Expression of Interest (EoI)

Voice Of Children

Voice of Children (VOC), a Nepalese NGO, working with street children and deprived families in urban poor areas. Voice of Children (VOC) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established on November 2000 with a mission to contribute for the improvement of the living condition of the Street Children and their families in Nepal. The organization mainly focuses on those children, who suffer from various kinds of problems such as sexual abuse, harassment and other forms of violence and exploitation in the street and strives to re-establish them in the society with special attention to their needs and rights. Assistance in different ways and through different programs focused on the enhancement of the physical, mental, social and financial condition is catered to the needy street children and their families in order to reshape their lives.

Details / requirements:

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Terms of Reference

CLARISSA Project - Professional Research Support Team

Title: Participatory Action Research - Consultant

Organisation: Voice of Children (VoC)

Reports To: Country Coordinator – CLARISSA

Based: Kathmandu with frequent travel to field

Duration: July to December 2020

1.  About VOC:

VOC is an organization working especially with children living/working in the street & their families, to protect the children from sexual abuse and build-up the capacity of the vulnerable families of the urban poor area to protect their children. Over the 18 years, VOC has expanded and developed other projects complementary to working with street children such as prevention of child sexual abuse and working with vulnerable poor families in vulnerable communities. VOC is now implementing Child Labour Action-Research-Innovation (CLARISSA) programme in Nepal as a consortium lead.

2. Background of the CLARISSA:

Child Labour Action-Research-Innovation (CLARISSA) programme is co-developing, with stakeholders, innovative and context-appropriate ways to increase options for children to avoid engagement in hazardous, exploitative labour in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. It is designed to generate innovation from the ground, which can sustainably improve the lives of children and their families.

Its focus is on surfacing key drivers of the worst forms of child labour and developing interventions to counteract them (preventing push factors at community, family and individual level and pull factors from unethical business).

The primary beneficiaries are children in the worst forms of child labour and those who are vulnerable to being drawn into it. The families of these children will benefit from greater resilience to shocks, better options for their children’s safe and healthy future and less intra-family stress and conflict. Businesses will benefit from practical solutions to child-labour free supply chains. Policymakers, NGOs, and researchers will benefit from a knowledge of what works.

3.  Participatory Action Research (PAR) for innovation:

Under the project, there will be three main models of PAR including narrative analysis, supply/human chain and hotspots / slums location tracking. As part of the participatory process life story collection is one of the methods that we will use to gather real information and learn about what happened and or what is happening in their life specially child and young people in the CLARISSA project. These stories will help us to understand how the children and their families build resilience and find solutions to the problems that they have faced. Together with beneficiaries and key stakeholders these stories will be analysed through collective story analysis process.

Furthermore, we will generate actions and interventions through a large-scale systematic action research process. Interventions will range from small scale solutions to local problems, behaviour change initiatives, and large-scale pilots. Action research is a programming modality which combines evidence gathering and learning from action. It is designed to enable diverse groups to meet over a period to consider evidence and generate theories of change about interventions; plan and  programme innovative solutions; test the solutions in real-time, and participatorily evaluate them.

In this way, action research groups act as engines of new innovation. These cycles of action and reflection continue until a robust model of action is developed, trialled and can be scaled.We will link multiple and parallel action research groups to form a sophisticated architecture for adaptive learning and management (systemic action research) and will ensure that children are central to this process.

Our aim is to co-develop, with children and families, innovative and context-appropriate ways to increase options for children to avoid engagement in hazardous exploitative labour with the impact of decreasing the numbers of children engaging in the worst forms of child labour, modern slavery and risky migration and improving child wellbeing.

4.  Overall purpose of the job:

The Research team will be responsible to coordinate and support research activities that will be carried out at in the project areas. This will include the planning and organisation of field activities, providing support and facilitating the data collection, research, trainings, qualitative inquires, life story collection, analysis, reporting and other activities as required by the project.

The Research team will also be responsible for listing contacts details of the project stakeholders, identifying possible respondents for research and liaising with the local stakeholders including various government as well as nongovernment agencies during the data collection phase. Further, s/he must also liaise with the wider team, particularly Voice of Children (VOC) Nepal research team and provide timely inputs and feedback to the work.

5.  Scope of work

  • On basis of available situational analysis report, finalize demographic data and other information to ensure high quality of data collection and suggest to the team
  • Collaborate and plan with CLARISSA research team for taking interviews, transcription,  data coding, data analysis and report writing.
  • The deliverables will be to collect, clean and finalise 400 life stories in Nepali associated with AES sector relevant to the worst form of child labour. At least 50% stories need to translate in english for documentation purpose. The locations will be Kathmandu valley e.g. Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu and some neighbourhoods’ districts.
  • Ensure the quality, data validity and timeliness of the data collection process of the project. All stories must be collected within 15th November 2020
  • Facilitate participatory narrative analysis workshop of the life stories within 10th December 2020
  • Other appropriate duties as assigned by the Country Coordinator

6.  Team composition:

We are looking for a team of eight experience researchers with work with CLARISSA team members on life story collection and narrative analysis between mid-July to end of December 2020. Out of eight researchers, one should lead and supervise seven others, who will conduct field research, analysis and reporting. CLARISSA team members (i.e. seven experienced trained staff on narrative analysis and PAR process) will accompany in the story collection and support analysis and documentation work. Due to our data protection and confidentiality policy the consultants’ team are expected work on documentation from VOC Gwarko Office. All field level logistics e.g. travel, equipment’s, stationeries will be arranged by VOC.

7.  Qualification, essential skills and experience:

  • The candidate must have with an advance degree from a recognised university, ideally PhD or Mphil within a social science with a focus on social, economic, or health
  • Prior experience of leading and supervising participatory research projects, especially on Adult Entertainment Sector and Worst Form of Child Labour
  • Good knowledge on narrative analysis and PAR
  • Well-versed in qualitative and quantitative participatory research methodologies, techniques, analysis and documentation
  • Experience of leading Participatory Action Research
  • Fluent in English and Nepali; having experience in writing in Nepali
  • Experience of working with children issues, child-centred approach of development  and knowledge/skills regarding the safeguarding standpoints
  • Experience of facilitating a participatory workshop enabling participants to lead on their own analysis
  • Familiar with SPSS or other relevant research software
  • Experience in data visualization
  • Familiar with data protection requirements and other ethical perspective of research
  • Research team must have their own laptops for documenting and other computer related purposes
  • Excellent organisational and time management skills required to meet deadlines
  • Available to start work fulltime from mid or end of July until 30th December.

If you are interested for the consultancy position, you are requested to submit the 3 pages brief proposal highlighting your experience in PAR, team members CVs amplifying their expertise and experience in participatory process and working with children /young people along with covering letter outlining your interest in the role and budget by 8th July 2020.

Please forward your proposal to communication@voiceofchildren.org.np

Note: Trying to influence the selection process at any stage of the process shall lead to automatic disqualification. VoC reserves all rights to qualify/disqualify applications in any case, all  applications will be treated with highest confidentiality

Overview

Category Development and Project, Expression of Interests, Tender Notice, Bid
Openings 1
Position Type Contract
Experience Please check vacancy details.
Education Please check vacancy details
Posted Date 01 Jul, 2020
Apply Before 08 Jul, 2020
City Kathmandu