UNICEF Zimbabwe is inviting applications for an individual consultant to objectively identify, analyze, and situate protective family/community endogenous practices to end violence against c

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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.

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UNICEF Zimbabwe is seeking to hire an innovative and enthusiastic international individual consultant to support the UNICEF Child Protection team to objectively identify, analyze, and situate protective family/community endogenous practices in pursuit to ending violence against children (VAC) within the broad Child Protection System in Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND

Zimbabwe has high prevalence of VAC. 64.1% of children have experienced some form of violent discipline.[1] The UNICEF Zimbabwe Situation Analysis Report (2021) notes that, ‘There are noteworthy disparities in the rate of violent discipline. The highest rate of violent discipline is in Masvingo (72.3%), but even in the region with the lowest rate (Matabeleland North), roughly 1 out of every 2 children experiences violent discipline. The same report further identifies that Children age 2-14 years with functional difficulties are much more likely to experience violent discipline (74.5%) than children who do not have functional difficulties (64 %). The Report concludes that the magnitude of r Gender Based Violence and VAC requires an epidemic-level response.

UNICEF, through technical and funding support to the government and Civil Society Organisations, has been supporting the child Protection System in Zimbabwe, including development and funding of the National Case management System (NCMS). The NCMS incorporates community care, in its design, through identification and training of community-based care cadres called the Community Childcare Workers (CCWS). The work of the CCWs is aligned to the work of Child Protection Committees (CPCs) whose constitution and mandate, at community level, is derived from local/traditional leadership. While the system has local actors (CCWs and CPCs) as pointed above, often these cadres drive an externally set agenda and use approaches determined from the top.

As part of VAC prevention UNICEF has supported VAC prevention through various and mostly imported and adapted models. The delivery of these programmes risk missing utilizing and maximizing on endogenous practices that are promotive of childcare and protection. This assignment will therefore promote a genuine” bottom-up” approach to influence delivery of contextually and culturally aligned VAC prevention programmes. The assignment will plug key gaps in most of the global south (including Zimbabwe) programmes. Canavera et al (2016) notes that, “child protection practices have been defined by the international community with rare consultation even in a cursory way; the inclusion of community perspectives is a particularly weak element of these efforts and a key gap impeding systems strengthening efforts”

ASSIGNMENTS:

The assignment seeks to objectively identify, analyze, and situate protective family/community endogenous practices in pursuit of to ending violence against children (VAC) within the broad Child Protection System in Zimbabwe.

Endogenous practices can be defined as “the attitudes, behaviour and actions that protect children, based on beliefs, knowledge and ways of doing things that have emerged from tradition or experience” (Child Frontiers, Mapping and Assessment of the Child Protection Systems in West and Central Africa, 2011) It is important to document and promote these protective practices in deviation from an inclination of exclusive focus on practices considered negative. While UNICEF has been providing funding and technical support in implementation of the INSPIRE framework, there is limited integration, promotion, and support to endogenous practices under the, “Norms and Values” pillar of the INSPIRE. Focus is on identification of “negative norms” targeted for change-without regard to identification of positive ones that can ground prevention work in people’s culture and practices. Inspite of this focus, “what remains clear, however, is that some community practices are strongly protective, and because these practices form the first line of protection for the many children, it is critical that child protection actors understand how they function and how they can be supported and bolstered” (Child Frontiers, 2011).

The Zimbabwe’s child protection system draws a lot from community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPM). CBCPM are, “a collection of people, often volunteers, who aim to ensure the protection and wellbeing of children in a village, urban neighborhood or other community. These groups operate at the grassroots (such as village) or district level, although they are often linked to groups at the national level” (Wessels- 2009). The Zimbabwe’s child protection system of Community Childcare Workers and Child Protection Committees are examples of CBCPM. CBCPM, “are a vital means of mobilising communities around children’s protection and well- being. Organised with care and in a contextually appropriate manner, they make it possible to identify, prevent and respond to significant child protection risk, mobilise communities around child protection issues and provide a base of local support and action that can be taken to scale through links with other community groups and with national child protection systems”, (Wessels- 2009). Often the inclination is to regard CBCPM, as endogenous protection practices. This has resulted in the National Case Management System to be regarded as a, hybrid of statutory, customary and community approaches (UNICEF, 2018 Zimbabwe Case Study Report). “A salient characteristic of most such groups, therefore, has been that they have received support from outside the community and have involved a structure of some sort that aims to help protect children. As such, though local in their composition, the groups are not themselves initiated at local level”. The assignment therefore seeks to plug this gap through identification of endogenous practices that cand advance the child protection agenda.

The following are the key tasks to be carried out:

  1. Inception Report- including workplan, methodology and data collection tools.
  2. Draft Report and Validation workshop
  3. Final Report and pager on specific programme delivery recommendations on integration of endogenous practices in VAC prevention.

    Specifically, the assignment will include:

  4. Identifying actors recognized by their community and children as having a protective role (fathers, aunts/ others, landlords, "big sisters", people from the same area, foster parents, traditional leaders);

  5. Identify the type of protection practices associated with these various actors (what they do that is perceived by children, the family and the community as serving to protect children)
  6. Assess the scope and limitations of these practices based on various objective criteria and the legal framework governing the field of child protection in Zimbabwe
  7. Prepare and present a draft report on endogenous factors promotive of VAC/GBV prevention.
  8. Finalise the Report including a clear section on how the practices can be promoted and integrated within the delivery of programmes (Child protection system and the NCMS).

Major tasks and deliverables:

Tasks/Milestone:****Deliverables/Outputs:****TimelineTOR interpretation and proposed methodology.Inception Report- including workplan, methodology and data collection tools10 daysDraft reportField work (data collection), Draft Report and Validation workshop65 daysFinal reportFinal Report and pager on specific programme delivery recommendations on integration of endogenous practices in VAC prevention.15 daysPayment:

Payment will be based on satisfactory deliverables as follows:

-Inception Report including workplan, methodology and data collection tools: 15%

-Draft Report and validation workshop: 60%

-Final Report and pager on specific programme delivery recommendations on integration of endogenous practices in VAC prevention: 25%

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

Education:

  • Master’s Degree in Social Sciences- Anthropology, Sociology, Social Work
  • At least 5 years experience in community work, with a focus on research, using athropological approaches mostly in the global south.
  • Excellent research, programme design and review in the areas of prevention of VAC, GBV and parenting or family/community orientated work.
  • Past work experience related to integration of endogenous practices to programming will be an added advantage.
  • Excellent writing and analytical skills
  • Good understanding of Human Rights and Child Rights including excellent knowledge of the UNCRC and its application.
  • Experience of working with youth and children with disabilities.

Desirable:

  • Proof of past written or published work related to indegenous knowledge systems and how they can be harnessed with programme delivery and aligned to the Human Rights and Child Rights discourse.
  • Past work experience with any United Nations Agency in Zimbabwe.

    If interested and available to undertake the individual consultancy, please submit your application online and attach the required documents including the technical proposal and an all-inclusive financial proposal incorporating both the international and an approximate 35 days for field (local) travel.

    For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org