Terms of Reference
Develop a Meso Methodology / Senior Gender and Child Marriage -Consultancy
Location: Remote Based
Language(s) Required: English
Travel: Yes
Duration of Contract: 6 Months (50 Working Days)
Application Deadline: 21 May 2015
Background & Rational:
The prevalence, scope, and negative impact of child marriage on the lives of girls and on broader development outcomes has come under greater focus in the last 3-4 years, resulting in increasing interest and commitment of resources and political will by nations and the global community in accelerating the decline in child marriage rates. At the Girl Summit in July 2014, governments and civil societies from at least 26 countries with either high prevalence rates, or high burden of child marriage—or both—committed to taking concerted action at scale. Concurrently, several donor countries committed serious initial resources—in the range of $80 million--to catalyze change, with UNICEF and UNFPA as the two multilaterals serving as intermediaries in coordinating a Global Programme to accelerate declines in child marriage, focusing initially on 12 countries in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
This level of unprecedented attention to the issue of child marriage has been made possible, in part, by the successful showcasing of data and evidence, both on the very large number of girls who continue to get married as children, and the existence of some programming strategies that have shown results in either raising the age at marriage in given communities, preventing subsets of girls from marrying young, or in changing attitudes and values among parents, girls, boys, and influentials. However, the vast majority of programmes where delaying marriage was a deliberately set outcome have been “micro,” or at small scale, and it is not clear that they have sustained either the progamme activities or the outcomes over the longer term, or have scaled up to more than a few thousand girls in places where millions are at risk. More “macro” programmes such as girls’ schooling and cash transfers or incentive schemes have delayed marriage (girls’ schooling more unequivocally) at large scale, but for the most part neither type of programme deliberately set out to do so. Mass communications and behavior change interventions could also serve to delay marriage at scale, but this approach has been less common, and remains largely unevaluated. Rather, most concerted and deliberate national or “macro level” efforts at ending child marriage have focused on legislative change and enforcement, and there is minimal evidence that this has been a successful approach. In fact, a historical review suggests that neither legislation nor enforcement has actually been a successful strategy for ending child marriage.
Purpose:
To better define the practical actions that can be taken at scale in the countries with high prevalence and burden of child marriage, UNICEF HQ, in collaboration with UNICEF’s Office of Research at the Innocenti Center, is supporting the development of a “meso methodology.” The “methodology” refers to the key steps for undertaking a multi-step analysis that would identify the most promising and actionable steps for addressing child marriage at scale in a given country. The “meso” refers to that analysis being undertaken at a level higher than at the community level—where most of the current small scale interventions have focused—but at a lower level than broad policy change through legislative action or enforcement regarding the age at marriage.
Scope of Work:
The senior gender and child marriage consultant will engage with UNICEF HQ, Country Office, and Regional Office Staff, as well as relevant partners, experts, and stakeholders to help articulate the key elements of the meso-methodology for taking child marriage interventions to scale. S/he will document an initial draft in a form that captures the key strategic and actionable steps the country offices are undertaking or plan to undertake while at the same time capturing elements that these and other country offices and stakeholders can focus on in taking their work forward. An initial draft of the “meso-methodology” will be developed over the next 3-6 months, based on the programming analysis being undertaken by UNICEF country offices and their partners in 3 of the most “poised” countries for action at scale on child marriage: India, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh. These are countries with child marriage prevalence rates above 40%, very large numbers (multiple millions) of girls at risk, but also a history of addressing the problem of child marriage, strong government support for accelerating action, and civil society and research capacity for effective partnership.
The development of the initial draft of the meso-methodology will involve: 1) engagement with each of the three UNICEF country offices in a sequential way (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India), UNICEF HQ and regional offices in further refining and enhancing the country level analyses being undertaken for concrete steps on implementation at scale; 2) documenting the key elements of the analysis in each country; and 3) merging the learning and documentation from the three countries to provide a more standardized framework for undertaking such an analysis in a broader range of countries.
The senior consultant will bring a strong understanding around the child marriage issue, the theory of change for its interventions, the current evidence base, and should be able to facilitate a robust analysis and connection to necessary experts and information resources. S/he should also be able to document the methodology as it evolves.
The consultant will work very closely with HQ, regional, and country teams working on UNCIEF’s global programme on child marriage and through the Gender Section will liaise with the UNICEF team working on the global research partnership on the structural and social determinants of adolescent well-being in low and middle-income countries, led by the UNICEF Office of Research.
Expected results and deliverables:
1. Provision of expertise and support to the 3 UNICEF country teams in a phased approach (starting with one country followed by the remaining 2 countries) and to the HQ and Regional Office teams in refining and advancing their approach to taking interventions at scale, incorporating inputs and advice from external policy and sectoral experts as well as the existing data and literature as required.
2. Development of a draft analytical framework for scaling up child marriage interventions in multiple sectors, capturing country-level analyses undertaken, other relevant programme and policy analyses within and across sectors, and existing evidence.
3. Documentation of scale-up of analysis for one country and initial drafts for the two remaining countries.
4. Draft meso-methodology capturing the analysis frameworks and including refinements for each of the three countries.
Timeframe:
Start date: 1 June 2015 (approx.) End date: 15 November 2015
Location:
The consultant will be home-based, but will travel to UNICEF HQ and Country Offices as required.
Deliverables / Estimated # of days / DeadlineDraft analytical framework for scaling up child marriage interventions in multiple sectors, capturing country-level analyses undertaken, other relevant programme and policy analyses within and across sectors, and existing evidence. / 15 / June 30, 2015
Input to and documentation of scale-up of analysis for one country and initial drafts of scale up of analysis for the other two countries. / 20 / October 15, 2015
Initial draft of meso-methodology / 15 / November 15, 2015
Total: / 50 Days
Key competences, technical background, and experience required:
· Advanced university degree in social sciences, public health, or international development; PhD preferred.
· At least 10 years of experience in gender and adolescent programming and research.
· Excellent analytical, documentation and research skills, including having a strong background in qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
· Substantial knowledge of the evidence base and intervention options for child marriage as well as sound understanding of girls’ education and adolescent health programming.
· Demonstrated experience in at least one of the three child marriage countries – India, Ethiopia and Bangladesh – and with adolescent programming and research in Asia and Africa.
· Excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as strong leadership and coordination skills.
· An established profession network of experts on girls’ education, adolescent health and child marriage.
How to Apply
Applicants are requested to send their submissions to with subject line:
Develop a Meso Methodology / Senior Gender and Child Marriage - Consultancy
by 21 May 2015, 5:00pm EST.
Applications must include:
· Cover letter,
· CV, and
· P-11 form ( http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc )
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.
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.
General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants / Individual Contractors
1. Legal Status
The individual engaged by UNICEF under this contract as a consultant or individual contractors (the “Contractor”) is engaged in a personal capacity and not as representatives of a Government or of any other entity external to the United Nations. The Contractor is neither a "staff member" under the Staff Regulations of the United Nations and UNICEF policies and procedures nor an "official" for the purpose of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 1946. The Contractor may, however, be afforded the status of "Experts on Mission" in the sense of Section 22 of Article VI of the Convention and the Contractor is required by UNICEF to travel in order to fulfill the requirements of this contract, the Contractor may be issued a United Nations Certificate in accordance with Section 26 of Article VII of the Convention.
2. Obligations
The Contractor shall complete the assignment set out in the Terms of Reference for this contract with due diligence, efficiency and economy, in accordance with generally accepted professional techniques and practices.
The Contractor must respect the impartiality and independence of UNICEF and the United Nations and in connection with this contract must neither seek nor accept instructions from anyone other than UNICEF. During the term of this contract the Contractor must refrain from any conduct that would adversely reflect on UNICEF or the United Nations and must not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICEF. The Contractor must exercise the utmost discretion in all matters relating to this contract.
In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, the Contractor (a) will conduct him- or herself in a manner consistent with the Standards of Conduct in the International Civil Service; and (b) will comply with the administrative instructions and policies and procedures of UNICE relating to fraud and corruption; information disclosure; use of electronic communication assets; harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority; and the requirements set forth in the Secretary General's Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.
Unless otherwise authorized by the appropriate official in the office concerned, the Contractor must not communicate at any time to the media or to any institution, person, Government or other entity external to UNICEF any information that has not been made public and which has become known to the Contractor by reason of his or her association with UNICEF or the United Nations. The Contractor may not use such information without the written authorization of UNICEF, and shall under no circumstances use such information for his or her private advantage or that of others. These obligations do not lapse upon termination of this contact.
3. Title rights
UNICEF shall be entitled to all property rights, including but not limited to patents, copyrights and trademarks, with regard to material created by the Contractor which bears a direct relation to, or is made in order to perform, this contract. At the request of UNICEF, the Contractor shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to UNICEF in compliance with the requirements of the law governing such rights.
4. Travel
If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform this contract, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs shall be set out in the contract, on the following basis:
(a) UNICEF will pay for travel in economy class via the most direct and economical route; provided however that in exceptional circumstances, such as for medical reasons, travel in business class may be approved by UNICEF on a case-by-case basis.
(b) UNICEF will reimburse the Contractor for out-of-pocket expenses associated with such travel by paying an amount equivalent to the daily subsistence allowance that would be paid to staff members undertaking similar travel for official purposes.
5. Statement of good health
Before commencing work, the Contractor must deliver to UNICEF a certified self-statement of good health and to take full responsibility for the accuracy of that statement. In addition, the Contractor must include in this statement of good health (a) confirmation that he or she has been informed regarding inoculations required for him or her to receive, at his or her own cost and from his or her own medical practitioner or other party, for travel to the country or countries to which travel is authorized; and (b) a statement he or she is covered by medical/health insurance and that, if required to travel beyond commuting distance from his or her usual place or residence to UNICEF (other than to duty station(s) with hardship ratings “H” and “A”, a list of which has been provided to the Contractor) the Contractor’s medical/health insurance covers medical evacuations. The Contractor will be responsible for assuming all costs that may be occurred in relation to the statement of good health.
6. Insurance
The Contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expense, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of this contract as he or she considers appropriate taking into account, among other things, the requirements of paragraph 5 above. The Contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members. The responsibility of UNICEF and the United Nations is limited solely to the payment of compensation under the conditions described in paragraph 7 below.