National Consultancy to Carry out a Rapid Assessment of and Develop Guidance on Guardianship... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Tajikistan

Summary : National Consultancy to Carry out a Rapid Assessment of and Develop Guidance on Guardianship and Trusteeship

Deadline : 22 Oct 2018

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 27518783

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND
UNICEF Office Dushanbe 37/1 Bokhtar Street Dushanbe Tel: +992-446000190/446000191/446000192/446000194/446000195 Fax: +992-446000196
Tajikistan
Email :dushanbe@unicef.org

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for National Consultancy to Carry out a Rapid Assessment of and Develop Guidance on Guardianship and Trusteeship in Tajikistan.

UNICEF works in some of the world's toughest places, to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child,

Guardianship and Trusteeship are alternative family care options that are formally used in Tajikistan to place children deprived of parental care in a family arrangement, and hence to prevent children from being placed in Residential Childcare Institutions. Despite the fact that the number of children in Residential Childcare Institutions has remained stable over the years with a slight reduction (10, 802 children in 2012 and 10, 061 in 2016), the number of children under Guardianship and Trusteeship tends to decrease (1, 261 in 2012 to 720 in 2016).

The legal framework governing the Guardianship and Trusteeship system consists of the Family Code and the Regulation on Guardianship Authority revised by the Government in 2017. In August 2016, 1.5 year after the adoption of the Law on Child Rights Protection, the MOES was appointed the custodian of the 2015 Law in general and as a result was made responsible at national level for overseeing the Guardianship and Trusteeship system. The MOES is currently working towards the establishment of a Division on Child Right Protection in the Ministry that will eventually provide the required oversight mechanism.

Case-management for placement of children is carried out by the Secretary of the Commission on Child Rights at district level in some places and in other places it is done by the Guardianship and Trusteeship Authority under the District Education Department. Guardianship and Trusteeship functions are one of the specific mandates of the Commission on Child Rights at district level and its Secretary; however, existing practices and structures vary across regions and would need some alignment in order to clarify roles and responsibilities between the Guardianship and Trusteeship Authority, the Commission on Child Rights at district level and local self-governance authorities. There is no clear data in the country on such practices in the country.

UNICEF Tajikistan intends to carry out a rapid assessment to better understand the current functioning of Guardianship, as well as the situation of children placed under guardianship and the circumstances surrounding their placement. This exercise will also assist the MOES with the development of practical guidance to support the delivery of Guardianship functions – notably in the context of labour migration. The assessment is also expected to explore opportunities for strengthening this system to increase placements under this type of formal care, and hence reduce the number of children placed in Residential Childcare Institutions.

Against this backdrop, UNICEF Tajikistan Country Office, in close consultation with the MOES, seeks to hire a national consultant to carry out the rapid assessment of the Guardianship and Trusteeship system in the country.

How can you make a difference?

The main purpose of this assignment is to assess the Guardianship and Trusteeship system, including its functionality at central, province and district levels in Tajikistan. In particular, the assignment aims to:

§ Examine the current practices used and capacities in place in selected districts on how the system works;

§ Assess the process of placement of children under Guardianship and Trusteeship from a case-management perspective;

§ Draw a comprehensive picture of factors, reasons and dynamics or trends of placements under Guardianship and Trusteeship;

§ Develop practical guidance for the delivery of Guardianship and Trusteeship functions in light of the 2017 Regulation on Guardianship Authority and the findings of the Functional Assessment of Commissions on Child.

The specific objectives of the assignment include:

§ Provide a detailed picture of the Guardianship and Trusteeship system and its interactions with other services to keep children in their biological families and when children are placed under this type of care to sustain such placements;

§ Clarify implications of Guardianship and Trusteeship in terms of access to legal protection and social assistance for the child and the guardian, but also for the biological parents (potential loss of benefits, process to revert or appeal the decision, possibility to resort to temporary guardianship, etc.)

§ Provide a comprehensive analysis of the reasons why children cannot stay in their biological families (e.g. migration), why social protection measures (i.e., assistance, benefits) are not effective to keep children in their families, which families are taking in children under Guardianship and Trusteeship, period of stay of children under this type of care, re-integration of children under this type of care into their biological families, how biological families are supported to have their children back, risks of placement of children in Residential Childcare Institutions when they are placed under Guardianship and Trusteeship.

§ Explore to what extent Guardianship and Trusteeship is granted to extended family members or persons already known/close to the child, and in a position to nurture continued contacts or communication with the biological parents when appropriate. Similarly, explore the current extent of informal kinship care in Tajikistan; existing barriers, as well as pros and cons, to its formalization through Guardianship and Trusteeship.

§ Other issues to be considered in the analysis include the following:

Children and their caregivers:

§ Who are children at risk of leaving their biological families and children placed under Guardianship and Trusteeship?

§ Why such alternative options (Guardianship and Trusteeship) are preferred for these children?

§ What is the process of making the decision to place the child under Guardianship and Trusteeship and what principles or criteria are used for such placement?

§ How are children in need of Guardianship and Trusteeship identified in the first place and what are the dynamics or trends of Guardianship and Trusteeship placements at district level?

§ What are the profiles of families who cannot take care of their children and resort to guardianship and the profiles of families who receive children under Guardianship and Trusteeship?

§ What are the problems faced by children under Guardianship and Trusteeship (e.g. discrimination, violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect, ill-treatment, depression)?

§ What other types of alternative care options are available for children at risk of leaving their biological families (formal and informal) besides Guardianship and Trusteeship?

§ Who do children placed under Guardianship and Trusteeship turn to if they need support? What services are available and accessible to children at risk who are placed under Guardianship and Trusteeship?

§ Are children and their Guardians/ Trustees aware of the different services and support available to them?

§ What support do formally registered Guardians/ Trustees receive from authorities in terms of assistance and benefits? What assistance and benefits do Guardians/ Trustees require to sustain such placements?

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

The main tasks of the assignment are as follows:

1. Undertake a desk review of relevant statistics, studies, policies, legislation and regulations related to alternative family-based care and child protection in general, and to the Guardianship and Trusteeship, in particular.

2. Identify key informants jointly with UNICEF and MOES and develop questions/questionnaires for interviews with stakeholders and focus group discussions with families whose children have been placed under Guardianship and Trusteeship and families who have taken in children under this type and other care arrangements.

3. Develop six case studies of children placed under Guardianship and Trusteeship, describing the placement process and the circumstances that led to this placement, including the outcomes for the children.

4. Identify and describe the tasks of the Secretary of Guardianship Authority and each member of the Commission on Child Rights related to Guardianship and Trusteeship.

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