Kenya: Training Evaluation for Strengthening Child Protection in African Union Peace Support Operation

1. Background
   Save the Children International (SCI) is the world's leading independent organization for children. As part of our contribution towards ensuring that every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation, Save the Children Sweden has been working with armed forces in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) since 1998 and with the African Union (AU) for the last ten years to promote the rights of children in conflicts, post-conflict and protracted political emergency situations.
   The East Africa Regional Programme (EA RP) aims to strengthen the rights based approach, partner with civil society organizations (CSOs) and advocate and collaborate with regional bodies such as the African Union (AU), African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), East African Community (EAC) and East African Standby Force (EASF) and African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPRs) to ensure that child rights are realized and children are protected from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
2. Project description:
   Since 1998 Save the Children Sweden has been working with armed forces in Sub-Saharan Africa and with the African Union for at least ten years to promote the rights of children in conflicts, post-conflict and protracted political emergency situations. Strengthening child protection in AU Peace Support Operations project is part of Save the Children’s continued work and commitment to reducing incidences of Child Rights violations before, during and post conflicts. The forms part of Save the Children’s global strategy on Child Protection in Emergencies 2012 – 2015, specifically addressing key issues of recruitment of children for use by fighting forces, preventing and responding to sexual and gender based violence, and family separation. As such, Training of military and security forces would support our global objectives to increase the capacity, expertise and resources of civil and military partners to reduce the recruitment of children into armed forces and groups, prevent and respond to sexual violence against children, and support coordinated assistance to separated and unaccompanied children.
   In the past, Save the Children has made great progress in both East and West Africa through several trainings carried out for national and regional troops. However, through this project there was still to standardize the quality and approach of the various Child Protection pre-deployment training of peacekeepers. Save the Children also identified the need to build on
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   existing AU Structures with a focus on the Road Map for the operationalization of the Standby Forces capabilities. This was aimed embedding Child Protection in all Peacekeeping practices and making it the core training of the civilian, military and police components that constitute the multi-dimensional African Standby Force. Parallel to the above, there was a need to ensure monitoring systems are strengthened at national level to reduce the number of boys and girls recruited into armed forces and groups, to decrease family separation, sexual and gender based violence, physical harm or psychological distress. This was achieved through:
   i. Directly supporting the African Standby Forces in East and West Africa to develop standardized pre-deployment training material on child rights and child protection.
   ii. Lobbying the Peace and Security Council and the AU Council of Ministers to adopt the standardized approach to pre deployment training on child rights and child protection in AU Peace Keeping Missions as part of the Road Map to the Operationalization of the Standby Forces.
   iii. Support the RECs in East and West Africa to prioritize support to centers of excellence to optimize their regional profile and to utilize these centers for all pre-deployment training and capacity building of AU Standby Forces.
3. Purpose and Objective of the Training Evaluation:
   The general purpose of the training evaluation is to identify the gaps and strengthen the evidence base for future programming. Specifically, it will review the training and capacity building component of the project as detailed below:
    Assess the level in knowledge and skills of the participants towards protection of children and armed conflict.
    Assess the training model and delivery mechanism d 9and make recommendations for strengthening its design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation (including materials, methodologies, indicators and logistics).
4. Scope of work
   The consultant will carry out the evaluation with the key personalities at ECOWAS, EASFCOM, two (2) Training Centers of Excellence, three (3) Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) and the training/subject matter experts engaged in the trainings.
   Before field work, the consultant should go through all the training materials, manuals, plans and reports related to the courses selected. The consultant will also study other project related documents including the the mid-term review report and research previously undertaken including other relevant project documentation, especially work plans and progress reports. Moreover, the consultant will interview the relevant project team members with respect to the timing of trainings and selection of participants to the trainings, cascading of the trainings, approaches used to deliver the trainings, selection of the trainees and other issue that might affect the data collection, analysis and recommendations emanating from the assessment.
   After careful desk research, the consultant will design the methodology and assessment tools before embarking on the field work with the selected institutions and trainers. The idea is to establish the connection between the project deliverables and capacity strengthening initiatives targeting key actors and institutions protecting children in conflict situations. Performance, knowledge and skills requirements are set out in the Child Protection Toolkit.
5. Major tasks and deliverables of the Consultant:
   a. Establish a detailed work plan to the attention of project management team;
   b. Present an evaluation design that includes a detailed methodology (data collection methods & tools, sampling procedure) in the inception report in a kick-off meeting and in other meetings to all participants in the review process;
   c. Carry out data collection, analysis and interpretation;
   d. The consultant is responsible for writing the evaluation report with inputs from the project management team;
   e. Present the evaluation findings during the validation and dissemination meetings.
6. Approach and Methodology
   The methodology to be used in this assessment would be selected freely, however this must be clearly defined in the consultant’s proposal.
7. Time Line
   The consultancy will be undertaken over a period of 25 days with a breakdown agreed during inception on 21 March 2016.
8. Competencies for the consultant
   The evaluation team/consultant will consist of one consultant with international orientation.
   a. Minimum of Master’s Degree in Development studies, project management, peace and conflict, humanitarian affairs or law with specialized training in project cycle management and demonstrated experience in child protection in emergencies.
   b. Excellent knowledge of how African regional bodies (AU, standby forces) operate in relation to peacekeeping operation in Africa
   c. Abreast with new trends in monitoring and evaluation of multidimensional projects;
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   d. Demonstrate experience conducting participatory evaluation with wit to discern and recommend practical measures;
   e. Demonstrated high level of professionalism and an ability to work independently with tight deadlines.

The application should be sent to: earo.procurement@savethechildren.org

The deadline for submission of applications is 23rd March 2016.