Children who have been affected by conflict, violence and displacement face difficulty in achieving their full learning and developmental potential. Violence hampers learning and is detrimental to children’s well-being. Corporal punishment of children in schools is forbidden in Libya by law. However, available studies show that the level of violence against and amongst children is high in Libyan schools. The UNICEF- NCDC study (2017) on violence against children in Libya found that 90% of boys and 88% of girls reported that they had experienced some forms of violence at home, schools or in their communities There are no formal school-based referral or support mechanism in place for child victims of violence, including bullying, The VAC study found that children reported high levels of violence in schools (from adults and peer-to-peer). Teachers were also found to be the most common adult perpetrators of physical violence: almost 67 per cent of children reported physical violence by their teachers in the 12 months preceding the survey. Parents were the second-most common perpetrators of physical violence, with around 38 per cent of students reporting to have experienced violence by their parents in the last 12 months. These factors can impact a child’s ability to thrive in a learning environment, resulting in poor school performance.
UNICEF Libya with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Affairs and other relevant ministries and partners is committed to ensure a protective environment for children in schools. Schools can also provide a link into families and communities which can enable a dialogue and encourage positive collective steps to end violence against children more broadly. UNICEF Child Protection section in coordination with Education section will support the Ministry of Education to mainstream, integrate and institutionalize a protection and psychosocial support component that is sustainable, applicable, effective and practical. This will include the development of a policy to integrate psychosocial support within schools, the development of a training/capacity development module for teachers and social workers and school counselors – including the review of the current curriculum implemented by the PSS department of the Tripoli university 0 on enhancing protection and psychosocial wellbeing in schools to be integrated within the in-service teachers/social workers training and piloting PSS and violence prevention activities in targeted schools.
Role objectives:
Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist and in collaboration with Education Specialist, the consultant will support the Ministry of Education in enhancing the psychosocial wellbeing and protection of children in schools, through mainstreaming, integration and institutionalization of a psychosocial support model that is sustainable, applicable, effective and practical. More specifically, the consultant will:
1- review the existing modules currently implemented by the NGOs in Libya and also best practices /lessons learn applied in the other country offices in the similar context to inform the programming in Libya. This review process will have to be heavily relying on the inputs from the multi-disciplinary team;
2- support the Ministry of Education to review/update/develop a curriculum and operational procedures based on the lessons learnt and best practices identification to integrate psychosocial support within the formal education with practical tools, standards and measures;
3- develop and implement a PSS interventions package including capacity building based on the curriculum (including minimum standards, basic guidelines) for teachers/social workers on enhancing protection, psychosocial wellbeing and violence prevention in schools to be integrated within the in-service teachers/social workers’ training;
4- provide guidance and pilot the designed training package and practical interventions of integration of psychosocial support and violence prevention activities in selected targeted (30) schools.
For this consultancy, a national multi-disciplinary team will be established (comprising of but not limited to Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, Tripoli University, CSO representatives, etc).
Key competencies:
Education:
Masters’ Degree, preferably in in psychosocial and related domains such as psychology, social work, educational sciences (educational psychology, psychological services in education, inclusive education) or Social Sciences.
Work Experience:
Experience in development of materials and hand-on to teachers/social workers and training guides
Experience in development of strategies.
Experience in working with national government ministries.
Experience in referral mechanism and experience in policy advocacy with government including designing policy framework and implementation standards.
Previous experience of working in MENA countries and/or conflict-affected countries.
Knowledge of the institutions of the UN system; ability to work in an international or multicultural environment. Working experience in developing countries.
Analytical and conceptual thinking and writing ability.
Fully proficient computer skills.
Fluency in English. Knowledge of Arabic is considered an asset.
Further information:
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:
The consultant will support UNICEF and the Ministry of Education to achieve the following results:
1- Establish a national multi-disciplinary team (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, Tripoli University, national CSO representatives, etc) to review all the existing practices of psychosocial support in Libya.
2- Conduct desk review of available literature including best practices and experiences of provision of PSS in schools for the review of the national team. Review the curriculum of the Tripoli University on the essential content that is used for the teaching of the social workers and teachers.
3- Review existing policy frameworks for management of safety, psychosocial support and prevention of violence in schools and ascertain the adequacy of these frameworks to guide the implementation and suggestions to address any identified gaps. The consultant will be responsible for assessing validity and applicability, in consultation with the national team and based on this will develop a strategy/policy framework to integrate PSS in schools and address identified gaps.
4- Organize a series of meetings and a validation workshop with key stakeholders to review, present and endorse the updated strategy and policy framework.
5- Support, oversee and undertake if possible the field visits to selected (30) schools and identify specific safety and protection concerns among students and those who are in contact with students in schools.
6- Review existing structures in schools and determine how to mainstream child protection and psychosocial support within these structures, such as PTAs, parents’ councils, students’ councils/clubs and whether there is a need to establish a child protection committee in schools.
7- In consultation with the national team and UNICEF, develop a comprehensive curriculum and operating procedures that will include but will be not limited to:
8- Provide guidance and support to pilot the designed curriculum/training package and practical PSS interventions in at least 30 schools in eastern, western and southern Libya and provide feedback
9- Undertake the capacity building of selected teachers, school counsellors and social workers through ToT – where at least at least 60 teachers and 60 schools counsellors/social workers received ToT PSS in schools (with contents customized to the two groups) – and cascade training plan is implemented.
10- Conduct regular monitoring visits when feasible and analyze field trip reports to ensure adherence to the developed curriculum and report the lessons learnt.
11- Propose a monitoring and evaluation strategy for the pilot implementation of mainstreaming PSS and prepare an M&E module (including tools) (for cascade training, pilot phase in 30 schools, third party monitors etc)
12- Conduct an end of project workshop and present outcomes, lesson learned and best practices with key stakeholders and agree on the way forward. Final report presented to UNICEF and Ministry of Education.
Reporting Requirements:
Administrative arrangements:
Location:
Tunis, Tunisia with travels to Libya (3 months – all together) combined with the remote work from elsewhere (6 months)
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