Terms of Reference for Programme Brief Writing for “Family Strengthening and Community Based Support for Care of Children with Disabilities in Families” Project

Chance for Childhood is an international charity founded in 1992 (originally under the name of ‘Jubilee Action’). In December 2016 we merged with fellow UK charity Street Child Africa to maximise our impact and help more vulnerable children.

Terms of Reference
PROGRAMME BRIEF WRITING for “Family Strengthening and Community Based Support for Care of Children with Disabilities in Families” Project
Reporting to: Senior Program Manager & Disability Inclusion Advisor
Geographical Location of the Project: Huye & Bugesera Districts
October 2022

About Chance for Childhood
Chance for Childhood is an award-winning charity working in Africa to support the most vulnerable children, such as street children, disabled children, children affected by conflict and kids behind bars. Our vision is to fight for every child. We work with African visionary community leaders to implement locally relevant yet far-reaching projects that create lasting change within the justice, education, and social protection sectors. This enables us to focus on ‘hard to reach’ children, both in terms of their complex needs (e.g., street children with learning difficulties) and location (e.g., urban violent slums or remote rural areas). Together we make ideas and impact both sustainable and scalable to protect, educate and empower even more of the world’s most disadvantaged children.
Our interventions in Africa are in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Project background
Tubarere Mu Muryango is the implementation strategy for the National Childcare Reform which was established since 2013 with the goal of reintegrating children living in institutions and transform Rwanda’s childcare and protection system into a family-based system of care. In 2016, a national assessment showed that over 4,000 children with disabilities were still residing in the institutions. In 2018, a baseline assessment showed that some parents were in need of additional support to care for their children with disabilities.

To help parents find solutions to that problem, UNICEF in partnership with Chance for Childhood have started implementing “Family strengthening and Community based support for care of children with disabilities in families Programme” since July 2021.
This programme has three main objectives, such as to support those children and their families to access mainstream and disability-related services (education, healthcare, rehabilitation and social protection, child protection…). It also intends to facilitate parents/caregivers to access self-help groups and other community-based initiatives to respond to immediate special needs and build resilience for sustainable family-based care of their children with disabilities. The current programme also ensures that community-based structures have necessary knowledge/capacity to provide and support children with disabilities and their families.

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The programme has so far mapped 6689 children with disabilities and/or developmental delays in Huye and Bugesera Districts; has trained 6689 parents of children with disabilities and grouped them in 146 Parents Support Groups which helps them to provide psychosocial support to one another. In this programme, 7858 referrals were made to hospitals, rehabilitation centres, Education (Early childhood, primary, special school and TEVT), social and child protection. Out of the referrals made, about 30.34 % got the services whilst the remainder 69.66 % are still facing different challenges.
To respond to the issue concerning large group of children with multiple impairments who could not make it to the hospitals and rehabilitation centres, the programme created 138 rehabilitation sites whereby each site has about ten (10) children with disabilities attending the rehabilitation services twice a week.
Our monitoring assessments also showed that about 1310 children with disabilities need different assistive devices out of which, 220 devices were recently provided by Chance for Childhood in close collaboration with CECHE Foundation and UNICEF Rwanda.
Assignment

Programme brief
The consultant will be expected to produce a 10-15 -page (maximum) programme brief right from the various reports and monitoring documents provided by CfC team. The Programme brief should be a comprehensive package reflecting lessons learned from key milestones of the project:
1. Situation analysis conducted
2. Mapping of children with disabilities
3. Training the parents of children with disabilities
4. Parents Support Groups
5. Referrals and challenges associated
6. Home accessibility and locally affordable assistive devices for the families of CwDs
7. Disability sensitive messages through radio and community advocacy events
8. Training of existing community volunteers about how to support children with disabilities in the community.
9. Training of community frontline workers including the local authorities about how to provide inclusive services.
10. Engaging with district authorities (lessons and challenges)
11. Coordination of the intervention
Purpose of the programme brief

Rationale
In order to achieve a successful reintegration of children with disabilities and prevent new family separation, it is necessary to think about innovative strategies to deliver results for children and their families; it is therefore very crucial to provide information to stakeholders working on child protection and disability inclusion for them to get different options especially those that are proven effective that can help to make tailored & comprehensive package of interventions aiming at supporting children with disabilities reintegrated from institutions back to families, and to improve community and family-based care by increasing accessibility/affordability of basic services as well as addressing social norms, stigma and discrimination like the current programme for prevention of new family separation. The package of interventions should be adapted to the individual community and consider the wider national context of low-resourced countries like Rwanda; this entails prioritizing interventions that build on existing resources/strengths to boost the capacity of communities for delivery of quality services to children and building of families’ resilience to adequately nurture and raise their children. The programme brief would be a good documentation to think towards sustainability of the model project, and to open for scale-up by different stakeholders.

Objectives
The programme brief will help the government of Rwanda and its stakeholders to:
• Document how the programme was developed
• Document how the programme was implemented
• What challenges were encountered and how they were dealt with
• Know the extent to which mainstream and special services for children with disabilities are provided and challenges associated.
• Know the extent to which access to parents’ peer support has helped parents restore their hope
• Know how community volunteers and community frontline workers should play a key role in the family and community care of CwDs.
• Know how to tackle stigma and discrimination in the family of a CwD and in the community.
• Know how CfC addressed issues related to affordability concerns for rehabilitation services of CwDs through community rehabilitation sites and locally made assistive devices.
• Provide insights on coordination and the role of districts authorities to promote community-based services to CWDs

Target audiences
Government of Rwanda and its stakeholders in child protection, social and disability inclusion at all levels have interest in the programme brief in which they will be asked to play a role. Table 1 below provides a preliminary stakeholder analysis, which should be deepened by the consultant during the documentation of the programme.
Accountability to targeted populations, is tied to CfC commitments to include people we work with as key stakeholders in their work. As such, CfC is committed to ensuring the involvement of children with disabilities, their guardians and parents and members of the support system including families of CwDs and respective communities.
Table 1: Target audiences
Stakeholders Interested in the programme brief

Internal Stakeholders
Chance for Childhood (Rwanda & UK offices) Responsible for planning and operations implementation of the project. It has a direct stake in the programme brief and will use the document to inform decision-making and advocacy with donors for adequate investment in children with disabilities.
UNICEF RWANDA UNICEF (as a donor) has an interest in the final product of programme brief to inform their advocacy and child protection strategies as well as learning from the programme they funded and advise to the government of Rwanda about key strategies, policies, thematic areas, or delivery modality and specifically to the programming in child protection and disability inclusion in the family and community.
EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
Beneficiaries As the ultimate recipients of the Family Strengthening and Community Based Support for Care of Children with Disabilities in Families interventions, beneficiaries have a stake in Chance for Childhood determining whether its assistance has been effective. As such, the level of participation in the programme brief for CWDs, parents and guardians will be determined, and their respective perspectives will be sought.

Government (NCDA & NCPD) and local leaders (districts, sectors, cells, and villages) The Government has a direct interest in keeping the records about Family Strengthening and Community Based Support for Care of Children with Disabilities in Families’ activities in the country by ensuring that they are aligned with its priorities, harmonized with the action of other partners, and meet the expected results. Issues related to capacity development of different stakeholders, handover and sustainability will be of interest to them.
NGOs NGOs especially the ones in the current partnership are interested to know what lessons they should all learn from the work CfC has conducted.
Programme brief approach
Scope
The programme brief will focus on the 18-month project that CfC has implemented in 29 sectors of two districts (Bugesera & Huye) between July 2021- December 2022.

Data Availability
The consultant will use the project monitoring reports and plans to document the programme brief.
Concerning the quality of data and information, the consultant should:
1. a. Assess data availability and reliability as part of the inception phase expanding on the information provided
2. Systematically check accuracy, consistency, and validity of collected data and information and acknowledge any limitations/caveats in drawing conclusions using the data.

Methodology
To respond to the above-mentioned deliverables, the consultant shall use the data from interviews with families, community-based service providers, and community/ local leaders, district authorities, Government national levels (NCPD & NCDA) which will contribute to an understanding of the current context as well as the experiences of these key stakeholders. This, in combination with desk research, will provide a comprehensive understanding of how the programme of strengthening families and community-based support to children with disabilities and their families was developed and implemented. This will help the consultant to write a succinct programme brief.

Cultural Sensitivity of programme brief
The consultant should have a wide and being familiar with local traditions and particularities.
Further details can be discussed during the inception phase.
Quality Assurance
This quality assurance process shall not interfere with the views and independence of the consultant but ensures the programme brief provide the necessary evidence in a clear and convincing way.
The consultant should be assured of the accessibility of all relevant documentation within the provisions of the acceptance disclosure of information procedures.

Ethical Clearance:
The consultant doesn’t need to look for Ethical clearance since CfC has obtained it at the very beginning of this intervention. Additionally, the consultant should be aware of the no faces and Overexposed campaign which were recently launched by CfC. However, the consultant is also expected to have a flexible mentality and willingness to closely collaborate with UNICEF throughout the consultancy time.

Phases and Deliverables
The programme brief writing production will proceed through the following phases (please note the timeframes are not indicative of the no. of days needed throughout each stated period):
Desk Review and elaboration of a work plan (up to 1 week):
This will look at the following:
• Legal/policy framework(s) pertaining to the rights and eligibilities of children who experience disabilities and their families in Rwanda, including protection and service access (e.g., health, (re)habilitation, education, (social) protection)
• Government-provided mainstream and specialist services to which children who experience disabilities (should) have access, including health, (re)habilitation, education and (social) protection
1. in country and
2. in Huye district
3. in Bugesera district
• Non-governmental organization mainstream and/or specialist services to which children who experience disabilities (should) have access, including health, (re)habilitation, education and (social) protection
1. in Rwanda
2. in Huye district
• in Bugesera district
• The current documented situation of children who experience disabilities and their families in the social care system, including those in institutions, in foster care, or adopted into families. This includes known statistics and documented successes and challenges in addition to the monitoring & project reports put together by CfC staff.
• Baseline, mapping, and monitoring reports will also help the consultant to get the picture of how the programme was implemented.

Discussion of the plan with CfC. Incorporation of adjustments if needed (2 days)
1-2 days (Kigali): Debriefings in Kigali and clarification of some questions
Elaboration of a draft of the programme brief (2 weeks)
CfC shall review the draft to ensure that it meets the required quality criteria and planned objectives.

Produce the final programme brief document
CfC and UNICEF will review the document to confirm that it is in line with what was expected of the consultant.
Participation in at least 1 knowledge sharing event.
Outputs
• A succinct Programme Brief

Communication and budget
Communication
The consultant shall provide weekly email updates to CfC on progress made against expected targets. Emails and inquiries from consultant should be answered in a turnaround period of two working days.

Budget and application guidelines
The total budget for this consultancy is RwF 3,500,000 which is inclusive of all related costs including 15% withholding tax.
Applicants are requested to provide a proposal in line with the details provided above.

Terms of payment
This should be discussed and agreed on during contract signing time. However, 10% of the total cost should be advanced upon signing and the remainder should be paid upon completion of the assignment.

Key skills and Competence requirements
• At least 3 to 5 years of documented work experience around documentary, tools and guides writing.
• A demonstrated strong awareness and understanding of Inclusive development concepts both in Rwanda and Globally, is strongly preferred
• An excellent command of standards English mainly in writing and speaking
• Adherence to UNICEF and Chance for Childhood’s Values
• Ability to operate under strict time limits and apply high production and technical standards for the purpose of maintaining high level of professionalism.

Submission Procedure
Interested candidates are requested to submit a proposal outlining the following in line with the details provided in the tender above:
• A detailed CV
• Brief letter, describing previous experience on similar projects. Creative ideas and suggestions are encouraged.
• Technical proposal.
• Financial proposal with detailed budget breakdown

Eligibility
• Three links to work samples demonstrating most relevant previous work
• Three references (with contact information) from previous clients


Please submit your application to apply@chanceforchildhood.org with subject line “Family Strengthening and Community Based Support for Care of Children with Disabilities in Families”. The deadline is midnight GMT on Monday 14th November 2022. Only strongest candidates will be contacted due to anticipated high volume of applications. The successful applicant will be required to start on 21st November 2022.

Safeguarding
Chance for Childhood promotes and upholds the principles of equal opportunities and its policies. Chance for Childhood has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a vulnerable adult or a child by any of our staff, representatives, or partners. Recruitment to all jobs at Chance for Childhood includes, in particular, criminal record checks/police background check and the collection of relevant references. Safeguarding our beneficiaries is our top priority in everything we do.
The successful candidate will therefore need to review, agree, and sign Chance for Childhood’s Child Protection Policy (CPP) prior to starting the post.
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