Avis de recrutement d’un consultant international pour la finalisation du document de stratégie interne du CO sur la programmation pour les adolescents, Yaoundé, Cameroun

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a chance in life!

The total population of Cameroon is estimated at over 26 million inhabitants in 2022. It is characterized by rapid growth; predominance of youths and children who are nearly half of the population (48.3%). With a constant average annual population growth rate of 2.4% over three decades, Cameroon’s population is estimated to reach 34.5 million inhabitants by 2030. Under the hypothesis of no major change in the population structure by sex and by age, over 10.5 million (31%) Cameroonian will be aged 10 to 24 years.

The recent Transforming Education Summit (TES) consultations in Cameroon, run in preparation New York summit (Sept 2022) was marked by a unique opportunity for adolescents and young persons to participate in shaping the future of the education sector. The consultations reached 17,613 persons (70% M) of which 8,569 were adolescents and young students of all ages. The vision of the Cameroon Government for the TES is “to promote an educational system in which every young graduate is sociologically integrated, bilingual, competent in a field that is crucial for the country’s development and aware of what he or she must do to contribute to it”. Evidence from the field suggest that for this vision to be achieved it is crucial that schools and administrative communities foster the protective environment for children and adolescents, by retaining adolescents in school until their adult age.

In Cameroon, 32% of adolescents and young people, girls and boys aged 15, experience physical, sexual, and psychosocial violence, 24% of adolescents aged 15 to 19 have started their sexual and reproductive life, 29% of children are married before the age of 18; One in ten girls marries before the age of 15 and almost one in three girls marries before the age of 18. Child marriage affects 50 times more girls than boys before the age of 15 and 8 times more girls before the age of 18; Although 17% of adolescents and young people aged 16 to 24 are unemployed, uneducated and lack sufficient technical skills to meet the needs of the labor market, 47% of children aged 5-17 are subject to child labour. Education also faces big challenges 22% of adolescent girls and young people cannot read compared to 13% of boys in the same age group. In 2014, 32% of young women (between 15 and 24 years old) were illiterate (compared to 17% of men), in rural areas the proportion was much higher (52% of young women and 29% of young men). For nutrition issues, there is an upward trend in the prevalence of overweight/obesity among adolescent girls aged 15 to 19, between 2004 (16.5%) and 2018 (18.4%) and more than 40% of adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 are anaemic throughout the country, finally the prevalence of thinness remained constant among girls aged 15 to 19 in Cameroon, rising from 10.4% to 10.2% between 2004 and 2018. Concerning drugs consumption, 12.4% of girls aged 15 to 19 drank alcohol before the age of 15 compared to 27.2% of boys.
(Sources, EDS 2018, MIC 2015).

These facts and the underlying factors need a comprehensive approach based on a deep analysis of the DETERMINANTS, linked to the EVOLUTIVE NEEDS of adolescents as they grow, considering especially the PUBERTY period with all complications linked to the physical and mental transformative process they face at this transition. In response to these needs and in order to address the multiple changing determinants, UNICEF developed no less than 14 different interventions throughout its programmes implemented by various Sections.

The various intervention packages are delivered according to the contextual needs in both Humanitarian and Development settings across Decades. One major priority should be to foster synergy amongst these different responses as usually they suffer from the silo culture putting the child in the center and adapting our responses in more synergistic way is the spirit of this approach.

To learn more about UNICEF Cameroon, use the below link https://unicef.sharepoint.com/sites/CMR/SitePages/AboutUs.aspx.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of Assignment :

The purpose of this consultancy is to support the Cameroon country office to develop an internal strategy for the implementation of Priority 3 of the 2022 Annual Management Plan “Protective learning environment”, focusing on the second decade of life, in particular on girls.

The strategy aims at outlining the specific and measurable interventions to be implemented to ensure the Country Office achieve the Priority Results as stated in the 2022 AMP, namely “a Transformative and coherent package of interventions to increase the safety of schools and other learning environment and boost access to education to achieve key result for children, access to education (KRC#3), learning (KRC#4), elimination of violence (KRC#5), child marriage abandonment (KRC#6), birth registration (KRC#7), and ending open defecation (KRC#8)”.

Specific objectives include :

• Build a Theory of Change which should guide the implementation of Priority no.3 and achieve concrete results ;
• Design a model of an integrated package of multi-sectoral programmes on the protective learning environment and adolescent development services. The model should specify interventions in humanitarian settings, to be implemented to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable girls in humanitarian contexts ;
• Identify and Propose areas as well as capacity-building interventions targeting a range of partners, in particular children themselves, families, schools and non-formal learning service providers, teachers, community workers (health, social and judicial), media (traditional and social), peer groups, and U-Reporters ;
• Identify entry points for mobilization of local actors: youth, school management structures, traditional leaders, child protection networks, local governments and private sector enhancing their ability to build synergies to influence decision making at municipality level for sustained local solutions ;
• Build the Results’ Structure and Framework ;
• Propose the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

The excepted results/ deliverables :

• Contract finalized and agreements 10% September ;
• A Relevant TOC of the second decade 20% October ;
• A model of an integrated package of services on a protective learning environment ;
  Capacities building plan for adolescent-responsive programs 20% October ;
• Results Structure Framework and Monitoring and evaluation framework Monitoring and Evaluation Framework 20% November ;
  Strategy document for AMP Priority no.3 Protective Learning Environment, including relevant annexes. 30% December.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have :

• An advanced university degree (Masters and above) in one of the following areas is required: Education sciences, Public Health ;
  Sexual & Reproductive Health, Gender, Child Survival & Health Care, Community Health, Communication and Advocacy ;
• 08 (eight) years or more experience in program design, planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects targeting adolescents ;
• Analytical and conceptual ability; communication skills ;
• Competencies in strategic thinking, program planning, and implementation ;
• Skills in research methodology and statistical analysis ;
• Additional asset: Have significant experience working and providing technical support to national programs and civil society organizations ;
• Fluent in English and French, communication skills, report writing with critical analysis and experience in process documenting.

Administrative issues and conditions :

1. Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant ;
2. The Consultant will be required to complete UNICEF’s standard online courses related to Ethics, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Security, and …. related training prior to taking up the assignment and/or travel ;
3. The Consultant will be required to sign a Health Statement prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that he/she has appropriate health insurance, including Medical Evacuation.

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an application including a profile to the respective advertisement online. Please indicate your ability and availability.

Applications submitted without a financial proposal will not be considered. Rates must include all expenses related to the assignment (e.g., consultancy fee, living allowance, travel if applicable), quoted in USD.

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks :

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).