Consultancy to Support the Ministry to Assess Children in Public Residential Care... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Albania

Summary : Consultancy to Support the Ministry to Assess Children in Public Residential Care Institution and Plan Their Family Re-Unification or Alternative to Residential Care Placement

Deadline : 30 Aug 2018

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 25989206

Document Ref. No. : TOR-ALBA-2018-021

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND
Str. Skenderbej, UN Albania building, 3rd floor, Tirana Tel: +355 4 2273 335, 6, 7, 8, 9
Albania
Email :albprocurement@unicef.org
URL :http://www.unicef.org/

Tender Details

Request for proposals are invited for national institutional consultancy to support the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to assess children in Public Residential Care institution and plan their family re-unification or alternative to residential care placement."

UNICEF Tirana Office would like to announce the issue of a Request for Proposal for Services as fully described at the attached solicitation document with reference no. "TOR-ALBA-2018-021 - A national institutional consultancy to support the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to assess children in Public Residential Care institution and plan their family re-unification or alternative to residential care placement."

The type of proposed contract is institutional consultancy and the contractor is expected to form a solid team of highly experienced professionals to perform all tasks outlined in the linked document.

The deadline of application is Thursday, 30 August 2018 at 16:30 hrs. Submission is to the email address included in the document.

1. UNICEF IN ALBANIA

UNICEF is the agency of the United Nations (UN) mandated to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. In Albania, UNICEF works with the Government and other partners to promote good governance for children, as well as inclusive and protective policies. UNICEF operates within the framework of the “Delivering as One UN” Programme of Cooperation for Sustainable Development between the Government of Albania (GoA) and United Nations (2017 2021) and the Country Programme Document (CPD) for Albania (2017-2021). As stipulated in the CPD, UNICEF prioritizes its efforts to support:

- Strengthened governance for equity and social inclusion (in health, education and social protection);

- Protection and access to justice for children; and

- Overall programme effectiveness.

Guided by the “Delivering as One UN” framework UNICEF contributes to achieve the below results specific to children (boys and girls) and their families.

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

There is a significant body of global evidence pointing to the damaging effects of residential institutional care for children2

. This is recognized in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which notes that “…the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding”3.

The Government of Albania also recognizes that this type of residential institutional care provision no longer offers children the best opportunity to grow and develop into healthy adults. The 2003 Family Code promotes the concept of support to preserve the stability of families (Article 3) and where this is not possible identifies the priority hierarchy for alternative care as 1) kinship care, 2) foster care, and as a last alternative, 3) a public or private institution (Article 267).

With UNICEF-s assistance, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Albania has been developing a renewed policy, legal and institutional framework for social and child protection system. This process has encompassed the adoption of the new Law on Social Care Services (2016), the Law on Child Rights and Protection (2017) and subsequent reorganization and introduction of progressive approaches to child care and protection. The process as well triggered a new impetus for strengthening of intersectoral cooperation and professional capacity development need of relevant sectors for the prevention of family breakdown In light of the above mentioned, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, with the continuous support from

UNICEF and other key stakeholders, is in the process of advancing gradual and full De-Institutionalization of
children from all public residential care facilities, though re-enforcement of family support and re-unification opportunities, as well as alternative care options for children, such as kinship, foster care and small family type group homes.

Therefore, as a first active step in this direction, the Ministry has initiated a complete assessment of all public residential care institutions were children are placed and requested UNICEF and other key stakeholders to provide needed technical and financial assistance. Snapshot of the situation of children in (public) alternative care in Albania There are approximately 700, 000 children in Albania representing more than 24 per cent of the total population4, out of which the number of children in residential care institutions is provided below in the table. However, a cautious approach is advised in the interpretation of the statistical data. The rate of reporting children living in residential institutional care does not always reflect the actual situation of children living in formal care, for example a child may be living in kinship care supervised by a social worker, or living in a foster care placement, or living in a small-group home. The numbers are a one-dimensional snapshot in time and cannot depict the complexity of the issues. Children can move in and out of residential institutional care, for example, during a 2014 evaluation, whilst only three children were resident at the time of the headcount a review of historical data indicated that 18 children had been admitted to the residential care institution and 16 had left during the survey period5 . Similarly, the data sources, collection and reporting systems may not be compatible and comparable. .

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