Background

The Child Protection Fund (CPF) is a multi-donor fund established in July 2011 to support the implementation of the Government of Zimbabwe’s (GoZ) National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Phase II (NAP II). It built on the successful 2007-2010 Program of Support (PoS) to the NAP I which was designed to cope with the increasing vulnerabilities faced by children, particularly in response to the HIV epidemic in Zimbabwe. Two pillars of the CPF were: 1) household economy strengthening through Harmonized Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) programme; and 2) child protection services, through the national case management framework.

The CPF adopted a multi-dimensional approach to child vulnerability which simultaneously addresses household poverty, gender disparities, disability, HIV and risk of violence, exploitation and abuse to expand the reach and impact of interventions. The purpose of the CPF was to ensure that the most vulnerable households have reduced poverty levels and children have access to improved child protection services that enable them to secure their basic rights.

UNICEF was engaged by donors to the CPF to provide technical and fund management support to the programme, working closely with and through implementing partners and the GoZ to strengthen government capacity to deliver all elements of the programme. Selected Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) implemented child protection interventions delivered through the National Case Management System (NCMS).

The national case management system is an effective mechanism for building capacity at community level to identify and refer child protection cases to district level social workers and specialist NGOs. Recently the effort has been focusing on shifting the case management approach as a response (i.e. crisis intervention) mechanism to the broader one encompassing early detection and prevention. This aspect has been given due consideration in the design of the CPF II (2016-2020).

During the course of CPF I, it was learnt that effective and efficient information and knowledge management of child protection required: 1) an effective Management Information System (MIS); 2) strong coordination for data collection and collation amongst partners across relevant sectors; 3) data to demonstrate impact; and 4) agreement on measurement of system strengthening efforts. These ingredients were rather limited in the Child Protection pillar of CPF I.

Objective (s)

Under the guidance of Chief, Child Protection, the consultant will document (draft and design) four short publications on Child Protection System Strengthening effort in Zimbabwe – especially focusing on lessons learned and good practices under the Child Protection Fund (2011-2015).

The key objectives of this consultancy are:

• Synthesis of lessons learned from the national case management system building work – how evidence was used to inform the strategy and scope of UNICEF support for the national case management system development – discussion paper
• HSCT and how to make “Cash + Care” approach work – reflecting on good practice and scalability – programme brief
• HSCT and Child Protection – what we are learning from making linkages work (including the use of targeting exercise to identify child protection cases, etc.) – discussion paper
• Data analysis on HSCT beneficiaries’ coping strategy during the 2016 drought period and resilience building – discussion paper

Methodology & Expected Output

The consultant is expected to carry out documentation review and direct field consultations to collect necessary data and information for (4) four publications. Those (4) four publications are:

• Synthesis of lessons learned from the national case management system building work – how evidence was used to inform the strategy and scope of UNICEF support for the national case management system development – discussion paper
• HSCT and how to make “Cash + Care” approach work – reflecting on good practice and scalability – programme brief
• HSCT and Child Protection – what we are learning from making linkages work (including the use of targeting exercise to identify child protection cases, etc.) – discussion paper
• Data analysis on HSCT beneficiaries’ coping strategy during the 2016 drought period and resilience building – discussion paper

Major tasks and Deliverables

1. Task: Review of information/primary data collected through the Child Protection Programme.

Deliverable: Work plan developed

1. Task: Draft key questions and develop methodology for the four documentations

   Deliverable: Methodology established and documented and inception report prepared

2. Task: Prepare an inception report

   Deliverable: Methodology established and documented and inception report prepared

3. Task: Data collection, field observation and consultation with stakeholders – this may include workshops or field trips outside Harare
4. Task: Draft and design 4 publications (approx. 15 pages per publication) in collaboration with UNICEF Child Protection Section. The following process will be followed for each thematic publication:
5. Consultant produces a structure/outline which is approved by UNICEF.
6. First draft submitted and commented on/revised by UNICEF
7. Additional information submitted to consultant by UNICEF as necessary.
8. Second draft submitted to UNICEF and either approved or returned to consultant with further comments.
9. Final draft and layout submitted to UNICEF.

Deliverable: 4 publications fully drafted and designed (camera ready copy) with at least 3 publications submitted by end of December.

All deliverables should meet the expected quality as assessed by the Supervisor of the consultancy assignment. The Consultant will work mostly off site, home based. There will be two weeks in country work mostly in Harare. There might be field travels outside Harare.

Timeframe

Consultancy must be undertaken between 1 October 2016 and 31 January 2017 and all the deliverables have to be met during this period.

Consultancy Requirements

Education and Work Experience

• Postgraduate qualification in social science, political science, business administration, law, human rights or public health
• 7+ years of experience of working in the field of child protection, especially in development context and familiar with Child Protection Systems approach
• Excellent data management and data analysis skills
• Previous professional experience of preparing advocacy material and information, particularly on Child Protection
• Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize and conceptualize lessons learned and demonstrate to others
• Strong communication skills- oral and written presentation
• Knowledge of UNICEF’s work on Child Protection and systems approach
• Ideally experience of UNICEF’s work on bottleneck analysis

Supervision

The Consultant will report to the Chief of Child Protection