadlines for specific activities and deliverables. - 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) - In agreement with UNICEF evaluation manager, provide tasks to the national experts for preparation of the contribution/ inputs to the inception report. - Prepare 1st draft inception report that will be subject to a review undertaken by UNICEF team. - Incorporate the comments provided and prepare a 2nd Report, alongside a response matrix detailing how comments have been addressed. The 2nd draft inception report will undergo external quality assurance (company hired by UNICEF), ethical review – only if data collection involves vulnerable groups, sensitive subjects and/or use of confidential data, be reviewed by the evaluation reference group and again reviewed by UNICEF team. - Prepare the mature inception report, coupled with a response matrix.

For further reference to this milestone, the proposed outline and the content of the IR refer to TOR for the Evaluation. The structure of the Inception Report will be agreed between UNICEF Albania and Evaluation team, based specificities of this evaluation and the checklist that will be used by the external quality review company for the IR, and if required, the checklist for ethical review. The IR will be numbered in paragraphs (for ease of receiving feedback) and be no longer than 30 pages excluding annexes.

Deliverable 1 - Drafts and Finalized Inception Reports (IR), and matrixes for addressing comments Considering the described review process, 3 Drafts of the IR are expected. If the 2nd draft report does not pass UNICEF’s external quality assurance with a satisfactory rating, another draft report will be submitted for quality assurance, until satisfactory level of the report quality is achieved. The approval of the IR by UNICEF Representative marks the completion of the Inception Phase.

Timeline – February - March 2023 (to include travel 3 working days in the country)

2.1 Data collection - Finalize the three-week data collection agenda/plan dividing roles between international consultant and national expert. - Provide detailed methodological guidance for the national expert with regards to the data collection tools and process. - Conduct interviews with key stakeholders and informants as per the inception report. The national expert will carry most of the weight in this process, whilst the international consultant will conduct interviews with strategic stakeholders. - Following the review of all transcripts of data collected, define preliminary observations to UNICEF and relevant colleagues

Deliverable 2 - Preliminary observations from data collection mission

Timeline – April - May 2023 (to include travel 5 working days in the country)

3.1 Lead the data analysis and drafting of the report For further reference to this milestone, refer to the TOR for the Evaluation - Prepare 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 a 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 mature draft report, coupled with a response matrix.

3.2 Finalization of the Evaluation Report - Once a mature draft report is ready, present and discuss with UNICEF and relevant stakeholders the evaluation findings and draft recommendations. - Prepare the final Report. Conclusions, lessons learned, and recommendations should clearly identify the findings to which they are linked with and be linked with the evaluation purpose.

Recommendations should target UNICEF Albania and other stakeholders as deemed relevant. Clear prioritization and/or classification of recommendations should be done to support use. The amount of recommendation should be balanced to the purpose of the evaluation and feasibility of their implementation. The report should comply with UNICEF-Adapted UNEG Evaluation Reports Standards, UNICEF stylebook 2022 and the quality assurance templates (to be shared with the evaluation team at the onset of the evaluation process).

3.3 Presentation of the Finalized Report - Prepare presentation as per template agreed with UNICEF - Present to stakeholder in a 2 hours meeting

Deliverable 3 - Drafts and finalized evaluation Report, with matrixes for addressing comments Considering the review process 4 versions of the IR are expected until finalized Report. If the draft report does not pass UNICEF’s external quality assurance with a satisfactory rating, another draft report will be submitted for quality assurance, until satisfactory level of the report quality is achieved. UNICEF keeps the right for final Report’s editing and design of the Report. Timeline – June – September 2023

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… - An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Law, social science, political science and humanities research and/or evaluation-related disciplines - At least 12 years’ of documented experience in conducting mixed-methods implementation of evaluations and research - Preferably in the field of justice for children/child protection; and/or multi-sectoral work and systems approaches. - Knowledge of evaluating or implementing bringing pilot projects to scale. - Experience in managing a multi-disciplinary team. - Ability to produce content for high standard reports in English. - Presentation and communication skills. - Preferably familiarity with UNICEF and the UN system. - Preferably, experience in the Southeast European region or Albania.

What to submit - 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). - 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 the evaluation - A concept note (not longer than 5 pages) providing the consultant’s proposed approach/methodology and plan for conducting the consultancy, including the confirmation on the working days for each task/deliverable. In case of proposing different working days from the estimates in the TOR, a rationale should be provided. - Financial proposal in USD (inclusive of all taxes). Financial Proposal to be submitted as a total (lump sum), having the breakdown per each task / deliverable, providing for 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. Note that translation services for the international consultant during Inception mission and data collection (interviews) will be provided by UNICEF Albania

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 here UNICEF Values

Remarks: - Completion of the UN/UNICEF mandatory trainings is obligatory upon commencement of the contract. - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. - 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. - UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. - All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future. - The Individual contractor or Consultant will perform his/her duties in line with UNICEF standards and procedures. - 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.