UNICEF Lebanon

UNICEF Lebanon recruits an:

INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT

Section: / Field Operations / Date: / 21-Dec-2015
Title: / SOCIAL PROTECTION IN EMERGENCY CONSULTANT / Location: / Beirut, Lebanon
Reporting to: / Chief of Field Operations / Contract type: / Individual SSA
Duration: / One month / Start date: / As soon as possible

Complete Terms of Reference are downloadable here:

  1. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this consultancy is to conduct a quick feasibility assessment on the possible introduction of cash to mitigate poverty and livelihood issues (such as child labour) in order to tackle dropout, prioritize retention and the enrolment of Syrian refugee children (5-14 years of age) in Lebanese public schools.

  1. BACKGROUND

Lebanon is currently hosting over 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees as of August 2015. It is dealing with this massive refugee influx for four years now within a constrained public system, both in terms of resources and capacity as well as a fragile socioeconomic and political context. While the Lebanese government has taken considerable measures to accommodate the Syrian refugee influx, Syrian refugee children are still experiencing many barriers in accessing education and half of the school-aged children are out-of-school with many having entered the worst forms of child labour, such as bonded labour in agriculture or street-based work in urban centres.

There are approximately 477,050 displaced Syrian children and approximately 11,000 displaced Palestinian children from Syria aged between 3 and 18 years old currently in Lebanon. All these children have a right to access education as per the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). The influx of refugee population in Lebanon has increased the demand for education services, not only in terms of numbers but also with regards the variety of needs and its impact on quality of the educational system. Most displaced children have seen their education disrupted. If they access schools, they have to cope with a different curriculum and educational challenges. Many are not able to resume schooling, due to their poor academic level and socio-economic situation, because they are over-aged or discouraged. Some also witness serious acts of violence and are in need of psycho-social support.

For the current school year alone, the Ministry of Education with assistance from UNICEF, other partners and donors are supporting the enrolment of an estimated 160,000 refugee girls and boys and around 200,000 poor Lebanese girls and boys from host families. During the previous years, children who did not qualify for places in the public system, were supported with alternate non-formal learning opportunities. In parallel, relevant learning and recreational materials are being provided to a vast majority of all these children; school fees are waivered for all children (Lebanese and Non-Lebanese); and transportation is being provided to some who cannot walk to school.

Despite these effort there are still a significant amount of Syrian refugee children (between 100,000- 150,000) out of school or at risk of dropping out of school due to six (6) main prevailing barriers and bottlenecks:

Violence in school: there a numerous reports of Syrian refugee children fighting among themselves and being bullied in schools by their Lebanese peers. Some teachers are also reported resorting to violent disciplinary practices;

Violence in the home and community: Syrian refugee children have been exposed to conflict and violence in Syria and now in Lebanon are exposed to discrimination, delinquency and risky behaviours including involvement in armed violence and gender-based violence as well as an increasing reliance on negative copying mechanism, such as the worst forms of child labour and child marriage;

Health related issues: Poor living conditions, in which there is overcrowding, inadequate access to clean and sufficient water, limited food assistance, poor sanitation and hygiene, lack of proper sewage infrastructure in some areas, have exacerbated the risk of diseases and malnutrition. Furthermore, some Syrian refugee children have come to Lebanon with injuries and possible preventable disabilities are not being addressed which are keeping them from going to school;

Access and Quality of the Education: Syrian refugee children have in general been out of school for a number of years and are not as school ready as their Lebanese peers. Public schools, already constrained, are struggling to meet the education needs and capacities of Syrian refugee children with the Lebanese curricula, overcrowded classrooms, child absenteeism; evictions and migration of children to other locations; and an institution‐based approach instead to a classroom-coaching approach;

Low Demand of education: Due to the quality and inconsistency of the opening of Lebanese public schools to Syrian refugee children, the availability of alternative learning opportunities (i.e. Syrian schools) and some Syrian children coming from areas in Syria where education was not a priority, the demand for Lebanese public school education is not equally important for all Syrian refugee children and their families;

Poverty and limited livelihood opportunities: Since the beginning of 2015, the Lebanese Government has limited work opportunities for Syrian refugees. This compounded by high levels of debt, an estimated 70 percent of the Syrian refugees live below the poverty line. As a consequence, they are facing challenges in accessing services, and rely increasingly on children especially under the age of 15 to engage in child labour, including the worst forms of child labour. Girls are at heightened risk of child marriage, and survival sex is a growing concern due to the worsening of the socio-economic situation.

Diagram: Visual of the 6 main prevailing barriers for Syrian refugee children to enrol and regularly attend school: please see complete Terms of Reference are downloadable here:

The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Public Health, UNICEF and partners have ongoing programmes to strengthen systems and address many of the above outlined barriers such as; (1) the introduction of positive disciplinary training programmes and the establishment of referral and case management system for children affected by violence in the school, home or community, (2) mobile medical units and public health centers’s staff trained and able to detect preventable childhood illnesses, (3) capacity building programme with the Department of Professional Support for teacher (DOPS) division of MEHE to support the strengthening of the quality of teaching, (4) the opening of additional public schools for second shift, (5) the standardization of the non-formal education sector and (6) efforts to address some of the financial barriers by providing transportation to those children far from the public schools, providing schools supplies to all students and also waiving school fees to all students.

And while more Syrian refugee children, than ever and since the beginning of the crisis, are enrolled in Lebanese public schools, many children are still at risk to drop-out and many more are not even enrolled because they are assisting their families with income to cover their basic survival needs.

52 percent of the total registered population of Syrians refugee is living below a Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket of US$435/month for a household of five, and hence in need of assistance to meet basic needs. As a result, displaced Syrian households are more reliant on loans, credit, food assistance, illegal work, child labour, early marriage and other negative coping mechanism. Food vouchers are considered the main livelihood source for 54 percent. The socio-economic profile of the Lebanese returnees, Palestine refugees from Syria, and Syrian refugees share similarities: lack of financial means, inability to meet basic needs, asset depletion, and severe need for income generating opportunities are some of these common factors.

To address these critical needs of Syrian refugees, service providers such as international and national organizations provide direct support to refugee families. The main area of intervention is direct assistance (cash and in-kind), provided to the most severely economically vulnerable of the displaced populations (Syrians and Palestinian Refugees from Syria). Cash support serves as a boost to the purchasing power of families in need with modest amounts (US$175 per eligible family of five), and facilitates their access to goods and services in the market that contribute to meeting basic needs. Furthermore, the sector prioritizes the provision of direct humanitarian assistance during seasonal shocks or unexpected circumstances. Government-led institutions, such as the National Poverty Targeting Programme (the national social safety net system for poor Lebanese) is not directly involved.

It is within this environment that UNICEF is seeking to explore the feasibility of a cash transfer programme to refugee families with children at risk of dropping out of school or involved in child labour and not attending school. The idea would be to provide targeted cash support to cash-strapped families to ensure that their children can attend school while not negatively impacting the survival and coping mechanism of the entire family. The funds should/could be used for Syrian refugee parents to arrange their own transportation, school clothes, lunch, etc., for their child and potential offset some of loss of income.

  1. SCOPE OF WORK

Within the framework of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Out-of-School Children Initiative (OOSCI) launched in 2010, the UNICEF MENA No-Lost Generation Initiative, the Government of Lebanon Reaching all Children with Education (RACE) Strategy and the UNICEF Lebanon Child Labour Strategy (2015), the assessment should:

•analyse the existing socio-economic situation of out-of school Syrian refugee children, especially those engaged in child labour, using existing data and interviews with key persons/institutions;

•map the existing livelihood opportunities and basic assistant support mechanisms for Syrian refugees,

•scope out existing institutional social safety net arrangements for Syrian refugee children;

•provide recommendations on the feasibility of the introduction of a cash transfer programme to retain and enroll Syrian refugee children in public schools in Lebanon, its modality and mechanisms.

The final paper should highlight both the advantages, challenges, conditions and risks of including Syrians children possibly into (1) government-led social assistance mechanisms that are already in place or (2) by adding to the parallel humanitarian system, or (3) a hybrid of both.

The following tasks will be required by the consultant:

•Review existing frameworks, reports and data;

•Interview various key government, UN (including UNICEF staff), civil society organization and out-of –school Syrian children and their families;

Submit a final feasibility assessment and recommendations on the introduction of a cash transfer programme for Syrian children to go be retained and go to school, including the advantages, challenges, conditions and risks of including Syrians children as options into (1) government-led social assistance mechanisms that are already in place or (2) by adding to the parallel humanitarian system, or (3) a hybrid of both.

  1. DELIVERABLES AND SCHEDULES

The consultant is expected to complete the work in one (1) month and submit the two deliverables according to the schedule provided below:

Item. No / Report / Schedule
Mapping of livelihood opportunities and basic assistant support mechanisms as well as scope out existing institutional social safety net arrangements for Syrian refugees / 2 weeks from inception
Draft inputs for a donor proposal / 3 weeks from inception
Feasibility Assessment Report / 4 weeks from inception
  1. TIMING AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

This consultancy is expected to take place over a period of one month starting as soon as possible.

Supervisor and certifying officer: Chief Field Operations

It is a full-time consultancy based in UNICEF Office in Beirut, which may entails travels in the field.

UNICEF will provide office space and access to internet and printers;

The consultant will provide their own computer/laptop;

Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21.75 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays; any absence will be deducted from the monthly payments.

If an international consultant is selected, flight costs to and from Beirut, Lebanon, to the international consultant’s base location will be covered by UNICEF on the most economical and direct route, at the beginning and at the end of the assignment.

Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.

The selected consultant may not commence work or travel until the relevant individual contract has been duly approved, signed by both parties and returned to the HR section, together with the required documents and certifications.

  1. PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

Education:

-Degree on sociology, social policy, economics, law, public administration, social work, or any other relevant field

Skills and personal traits:

-Sensitivity towards ethics with regards to human and child rights issues, different cultures, local customs, religious beliefs and practices, personal interaction and gender roles, disability, age and ethnicity

-Strong analytical and inter-personal skills

-Ability to work closely with national and international actors with tight deadlines

-Computer literacy

Experience:

-Sound professional or academic expertise in the area of poverty reduction and social protection mechanisms is a must

-Sound knowledge and previous experience in the use of social protection mechanisms, especially cash, in emergency settings is a must

-Knowledge of Lebanon and Lebanese social protection system and humanitarian basic assistance is an asset

-Previous experience in producing policy papers

-Ability to produce high standard deliverables in English

-Previous experience in working in close collaboration with government counterparts

-Previous experience in other child rights and child related topic

  1. HOW TO APPLY

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online on

Only candidates who are under serious consideration will be contacted and will receive official feedback. Incomplete applications or received beyond the deadline will not be considered.

UNICEF is a non-smoking environment.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.

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