Organization: UN Children"s Fund
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 30 Jun 2015
Background & Rationale
One of the key recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children (2006) is that States develop and implement systematic national data collection systems and research to identify vulnerable subgroups, inform policy and programming at all levels and track progress towards the goal of preventing violence against children. The recommendation also urges States to use national indicators based on internationally agreed standards, and ensure that data are compiled, analyzed and disseminated to monitor progress over time.
Increasingly, UNICEF is supporting governments to collect data on the magnitude, nature and impact of violence against children through national household surveys, including the Violence against Children Surveys (VACSs). The first VACS[1] was undertaken by the Government of Swaziland in collaboration with UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2007. Since then, ten more countries (Cambodia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Lao PDR, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) have implemented the VACS through the Together for Girls partnership, and are in various stages of finalizing survey reports or have launched reports and are implementing coordinated responses; and an additional five countries are planning to conduct the survey in 2015/2016 (Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda).
UNICEF is supporting governments in undertaking these surveys via the Together for Girls initiative. The initiative was launched in September 2009 and is a global public-private sector partnership comprised of five UN agencies (UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA, UNAIDS and WHO), the U.S. Government (CDC, PEPFAR, USAID and the Office of Global Women’s Health Issues), the Canadian Government (Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development), and private sector partners (Becton, Dickinson and Company, the Nduna Foundation, CDC Foundation and Grupo ABC). The aim of the initiative is to mobilize and sustain a global movement to end violence against children, with a particular focus on sexual violence against girls, through supporting three pillars of work:
- National surveys and data to document the magnitude, nature and impact of physical, emotional, and sexual violence against children to inform government leaders, civil society and donors.
- Nationally-led, evidence-based multi-sectorial policy and program actions in countries to address issues identified through the surveys, including legal and policy reform, improved services for children who have experienced violence and prevention programs.
[1] In the VACSs females and males 13-24 years olds are interviewed about their childhood (under 18 years of age) experiences of physical, sexual and emotional violence.
- Global advocacy and public awareness efforts to draw attention to the problem and promote evidence-based solutions.
UNICEF is one of the leading agencies of the initiative at the global, regional and country levels. At the global level, UNICEF, in the Together for Girls Leadership Council, provides strategic guidance and direction to the initiative. UNICEF also participates in technical working committees and provides technical guidance to the development of tools, methodologies and guidance documents.
Since the launch of the initiative in 2009, Together for Girls has generated significant momentum by increasing the number of countries and partners engaged. Data collection efforts on violence against children have been completed, or are under way, in 16 countries, with many more UNICEF country offices also engaging in the process of addressing violence against children. Multi-sectorial actions for the prevention and response to violence against children have been developed, or are in the process of development in all countries engaged in the partnership that have completed a VACS.
At the global level, the Together for Girls partnership – with CDC, PEPFAR and UNICEF in the lead – has significantly contributed to a global discussion and assessment of VACSs with regard to refinement of methodology, the development of global indicators and survey tools, and the discussion around ethics to ensure that the protection of children is assured in research on sensitive issues. Based on early experiences of implementing the VACS a standardized core questionnaire has been developed, which was tested in three countries in 2014/2015 and will be reviewed and updated based on these experiences. A set of global “core” indicators has been agreed upon among partners to track progress in the reduction of prevalence rates and efforts to address violence against children. Standards and protocols have been developed to ensure that ethical standards and protection of survey participants are guaranteed, and that participants receive adequate support services upon disclosure of violence as part of the survey process. As the collection of data on violence against children through national household surveys is a relative new area of research, the partnership continues to work to refine the tools and methodologies based on the lessons learned from the implementation of the VACSs in an increasing number of countries, and has undertaken ground-breaking work on ethical research among young adolescents on sensitive topics, contributing to global best practices on collecting data on violence with vulnerable populations.
Despite the great role VACS have had in fostering political engagement and mobilizing a national policy and programme response to violence against children in the countries that have conducted the survey, it has been recognized that conducting on a VACS may not be the best option for all countries interested in producing national data on violence against children, and that countries conducting interim and long-term monitoring on rates of violence against children after a VACS response may not be able to conduct a second survey. Other surveys, including MICS, DHS and various types of qualitative research as well as smaller subnational surveys on children and vulnerable populations may also provide useful information and need to be considered when mapping the existing data available nationally and identifying further data needs on violence against children. To meet the increasing requests by the country offices for advice on how to best address data gaps on violence against children in their country contexts, and in preparation for the technical consultation on data to be convened by UNICEF and Together for Girls in October 2015, the UNICEF Child Protection Section is seeking a senior consultant with expertise in national population surveys on issues of child protection, in particular violence against children, in the development of global guidance documents that would help countries in their decision making on how to track and/or establish national data on violence against children. The work will also contribute to the UN Statistical Commission meeting to be held in March 2016.
Purpose
To provide technical guidance on building national data on violence against children through:
· the development of technical guidance on various data collection tools and methods on violence against children, including an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and costs of various methods, and a criteria/tool for selecting the most appropriate method based on the country context and needs. The guidance should also include a synthesized list of key data collection tools and methodologies drawing on existing reports/studies
· technical support to the field testing of the guidance and identification of data needs of selected three country offices
· support for a technical consultation of global experts on data on violence against children which will review the experience to date and validate the guidance that has been developed (to be held in October 2015)
Expected Results
The consultant will work closely with the team at UNICEF Headquarters which provides technical guidance to the Violence against Children Surveys and the Together for Girls Initiative. The consultancy is home-based, but travel will be required during the assignment. An advisory committee of internal and external experts will be established to review the final report and products developed.
Provide guidance on options for data collection on violence against children at national level
· Map data collection tools and methodologies on violence against children, both for national and sub-national data, building on the work already done (including by the Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group Measuring Violence against Children[2]). Data collection methodologies to be considered will include qualitative, quantitative and administrative data collected in countries.
· Conduct an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and costs of various methods, including analysis of the type of data that can be obtained through each method, analysis of what purpose the data may be used for (i.e. advocacy, programming or both), and how the process of collecting the data may impact use.
· Identify relevant examples of what has been done in a selected number of countries and conduct an analysis of the potential integration of VACS questions into other tools and methodologies
· Develop a tool for countries on how to select the most appropriate data collection options based on the country context and needs
Assist in the identification of data needs of three selected country offices
· Provide technical assistance to selected country offices to test the guidance developed above (under task one) and to conduct a gap analysis on existing, national and sub-national data on violence against children with recommendations for addressing identified data gaps
Technical input provided to the consultation on data collection on violence against children convened by Together for Girls in October 2015 and follow up actions to the meeting:
· Guidance on data collection tools and methodologies, and the experiences gained from field testing the matrix/tool presented at the technical consultation on data collection on violence against children to be convened by the Together for Girls initiative in October 2015.
· Support the preparations and follow up actions to the meeting, including helping in structuring the meeting, identification of experts, writing the meeting report and participating in webinars convened the Together for Girls initiative
[2] This will build particularly on the publication: “Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, Measuring Violence against Children: Inventory and assessment of quantitative studies, Division of Data, Research and Policy, UNICEF, New York, 2014.”
Duty Station
Remote Based, any location. Travel (TBD)
Timeframe:
Start date: 01 July 2015 (approx..) End date: 29 May 2016 (60 working days)
Key competences, technical background, and experience required:
Education:
· Postgraduate degree in statistics, demography, or a related social science
· A minimum of fifteen years Senior-level professional experience working at national and international levels.
· Extensive experience in data analysis and data collection (large scale population-based surveys) in the area of violence and abuse of children or women.
- Capacity to work independently yet with ability to share information, receive feedback and engage in dialogue with partners.
· Analytical, methodical and precise style of writing
· Knowledge of UNICEF policies and programmes on child protection is a plus.
· Excellent command of English required; working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.
*Please see deliverables in attached chart.
How to apply:
How to Apply
Applicants are requested to send their submissions to <**pdconsultants@unicef.org>with subject line:“Provide Technical Assistance to Strengthen Data Collection and Monitoring Systems for Violence Against Children – Consultancy”**by 30 June 2015, 5:00pm EST.
Applications must include:
· Cover letter,
· CV, and
· P-11 form(http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc)
· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement
Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.
NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit
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.
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