Capacity assessment of school parliaments and tool kit development for school parliaments contributing to Youth and Child Friendly Local Self-Governance (YCFLSG)

UNICEF Country Office in UNICEF is hiring National Consultant for capacity assessment of school parliaments and tool kit development for school parliaments contributing to Youth and Child Friendly Local Self-Governance (YCFLSG)

In Kyrgyzstan UNICEF works with the government and other partners to increase equity and the social inclusion of children who need protection, who live in poverty and who are at risk of conflict, so that they can exercise their rights. The proposed programme of cooperation addresses the three key development challenges for the realization of child rights in Kyrgyzstan: poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability, and chronic system weaknesses.

 In order to further National Sustainable Development Strategy for the Kyrgyz Republic 2013-2017 and contribute prioritizing its own mandate advancing and advocating for children's rights, UNICEF has initiated the four-year project titled Increasing resilience of youth for peaceful and inclusive communities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The project will model in Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance (YCFLG) Concept in select Local Self-Governments in two pilot districts, with the objective of institutionalizing child and youth issues in local planning and budgeting, social service delivery through adolescents and youth participation and monitoring. School parliaments and other youth and child-based self-governances within schools and beyond are primary mechanisms for youth participation in implementation of the YCFLSG. School parliament will raise issues concerning them with the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals.

 The country is taking commitments to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and has been proceeding to localize and adapt them into different levels of development planning, primarily at the municipality levels. For youth and child participation initiatives including those within the YCFLSG to be meaningful it is important to tap on this "SDG localization" process. They should be empowered and have adequate means to promote SDG priorities directly affecting their wellbeing and lives within their communities and have them translated into concrete budgeted commitments. School parliament is a sustainable mechanism that has the capacity to mobilize both youth and adult community around the development goals that concern them.

 Involving youth and children into SDG achievement through the nexus of school parliaments and LSGs is a relevant peacebuilding strategy as well. In order to raise young people's and children's capabilities to become active participants a significant increase in their soft/social skills in problem-solving, teamwork and self-confidence has to occur. These social/soft skills are relevant peacebuilding competencies (http://doc.iiep.unesco.org/wwwisis/repdoc/peic/peic33EN.pdf)) that should be practiced through school parliaments, where adolescents will help with the design of indicator frameworks for Youth and Child Reports under YCFLG. The innovative educational activities provided by school parliaments should therefore also facilitate inter-ethnic dialogue and dialogue on localization of SDGs.

 The initiative is inspired by successful examples from the Philippines, Brazil and Nepal, and seeks to contribute to ongoing discussions on the decentralized policy framework in Kyrgyzstan.

Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct a capacity assessment of school parliament's and other types of existing local child and adolescents led self–governments to participate in local development planning and implementation. Building on the capacity assessment results, the consultant will develop an innovative toolkit for school parliaments to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the level of selected municipalities in two pilot districts, particularly within the framework of the Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance (YCFSLG).

 Assignment Tasks

1. Conduct desk review including recent initiatives, developments, project activities, mapping of stakeholders related to school parliaments/ school self-governance bodies in Kyrgyzstan. Assess any engagement of school self-governance mechanisms with LSGs in selected sites and lessons learnt, if any. Capacity assessment of school parliaments / school self-governance bodies and their possibility in the engagement in SDG localization within the Youth and Children Friendly Local Governance framework in the two targeted districts. The nation-wide desk review and particular capacity assessment of the identified schools in two municipalities (one per district) should consist out of a) introduction with a summary of interventions targeting school parliament b) methodology of the research that should identify the capacity of school parliaments being engaged in community-based participation. The research is supposed to also assess the skills in problem-solving, teamwork and self-confidence of young people active in school parliaments c) presentation of findings d) data analysis and correlations e) recommendations on how school parliaments can increase young people's social/soft skills and be part of the participatory process in the YCFLG framework f) provide recommendations on the roles and the strategies of the school self-governances in the implementation of SDGs at the local level. g) annex. Overall the text without an annex should not exceed 20 pages.
2. Prepare methodology and curriculum package for a tool kit for capacity-building activities for school parliaments with the focus on SDG localization. The curriculum should help strengthening adolescents' knowledge on SDGs and participation mechanisms to contribute to local policy-making through the emerging concept of YCFLSG. The curriculum should use engaging adolescents-friendly innovative methods as debates, simulation exercises etc. to strengthen adolescent's civic and peacebuilding competencies. It should have the focus on the development and growth of young people's skills in problem-solving, teamwork and self-confidence. Further, it should help ensuring sensitivity to socio-cultural conditions. The tool kit should help capacitating the school parliament to build a dialogues with LSGs over SDG-oriented planning processes. The toolkit should be designed in a way that aligns capacity building to the school parliaments to the schooling year as well as the LSG budgeting process. The tool kit should be no more than 60 pages.
3. The methodology and the curriculum: All activities have to be coordinated with the UNICEF consultant(-s) and staff associated primarily with Youth and Child Friendly Local Governance and civic education. The introductory part of the toolkit should be especially consistent with the separate developed LSG package focusing on SDGs localized results/targets and indicators

Expected Deliverables

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education

• University degree in education, psychology, social science or other relevant fields

Relevant experience

• Proven experience of conducting a research covering wide range of areas of youth and child development and/or participation (one sample of a conducted research in the past)
• Proven experience in developing strategies and/or learning materials for civic education and participation for formal and/or non-formal education with the focus on children and youth (please concisely describe it in 200 words maximum in your motivation letter, confirmed with reference(-s))
• Proven experience of developing innovative child and youth - friendly learning materials and delivering trainings for children and youth with the focus on building and improving soft skill, primarily with the focus on problem-solving, teamwork and self-confidence (one sample excerpt or outline of no more 1 pager with a reference)

Competencies of Successful Candidate 

• Have a sound understanding of the school parliament/ school self-governances' participation in local development planning and implementation and the role of SDGs there-in (please concisely describe it in 200 words maximum in your motivation letter, confirmed with reference(-s))
• Russian language skills a requirement, English and Kyrgyz an asset

Reporting and supervision  

Under general supervision of UNICEF Communication, Youth and Adolescent Development Officer based in Osh as the primary supervisor and UNICEF Youth and Adolescent Development Officer in Bishkek as a secondary.

Duration: March, 27^th - July, 28^th 2017

1. Duty Station and Official Travel Involved: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with 10 days field visits which includes maximum 2 trips (total 7 days) in Suzak district of Jalalabad Province and 3 1-day trips in Issyk-Ata district of Chui Province

 TOR_CSSF 2_School parliaments_for ops review EN Final.docx

 TOR_CSSF 2_School parliaments_for ops review_RUS final.docx

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

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