Consultant: Child Protection Research-Southern and Eastern Africa (2 positions)

Request for Expression of Interest

Consultant: Child Protection Research-Southern and Eastern Africa (2 positions)

Project: Disrupting Harm “evidence to understand online child sexual exploitation and abuse”

Organisational Context

ECPAT International is a global network of organisations working together for the elimination of the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in all its manifestations i.e. exploitation of children in prostitution, online child sexual exploitation, sale and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism and some forms of child, early and forced marriage. The ECPAT Network currently consists of 109 members working as independent organisations or coalitions at national and local levels in 96 countries.

The ECPAT International Secretariat coordinates the global work of the organisation and is based in Bangkok, Thailand. The Secretariat designs and implements global and regional level programmes, and undertakes programming, advocacy and research to facilitate a range of network initiatives.

Project Background

ECPAT International recently secured funding for the implementation of the project Disrupting Harm: evidence to understand online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA), a collaborative project along with Interpol and UNICEF office of Research – Innocenti supported by the Fund to End Violence Against Children. The project will assess the scale, nature and context of the above mentioned issue in 14 countries across Southern and Eastern Africa and Southeast Asia, starting in early 2019 and ending in early 2021.

The three organisations will leverage existing research, conduct primary research and rally key partners and multi-sectoral stakeholders to:

• Establish context by conducting extensive research to map the policy and legal landscapes;
• Analyse the threat via the collection and analysis of crime data as well as other type of data;
• Ensure children’s voices are heard via cross-sectional, nationally-representative household surveys.

The research framework and outputs are envisioned as an important step towards in-depth analysis of online child sexual exploitation and abuse, to produce key findings and identify priority areas for adequate interventions. The project will also pilot new methodologies to determine the context, scale and manifestations of these crimes in 14 countries, with recommendations expected to have relevance for a broader audience.

The countries of focus in Southern and Eastern Africa region are Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia.

Project Description

Within this collaborative partnership, ECPAT is responsible for a “contextual research” component of the project. ECPAT will undertake this research in two distinct phases: phase one of the project involves comprehensive exploration of the existing secondary data on legislation and systems addressing OCSEA at country level, and in phase two ECPAT will directly undertake primary research activities to fill gaps in the data that were identified in the first phase. This research will be tailored to the country contexts.

Fourteen national level reports and two regional level reports will be generated as well as data reports for the six major primary research activities. ECPAT’s role in the project includes the consolidation of findings of all three project partners in country and regional level reports.

With the technical advice and support from experts within ECPAT’s Secretariat, a project-team has been established, including a Project Manager, Regional Specialists and Research Officers, and a pool of about 12 specialised research consultants for country level research and regional consolidation.

Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse National Assessments

ECPAT International is seeking two Child Protection Research Consultants for Southern and Eastern Africa for each region – with a strong background in social protection in the region to conduct primary research to fill in country-level gaps identified in the desk review, the first phase of the project. The primary research will focus on collecting data from:

1. National law enforcement and justice actors;

2. Hotlines and helplines;

3. Frontline service providers;

4. Child victims and survivors;

5. Parents and caregivers;

6. Boy victims of OCSEA online.

The Child Protection Research Consultant will be involved in collecting primary data from the mentioned set of the target countries through surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Research, data entry and analysis

1. Collaborate to design, contextualise and translate research methodologies with the Regional Specialist and as part of the research team;

2. Support desk review on child protection issues;

3. Identify and source national government documents on prevention, education, rehabilitation mechanisms related to OCSEA;

4. Collect information from frontline service providers working with victims of OCSEA;

5. Collect information/ evidence of implementation regarding rehabilitation for victims of OCSEA;

6. Collect information on socio-cultural perceptions and interactions with the online world from parents and caregivers;

7. Facilitate recruitment for the online survey of up to 20 boy survivors per country on OCSEA;

8. Organise, input and manage data collected;

9. Support research components in the analysis of data collected;

10. Collaborate on producing country reports based on primary research;

11. Provide support to Regional Specialist and other technical consultants as required.

Deliverables

Latest Due Date

Data collected and entered from 150-250 (50 staff per country) from client-facing child protection and education services via surveys and interviews

30 April 2020

Data collected and entered from 30-50 victims (10 per country) and 30-40 parents and caregivers (10 per country) on access to justice via interviews/ focus group discussions

30 April 2020

Data collected and entered from 150-250 (50 per country) parents and caregivers on socio-cultural perceptions via survey

30 April2020

Data collected and entered from 54-90 (18 per country) boy victims of OCSEA via online survey

30 April 2020

Data collected and entered from helplines and hotlines or alternative sources

30 April 2020

All other data entry and storage as per agreement

30 April 2020

First draft subchapters for the country reports

15 May 2020 or earlier

Final subchapters for the country reports and data delivery (this deadline depends on when ethical permission is granted in countries)

31 May 2020

Profile

Core Competencies

• Deep understanding of the target countries’ development context, activities and actors or the region;

• Fluency in English. Additional fluency in Portuguese is a requirement for one of the two positions;

• Significant experience in primary data collection and management;

• Specialist expertise in working with vulnerable children, such as training in trauma-informed care;

• Understanding of the ethics of working with vulnerable populations;

• Excellent time management and multi-tasking skills;

• Ability to work autonomously;

• Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills;

• Accountability.

Qualifications & Experience

• Qualifications and relevant work experience in psychology, social work and/or child protection;

• At least three years of professional work experience in child protection, research and international development projects.

• Social work license/child protection license from one of the project countries desirable, but not mandatory

Timeframe

It is expected that each consultancy will require 120 - 180 working days over a period of 6 to 9 months depending on the agreed Terms of Reference (fulltime). Detailed planning and work plans will be established in the induction phase of the consultancy. Starting moments of the assignments in each of the countries may depend on ethical clearance given for the field research. In principle it is envisaged that the work will commence on 1 October 2019.

Management and Reporting Arrangements

The collection of data will be the responsibility of the Consultant. Throughout the project, the Consultant will report to the Regional Specialist. ECPAT International and ECPAT members will provide support to mobilize support from various national level government and civil society actors. Technical guidance will be provided by the Regional Specialist.

Additional Information

• The consultant is expected to be home-based, using own computer and communication equipment and facilities

• Consultancy payments will be based on a daily fee and actual working days carried out for the assignments

• All discussions and documents relating to this Terms of Reference will be treated as confidential by the parties.

• It is envisaged that the Consultant will travel once to each assigned country for a period of 7-8 working days (average per target country). The travel will be carried out according to ECPAT International’s Travel Policies and Procedures and related costs will be compensated in addition to the daily consultancy fee

• The Consultant is expected to act at all times in a manner consistent with the values of ECPAT International and in compliance with the organisation’s policies and procedures including Child Safeguarding Policy and the Code of Conduct

Interested candidates are requested to send in their CV and a cover letter indicating an expected daily fee (in USD).

Submission of expression of interest by email to: vacancy@ecpat.net; please mention in the subject line: DH Child Protection Research- Africa

Deadline:31 August 2019

Candidates based in one of the research target countries are considered before any other candidates.

ECPAT International is committed to keeping children safe. The selection process reflects our commitment to the safeguarding of children. The process may include requests for criminal/ police records.