This consultancy aims to provide the humanitarian child protection sector with an overarching definition and measurement framework of child wellbeing (short-term and long-term), and its key factors, that can be adapted according to context and used to define strategic objectives within humanitarian responses.
To achieve this purpose, UNICEF is soliciting the services of an individual consultant or a team of consultants (under one applicant) with a background in Child Protection in Humanitarian Action both from academic and practical perspectives.
Expected results: (measurable results)
A desk review of existing definitions, indicators and measures of child wellbeing and its key factors;
- Conduct a desk review of existing definitions, indicators and measures of child wellbeing, with attention to resilience. This will consist of a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed academic literature as well as grey literature, including reports, white papers, databases, guidelines and other relevant materials used in child protection and other sectors. This will enable the Alliance to learn from past efforts to define and operationalize child wellbeing and will serve as the basis for generating options for an initial draft definition. Importantly, it will consider determinants of child wellbeing from other sectors, such as education, health, and nutrition, and the inter-relationship between those sectors and child protection. It will also have to take into account the life-course of the child as well as the socio-ecological model as a frame of reference.
A suggested definition of child wellbeing and its key components for the CPHA sector, with indicators and measures;
- After the desk review, a first round of consultations with stakeholders on the dimensions, definition and measurement of child wellbeing. These consultations will mostly be conducted remotely and will involve inter-agency child protection in humanitarian action programming and M&E specialists along with specialists from other relevant sectors, academic researchers, government officials and other relevant stakeholders. A workshop will also be organized alongside the annual Alliance meeting so that an initial consultation process can take place among stakeholders. Importantly, efforts will be made to ensure the wider inclusion of national actors in the consultation process in collaboration with coordination mechanisms on the ground. These consultations will complement the desk review and will help in refining initial drafts of the definition and measurement framework. A lean inter-agency technical reference group will also be formed to support the consultant through the process. The reference group will review the outputs at each stage and provide feedback.
- While the initial draft definition and indicators will be rooted in the desk review, the suggested definitions should take into account the realities of CP programming in humanitarian sector. It should also take into consideration the various stages of a child’s development, and how ‘healthy development’ is understood for each of those stages.
Recommendations for how to integrate the definition of child wellbeing into the second edition of the CPMS;
- A clear recommendation on how and where to integrate the definition of child wellbeing will be developed by the consultant. This has to be based on the proposed structure of the 2nd edition of the CPMS (to be made available to the consultant(s) at the appropriate time). The recommendation should accompany suggested entries to be inserted in the proposed sections of the CPMS handbook.
Guidelines on how to contextualize the definition and the measurement framework.
- An initial draft will be developed based on the definitions described below. The draft guidelines and measurement framework have to be simple and adaptable. The consultant(s) then support the AME WG Technical Focal Point in piloting the guidelines and measurement framework in three emergency contexts. The learning from these three piloting processes will then be reflected into the guidelines and the measurement framework by the consultant(s).
Application deadline is 6 September 2018.