Protection of Child Rights – Network of African National Human Rights Institutions – Nairobi

Background
The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) is a regional umbrella body that brings together 44 National Human Rights Institutions in Africa whose Secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Network seeks to support and strengthen National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Africa as well as to facilitate coordination and cooperation among themselves and between them and other key human rights actors at the regional and international level.

NANHRI in partnership with Plan International – Pan African Office (PAO) with the financial support of Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA) have collaborated in a project, the Pan Africa State Accountability Project (PASAP) to strengthen the capacity of African NHRIs to carry out effective human rights programming and to interact with key international and regional human rights mechanisms, in particular engaging with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of a Child (ACERWC) and Child Rights civil society organisations (CSO) coalitions.

The first activity under the project was a capacity assessment and mapping exercise in order to identify NHRIs level of engagement in the promotion and protection of children’s rights and the needs thereof. Subsequent to the capacity assessment and mapping exercise was a two day training for NHRIs to enhance their knowledge and skills to enable them prioritize children rights programming and actively engage with other actors including the state for better promotion and protection of children’s rights.

It is against this backdrop that a networking workshop between NHRIs and Child Rights CSOs is envisaged.

Objectives of the Workshop

The overall objective of the workshop is to provide NHRIs with an opportunity to develop collaborative efforts with CSOs working on child rights protection and promotion. By the end of the workshop, it is expected that:

Participants will be able to learn best practices and experiences in Child Rights protection and promotion.

Participants are able to identify strategies to address hurdles that are faced or may be faced while implementing child rights programming.

NHRIs and CSOs develop joint action plans to implement together to increase the protection space for children and promotion of their rights.

NHRIs will have strengthened their engagement with the African Committee of Expert on the Rights and Welfare of a Child (ACERWC).

This consultancy is therefore aimed at building collaborative efforts between NHRIs and Child Rights CSO coalitions through development of joint action plans. It also aims at initiating engagement with the ACERWC for NHRIs.

DESCRIPTION AND SCOPE OF WORK
The Consultant will be expected to play a lead facilitation role during the NHRI-CSO networking workshop. The specific tasks to be undertaken during the workshop are as follows:

I. Presentation of the key findings and recommendations on the NHRIs capacity assessments and mapping survey on child rights programming.

II. Provide practical guidance to NHRIs on how they can collaboratively work with CSOs.

III. Provide practical guidance on how NHRIs can mitigate challenges arising from engagement with CSOs and their engagements with the African Committee of Experts on the rights and Welfare of a child (ACERWC)

IV. Lead NHRIs and CSOs in developing joint implementable action plans around Child Rights Programming.

The key deliverable for this assignment is the NHRI-CSO Networking meeting report which also include the developed action plans and way forward

TIMELINES
The Consultant shall undertake the assignment and submit deliverables within a period of one week including travel and reporting days. The NHRI-CSO networking meeting will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, tentatively on April 23rd, 2017.

QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants for this Consultancy should possess the following minimum qualifications:

a) A post-graduate degree in law, sociology, international human rights law or any other related discipline;

b) A minimum of 5 years’ experience on implementation of child rights protection mechanisms at the national, regional or international level.

c) Extensive experience and knowledge of the mandate and functions of National Human Rights Institutions

d) Strong communication and facilitation skills (oral, written and presentation skills); and

e) Knowledge of French will be an added advantage as the CSO-NHRI networking workshop will involve both Francophone and Anglophone participants.

HOW TO APPLY:
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
An expression of interest (EOI), including technical proposal, financial proposal, a cover letter and curriculum vitae. Should be sent via email to: info@nanhri.org with a copy to mramtu@nanhri.org and AULiaisonOffice@plan-international.org by 23rd February 2018. Please indicate the reference number in the subject line of your email.

NB: Only applicants of selected EOIs will be contacted.

Enquiries should be addressed to:
Marie Ramtu

Program Officer

Email: mramtu@nanhri.org

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