Child Protection Consultant (Research on drivers to the involvement of children in armed violence in Lebanon)

Under the scope of UNICEF Lebanon Child Protection Section’s 2017 Work Plan Output 3.4 “Improved data and knowledge to inform programming and advocacy initiatives to prevent and protect children and women from violence, abuse and exploitation”, the child protection section is seeking a consultant to conduct a scoping survey to identify the main trends in Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of communities vis-à-vis the involvement of children in armed violence in Lebanon.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

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.

Introduction

UNICEF is globally mandated to support Governments and civil society actors to protect children from violence, including armed violence, and exploitation, including the recruitment and use by armed forces or groups. Such mandate emanates from the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children (CCCs), UN Security Council Resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict and other normative tools and guidelines.
The involvement of children in armed violence in Lebanon spans from the formal recruitment or use by armed groups (boys and girls of any nationality used in the conflict in Syria or inside Lebanon) to the participation into other forms of armed violence (criminal gangs, celebratory shooting, political, tribal or sectarian armed disputes). The paragraphs on Lebanon of the UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict provide a summary of UN-documented trends during the last decade.

Since 2014, UNICEF Lebanon has been working with partners on this long-neglected issue. Progress has been marked in the generation of evidence on trends and in the response to the needs of children having been lured into acts of armed violence, including direct participation in conflict. Such experience has also pointed at the various factors that are believed to pull or push a boy or a girl in Lebanon to join an armed actor or make use of armed violence. However, the weight and mutual influence of such factors as well as the role played by children and communities’ perceptions, attitudes and norms around armed violence remain largely unexplored. Filling this evidence gap is becoming increasingly crucial as Government, civil society, member states and UN agencies show interest in supporting tailored, scalable, sustainable and measurable prevention. Research in this domain, as commissioned under the present Terms of Reference, will be used to lay the ground for the design of a reliable prevention strategy and serve as a baseline to monitor future progress in this delicate area of child protection work in Lebanon.

Purpose of the Assignment

The child protection section is seeking a consultant to conduct a scoping survey to identify the main trends in Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of communities vis-à-vis the involvement of children in armed violence in Lebanon.

Based on the survey outcome an additional phase may be requested to conduct in-depth qualitative research in selected communities.  

Assignment Tasks

The consultant, supervised by the Child Protection Specialist (Children and Armed Conflict focal point), and under the overall supervision of the Chief Child Protection is expected to lead the research.

The initial phase under the scope of this consultancy, will include a KAP research (to high-light main trends and suggest to UNICEF areas of interest for separate in-depth research) and the design of such in-depth research. The consultant will be expected to deliver on the following steps:

• Introductory briefing (1 day). By UNICEF (Child Protection) and partners

• Desk review (2 days). Review of relevant existing research on the involvement of children in armed violence in Lebanon

• Deliverable 1: Desk review summary; KAP survey ToRs and questionnaire (2 days).
Submission to UNICEF of a 1 pager summary of desk review (with the list of readings in annex).
Design and submission to UNICEF of scope, focus and methodology for the KAP study, including sampling methodology and identification of sample communities to be interviewed, the questionnaire and the survey plan. 

*Set-up of the team and schedule of interviews - Surveyors will be made available by UNICEF through separate contract and in agreement with the specifications provided by the consultant

• KAP survey implementation: (13 days). Implementation of the KAP survey over three working weeks including the induction of surveyors (1 day), field data collection (10 days) and data analysis (2 days)

• Deliverable 2: KAP survey report (2 days).
Drafting and submission to UNICEF of the KAP survey report annexing the questionnaire and including introduction, scope, executive summary, methodology, findings, challenges and lessons learned.

• Deliverable 3: Inception report (5 days).
Drafting and submission to UNICEF of the Inception report including the finalized KAP survey report and supporting materials and the outline for the in-depth ethnographic research. The outline will consist of an introduction, scope, methodology of research, detailed ToRs in case a research team to be led by the consultant was required, research plan (including budget, schedule and intermediate deliverables).

*Upon submission of each deliverable by the consultant, UNICEF will spend 3-5 working days to review and endorse it.
Subject to resource mobilization by UNICEF, a second phase of in-depth qualitative research will be commissioned in 2018, in line with the research plan under Deliverable 3 of the present consultancy.

Expected Deliverables

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education

Graduate (or post-graduate) in anthropology, social sciences, psychology, law or related academic fields

Years of relevant experience

3 to 5 years of relevant professional experience in the areas of sensitive research, in relation to human rights or child protection issues, social norms. Specific experience on applied research to inform UN or Government analysis and work in the area of social stability, behavioural change will be highly advantageous.

Knowledge of Lebanon political, socio-economic and legal context is essential 

Proven ability to produce high standard documents in English.

Previous experience of working closely with UN, government and civil society counterparts, preferably in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

 Proficiency in oral and written English & Arabic. Fluency in French is an asset

Ethical and cultural sensitivity and knowledge in regard to Human rights and child rights.

Respect to local customs, religious beliefs and practices, AGD (Age, Gender, Diversity)

Strong analytical and interpersonal skills

Ability to time-manage and work closely with national and international actors

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.