International Consultant to conduct an independent evaluation of the Justice for Children with more focus on the Family and Child Protection Units National Programme during the period 2006-2016 for 5 months, duty station Khartoum

International Consultant to conduct an independent evaluation of the Justice for Children with more focus on the Family and Child Protection Units National Programme during the period 2006-2016

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For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

BACKGROUND

In 2006, UNICEF had gradually started working on Justice for Children to prevent and respond to the sexual and physical violence against children in the context of poverty, conflicts and displacement. In recognition of lack of specialized protection system, UNICEF advocated and supported several initiatives for legal reform and child protection system strengthening aiming at:

• Develop legal instrument that in alignment with international standard
• Establish specialized police units that able to apply child and gender sensitive procedures and ensure linkages continuum of care and protection including reintegration.
• Ensure that staff in the specialized units are trained to deal with children in contact with law.
• Provide multiple services in one place, including psycho-social support, social work services, legal aid and forensic investigation
• Secure proper investigation of cases involving children as victims and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and held accountable for their crimes
• Strengthen the legal system to ensure due process that are in line with the UN justice for children common approach
• Raise awareness among local communities about sexual and gender-based violence, the role of and services provided by the specialized units, and encourage communities to report to the system 

In 2007, the first Family and Child Protection Unit (FCPU) was established in Khartoum State as pilot project implemented jointly by Sudan Police Forces and UNICEF. UNICEF supported capacity and institutional strengthening, development to of the child act to govern the implementation of the justice of children, establishment of helpline and establishment of the National Mechanism to oversee the implementation of the Khartoum FCPU and initiate the process in the other states. The programme also been supported by community out-reach interventions to sensitize, children, families and communities on protection from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation Under the leadership of the Commander General of Sudan’s Police Force the Minister of Interior had committed to scale the FCPU from Khartoum to other states. Gradually, the number of FCPU increased from 1 to 18 at all capitals of the states and in 43 localities across Sudan. The Family and Child Protection Units were designed to provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ of professional services to children who survived and or witnessed crimes or are accused of having committed an offense In 2012, a new Ministerial Decree to re-establish the National Mechanism to scale up and coordinate the FCPUs in all Sudan. The enactment of the Child Act (2010) and the lesson learnt and best practices of Khartoum FCPU had encouraged the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support the Government of Sudan (GoS) to strengthen the existing mechanism to build national and states mechanisms including FCPUs and other justice mechanism to enforce the Child Act (2010) articles which are guided by international and regional standards ratified by Sudan.

Despite the significant progress on scaling up and increasing coverage of child protection services through the FCPUs, child court and child prosecution and the community- based outreach and strengthening the child protection through the adoption of the Child and regulations, the SOPs for FCPU professionals, there are still challenges hinder the impact on children:

• The physical scale up and increase coverage of the FCPUs undermined the quality of services that are provided due to limited financial resources and capacities due to turn- over of staff.
• Remote localities and areas of displacement and conflict have limited accessibility to FCPUs and justice services.
• The implementation of diversion and alternative measures to detention and the community outreach are still scarcely used.
• The sensitivity of addressing sexual and gender- based violence against boys and girls and the weak implementation of Child Act 2010 and enforcement of the Criminal Act 1991 instead, which is not in line with Child Act 2010

In recognition of the importance of the FCPUs as a major pillar of Justice for Children in Sudan, the government namely the National Mechanism for FCPUs and the National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW) have requested UNICEF to support an independent evaluation to take a stock of the performance of the system in the last 10 years given the fact that there was not any formal and independent assessment has been done for the last decade. At the same time, UNICEF received also requests from donors who are contributed to support the Justice for Children including the FCPUs to initiate the process to assess progress and the impact of the programme on children in contact with the law including victims, witnesses, and alleged offenders. UNICEF, as part of its preparation of the development of the new country programme, has planned to conduct in-dependent evaluation of its contribution to Justice for Children aiming at assessing and reinforcing the impact of UNICEF’s work on the most vulnerable children and ensure that the recommendation of the evaluation will be utilized to inform the new child protection programme direction.

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this joint evaluation is to assess the extent to which Justice for children system reforms in Sudan during the period 2006-2016 have contributed to (a) protection of children in contact with law as victims, witnesses and alleged offenders (b) reducing deprivation of liberty for children in conflict with the law, (c) increasing the use of diversion from the judicial process. d) impact of the Family and Child Protection Units National programme on the national policy revision and development ;e) sustainability of services for children in contact with the law ( budgetary implication )These five results are necessary in ensuring the adequate response , services and child’s reintegration into the community. In addition, Sudan is part of the regional initiative on justice for children (RLA) and the evaluation will generate evident lessons learnt, best practices and recommendations that contribute strengthening child protection systems in the region.

The evaluation review will UNICEF’s support to system level changes and assesses the extent to which this support contributed to the FIVE above-mentioned results. This evaluation aims to demonstrate how reduction of equity gaps and impact results were made possible through changes in the national and local systems and document UNICEF’s contribution to such changes. The evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations will be used by Government, Donors, UN agencies/UNICEF, CSOs, State Authorities and Communities to enhance the justice for children system in general and child friendly services for children in contact with the law in particular.

Objectives

The objectives of the evaluation are:

• To assess relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coverage, impact and sustainability of the holistic approach adopted by the Government of Sudan with the support of UNICEF.
• To assess the role stakeholders and adequacy and quality of the Steering/ coordination mechanisms that have been established at the national and states levels to maximize the effectiveness of interventions.
• To provide recommendations, identify lessons learned, capture good practices, and generate knowledge to inform the refinement of the programme model and approach as well as to inform the shape of future programming on Justice for Children and related programme initiatives at National and Regional levels.

 Scope:

The evaluation will assess relevance, effectiveness, coverage, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the holistic approach adopted by the Government of Sudan with the support of UNICEF. It also will cover the implementation and the results of the UNICEF supported Justice for Children more specifically FCPUs during the period 2006-2016. It is intended that as much as possible the evaluation will provide a comprehensive assessment of the Family and Child Protection Units (FCPUs) with reference to other pillars (law enforcement, judiciary, prosecutions and the social welfare) of the programme scope and their interconnections at National and State levels. At National and states levels the evaluation will analyze achievements over the last 10 years, specifically what have been the successes, missed opportunities, and constraints. At the community level - assessing how the FCPUs and related justice system, particularly by implementing partners on the ground, have created favorable community-level conditions and led to positive changes in the lives of children victims of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Furthermore, the evaluation will also touch upon the role of the programme on shaping the regional thinking and contributing to overall frameworks related to justice for children in the region.

The evaluation, tentatively, will focus on Khartoum and one state from each region (Central Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Red Sea and Gazira States). Final selection will be done by the National Mechanism in consultation with eh evaluation team and UNICEF.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

The evaluation will examine the expected outcomes and outputs outlined in the original and revised logical frameworks if exist and review, inter alia, the overall coherence of the set of interventions implemented. The evaluation will take into consideration the analysis of the capacity of the FCPUs to mainstream gender, human rights and result based services.

The evaluation will follow UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation in the UN system and abide by the UNEG Ethical Guidelines and Code of Conduct and other relevant ethical codes. Ethical considerations (of respondents and data collectors) will be of utmost priority in determining the most appropriate methods and their implementation, and will be documented and included in all reports. To access the UNEG web page please visit: http://www.uneval.org/index.jsp

The National Mechanism, which constitutes of high level representative of Ministries of Interior, Justice, Social Affair, health, Judiciary, civil society organisation and other UN agencies and the NCCW will ensure the leadership and coordination of the inception, completion of the field work, review, validation and dissemination of the evaluation of the findings and recommendations of the assessment. Regular meeting will be organized by the National Mechanism in order to obtain consensus and engage national stakeholders about the purpose and the intended use of the evaluation, discuss the inception report, facilitate field work and interviews with stakeholders and to discuss findings and recommendations and the elaboration of consequent actions. In addition, small peer review group will be selected to provide the needed technical guidance and will be called the evaluation Reference Group.

Evaluation questions

The Evaluation Reference Group (REG) in coordination with the National Mechanism will validate, add and delete the indicative evaluation questions. The questions are based on five evaluation criteria and are focused on expected outputs from the original and revised logical frameworks if any. The evaluation questions have taken into consideration key cross-cutting issues (including gender equality, and cultural sensitivity and human rights perspective).

The Evaluation Reference Group (REG) in coordination with the National Mechanism will validate, add and delete the indicative evaluation questions. The questions are based on five evaluation criteria and are focused on expected outputs from the original and revised logical frameworks if any. The evaluation questions have taken into consideration key cross-cutting issues (including gender equality, and cultural sensitivity and human rights perspective).

•  Relevance: The extent to which the objectives of the Justice for Children/FCPUs are consistent with national needs (in particular vulnerable group needs) and are aligned with programme country government priorities as well as with UNICEF policies and strategies.
•  Effectiveness: The degree of achievement of the outputs and the extent to which outputs have contributed or are likely to contribute to the achievement of the outcomes of the Justice for children/FCPUs.
• Efficiency: The extent to which the outputs of the Justice for Children/FCPUs have been achieved or are likely to be achieved with the appropriate amount of resources/inputs (funds, expertise, time, administrative costs, etc).
• Coverage and protection : The extent the programme reach the geographical site, targeted population and have the need capacities to reach the targeted and served children by the Justice for Children/FCPUs
• Coordination: Have agencies and institutions worked well together toward the common goal to strengthen the Justice for Children System/FCPUs
• Sustainability and impacts: The extent to which the benefits from the Justice for Children/ FCPUs are likely to continue, after it has been completed.

 EVALUATION PROCESS

The main elements of the evaluation are as follows: (i) a comprehensive inception and desk review phase which includes a country visit to facilitate the initial consultation with main stakeholders; (ii) country visit for data collection and states initial reports and (iii) report preparation resulting in a final evaluation (synthesis) report presenting findings, conclusions and recommendations. The evaluation will consist of a total of 4 phases in the course of which several methodological stages will be developed, namely:

Preparation phase -during this phase UNICEF and the National Mechanisms will finalize the TOR for the Evaluation with involvement of the main donors contributing to the programme. The recruitment process of the consultant/consultancy firm and selection process of the evaluation team through tender process.   During this phase the joint EMG with contributions from the joint ERG will prepare the terms of reference for the evaluation and select the evaluation team via a tender process.

 Design and desk review phase -the evaluator/the evaluation team will conduct a desk review collecting and analyzing all relevant information and data obtained from UNICEF and partners. The purpose of the review is to identify knowledge gaps, to identify key issues and finalize and validate the evaluation questions for the evaluation. The desk review together with the country visit will inform the inception report. The team leader will present a first draft inception report to the Evaluation Peer Review Group.

 Data collection and field phase - Following the satisfactory completion of the design and desk review phase, the evaluation team will proceed data collection and states visits. Prior completion of each state visit the evaluator/evaluation team will conduct a debriefing session with the stakeholders at the state levels including UNICEF, SCCW, and FCPUs presenting the main findings of the field mission seeking to validate the information gathered. The data from Khartoum and the selected states will be consolidated.

Reporting Phase –The report will present an overall synthesis of national and state level findings, conclusions, and forward looking recommendations. The overall length of the final evaluation report should not be greater than 30 pages (including the executive summary but excluding annexes). Additional information on overall context, programme or aspects of methodology and analysis should be confined to the annexes. The Annexes should include the list of people met, documentation reviewed, terms of reference, and any other information which contains factual basis used in the evaluation.

Dissemination and Follow-up Phase

The emphasis of this evaluation is on lesson learning. Hence, it is important that the evaluation is designed in a way that allows maximum feedback to the concerned actors throughout the evaluation process. The organization of a meeting during the reporting phase is a key element of the dissemination and feedback strategy.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE EVALUATION

The independent evaluation will be conducted by UNICEF will be the main decision-making body for the evaluation and have overall responsibility for management of the evaluation process including hiring and managing the team of external consultants. The consultant/the firm will be managed directly by the Chief of Child Protection at UNICEF and working closely with the Justice for Children Specialist in close collaboration with Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation section.

The Evaluation Peer Review Group is responsible for ensuring the quality and independence of the evaluation and to guarantee its alignment with UNEG Norms and Standards and Ethical Guideline Governance and management of the evaluation. The National Mechanism that co-chaired by the NCCW and Ministry of Interior will be responsible for the overall organisation and consultative process of the evaluation. The National Mechanism will ensure the leadership and coordination of the completion, review, validation and dissemination workshop of the findings and recommendations of the evaluation.

Regular meeting will be organized by NM for FCPUs in order to obtain consensus and engage national stakeholders about the purpose and the intended use of the evaluation, discuss the inception report, facilitate field work and interviews with stakeholders and to discuss findings and recommendations and the elaboration of consequent actions.

TIMEFRAME OF DELIVERABLE AND PAYEMNET SCHEDULE

 Key Deliverables

1. Inception report and evaluation tools : payment 25%
2. Facilitation and final report of the consultative workshop with partners on the inception report payment 10%
3. Report of completion of Field Data collection/Client satisfaction survey including collection of series of routine data from State Line Ministries on Health, Nutrition and WASH. Payment 15%
4. Data processing completed. Payment 10%
5. First draft of comprehensive evaluation report available for review/consultations and comments. Payment 20%
6. Workshop of Stakeholders organized; Final revised and quality edited report approved by UNICEF and HAC. Payment 20%

Ethics and confidentiality of data and information

The consultant should respect the confidentiality of all counterparts’ data as well as any country specific documents that will be produced throughout the consultancy process. The consultant can use the documents and the datasets only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.

As Government is strictly requesting, Consultant and field data collection team will respect the local culture during the individual and focus group discussions.

General conditions of management of consultation within UNICEF contract will be applied to the consultant to be recruited by UNICEF.

Indicators to evaluate the consultant’s performance:

• Working with teams and satisfactory deliverable.
• Timely and quality submission of the deliverables.      
• Timely and quality progress of the assessment processes.
• Comprehensive strategic and analytical ability to

• Production of quality Assessment findings with feasible and practical recommendations that is simple and easy to be implemented.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education

• An advanced university degree (Masters) in the field of law, human rights, political sciences or public Administration;

Years of relevant experience

• Be a reputable person with ten years of proven track record in producing high quality analytical research and consulting experience on law, human rights, legal aid and social issues;
• Evaluation experience on related child protection programmes is an asset.

• Demonstrated managerial competence and experience in analyzing, organizing, leading and coordinating multi-disciplinary work;
• Familiarity of Justice for children and rule of law is an asset;
• Extensive working experience in countries applying the common law system; preferably working in Sudan with justice institutions;
• Experience working with the UN and familiar with UN programming requirements is an advantage;
• Excellent oral, written, communication and reporting skills;
• Background in social sciences and management with extensive experience and knowledge in conducting institutional capacity assessment;
• Strategic management and organization development;
• Have extensive experience in assessing justice or any human rights institutions preferably in the Region;
• Fluency in English with excellent drafting skills is required. Knowledge of Arabic is an asset;
• Ability to deliver on time.

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.