Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Closing date: 28 Jun 2017
About Plan International UK
Plan International UK strives to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. We recognise the power and potential of every single child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And its girls who are most affected. As an independent development and humanitarian organisation, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.
Background and rationale
The UK Prime Minster, Theresa May, has established the issue of ‘modern slavery’ as core to the work of her new government [1], and is seeking a ‘whole of government approach’ to addressing it in the UK and globally. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) are exploring the areas where they feel they can most add value as a department, aligning to target 8.7 of SDG framework.
Plan International UK, and the wider Plan International Federation, has considerable experience and expertise in these areas across its development and humanitarian programme portfolio. We are seeking to leverage this expertise in order to support DFID and the UK government to achieve its objectives around the modern slavery agenda, with a specific focus on building an evidence base and policy and programme recommendations to address the specific risks faced by adolescent girls.
This consultancy will be a critical foundational piece for an integrated campaign that Plan International UK will develop on the worst forms of child labour (as a subset of issues that fall under the modern slavery umbrella). It will also enable us to identify key evidence and research gaps, and provide guidance to help shape a research agenda.
Purpose and objectives
The objectives of this study are to:
- Undertake a comprehensive gender and age analysis of the worst forms of child labour and identify and highlight the specific drivers and risks that impact on girls, especially adolescents.
- Produce a policy briefing paper on adolescent girls and the worst forms of child labour with recommendations for policy and practice for the UK government.
- Identify evidence gaps and formulate a subset of research questions on adolescent girls and the worst forms of child labour for further investigation.
Suggested research methods
- Desk-based research, including literature reviews using recognised and rigorous gender methodology and analysis framework, such as intersectional analysis.
- Telephone interviews with relevant stakeholders and key contacts within the development and humanitarian sector, including the UN, DFID and peer NGOs.
Audience and how this study will be used
The outputs of this consultancy will be used for 2 purposes:
The policy briefing will be used to inform Plan International UK’s engagement with decision makers, civil society and other actors in policy making and programming.
The research gap analysis will be used to identify areas for future primary research that could make an important contribution to informing policy, practice and knowledge for Plan International and the wider sector.
Outputs
- An 8-10 page policy briefing paper, developed in consultation with Plan staff. The briefing paper will feature the following components:
- Review of global gendered / typology prevalence data of the worst form of child labour, with a focus on adolescent girls.
- Gender analysis exploring the individual, inter-personal, community, institutional drivers of modern slavery, with a focus on fragile settings and humanitarian contexts (specifics to be agreed with Plan staff).
- Inter-sectional analysis of the specific impacts of these drivers and the risks that are faced by girls of different ages.
- Brief analysis of promising practice and the development of draft policy and programme recommendations (to be finalised in consultation with Plan staff).
- Appendix – List of documentation reviewed, people and organisations interviewed.
- A short 2-4 page briefing to frame discussions around future research in this area, based on gender and evidence gap analyses.
- A bibliography and list of interviewees should be provided separately.
- Separate PowerPoint presentations of the policy briefing paper and the research gap analysis key findings, and a commitment to present these to Plan International UK staff before completion of the consultancy.
Timeframe
The consultant is expected to develop a detailed timeline for this piece of work, but it is anticipated that the whole piece of work should not exceed 20 days. The research gap analysis should be completed by 1 August, and the other outputs by 1 September.
Please note – consultants will need to invoice for the work by 30th June 2017
Research Management
Consultant(s) will report directly to the Policy and Advocacy Advisor.
The work will be carried out in close collaboration with the Plan International UK Gender Adviser, Gender in Emergencies Officer and Child protection in Emergencies Officer.
Skills and experience
The desired specifications and qualities of the consultant(s) are:
- A commitment to promoting and supporting child and girls' rights
- Excellent understanding of gender equality and children’s rights, with a focus on protection from violence, with proven background in carrying out similar research topics in fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
- A minimum of 6 years’ experience in carrying out research on gender equality, through an inter-sectional lens, with demonstrable relevant academic and practical experience in research and gender analysis.
- Demonstrably strong analytical, writing and communication skills, with a track record of writing policy briefing papers for external audiences.
- Conversant with child protection in emergencies, gender in emergencies and child rights and advocacy.
- Fluent spoken and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of French would be an asset.
- Ability to deliver on tight time frames and meet deadlines within agreed budgets
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/defeating-modern-slavery-theresa-may-article
How to apply:
Application Process
Plan UK welcomes a response to these Terms of Reference, with a CV and short written statement including:
- The consultant(s)’ suggested approach including methodology, schedule and proposed research matrix
- An outline of costs & timescales
- A capability statement demonstrating how they meet the required qualifications and competencies;
- Examples of relevant previous work
- Copies of all relevant Curriculum Vitae (CVs). Only CVs for the specific individuals that will form the proposed evaluation team should be included.
- Two references (including one from your last client/employer).
- N/B: The entire bid should be a maximum seven (7) pages including the budget. Bids not meeting this requirement will not be considered.
Responses should be sent to: Anthony Davis (Anthony.davis@plan-uk.org) no later than 5pm on 28th June 2017. Phone interviews will be conducted that week.