Consultancy Engagement – Terms of Reference Project: Community Child Protection Strengthening Project.

1.0 Background

Feed the Children is an international non-profit relief organization that was founded in 1979 with headquarters in Oklahoma City, United States of America. In Kenya, Feed the Children (FEED) was registered in 1993 under the Non-Governmental Organization Coordination Board Act. FEED’s first program in the 1990s was the Dagoretti Children Centre (DCC) which assisted children who were physically challenged. In 2000, the organization opened the Abandoned Baby Centre (ABC) which rescued children who had been abandoned by their families. In 2004, the organization began implementing the School Feeding Program (now called School Meals Programs). The program was in partnership with WFP and Ministry of Education and was aimed at encouraging children to attend school, keep children in school and ensure they concentrate in class.

Consequently, the organization"s programs have grown significantly in both sectors and geographical areas covered with more focus on development programs. It is for this reason that Feed the Children is deliberately standardizing implementation of programs globally to ensure the greatest impact is felt by the beneficiaries we serve. This was done through designing a development model that would ensure the pillars are integrated in each of the programs and areas we work in.

2.0 Project description

The project is committed to protecting children from abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of violence. Feed the children has chosen to use the model that strengthens the structures for creating a protective environment where children live.

In addition, the project promotes engagement of children in community planning and budgeting processes, through child rights clubs and the Children Assemblies.

3.0 The Purpose and Objectives of the consultancy

The main objective of the baseline survey is to generate baseline information on child protection environment at home, community and school level that would be used to benchmark the progress of the intended project.

FEED staff will be the major users of the baseline results. In addition, key stakeholders in program areas such as county government line departments, partner NGOs, local authorities, and communities are interested parties of the findings.

The specific objectives of the baseline study are;

To establish relevant data on the state of child violations in Kajiado

(Matapato North and South Wards) and Samburu( Waso Division) areas where FEED works.

1. Community"s Knowledge and Perceptions.

· To establish community’s knowledge and perceptions on violence against Children and protection.

· To establish the key perpetrators of violence against children in the above-mentioned communities.

· To establish the proportion of children who are empowered with knowledge and skills to protect themselves

· To establish the proportion of Children who participate in decision making of matters that affect them.

2. Child violations environments.

· To establish the likely environments within the community where Child rights violation takes place.

3. Community owned Mechanisms.

· To establish the existence and effectiveness of community owned mechanisms for preventing and protecting children from abuse and resolving child violation cases in the communities.

4. Reporting Mechanisms.

· To gain insight information on the existing harmful traditional practices (HTP) within the cultural settings in Kajiado,Samburu,Turkana and Nairobi that hinder effective child protection and ways on how these can be addressed

· To find out the proportion of children and caregivers who report abuse or vulnerability and access preventive or recovery psychosocial and legal support services and recover from the abuse.

5. Referral Systems for Child Protection.

· To assess the functionality of the referral system and the linkage between formal and informal system in the counties and sub-counties where FEED works.

· To identify and assess the roles of local cultural and religious leaders in child protection and identify ways of incorporating them in the formal child protection systems

6. Do no Harm approaches of FEED work in relation Child Protection.

· Assess the extent to which FEED"s work may present negative impacts to the wellbeing of Children and their households citing evidence and corrective recommendations.

4.0 scope and extent of work

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

· Conduct desk review of any document research or assessments on Child Protection issues, Child Protection policies and legislation related to child protection and guidelines. As would be relevant to this study

· Review the relevant documents available on child protection issues, interventions, policies and guidelines across the board – the ministries, Communication Authority of Kenya, partners, other NGOs and CBOs.

· Design a comprehensive research design for the survey with details of sampling plan, analysis plan and reporting procedures.

· Conduct household interviews and key informant interviews of sampled respondents in Samburu and Kajiado. Where Children are respondents show evidence of the use of appropriate and child friendly data collection tools

· organize and hold focus group discussions with selected members

· Ensure that the data collected will be analyzed and interpreted using scientific procedures, especially using appropriate tools for quantitative and qualitative data

· The assignment will be summarized in a report which the consultant will have to compile and submit within the stipulated period and in the agreed formats.

· The consultant to submit the data sets alongside the report.

· The consultant to present the final findings, interpretations and recommendations in a report to FEED and other stakeholders for validation (Conduct a validation workshop)

· The consultant will then incorporate the inputs from the feedback session above ( which will then lead to finalization of the Baseline Survey report

· The Consultant will then present the Final Baseline Survey report to FEED (both digital/soft & hard, bound copies)

· The consultant should have the infrastructure and tools of data collection that utilize open data kits procedure available for use at their own cost.

5.0 Deliverables and schedule

This task will take a period of 20 days. The agreed deliverables by the consultant in this consultancy and as shall be drafted in the contract include:

· Final 2 copies of the hard copy Baseline report.

· A soft copy of the baseline report.

· Data set to be submitted in the agreed format between the client and the consultant.

· Final delivery dates will be confirmed in consultation once the candidate has been selected.

6.0 Methodology

The consultant is expected to come up with details of the methodology for conducting the evaluation. But the following issues should be given due consideration in designing the methodologies

· The consultant shall adopt both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect information from both primary and secondary sources.

· The methodology should give plenty of room for the participation of children and communities. Children’s involvement throughout the evaluation process is desirable.

7.0 Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required:

· Masters and above in Social Sciences or related technical field.

· At least 10 years’ experience in program design, monitoring and evaluation or research design and management in child Protection related issues.

· Good qualitative and quantitative research skills including experience in conducting community-based processes and/or research specific to Child Protection

· Good working knowledge of, and contacts relevant to national child protection systems would be desirable

· Understanding of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the legal framework and the relevant national policies and plans for and relating to children.

· Must have extensive knowledge of child protection issues in Kenya and in the specific counties.