Senior Consultant to develop a national strategy and action to prevent and mitigate child marriage in Lebanon - 9 Months
Beirut
- Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
- Location: Beirut
- Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
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Occupational Groups:
- Human Rights
- Children's rights (health and protection)
- Closing Date: Closed
UNICEF Lebanon is seeking to hire a senior consultant to support the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and the Lebanese Higher Council for Childhood (HCC) in the development of a national strategy to end child marriage by supporting MOSA and HCC’s leadership of an engaged group of civil society actors.
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, Protection
UNICEF Lebanon Country Office (LCO) is seeking to hire a senior consultant with strong gender and child protection background to support the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) and the Lebanese Higher Council for Childhood (HCC) in the development of a national strategy to end child marriage by supporting MOSA and HCCs leadership of an engaged group of civil society actors, while also ensuring that a multi-sectoral collaboration is in place with engagement of key actors from several sectors such as education, child & social protection, legal, youth, livelihood, health and communication for development (C4D). The consultant, working under the technical supervision of UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (GBV) will support the HCC to address effectively the intersection between safety/protection, material/economic, and social/religious drivers and reinforce positive social norms that promote marriage within the context of full consent from two adults.
How can you make a difference?
The incumbent will:
1. Undertake a desk review of existing and concurrent efforts to better understand child marriage in Lebanon. This should include reviewing and mapping national strategies, frameworks, initiatives, and stakeholders supporting child marriage prevention and response; as well as regional or global strategies, frameworks, and initiatives that could inform or support these efforts. It should build on research already conducted and provide a mapping of policy and program initiatives (including interventions aimed at mitigating the contributing factors to child marriage), to provide an understanding of what is being done, what works, and what can go to scale including the mechanisms and strategies needed to do so. Given the large number of existing and concurrent research initiatives around child marriage, it will be critical to collate existing findings and coordinate with key focal points such as UNFPA, Lebanese American University, University Saint Joseph, International Rescue Committee, Danish Refugee Council, etc. in order to avoid duplication and minimize time demands on core child marriage key informants and partners.
2. Organize in close collaboration with the MOSA / HCC, and conduct 7 field level consultation workshops in Akkar, Tripoli, Bekaa, Nabatieh, Beirut/Mount Lebanon and South Lebanon, and 1 National consultation with governmental agencies/relevant ministries representatives, judges, parliamentarians, UN and National and International NGOs from relevant sectors (including GBV, Child Protection, Health, Education, Social Protection, Youth, etc), academic institutions
3. Organize 31 key informant interviews and FGDs with religious leaders, lawyers, men, women, boys and girls (married and not married) as well as community leaders from the different cohorts present in Lebanon (Lebanese, Syrian, Palestine refugees from Lebanon, Palestine Refugees from Syria) and from different settings (urban, rural, informal settlements), to identify priorities.
4. Support MOSA / HCC to Draft a National Strategy that has an explicit theory of change and evidence based logic for the prioritization of the most promising interventions for reducing child marriage in Lebanon. The strategy and its costed action plan should define the Outcome, Outputs, Activities and Inputs, timeline, responsibilities, budget and a clear M&E plan and timeline for implementation. The action/implementation plan should outline clearly the roles and responsibilities of the different ministries and non-government stakeholders. Strategy development should build on the pillars identified through the National Consultation held in May 2016 by the HCC, Arab Bureau of Human Rights, ABAAD , National Commission for Lebanese Women and supported by UNICEF, the findings of the MENA RO study and any follow-on national studies undertaken by UNICEF or key stakeholders in Lebanon (see i.); ensuring a multi-sectoral approach that addresses the complex interaction between education, health, legal, protection, livelihood, other sectors and child marriage by leveraging a variety of resources and actors.
5. The consultant should propose to MOSA / HCC a realistic proposal that should be validated to ensure a budget (from the government) and allocated to implement the strategy.
6. Finalize and validate the strategy and action plan in close collaboration with MOSA / HCC with a clear timeline through national Consensus Building Workshop to present and endorse the strategy.
7. Support to launching the strategy as needed
a. Make frequent extended travel in Lebanon to arrange, organize and conduct the focus group discussions in close collaboration with MOSA / HCC and key informant interviews,
b. Conduct frequent field visits to understand context and ongoing programmes addressing child marriage.
c. Present regular progress to the MOSA, HCC, UNICEF and the steering Committee through meetings, national workshops and field workshops, validation workshops, and dissemination.
d. It is further expected that the Senior consultant is a fluent Arabic speaker (verbal and written fluency) as several meetings with key informants will be in Arabic and several key documents such as policies and draft laws are in Arabic.
1. Desk Review of reports, research and other relevant information
2. 6 Stakeholder consultations (government and civil society, judges, parliamentarians, religious leaders, UN and bilateral Agencies); 6 organized at field level and one at national level, for validation purposes
3. Focus group discussions with 25 groups (boys’, girls’ groups, men, women’s groups, community leaders) from the different cohorts (Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian refugees, urban, rural settings).
4. Bilateral meetings with relevant key actors involved in the development of the strategy (HCC, MOSA, UNICEF, Strategy Core Group, SGBV TF).
5. Co-facilitate national and field consultations with HCC and national actors.
- The Consultancy will take six months for all deliverables listed above to be completed.
- The Consultancy is expected to begin in April 2018.
Reporting Requirements:
The consultant will report to UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (GBV):
The consultant is expected to work closely with the Lebanese Higher Council for Childhood and will receive general guidance from the steering committee comprised of civil society organizations and key lines ministries, in close coordination with the UNICEF consultancy manager
The consultant will report on a monthly basis to the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (GBV).
All reports/deliverables as specified above will need to be submitted to the UNICEF consultancy manager and to MOSA / HCC, in soft copies in USB or CD to the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (GBV) within the stipulated time frame above. UNICEF shall be entitled to all intellectual property and other proprietary rights including, but not limited to, patents, copyrights, and trademarks, with regard to documents and other materials developed under the consultancy.
Payments will be made based on the above-mentioned payment schedule and deliverable submission, upon certification of deliverable receipt & satisfaction by consultancy manager & presentation of invoice by the consultant.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
• Proven experience with UNICEF and/ or other UN agencies, or Governments on developing national strategies related to child marriage. (If available, please share work-samples such as copies of the contracts and final strategies as part of application).
• Experience and understanding of the Lebanese policy environment, particularly in regards to child marriage and related gender-based violence and/or child protection issues. (If available, provide share work-samples of Lebanon specific-work undertaken reflecting evidence of the modality of the Lebanon context.
• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and English. Reports will be submitted in Arabic and English. (Provide work-samples in English and Arabic as part of application submission).
• It is expected that the senior consultant will have a thorough understanding of appropriate methodology & tools, along with realistic time-planning skills for the specialized consultancy.
• When at UNICEF Lebanon Country office, UNICEF may provide the consultant with temporary desk space, if available and access of Wi-Fi & printing facilities.
• Under this consultancy agreement, a month is defined as 21.5 working days, and fees are prorated as per number of days worked. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays; any absence will be deducted from the negotiated payments. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.
• Consultants are responsible to submit payment invoices along with deliverables over the course of consultancy contract.
• The consultant is expected to arrange for the visa requirements, if and when required.
• UNICEF Lebanon may facilitate with the visa procedures, however all visa related costs must be borne by the consultant. For any applicants who may be Beirut based expatriates/spouses of international staff etc., UNICEF will require work-permit review prior to contract issuance.
• The selected consultant will be required to share proof of heath/medical insurance prior to contract issuance. Health/medical insurance costs for the duration of this consultancy will be borne by the consultant and cannot be billed to UNICEF
• Consultants are expected to submit an all-inclusive financial proposal showing cost-breakdown showing professional fees (on a monthly lump-sum basis); living allowance costs and travel costs for Beirut to & from their home-base location (on the basis of the most economical and direct route, at the beginning and at the end of the assignment –in line with UNICEF travel policies). Beirut based consultants may only provide a financial proposal without the travel and DSA component. The all-inclusive financial proposal should be in line with the table in the Deliverables and Schedule section of these TORs.
• The selected consultant may not commence work or travel until the relevant individual contract has been duly approved, signed by both parties and returned to the HR section, together with the required documents and certifications.
• All qualified international and national applicants are equally encouraged to apply. UNICEF Lebanon reserves the right to select either an international or national consultant in view of responses received.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
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.
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
- Candidates will not be considered if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse, or crimes other than minor traffic offences, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts.
- “UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence”
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
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