Closing date: 20 Nov 2016
1. BACKGROUND
In 2015, the Egyptian National Council on Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) –the leading national institution for coordination and policy formulation on child protection- and UNICEF Egypt released a joint study on violence against children in the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, and Assiut. The study revealed that corporal and verbal punishment by parents is deeply entrenched in Egyptian culture and often used as a disciplinary tool. Parents were revealed to be the main perpetrators of violence, followed by peer-to-peer bullying and violence perpetrated by teachers. Half the children surveyed (ages 13-17) had been beaten in the year preceding the research, while around 70% had suffered some form of emotional abuse. Similarly, the 2014 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS 2014) showed that 93% of children aged 1-14 have been exposed to violent disciplinary practices. However, the 2015 study also indicated that parents were open to alternative forms of discipline.
In this context, and in line with the study findings, UNICEF is committed to preventing violence in its multiple forms, particularly corporal punishment and verbal abuse. Its overall strategy rests on three main components: raising awareness about the extent and consequences of violence against children in Egypt; engaging in policy-level advocacy to place violence at the top of the national agenda and promote the adoption of national programmes and initiatives; and catalyzing social and behavioral change towards positive disciplinary practices.
The prevention of maltreatment of children component comes as part of the Government of Egypt and the European Union (EU) Financing Agreement (FA) ref. ENI/2014/037-351 for the project “Expanding Access to Education and Protection for at Risk Children in Egypt”; signed in December 2015. Based on this document, a Delegation Agreement (DA) ref. ENI/2015/371-652 has been signed between the EU and the UNICEF for the implementation of the Action of this project. The DA entered into force on 22 December 2015. The implementation period will end 60 months after this date.
The overall objective of the project is to increase access to education for the most vulnerable and socially excluded children and to strengthen child protection. The project will be articulated through three different components with the following specific objectives:
Component 1: To scale up the community schools model and improve access of out of school children to primary education.
Component 2: To support the inclusion of children with disability in the education system.
Component 3: To support the Government in operationalising the Child Law and the provisions of the constitution related to the protection of children.
The key Government implementing agencies are the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), with the involvement of additional national and international stakeholders.
The prevention of maltreatment strategy relies on a strong evidence base informed by the experiences and successes of UNICEF’s child protection efforts worldwide. In particular, UNICEF’s 2012 report, Ending Violence Against Children: Six Strategies for Action, suggests that a key strategy for ending violence against children is to change attitudes and social norms that encourage violence and discrimination, which can be achieved through community-based interventions to end violence as well as mass media campaigns designed to shift attitudes and encourage the reporting of violent behavior.
The report also provides evidence that supporting parents, caregivers and families, improving their knowledge about child development, and promoting positive child-parent interactions can prevent violence and abuse and reduce the risk of maltreatment in the home. Similarly, reports by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggest that promoting positive parenting is an effective strategy to foster stable and nurturing child-parent relationships and prevent maltreatment. There are numerous examples of successful interventions in this regard, including the Nurse Family Partnership,-USA, Turkey’s Early Enrichment Project, the results of which revealed that incidences of physical punishment decreased significantly in target areas and children were exhibiting fewer behavioral problems. The WHO’s Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) intervention in South Africa covering children age 0-17 also relies on the use of positive parenting approaches to prevent violence against children.
Consequently, a central component of UNICEF’s strategy to address violence against children in Egypt is to promote positive parenting as an alternative to violent discipline. Positive parenting is the provision of emotional and physical care in an appropriate way according to the needs of the child and the use of non-violent disciplinary means to encourage desirable or positive behaviour. UNICEF’s approach rests on three main components; raising awareness, advocacy and community level work.
On raising awareness, The EU UNICEF NCCM programme is preparing for the launch of 5-year multi-media campaign on positive parenting. The startup of the campaign includes three Public Service Ads (PSAs) that were launched as part of a social media campaign in July 2016 (#Calm_not harm) and are planned to be part of a mass communication campaign in the last quarter of the 2016. These PSAs aim to create recognition of the extent and dangers of violence against children in Egypt and inform the public about positive parenting practices. To maximize the impact of the mass media campaign, the programme is working to strengthen counseling and referral services for parents and caregivers. This involves building the capacity of the government Child Helpline to respond to parenting inquiries and act as a referral mechanism for caregivers seeking parenting support.
In addition, a mapping of existing community outreach services and programmes was conducted that can serve as entry points for a positive parenting programme. Adopting a forward looking approach, the mapping exercise is investigating entry points to reach vulnerable parents and families as well as those youth and adolescents who will soon become parents. Possible entry points include the Ministry of Social Solidarity’s (MoSS) family counseling bureau, their Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers, conditional cash transfer programmes, community health workers, and youth centers and counseling units. The mapping exercise will serve as the foundation for the design and implementation of a parenting intervention.
Also in 2016, the programme hosted Clowns Without Borders South Africa (CWBSA)/ Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) for a scoping visit to provide technical advice on the best practices regarding the integration of positive parenting initiatives to reduce the risk of violence against children in Egypt. Consultative process took place mainly with government partners, primarily NCCM and MoSS, and American University of Cairo Research Center. Recommended action points were to develop a national task force on VAC prevention that would advocate for a government policy around the issue, developing and evaluating parenting programmes through mainstreaming positive parenting in programme manuals in the context of ECD, community health and cash transfer programmes. Currently UNICEF is working with its partners on those different fronts.
The main objective of this consultancy is to support advocacy and policy dialogue interventions to promote a zero-tolerance policy towards violence against children. In particular, the consultant will be required to develop a strategic action plan that outlines preventative interventions and programmes to tackle violence against children for a national taskforce on family strengthening and violence reduction
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The overall objective of the programme is to reduce the prevalence of VAC (both physical and psychological) and promote healthy caregiver-child relationships and positive involvement.
OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY
- Drafting for a still emerging national taskforce on family strengthening and reduction of violence against children a strategic planning document linking policy with programme implementation aimed at reducing violence against children in Egypt.
3. APPROACH
The overall approach of this assignment should adhere to the following principles:
The use of evidence-based approaches: use robust or best available evidence,
The use of international research and experience –e.g. the Global Partnership on VAC
The strategic planning document to be based on the EVAC theory of change devised by UNICEF Egypt and have attainable actions points and indicators addressing multiple audiences (government, media, parliament, and civil society). It must be a working document that can be adapted and improved based on lessons learned obtained through implementation.
4. DUTY STATION:
Home based with approximately two visits to Cairo/ Egypt to finalise the strategic planning documents with governmental counterparts and UNICEF Egypt Cairo Office.
5. TASKS AND DELIVERABLES
Task 1: Draft a framework and a strategic planning document that outlines the core objectives. This document is to support the established national taskforce’s vision, objectives, and specific activities. In addition, the strategic document will help in the coordination efforts of the national taskforce to for family strengthening and violence against children prevention initiatives across multiple sectors coordinated by NCCM. Recommended core activities may include driving policy and advocacy efforts, promoting innovation for programming, and establishing systems for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of programmes. The responsibility for the delivery of programmes, however, should remain within the relevant ministries. Link with support of UNICEF the planning document with a budgetary framework.
Deliverable 1 : A framework for a strategic planning document revised by the taskforce. (3days)
Task 2: With the guidance of UNICEF Egypt, support in conducting a workshop to review the framework and strategic plan with members of national taskforce for finalization of the planning document.
Deliverable 2: A final strategic planning document revised and approved by the taskforce with clear deliverables and indicators (10 days)
Task 3:Provide quality check assurance for workplans, ToRs, technical documents in relation to developing the VAC prevention initiatives
Deliverable 3: Revision of relevant documents with quality check assurance (5 days)
6. DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT: November 2016 – January 2017. Approximately 18 days including 5 working days in Cairo or more if needed in which DSA would be included
7. QUALIFICATIONS/SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED FOR ASSIGNMENT:**
Demonstrated experience in the conceptualization and design of strategic plans especially relation to violence reduction and child protection
Demonstrated experience in the design of government modalities and structures to coordinate initiatives.
Demonstrated experience in research design and development of monitoring and evaluation frameworks; Demonstrate experience in working with government/ local institutions
8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: Outputs as stated Report on country visits and outcomes with meetings with UNICEF ECO according to need
How to apply:
REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL:
CV and P11 that shows expertise needed
Financial offer: consultancy fee/day
Please send to nazaki@unicef.org