CONSULTANCY: SUPPORT TO ECOWAS CHILD RIGHTS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ECRIMS)

Project Context and Scope
  The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aims to strengthen economic integration across its Member States and one of its key strategies to achieve this goal is through effective implementation of ECOWAS Free Movement Protocols and the ECOWAS Common Approach to Migration. The Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Phase 2 (FMM II) programme aims to maximize the development potential of free movement and migration in West Africa by supporting the effective implementation of ECOWAS Free Movement Protocols and the ECOWAS Common Approach to Migration through three key components: enhancing the ECOWAS Commission’s capacity for policy development, harmonization, and monitoring; strengthening national institutions’ abilities in migration data management, policy development, and border management; and improving the capacity of Non-State Actors and Local Authorities to provide information and protection for migrants and cross-border populations.    As part of efforts to support the ECOWAS Commission in addressing child protection challenges in West Africa, the project's first phase facilitated and supported consultations with key regional stakeholders to strengthen child protection in the region. Through the consistent support of the FMM 1 programme, several important tools and mechanisms were developed, reviewed, endorsed, and implemented to enhance regional cooperation in child protection across the ECOWAS region. One key achievement was the ECOWAS Child Policy Review, where child protection experts validated the policy, which was later adopted by the Council of Ministers on 25 January 2019. In June 2019, The ECOWAS authority also adopted the new ECOWAS Child Policy and its Strategic plan of Action (2019-2030). Another major milestone in the programme's first phase was the validation and adoption of the ECOWAS Strategic Framework for Strengthening Child Protection Systems (CPS) to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, and exploitation of children. This framework, along with its implementation guidelines, received significant pledges from the First Ladies of member states, committing to ensuring child protection within the region.     To track the progress of the implementation of the ECOWAS Child Policy and the Strategic Framework for Strengthening Child Protection Systems in a sustainable manner while also providing relevant support to the member states, the phase II of the programme will be supporting the operationalisation of the ECOWAS Child Rights Management System (ECRIMS).  ECRIMS will serve as a technical and operational Monitoring Observatory focusing on information and data management, advocacy, mobilization, and capacity building on child rights. It will operate at political, policy, strategic, and technical levels.    

ECRIMS aims to monitor and measure Member States’ efforts in promoting child rights and track progress in strengthening National and Regional Child Protection Systems, using selected benchmark indicators contained in the ECOWAS Child Policy Strategic Action Plan and Child Protection Strategic Framework. Progress has been made so far:

• In 2022, the ECOWAS Commission undertook a Scoping/ Feasibility Study for an Establishment Plan for the Observatory. The Study, amongst other things, recommended that the initial phase of the implementation of the ECRIMS should be focused on child protection, while in the medium to long term, this focus would be expanded to encompass the entirety of the four clusters of the rights of the child, namely: survival, development, protection and participation.

   

  • In 2023, ECOWAS conducted a mapping and assessment of existing Information and Data Management Systems and Data Sets on the 4 Clusters of Child Rights in the ECOWAS Child Policy and Strategic Action Plan and the 5 Key Priority Areas in the ECOWAS Child Protection Strategic Framework in the Region at Regional, National, Sub-national levels. The Resource Person also provided a clear methodology  for data collection from the Member States as well as protocols for the collection and exchange of information with partners and Member States; and finally, provided updated data for the parameters for the baseline assessments of the 5 Key Priority Areas in the ECOWAS Child Protection Strategic Framework in 2017. A Draft Report on Child Protection in West Africa has been elaborated and is pending approval.
    • In 2024, in furtherance of the development of the ECRIMS as a permanent operational capacity for measuring trends and identifying progress, recorded, gaps and challenges to the full enthronement of the rights of the child in West Africa, ECOWAS produced an Online tool developed for collecting data and information based on key indicators. The Online Tool designed was presented during the meeting with Directors in charge of Child Rights in Members States held in Lagos from 19th to 21st November 2024.

       

      Additionally, in order to promote child rights and child protection, ECOWAS through the Directorate Humanitarian and Social Affairs have been working since 2014 focus on the implementation of activities in the Joint Action Plan: ECOWAS - GRPE Joint Action Plan.

      The GRPE is a Regional Working Group on child protection in West Africa (Groupe Regional de Protection de l’Enfance) that brings together key regional actors including UN agencies, international NGOs, civil society organizations, and governmental institutions working on protection issues across West and Central Africa.

      In addition, in order to ensure the mainstreaming of Child Rights into ECOWAS Programming within ECOWAS Departments, Agencies Institutions, the Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs developed an ECOWAS Child Rights Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan. The zero draft has was elaborated in 2023 but needs to be finalised for consistency on the methodology and guidelines.

        The selected consultant will build on the work done so far and will support ECOWAS in operationalization of the ECRIMS, especially on data collection, maintaining and updating the database through the online tool developed, and will support in the draft report with key findings. The consultant will also support ECOWAS on the follow up of the ECOWAS-GTPE joint workplan and the ECOWAS Child Policy and Plan of Action (2019-2030).
        Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing
       

      The consultant is contributing to the ECOWAS regional project “Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Phase II,” which is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by a consortium including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The consultant will work closely with the Program Officer for Child Rights, Child Protection, and Child Labour, in the Humanitarian and Social Affairs Directorate.

      Tasks to be performed under this contract

      The tasks listed below will be subject to ongoing review and, where necessary, adjusted in consultations between the incumbent, IOM and ECOWA

      1. Support the collection of child protection and child rights data across ECOWAS Member States and ensure its integration and regular update in the ECRIMS database.
      2. Support interaction between the Humanitarian and Social Affairs Directorate and the Regional Group on Child Protection, providing updates and reports on each member state. 
      3. Support the implementation of the ECOWAS- RWGCP Joint Action Plan 
      4. Support the finalization of the Child Rights Intersectoral Strategic Plan and Coordination Mechanism for Mainstreaming Child Rights in ECOWAS Programming.  
      5. Support the ECOWAS Program Officer for Child Rights, Child Protection, and Child Labour in developing materials for capacity building materials of member states.
      6. Support the Annual Review Meeting on the implementation of the Child Policy and its Strategic Framework, as well as the implementation of the GRPE Joint Action plan. 
      7. Support the finalisation of the 2024 State of the Rights of the Child Report published by ECOWAS in collaboration with involved Partners.
      8. Prepare a Synthesis Regional report on the implementation of the ECOWAS Child Policy by Member States. 
      9. Support the development of concept notes and project proposals for funding for advancing the Child Rights Program 
      10. Support organization of meetings/ Annual Review Meetings on the Implementation of key policy and framework ( ECOWAS Child Policy, ECOWAS Strategic Framework to prevent and response to child violence in West Africa), write meeting reports, support in the development of technical reports and maintain documentation on projects and activities. 
           

          TANGIBLE AND MEASURABLE OUTPUT OF THE WORK ASSIGNMENT:  Time Required Activities & Deliverables 1st Deliverable: 15 days after start date of consultancy

          📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

          ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

      11. Develop and submit a consultancy work plan with key deliverables developed in coordination with the Humanitarian and Social Affairs Directorate
    • Support the finalisation of the ECOWAS-GRPE joint workplan /and the Official Submission of the Final Joint Action Plan to the DHDSA 

      Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy services fees upon submission of consultancy work plan. 

      2nd Deliverable: 3 months after the start date of consultancy
    • Support and follow up with Member States for the submission of the information and data on child protection according to the existing templates:
  • Support Member States in the collection of key data following the indicators developed in the tool
• Give technical assistance to Member States in need of support

   

• Support the implementation of the Joint ECOWAS Regional Working Group on Child Protection Operational Plan 2023 – 2027 according to the timeframe

Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy services fees upon submission of reports on the validation session for the Joint ECOWAS Regional Working Group on Child Protection Operational Plan 2023 – 2027 and the ECOWAS Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan on Child Rights as well as drafts of the finalized documents. 

Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy services fees upon submission of  a structured compilation of individual Member State submissions detailing progress, challenges, and good practices in implementing the ECOWAS Child Policy, Review of existing documentation, legal frameworks, and monitoring reports to supplement Member State inputs, validation of the draft analytical document with stakeholders and a finalized report incorporating all comments, with clear recommendations for ECOWAS and its partners.

Support the 2025 Review Meeting on the Implementation of the ECOWAS Child Policy: and ECOWAS Strategic Framework for Strengthening National Child Protection Systems to prevent and respond to Violence, Abuse and Exploitation against Children in West Africa

Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy service fees upon submission of a reporting template for the State of the Rights of the Child Report, a framework or matrix guiding data collection from member states including indicators, source and tools, and the final version of the report.

•     Satisfactory completion of tasks indicated in the ToR.
•     Quality of work: Ability to accurately coordinate with the ECOWAS Commission and relevant     stakeholders.
•     Timeliness: Ability to meet the project timeline and deliver on time.
•     Clarity: Ability to communicate free movement and child protection contents clearly and concisely. 
•     Understanding: Ability to understand and interpret the complexities of child protection policies and free movement-related programme.
•     Collaboration: Ability to work collaboratively with other stakeholders. 
•     Adaptability: Ability to adjust to changes in scope or objectives. 
•     Knowledge: Understanding migrant protection, free movement and the Child Rights trends globally and most especially in the West African region. 
•     Responsiveness: Ability to provide timely responses to inquiries.