Consultant for System-Strengthening Tender, Jordan - 26258283

Procurement Summary

Country : Jordan

Summary : Consultant for System-Strengthening

Deadline : 08 Sep 2018

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 26258283

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND
Abdulqader Al-Abed Street Building No.15 Tla'a Al-Ali Amman Tel: +962-553.9977 Fax: 553.1112
Jordan
Email :rjenkins@unicef.org
URL :http://www.unicef.org/

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for Consultant for System-Strengthening for 5 months.

· UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential to the benefit of a better world.

· Consultancy Title: National Consultant for System-Strengthening, including: updating/ enforcement of MOE accountability system and responsive procedures that ensure prevention of VAC in all schools; in addition to harmonizing center and home based-child care related regulations.

· BACKGROUND:

· The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children's rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society's most disadvantaged citizens addressing inequity not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.

· A. MoE Accountability Systems to Prevent Violence against Children (VAC):

· The Ma'An (Together) Towards a Safe School Campaign was launched in November 2009. The Programme's goal is to make schools safe for children. This was intended to be achieved by changing social norms around violence against children (VAC), educating teachers about their rights and responsibilities, and fostering accountability amongst care-givers. It aims to reduce the incidence of VAC in schools (by teachers or educators). The Programme's spread includes government (Ministry of Education - MoE) run schools in 43 Directorates of the ministry, Jordanian military schools, and schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in four (04) UNRWA educational areas for the Palestinian children.

· Given the scale-up of the different components of Ma'An Programme from 2010 (Tarbiyeh, Advocacy Groups, MOSS, school-level activities, etc.) and the resources dedicated, UINCEF conducted an evaluation in 2017 of the scale-up of the key components of the Ma’An campaign to generate evidence based knowledge of the impact of the campaign on the reduction of violence in schools. The main purpose of the ex-post, summative-formative evaluation was to determine the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of the Ma'An Campaign interventions on reducing violence against children in schools in Jordan. The evaluation looked at alternative implementation, future strategy and lessons learnt of the campaign.

· Overall, the results indicate significant reduction in verbal and physical violence across all grades. The change percent of 43% reduction in verbal and 47% reduction in physical violence in a 3, 241 MoE schools is note-worthy and appreciable by any standards. Reduction in VAC in UNRWA run schools is marginally higher and merits praise. It appears to correlate with the use of better accountability mechanisms and management supervision; training of teachers; and staff availability including other elements. The evaluation found that a balanced approach of sanctions and positive reinforcements is required to achieve better results. Although accountability mechanisms have been put in place for all actors including the teachers and students, it remained weak and needs to be strengthened to support poor performers and recognize high achievers. Ma'An has given parents and children a voice and understanding of existing complaint mechanisms, and parents feel more involved with school and teachers for the wellbeing of their children, but there needs to be a clear pathway of verification and investigation of reported VAC cases.

· B. Licensing regulations for center-based-child care (kindergartens and nurseries) in Jordan

· A child's development is largely determined by the quality of the care provided in the early years. A high-quality child care center promotes the development of language, cognitive, socio-emotional skills and other skills needed to ensure a good start in school, smooth transition to primary schools and life-long learning.

· Official record in Jordan indicate that less than three per cent of children aged 0-3 are in any form of childcare settings; only 13 per cent of children aged 4-5 years accessing KG1; and 59 per cent of 5-6 years old attending formal KG2 (2016 MoE). Nevertheless, a recent RTI/UNICEF study revealed that 84 per cent of 5-6 years-old children in Jordan attended KG2 or KG-like services in the school year 2016/2017. These findings suggest that the country is closer to achieving universalization of KG2 services, only should these child care settings are regulated and formalized by the government. While the study only examined KG provision, the number of unlicensed nurseries throughout the country is also expected to be high. Unauthorized KG and nursery provision raises concerns over safety and protection of the children, and questions the quality of the services provided in these child care settings.

· UNICEF recognizes that the absence of a harmonized regulatory framework and minimum standards for licensing KGs and nurseries is a key challenge to advancing quality ECD programmes in the country. A preliminary analysis of selected government policies and guidelines for licensing KGs and nurseries in Jordan, conducted by UNICEF, identified bottlenecks in the licensing process that need to be addressed. A lengthy licensing processes; outdated and unnecessary requirements; lack of incentives for licensing, etc.; are only few examples that hamper the realization of the national vision for child care.

· Considering the above, a national consultant with relevant technical expertise is needed to: (a) review and provide recommendations to improve relevant MOE regulations and mechanisms to better eliminate VAC in schools; and (b) review and propose regulatory amendments related to center-based child care licensing (KGs and nurseries).

· OBJECTIVE:

· The Consultant will mainly work with MOE and UNICEF to achieve the following objectives:

· MoE Accountability Systems

· 1. Update / enforcement of MOE accountability and responsive systems and procedures (central, directorate and school levels) that ensure prevention of VAC in all schools by reviewing different legislations of MOE including accountability standards, verification and investigation mechanisms to ensure that perpetrators of violence are penalized.

· 2. Amend student discipline regulation, and providing key practical recommendation on how to strengthen or amend these mechanisms. to enhance student self-discipline.

· Licensing regulations for center-based-child care (kindergartens and nurseries) in Jordan

· 1. Undertake a comprehensive analysis of relevant laws, bylaws, regulations and standards in Jordan related to KGs and nurseries licensing. Through a consultative process that includes relevant governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, this analysis shall identify gaps and overlaps in regulatory requirements.

· 2. Propose regulatory amendments that would lead to the development of a harmonized and consistent licensing processes across sectors. The proposed regulatory framework shall simplify the process of issuing new licenses or renewing existing ones for both KGs and nurseries based on minimum standards.

· SCOPE OF WORK (WORK ASSIGNMENT):

· MoE Accountability Systems: The Consultant will work to achieve the following tasks:

· 1. Conduct a desk review/situation analysis on all relevant regulatory legislations (laws, bi-laws, regulations and guidelines), efforts and literature available at the ministry that are related to violence and accountability systems.

· 2. Develop an inception report with detailed action plan for the assignment in coordination with concerned sections at UNICEF and MOE, based on international best practices and Jordan's context. The report will identify the legislations, bi-laws, standards and regulations that needs to amended to ensure a safe environment at schools.

· 3. Conduct field visits, meetings, interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of all those involved at all levels in the Ministry of Education and other concerned

· 4. Analyse the legislative framework in comparison to international best practices and propose recommendations for the amendment of the various legislations, and propose needed procedures to implement such amendments to better eliminate VAC in schools.

· 5. The recommendation should also classify the schools per clear criteria and develop complete regulations for each category of schools.

· 6. Validate these recommendations with key officials from the MoE and UNICEF and other educational institutions.

· 7. Provide recommendations to update and enforce MOE accountability system and procedures to eliminate violence against children in schools, and develop detailed SOPs and related regulations for the updated internal accountability procedures.

· 8. Propose structured transparent complaint, verification and investigation mechanisms for GBV and CP cases. The proposed investigation mechanisms should be transparent and neutral, ensuring that the structure is not solely based on

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