RFP-Production of Regional Toolkit for Practitioners & Policy makers on Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate CEFM in Asia-Pacific

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RFP - Production of a Regional Toolkit for Practitioners and Policy makers on Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate CEFM in Asia-Pacific

About the Organization:

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until adulthood and enable children and young people to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, regional and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

Objectives, supporting activities and expected outcomes:

The consultancy has the following objectives, supported by specific activities and resulting in concrete deliverables:

• Conduct a literature review of similar practical tools guiding policy and practice around eliminating CEFM globally, regionally and nationally, to identify the existing body of resources produced by other like-minded organizations engaged in ending CEFM, build on it and address any gaps observed and identified;
• Collect and analyze key information on global and Asia-Pacific specific good practice in policy-making and programming interventions to prevent, reduce and eliminate CEFM, to create a foundation for the toolkit;
• Develop an integral and gender-transformative Regional Toolkit for Practitioners and Policy-makers on Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Asia Pacific region focusing on the key programming and policy-making aspects (to be further developed and specified):
• Validate the draft toolkit with the Plan International APAC Network of CEFM Focal Points through a series of interactive online workshops, to ensure inclusive participatory approach and ownership by the practitioners;
• Produce an integral narrative for the toolkit, to be used for production of a printed document (which is not included in this consultancy);
• Produce a series of solutions-oriented thematic briefs on specific aspects and themes around CEFM prevention and elimination, intended for specific target audiences (i.e. parliamentarians and policy-makers, field practitioners, religious and traditional leaders, youth activists etc.) and derived from the integral toolkit.

Target Audiences:

There are different target audiences expected to benefit from this Toolkit:

• Internally, it will further inform and strengthen designing and implementation of CEFM focused project interventions supported by Country Offices, Program Units and implementing CSO and CBO partner organizations (field practitioners), as well as related inputs into the organizational efforts to support harmonization, reform and enforcement of the relevant laws and policies regulating CEFM as a harmful practice;
• Externally, it is expected to inform the ongoing policy-making dialogues on measures to accelerate efforts to eliminate CEFM by 2030, as well the relevant legal and policy reform processes across Asia-Pacific region. The Toolkit will be shared with and introduced to a range of civil society actors engaged in direct implementation activities. It will also serve as awareness raising resource to provide information to media and general public on key aspects of this harmful practice and its elimination;
• Youth activists and advocates engaged in different platforms and initiatives fostering activism to end CEFM will benefit from the information provided and use the toolkit to devise their activism strategies.

Suggested Methodology:

At the minimum, the following methods are proposed:

• Desk Mapping and Literature Review
• Key Informants Interviews
• Validation workshops (online

All the activities will be conducted online and remotely.

The Toolkit is expected to provide practical guidance to inform both implementation of project interventions and gender responsive policy-making at the national and regional levels and in the specific context of prevention, reduction and elimination of CEFM in Asia-Pacific region. To that end and among the others, the following topics will be addressed and covered:

• Re-affirming commitment to end CEFM by 2030;
• Increased awareness on the root-causes and consequences of CEFM in Asia-Pacific;
• Manifestations and types of CEFM across the Asia-Pacific region;
• Scope and urgency of the issue justified and backed by updated data and statistics;
• Effective solutions-oriented practice with demonstrated and proven intervention models to inform programming
• Steps in preventing, reducing and eliminating CEFM, reflecting Plan International APAC’s regional Strategic Framework and related priorities;
• Multispectral approach involving multiple stakeholders;
• Systems strengthening approach to render basic services gender-responsive, age appropriate and effective;
• Policy-making and law enforcement implications, including progressive policies and laws, to inform influencing and campaigning;
• Girls- and youth-led activism as a driving force and
• Any other critical aspects jointly identified.

Primary focus will be on the information originating from Plan International experience and practice. Additional focus and attention will be given to similar relevant resources produced by 7 other key INGOs and UN agencies, obtained through literature review and key informant interviews. Additional supporting questions clusters will be developed to obtain relevant information in identifying the key topics.

Key Deliverables:

The final expected deliverables include:

• Integral narrative for the toolkit, to be used for production of a printed publication (which is not covered by this consultancy);
• A series of solutions-oriented mini thematic briefs for specific targeted audiences (i.e. parliamentarians and policy-makers, field practitioners etc). based on and derived from the main toolkit contents. The consultancy will be managed by Plan International Asia-Pacific Regional Head of Child Protection and Partnerships, in close collaboration with the national CEFM Focal Points to obtain necessary information and inputs. The following deliverables are expected to be submitted by the selected consultant / team:

Qualifications:

• Advanced university degree in social sciences and International Development, or other relevant fields Technical Knowledge, skills and experience:
• Minimum 15 years of professional experience preferably in the fields of Gender Equality, Child, Early and Forced Marriage elimination, women empowerment, children’s girls’ and women’s rights or other related issues. Published work is a definite advantage;
• Strong knowledge of and experience working with existing relevant global data sources required;
• Knowledge on quantitative and statistical analysis required;
• Robust understanding of development programming, including influencing techniques and tactics (advocacy, lobbying, campaigning etc);
• Knowledge of Child, Early and Forced Marriage dynamics in Asia-Pacific is a critical requirement;
• Successful track-record of collaboration with Plan International is desirable;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to quickly incorporate feedback from different sources.

Evaluation criteria:

Candidates will be evaluated against the following criteria:

• Criteria Weight Academic qualifications 20%
• Technical knowledge, skills and experience 40%
• Methodology 20%
• Financial proposal 20%

How to apply:

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

• Detailed response to the TOR
• Proposed methodology: innovative approaches are encouraged
• Proposed timelines
• Curriculum Vitae (in case of team’s involvement, for every team member)
• Three references
• Examples of previous work relevant for this consultancy
• Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, etc.

Please send your Expression of Interest and Application to Supornchai.Nawataweeporn@plan-international.org and rasa.sekulovic@plan-international.org by referencing “Regional CEFM Toolkit Asia Pacific” in the subject line and kindly include supporting documents as outlined above. Application deadline is 30 April 2021 (17:00 hrs, Bangkok time/ICT). The only shortlist will be contacted.