SHORT TERM INTERNATIONAL INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANCY: Conducting a Situation Analysis of Children and Adolescents in Türkiye

Consultant Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

Contract

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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.

UNICEF globally considers the Situation Analysis (SitAn) of children’s rights and well-being in a country as a flagship product for informing policy dialogue, partnering and interventions to improve children’s lives. The Situation Analysis (the SitAn) is an assessment and analysis of the country situation, with respect to children's rights and critical issues affecting their realisation. The SitAn is a crucial part of the child rights monitoring (CRM) framework and represents a key UNICEF’s programmatic output that helps focus on knowledge gaps related to inequities and child deprivations. The SitAn reflects UNICEF’s role to urge all levels of government and key stakeholders to use the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a guiding mechanism in policy making and legislation to:

• Develop a comprehensive national agenda.
• Develop permanent bodies or mechanisms to promote coordination, monitoring and evaluation of activities throughout all sectors of government.
• Ensure that all legislation is fully compatible with the Convention and, if applicable the Optional Protocols, by incorporating the provisions into domestic law or ensuring that they take precedence in cases of conflict with national legislation.
• Make children visible in policy development processes throughout government by introducing child impact assessments.
• Analyse government spending to determine the portion of public funds spent on children and to ensure that these resources are being used effectively.
• Ensure that sufficient data are collected and used to improve the situation of all children in each jurisdiction.
• Raise awareness and disseminate information on the Convention and the Optional Protocols by providing training to all those involved in government policymaking and working with or for children.
• Involve civil society – including children themselves – in the process of implementing and raising awareness of child rights.

The New Country Programme Document (CPD) is transitioning into a more agile phase where it is necessary to deepen the link between humanitarian and development nexus to fulfil the needs of the most vulnerable populations (Migrants, Refuges, disability, Roman population etc).

The latest UNICEF Türkiye SitAn is from 2019, and since then, changes in socio-economic and political contexts have occurred. Despite overall positive trends, disparities in child development persist, worsened by the February 6th, 2023 earthquakes, affecting 11 provinces, with significant human and economic impact. Child population in the affected areas is estimated to be 5.6 million (above %36), which is significantly higher than the Türkiye average of % 26.5.

*Please see the attached ToR for further information.

How can you make a difference?

The main purpose of this assignment is to conduct a human-rights based and equity-focused Situation Analysis of children and adolescents with respect to the realisation of children’s and adolescents’ rights. The Analysis should be objective and verifiable and is expected to be used by all partners and stakeholders in the country in addressing key challenges preventing children and adolescents, especially the most disadvantaged, from enjoying their rights ensured in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other international obligations of the country.

The SitAn report aims to identify strategic priorities, reduce disparities, and address vulnerabilities in the country. It contributes to shaping the national development agenda and accelerating the achievement of development goals for children and adolescents, including SDGs.

The SitAn is expected to present robust evidence and highlight opportunities for socially inclusive development. It should unpack and examine the bottlenecks to realisation of child rights, as well as the interrelated roles of duty-bearer institutions. Besides presenting an analysis of why inequities exist, it should also present contextualised recommendations and strategies on what could be done by key stakeholders to attain/ sustain inclusive social development that guarantees equal inclusion and participation of all groups of children and adolescents. The analysis should follow youth-led participatory action which will address different issues that affects them in diverse contexts and setting. By having a strong equity focus, the SitAn should shed light on the situation of children and young people who are most deprived, left invisible or uncounted for.

The main objectives of a rights- based, equity focused SitAn in Türkiye are the following:

• Develop a deep understanding of the situation of children and adolescents (including relevant groups of young people in particularly vulnerable situations) by analysing the policies and strategies, social and economic trends affecting them (data disaggregated by age, gender, urban/rural, ethnicity, socio-economic status and other relevant factors);
• Identify and analyse the barriers and bottlenecks that prevent children and especially the most disadvantaged children and families from benefiting from social services across sectors and enjoying their rights; draft strategies and recommendations on how the bottlenecks and barriers can be removed;
• Provide national government partners with comprehensive equity-sensitive and evidence-based analysis on children and adolescents for result-based decision-making;
• Provide essential information to non-government partners (NGOs, community-based organisations, civil society, media and business sector) to be used in their planning and interventions to address the most urgent issues affecting children and adolescents;
• Contribute to the (re)formulation of key national strategies so that the priorities for the most disadvantaged children and adolescents are integrated into the socio-economic development agenda;
• Identify critical data gaps and contribute to the generation of evidence that can improve the monitoring of the rights of children and adolescents, especially the most vulnerable groups;
• Assess the current or potential presence of emergency risks (disaster risks and other potential shocks); the likelihood of their occurrence, the underlying vulnerabilities and the capacities and coping mechanisms of families, communities and local and national institutions;
• Analyse to what extent there is an enabling environment for the realisation of the rights of all children and adolescents, and analyse how evidence-based interventions and services needed to address deprivations are prioritised in national policies, laws, strategies, plans and budgets;
• Capture new or emerging area of concerns regarding children and adolescents, such as environmental issues affecting them, mental health issues etc.;
• Analyse the role/impact of business sector on child and adolescents’ rights fulfilment as well as public financial management.
• Identify issues and possible solutions about the lives and priorities of adolescents through youth-led participatory action to advocate for changes based on evidence and improve their well-being.

The process of developing the Situation Analysis anticipates engagement with the government and key stakeholders, including children and young people. It serves as an opportunity to promote meaningful dialogue between the main child rights actors in the country on children’s and adolescents’ issues.

No.

Key Tasks

Deliverables

Timeline

Payment

1

Inception report based on the TOR.

Develop and submit an inception report summarizing key methodologies and timeframe for:

• Reviewing the UNICEF’s updated Situation Analysis Guideline.
• Collecting and mapping available data and information, publications on social economic, as well as children and women.
• Development of a final conceptual framework for the SitAn and specific tools for data collection.
• Preparing a SitAn inception report which summarizes:
  • methodology.
  • conceptual and analysis framework.
  • availability of data sources, clustered by thematic focus areas.
  • information gap analysis.
  • Outline of the Report, and
  • schedule of activities and timeline

15 working days

20% of the total consultancy fee First instalment: Upon UNICEF’s acceptance of submitted Inception report

2

Desk review: Data collection including Consultation and dialogue with stakeholders

Draft Report

• Desk review and in-depth analysis of existing evidence regarding the situation of children and adolescents in Türkiye (desk review based on relevant source documents (Annex C) to produce draft overview of socioeconomic and political context)
• Undertake remote interviews with country office staff on general changes in trends, and situation in the programming environment.

• Conduct interviews, focus groups and consultations as per agreed plan of data collection, Analysis of available data/information

• Prepare and submit first draft of the SitAn report for review by UNICEF. Including the adolescent participation session

• Based on issues identified in the analysis - undertake a component analysis related to social cohesion and by thematic area (Child Protection (MHPSS, GBV,…), Education (ECE), WASH, Social Policy ( Child labour, PF4C, child poverty…), Early Childhood Development, and cross-sectoral issues like gender, adolescent skills, participation/engagement, Social Behavioral Change)
• Produce second draft of the SitAn report integrating input/comments on the first draft

25 working days (data collection)

15 working days (draft report)

40% (Second instalment: Upon satisfactory delivery of the draft SitAn reports (full and annexes report)

3

Finalization of SitAn Report

• Review the report with comments from validation workshop and
• Submit the final SitAn Report and other products
• Validate the SitAn findings through participatory causality analysis, role pattern analysis and capacity gap analysis with UNICEF and relevant stakeholders (workshop to validate)
• Final SitAn Report (not more than 80 pages excluding Annexes)
• Final ppt presentation (40 pages maximum)
• A Brief Summary document for policy makers (within 5 pages)
• Youth friendly infographics based on the adolescent dialogue

15 working days

40% (Third instalments: Upon satisfactory acceptance of the final SitAn Reports (full and annexes, including SOCR) and final PPT and infographics

Total Working days

70 working days

* All deliverables as per the scope of work must be satisfactorily completed and accepted by UNICEF TCO to facilitate payment. Delivery estimated working days are tentative.

Remark:

The Consultant will work 70 days for the assignment, until 31 December 2024 to allow for final feedback and adjustments including the update of the SITAN with the expected DHS 2024. Consultant will be required to incorporate the key results and findings of the 2023-2024 Demography and Health Survey (DHS) into the SitAn final report as soon the final DHS report and data is publicly available.

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

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in conducting equity-focussed research, socio-economic and human rights-based analysis, and technical assistance to governments and organizations, in the areas of the human rights-based approach to programming (HRBAP), an understanding of the CRC, CEDAW and other relevant frameworks, ability to conduct equity-focused research and analysis.
• Advanced degree in the social science (sociology, economics, anthropology, development Studies, etc.) or related fields relevant to the assignment
• Experience with data collection and the ethics of evidence generation.
• Proven ability in coordination of research, dialogue, and synthesis of complex information in strategic reports.
• Knowledge and experience in conducting similar analysis (e.g. equity focussed situation analysis), and breadth of knowledge on children and women’s issues, methodologies and mixed method approaches
• Demonstrated experience with research and participatory methods.
• Strong writing and analytical skills for quality report writing (a sample of recent analytical report will be requested).
• Excellent analytical, communication and drafting writing skills in English
• Strong coordination skills and ability to adhere to deadlines.
• Knowledge of the UN system, UN programming and UNICEF emergency responses, including of its corporate emergency procedures is an asset
• Proven experience managing a team of consultant/s.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective relationships with national partners.

Criteria for technical evaluation

Max points

Having the required academic and language qualifications as indicated above

Max. points: 15

Having at least 10 years of proven experience conducting equity-focused research, socio-economic and human rights-based analysis, and technical assistance to governments and organizations, in the areas of the human rights-based approach to programming (HRBAP), an understanding of the CRC, CEDAW and other relevant frameworks, ability to conduct equity-focused research and analysis.

Max. Points: 25

Having familiarity with human rights frameworks, child rights and RBM

Max. Points: 10

Having UN experience

Max. Points: 10

Proven ability in coordination of research, dialogue, and synthesis of complex information in strategic reports as well as analytical, communication and drafting writing skills in English

Max. Points: 10

Maximum total points

Max points: 70

Award criteria: Cumulative Analysis.

The evaluation and award criteria used for this ToR are cumulative analysis evaluations (point system with weight attribution). The weighting ratio between the technical and financial proposals will be 70:30. The respective importance between technical and financial scores will be weighted as 70% and 30%.

An offer is considered technically acceptable (and therefore eligible for opening of financial offers) when it obtains 49 Points out of 70 during the technical evaluation. The final selection of the consultant/expert will be based on a combination of the technical and financial proposals with a weighting of 70% for the technical proposal and 30% for the financial proposal. In the case of cumulative analysis, the proposals scoring below 70% of the available technical points will be considered non-compliant and will be rejected and not further considered (e.g., in the case of 70:30, the passing score is 49 points out of 70).

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.

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Added 5 months ago - Updated 4 months ago - Source: unicef.org