TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF THE EXISTING LAWS AND POLICIES ON CHILD LABOUR AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IN KENYA
Project Name: Action Against Child Labour Project
Project Title: Exposing and eliminating child labour in all it’s forms in the service industry in Kenya
Background
Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH NL) is an international non-governmental organization committed to stopping child exploitation. Our mission is to protect children by preventing and stopping child exploitation, and by empowering children to make their voices count. Our vision is that children can flourish in a world free of all forms of exploitation.
Our vision and mission are inspired and guided by international human rights instruments and standards, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Council of Europe's Lanzarote Convention, the International Labour Organisation Conventions and aligned with achievement of the SDGs, in particular Goals 5, 8 and 16.
In 2022, Terre des Hommes Netherlands launched its 2023-2030 Listen up! Strategy with the aim of creating systemic change that addresses the root causes of child exploitation. We will achieve this by empowering children and their communities, connecting them with those who have power to enact change, engaging in lobby & advocacy campaigns, working with partners to build resilience of children, families and communities and utilizing our knowledge and expertise to co-create sustainable, evidence-based solutions.
On the African continent, TdH NL works in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Madagascar. In these countries, TdH NL develops and implements programmes in close collaboration with local partner organizations. In Kenya, TdH NL programmes are implemented in Central, Rift Valley, Coastal, Western and Northern regions of Kenya where we work with communities, government, private sector, civil society organizations and children themselves, at the center, to address systemic and structural drivers that expose children to exploitation.
About the project
Terre des Hommes Netherlands in strategic partnership with Investing in Children and their Societies (ICS SP), is implementing the child labour project in collaboration with other key stakeholders in Busia County as well as at national level. The overall goal of the child labour project is to prevent and respond to child labour with a focus on the service industry. It further envisions exposure and elimination of child labour in all its forms in the service industry in Kenya, with a focus in Matayos and Teso North sub-counties, Busia County.The project is aligned with TdH NL´s strategy as it is designed to contribute towards the long term goal of ending child exploitation (child labour). It will focus on improving prevention of and response to child labour while generating evidence, mobilising and strengthening capacity of key stakeholders including children to advocate for systemic change in the fight against children exploitation in Kenya. This project further aligns with ICS SP goal and strategy of creating safe and nurturing environments for children to reach their full developmental potential.
To achieve the anticipated goal the project seeks to achieve 3 main outcomes:
- Children with increased opportunities to access education and acquire relevant life skills and skills for work
- Families and communities with strengthened capacity to care for, protect and provide the needs of their children.
- Strengthened implementation of child labour laws and policies in the service industry.
Overall, the 3-year project (2022-2025) will target a total of 10,000 children aged 7-18 years, 50,000 families and community members, 2,000 parents and caregivers, 600 formal and informal private sectors, 30 CSOs, and 300 County and National Government Officials. The majority of the total target will be drawn from at-risk children while others will be survivors of child labour. They will be provided with education opportunities and empowered with appropriate and relevant vocational skills in a bid to expand their economic opportunities for better livelihood. The co-implementing partner; ICS-SP, will be intentional in facilitating the beneficiaries to enroll for education and vocational training.
Purpose of the Consultancy
Terre des Hommes Netherlands, and its partner Investing in Children and their Societies (ICS SP), seek to conduct an audit of the existing laws and policies on child labour (especially in the service industry) in Kenya and their implementation.
The purpose of the audit is to establish the existing laws, policies, frameworks and structures that address child labour and their implementation both at the County and National levels. The audit also seeks to identify gaps and implementation challenges and then propose sustainable and practical recommendations that will facilitate sustainable implementation by relevant state and non state actors towards elimination of child labour and other child protection concerns that are enablers and catalysts of child labour in Kenya.
Objectives of the Consultancy
The specific objectives of the assignment are:
- To establish the existing laws and policies that address child labour and other child protection concerns that are enablers and catalysts of child labour in Kenya and the awareness levels of the stated policies by relevant actors (Government, CSOs, Private sector, law enforcement agencies and community).
- To assess the implementation of these laws and policies with a focus on reinforcement structures, technical capacities, resources systems and processes and gaps thereof.
- To provide concrete recommendations and spell out specific actions for different actors (Government, CSOs, Private sector, cross border sector, law enforcement agencies and community) to inform lobby and advocacy to drive the enforcement of child labour laws in the service industry and eliminate worst forms of child labour.
Methodology
The consultant is expected to employ various data collection methods/techniques using a mixed method approach of qualitative and quantitative and not limited to the following:
- Documents and Literature review: Review of existing documentation, including; previous surveys, existing laws that protect children from all forms of child labour such as theNational Plans of Action, similar audits by ILO among others surveys, Children Act 2022 and other relevant legislation enacted before or after the Last law and policy audit on child labor by ILO.
- Focus Group Discussions: With target groups and other stakeholders to assess the awareness of existing laws and policies, implementation gap and recommendations
- Key Informant Interviews: Consultations with key state and non state actors, including service industry players on awareness of these laws and policies, their role in implementations, gaps and recommendations.
Key Deliverables
The team for this assignment will consist of the consultant(s) who will have overall responsibility for designing, implementing, and coordinating the entire Child Labour laws and policy audit as guided by the ToR.
The consultant will be required to successfully deliver the following:
- Inception report which responds to the Terms of Reference, scope of work with a feasible methodology, survey instruments, detailed work plan, and budget.
- A field work implementation plan (to be submitted before field work begins). This field work plan, on how both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected, should be presented to TdH NL for comments and revised as necessary prior to commencing fieldwork.
- Draft laws and policies audit report incorporating the detailed analysis and presentation of the findings as per the specific objectives.
- Internal validation: The consultant will lead a validation of the audit findings by making a presentation of the findings to the TdH NL team and partner management and project teams. The meeting will provide an an opportunity to clarify outstanding aspects of the policy audits and mapping excise in child labour sector before finalization of the report.
- The Final Report: The consultant will be expected to produce and submit a final laws and policies audit report, subject to final approval by TdH NL in terms of whether or not the report meets the conditions of the ToR and expected standards.
- The consultant will be required to submit all validated and anonymous data sets used for analysis, any scripts or instructions on data management as well as transcripts gathered, as appendices to the final report.
- Dissemination Workshop: Following a final audit report, TdH NL and ICS SP will organize a dissemination workshop with its key stakeholders. The consultant is expected to co-facilitate the workshop and present the results of the audit.
- Final reports must be submitted in a printed/publishable format and a summarized Powerpoint presentation of the audit findings for dissemination.
Child Safeguarding Measures
In line with the UNCRC, Terre des Hommes Netherlands strives to keep children safe in all its undertakings. A screening and reference check of the successful candidate will be conducted during the selection process to confirm the suitability of working with children. The successful applicant will be required to read, understand, and commit to abide by TdH NL’s Child Safeguarding Policies and Guidelines. The institution/firm or individual consultant will sign the policies to indicate an understanding of, and commitment to follow the policy requirements.
Timelines
The child labour laws and policies audit and mapping exercise is scheduled to be conducted in May 2023 with the anticipated timelines being 15th May 2023 to 15th July 2023. The final report should be submitted to TdH NL by or on 28th July, 2023 ahead of the dissemination to be scheduled and communicated to the consultant.
Consultant Profile
Competencies, Experience, and Skill requirements
The consultant engaged to undertake the assignment must fulfill the following requirements:
The knowledge, skills, and expertise required areas are as outlined below:
- The lead consultant or coordinator is required to have a minimum of a Masters in Law, Social Sciences, Community Development, or other related fields
- Sound understanding of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Code of Conduct, and UN Global Compact
- Demonstrable experience and knowledge of child labour and associated laws and policies
- A minimum of five years of experience doing legal and policy drafting and writings on child rights and child protection context
- A Minimum of three years experience assessing or evaluating Child Labour related documents,programmes or contexts
- Extensive knowledge/experience in conducting legal-related evaluations focusing on child labour, child protection and child rights programming
- A strong commitment to and proven experience in utilizing child participatory approaches in conducting assessments
- Proven experience in conducting evaluations and research using various mixed method techniques such as in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions, etc.
- Experience in working with or for INGOs
- Has excellent analytical, reporting writing, packaging, dissemination skills
- Has excellent communication skills in writing and spoken English and Kiswahili.
- Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills
- Is familiar with social and cultural norms (positive and negative), and attitudes especially in relation to child protection in kenya locals contexts
How to apply
Qualified and interested applicants to submit Technical and Financial proposals electronically in PDF formats, addressed to “The Selection Committee”, with subject line clearly marked Child Labour Project, Laws and Policy Audit via email on or before Tuesday 12th May, 2023 at 1700 hrs (EAT) to: recruitment.africa@tdh.nl with the aim to select the consultant by 12th May 2023 and start the assignment by 15th May 2023.
All applications should include the following:
- Technical proposal (max. 5-6 pages) outlining their motivation for the application, the technical approach on how to conduct the assignment, including an evaluation matrix outlining how the specific objectives will be assessed and the resources required.
- A proposed detailed work plan outlining audit activities with clear timelines.
- Financial proposal in KES detailing itemized fees, data collection, logistical and administrative costs (this should be inclusive).
- A copy of the CV of the lead consultant who will undertake the Policy Audit.
- Copies of similar laws and policy audits or mapping reports (Child Labour) conducted by the applicant where possible and or a recommendation letter from an INGO’s who the consultant has worked with before.
NB: The submission of a sample report and/or assignment may be required.