South Sudan: Assessment on Status of Vulnerable Children Living and Sleeping in the Streets in Juba and Wau, South Sudan

Background

The prolonged conflict in South Sudan has severely affected the life of South Sudanese, and children are among the most vulnerable group. As a result, there are thousands of vulnerable children living and sleeping in streets including orphans, unaccompanied and separated children. Most children living in the streets do not have access to basic needs. They are at high risk of abuse and exploitation.

Quite often, families facing hardship and extreme poverty are resorting to extreme measures to provide for their families. Such measures include examples of some families sending their children to work to pay school fees (although primary education is compulsory and free in South Sudan) or dropping out of school due to numerous reasons. Some orphans are often treated badly and are often beg in streets. In addition, many such vulnerable children may lack appropriate parental care.

Some studies have been conducted in various states within South Sudan on the situation of children living on the streets, but no actual data have been gathered on the numbers, ages, ethnicity and root causes for the children being in the streets/market. There is no recent information on what could be done to prevent children from leaving their families and protect the children from exploitation and abuse. There is a need to investigate challenges experienced by the vulnerable children and to find out what would be appropriate, holistic, or alternative forms of care that could benefit these children.

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2018) South Sudan has at least 2.2 million out of school children with thousands more at risk of dropping out. The number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in South Sudan has increased in recent years and this trend is projected to continue, reaching over 2.4 million in the next two years if no efforts are made, (UNESCO, ibid). The study further identified that the vulnerable children living and sleeping in the streets were identified as among the most disadvantaged children in the country.

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare (MoGCSW) has a policy on children without parental care in 2012, but so far, its implementation is still a challenge due to the lack of database and adequate resources with the Ministry.

The MoGCSW recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Food Programme (WFP) in 2018 to support vulnerable populations through its various programmatic and logistics modalities towards food security. This support will reach millions of women, men and children facing food insecurity and therefore children living and sleeping in the streets should not be left out. To actualize the efforts, MoGCSW is calling for coordination and collaboration with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI), Ministry of Health (MoH), and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MoCYS) UNESCO, UNICEF and WFP to conduct and assessment on children living and sleeping in the streets.

A comprehensive assessment will investigate the number of children and their profiles including a possible bio-metric registration processes which will be coordinated, captured and utilized to design and implement joint response. The assessment which will cover Juba and Wau. The recommended interventions will be led by MoGCSW in close collaboration with MoGEI, MoH and MoCYS with the support of UNESCO, UNICEF and WFP.

For the purposes of this document and the assessment, a child is defined as an individual under the age of 18 per the Child Act of South Sudan.

Furthermore, various recommendations proposed by the assessment need to incorporate (1) reviews of and building on any existing interventions and actors, locations and scope, (2) relevant research/studies/policies (including the recent OOSC study by UNESCO) and (3) identify and assess the gravity and scale of factors challenging children living and sleeping in the streets disaggregated by locations, sex, age and ethnicity/circumstances.

The selected organization will be tasked to conduct an assessment in Juba and Wau, led by UNESCO in collaboration with WFP, UNICEF, MoGCSW and MoGEI.

Activities and Deliverables

Under the overall guidance of the UNESCO Representative and Head of Office in Juba, South Sudan, the institution will have the following duties and responsibilities.

· Develop a methodology and tools for the assessment on the status of vulnerable children living and sleeping in streets under the age of 18 in Juba and Wau;

· Collect and review various relevant secondary data, research/study reports on vulnerable children living and sleeping in streets (including study on children without parental care (2013) and OOSC report (UNESCO, 2018), position papers, policies (i.e., children without parental care policy (2013) and other relevant literature;

· Conduct assessment of the status and needs of vulnerable children living and sleeping in streets and what sort of support is required to create a conducive environment for them to live and develop holistically;

o Assessment should include primary and secondary data surveying/collection, situational analysis, existing research/studies, mapping of past/current interventions and actors and locations being covered, challenges, entry points and recommendations for possible interventions at all levels (community/local, state and national levels) for all relevant partners including but not limited to potential modalities/programmes for downstream/direct services

· Identify the various and multi-sectoral needs of those children and categorize them by age and gender;

· Advise the appropriate response and relevant agency to address the assessed needs including basic services (food and nutrition, education, mental, emotional and physical health, social protection, child care, etc.) taking into account their various socio cultural background;

· Work inclusively with all relevant stakeholders in the development of the assessment including but not limited to MoGCSW, MoGEI, MoH, UNESCO, UIS, WFP and UNICEF;

· Recommend sustainable strategies and mechanisms to address the identified challenges in both short and long term possibilities;

· Assess available or potential coordination mechanisms based on capacity and mandates;

· Recommend, in a phased manner, priority actions with defined timelines.

The selected organization is expected to facilitate the assessment interviewing children living and sleeping in the streets in alignment with international and UN child safety/protection and UIS standards. The selected organization is expected to conduct the assessment and travel to Juba and Wau.

Deliverables

(1) Produced the assessment methodology and tools;

(2) Inception report of the assessment and presentation of initial findings to MoGCSW, MoH, MoGEI, WFP, UNESCO, UIS, UNICEF and other relevant stakeholders;

(3) Presentation of key findings of the assessment and implications for various stakeholders taking into account comments from all stakeholders;

(4) Final copy of the assessment report with prioritised recommendations and timelines.

Requirements

• A research, academic and/or consultancy firm/institution with 5+ years of experience in working with vulnerable children/youth as it relates to education, social services, child protection, psychology or related field
• Extensive experience in child protection, education in emergencies and understanding of conflict settings
• Team leader must have an advance degree in child protection, education, social sciences or any related field (doctorate degree preferred).
• All team members must have very good level of oral and written English and Arabic spoken in South Sudan; knowledge of other local languages spoken in South Sudan will be an added advantage.
• Capacity to work in multicultural teams, engage in group work and produce high quality work within tight deadlines
• Ability to make high-quality presentations to an audience attended by high-level stakeholders

Interested organizations are invited to submit the following (in English) and referencing “Institution – Assessment Children Living and Sleeping in Streets” by 18 December 2018.

· Up-to-date curriculum vitae for all team members

· Statement indicating how institution’s qualifications/experience make them suitable for the assignment inclusive of budget/cost proposal

· Indication of the methodology used to carry out the assignment

By e-mail:

E-mail to: j.recruitment@unesco.org

By post to:

UNESCO Office in Juba

South West of UNMISS Tomping

Juba, South Sudan