Consultant - Research and Report at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the world leading independent organization for children. We strive to give children and environment in which their human rights and needs are respected and protected so that they can realize their full potential. We are committed to ensuring that children realize the right to survival, protection, development and participation which they are entitled to under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We seek to employ qualified candidate for the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - Conduct Research and Draft a Report on the State of Nigerian Girls

Job ID: 190003ZN
Location: Abuja
Employee Status: Fixed Term
Terms of Reference: To Conduct Research and Draft a report on the State of Nigerian Girls 
Length of Assignment: 30 Days to span a 2 month period
Reporting to: Director of Advocacy & Campaign, Save the Children Nigeria - Abuja

Key Working Contacts

• Director, Advocacy & Campaign, Head of MEAL, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager, Director, REACH project, Gender Adviser.

Project
Two-phase project:

• Undertake research on the linkages between education status and child marriage and between child marriage and adolescent sexual reproductive health, maternal and child health, neonatal health, nutritional status of children, literacy rates, poverty and long-term economic growth;
• Draft ‘The State of Nigerian Girls Report’.
• The report will provide evidence to feed into influencing efforts on child marriage, girls’ education, and ASRHR to be carried out by CSO coalitions at the state and national level.

Background

• The current assignment is part of the project “Towards Ending Child Marriage” (TECM), currently being implemented by SCI in Nigeria with the support of the Dutch Government.
• TECM’s goal is to accelerate the national agenda to end child marriage and influence Governments in two states- Katsina and Gombe, to develop and adopt their own strategies to end child marriage.
• The approach of the project is majorly evidence-based advocacy to engage opinion- leaders, change-makers and decision-makers. The project aims at influencing people’s attitudes, behaviors, norms and practices in support of Ending Child Marriage (ECM), using Girl Child Education as a fulcrum.
• Child marriage is not the only problem faced by girls in Nigeria, it is a cross-sectoral problem. It accounts for some of the worst and lopsided outcomes for health, nutrition, education and poverty among girls.
• For this narrative to change, it is essential to take into account factors affecting the rights and development of the girl child.

Objectives of the consultancy:

• The main objective of the consultancy is to provide an overview of the current situation of the Nigerian girl child at national and regional/ state levels. The report will identify existing social and cultural norms and inequalities related to CEFM and school enrolment and retention of girls across the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria, as further identified in section III.

The specific objectives are:

• Identify and describe the magnitude of current challenges confronting girls in Nigeria and which of those challenges are direct or indirect contributors to early and forced marriage for girls;
• To identify all drivers to discriminatory gender norms (i.e. poverty, education, discriminatory gender norms and access to ASRH) at individual, family and societal or cultural or institutional levels;
• Describe the roles of different influencers in the challenges identified, as well as, enumerating previous, current and ongoing efforts- policies and programs to address these challenges at local, state and national levels (e.g. National Strategy towards Ending Child Marriage);
• Ascertain the impact of such efforts and the gaps;
• Produce a final report to be titled ‘the State of Nigerian Girls Report’
• Generate evidence and make SMART recommendations that will inform national and sub-national action, and propose priority areas for action to eliminate child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM). This will include compelling case studies to serve as validation for research findings on the relationship between child marriage and conflict, educational status, poverty etc.

Outcome:

• Deliver and discuss the results of the research in a focus group with members of the national ECM TWG and high-level Government representatives from both the Federal and selected state Governments as well as the Bureau of National Statistics to be identified.
• Subsequent to the holding of this focus group and discussions, a final policy paper will be produced outlining options for strengthening girl- focused child programming towards delaying marriage and increasing years of schooling.

Scope of the Assignment
In order to get national representation, the research will cover the 6 geopolitical zones of the country. Two states are being proposed per political zone; however, due to budget constraints, one state per political zone can be considered:

• North central - Kwara/ Plateau
• North-east - Gombe/ Borno
• North-west - Katsina/ Jigawa
• South-south - Cross river/ Edo
• South-west - Lagos/ Oyo
• South-east - Ebonyi/ Imo
• Final decision on the selection of the states where the study will be conducted will be decided in collaboration with the NBS, and the FMOWASD.

The consultant will be responsible for refining the methodology and presenting a final study design covering all aspects- desk and field research, and drafting the final report on the state of the Nigerian girl.

Methodology:

• The Consultant is expected to demonstrate an ability to work in all parts of the Country putting into consideration social, cultural and religious norms.

Desk review:

• Mapping of existing documents and data on CEFM; enrolment, retention and completion of girls in school; gender equality, impact of culture and social norms on the rights of children.
• It will also include an analysis of government’s spending on ECM (a) prevention and (b) control? This should include a review of the national chart of accounts to determine how much of the annual GDP goes to ECM response. 

Field research:

• Key Informant Interviews - (religious leaders, traditional leaders, mothers and mothers-in-law, fathers and other opinion-shapers) and adolescents (girls).
• Focus Group Discussions
• Direct observational monitoring in Target locations

Analysis and drafting:

• Amplifying the recurring themes, gaps and best practices; and distilling these into a policy paper, including recommendations for the national and state Technical Working Groups (TWGs); the legislature; the judiciary; Traditional Leaders, Religious Leaders, Men, Women leaders, girls, and civil society.

At all stages of the consultancy, the consultant will:

• Work closely with SCI, including ensure regular communication with SCI, NBS focal point to monitor progress
• Submit the deliverables, identified in section V., as per the agreed timeline in section VI.
• Ensure that children’s voices inform the final report

Deliverables:

• Desk review and mapping;
• Interview manuscripts
• Share draft report outline with  SCI focal point; within two weeks of signing the contract;
• A Finalized report in English (not more than 60 pages) on the State of the Nigerian Girl (regional /state/ countrywide findings), fit for publication, and include the following annexes to be submitted to the Director of Advocacy and Campaigns:
  • Dashboards / infographics /charts  (i.e. showing Nigerian states per agreed indicators);
  • Region specific profile of CEFM;
  • Data sets to include: database of participants, consent forms, contact details, quantitative and qualitative data (recordings/ transcripts if available in English and the local language of the area if available)
  • Bibliography of sources
• Policy briefs on the 3 pillars i.e. Survive, Learn and Protect (including graphs for data visualization of inequalities (info graphics), with clear policy recommendations as ultimate targets are policy-makers in the country). Drafts of the policy/ position papers should be submitted five days after delivering the final report to the team.
• An Executive Summary and PowerPoint presentation of the main report;

Suggested chapter framework for the report:

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Objectives of the study
• Methodology of the Study, including limitations
• Analysis and findings (including challenges)
• Conclusions & Recommendations
• Annexes (See list above)

Possible contents of the Research and Policy Paper Global context/ big picture:

• What are the national, geo- political and state situation of the Nigerian Girl Child? Current trends.
• Making the case for the age of Marriage towards Ending Child Marriage in Nigeria:  what is the state of the adoption and implementation of the CRA across the 36 states in Nigeria, and what would the full implementation of the national ECM strategy mean for the situation of the Nigerian girl and child- rights in general (impact/scenario analysis)?
• Are current children and women’s programmes by the Government (Federal and State) sensitive/responsive to the plight of the Nigerian girl?
• Participation in decision-making and related Knowledge, Attitude and Practices around ECM (and other factors that propel ECM):
• Social Norms and role of traditional leaders and religious institutions
• Access to Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health information and services
• Gender-based and Intimate- partner violence
• Government’s spending on ECM (a) prevention and (b) control?
• Specific challenges girls face in relation to education (opportunities for long years of schooling).
• Impact of traditional and religious institutions on the development of the girl (geographical trends etc.).
• Policy Implementation:
  • Which agency (ies) are driving the ECM agenda and their current capacity?
  • Level of implementation of the National Strategy towards Ending Child Marriage at national and state levels (see attached).
  • National and State level budgetary allocations towards ECM (percentage of GDP spent on ECM)
• Relationship between level(s) of education and child marriage (i.e. Dropout rates and keeping Girls in School etc.).
• Likelihood of child- brides perpetuating child- marriage.
• Policy options and conclusions
• What policy options are available to specify an acceptable age of marriage in line with the CRA, and what are the pros and cons of each?
• Recommendations for action that could impact in particular on children’s rights; girls rights; traditional and religious institutions; the legislature; and the Judiciary.
• Feasibility to implement policy recommendations, not only in terms of economic or strategic implications, but also in terms of political will.

Ownership/ Copy Right:

• SCI Nigeria has sole rights and ownership to the report and all other supporting documents from the research and will therefore, have the only authority to fully or partially publish, disseminate, or promote any parts of the report. 
• The overall task of undertaking desk research and drafting the report is expected to take not more than 30 days.

Management and Technical Guidance:

• The consultant will report directly to a designated staff in the Advocacy and Campaigns Unit of the SCI. Through the designated staff in the Advocacy and Campaigns Unit, there will be close collaboration and consultation with the Gender Advisor and MEAL team as well as with the national Bureau of Statistics.
• SCI’s will be responsible for overall coordination of the process including facilitating meetings with NBS and other major stakeholders (FMOWASD), providing access to information/ documents under our custody that will be relevant to the research. We will also pay 100% of the consultancy fee, pay for travels and per diem.

Qualification and Experience

• Advanced University Degree: PhD or Masters in Humanities or Social Sciences in any of the following disciplines: International Studies/ Development Studies/Communication/ Sociology/Anthropology or a relevant discipline.
• Very good understanding of the Nigerian context.
• Solid knowledge of international and domestic laws and policies on child rights. 
• Possess solid political acumen, but not partisan.
• At least 5 years’ experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative research design, implementation, analysis and reporting, preferable on sensitive topic areas related to health, such as sexual health, reproductive health, child marriage, violence.
• Experience in  conducting desk reviews, key stakeholders interviews, and facilitating Focus Group Discussions
• Knowledge of social norms and how these affect gender roles and equity.
• Extensive experience in developing quantitative, qualitative and participatory tools to measure and analyse social norms and behavioural change
• Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure.
• Willingness to travel to Northern Nigeria.
• Client Orientation: contributing to positive outcomes for the client, anticipates client needs, works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the Secretariat and its stakeholders
• Excellent writing skills in English (with published material); knowledge of major local languages (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) is desirable.
• Knowledge of child rights and/ or gender programming is an advantage
• Women are encouraged to apply

Terms and Conditions

• The applicants will provide a budget. Save the Children will consider the proposals falling within the approved rates as per its policy on professional fees;
• SCI will deduct 5% withholding tax from the Consultancy fee to be remitted to tax authorities.
• Milestone payment in three Tranches:
  • First instalment - 40% after the desk review of collected documents ad recommendations and inception report submitted.
  • Second instalment - 30% - After the submission of first draft of reports and analysis of data collected.
  • Third Instalment - 30% - Complete research report, diagnostic response strategy developed, (including SBC) for TECM implementation.

Guiding principles and values:

• The Consultant must adhere to Save the Children child safeguarding guidelines and principles including our safety and security SoPs. Save the Children prioritizes safe programming which means our commitment is to do what’s best for the child including protecting them from all forms of abuse.
• It is therefore essential that our commitment to children’s rights and humanitarian principles is supported and demonstrated by all employees and other representatives (which include Consultants).

Selection Process

• Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a panel, based on a pre-defined criteria informed by the expected deliverables of this assignment.
• The successful candidate will be contacted via formal correspondence by HR.

Application Closing Date
14th November, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested cand qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Submission of the Application

• A curriculum vitae and a motivation letter explaining why he/she is suitable to carry out the expected tasks.
• Samples of similar research work and policy documents previously produced
• Brief paragraph summaries of 3-4 examples of similar data collection work conducted with the past three (3) years. The summaries should include descriptions of the past efforts, covering the scale of data collection, the methods used, experience with digital data collection tools, field strategy (including interviewer/researcher recruitment, team structure, quality control systems, etc.), data management approach, quality control systems, etc.
• A technical narrative no longer than 4 pages describing how they will accomplish the tasks described above,  including the methodology, approaches, and a timeline.
• A detailed budget outlining expected fees and reimbursable expenses in line with SCI’s policy.
• A brief description of your relationship and experience with the local ethical review committees in Nigeria (national and/or local Government)
• Contact details of two references that can be contacted regarding the quality of the person or organization’s work.
• CVs of key personnel who will be engaged in the data collection.
• Data collection firms/organizations must also submit an institutional capacity statement.