United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: UK Child Marriage and FGM Consultant

#YouthForChange is a unique global partnership of young activists and their organisations working together in the drive to realise girls’ rights and end harmful traditional practices including child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). ­­

We want to ensure young people’s voices, experiences and recommendations are heard and considered in national, regional and international policy discussions and thereby making a difference to the lives of millions of girls. Working globally, our voices will be louder, and together we will break global taboos and make girls’ rights everybody’s business.

At the UK Government-hosted Girl Summit in July 2014, a committed group of young people from across the globe came together to ensure that young people’s voices were heard in the battle for girls’ rights. This was the beginning of the #YouthForChange partnership.

#YouthForChange believes that young people are the experts on their own situations; their voices need to lead discussions about improving their futures. FGM and CEFM are violations of human rights which affect young people across the globe. As young people, #YouthForChange activists are determined to end these harmful practices, and believe that young people offer vital insights and innovative solutions for how to do so.

We believe that ending FGM and CEFM is within our grasp. There will be national #YouthForChange partnerships in four countries – the UK, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. Each will be guided by a panel of inspirational youth activists and supported by a staff team of two. A global secretariat of four young people will steer the national partnerships.

Nationally and internationally, we will work in partnership together with youth activists, youth-led organisations and others, including women’s movements, working to end harmful traditional practices against girls. We understand that each country and community is unique and must initiate positive change in its own way. That’s why we are organised in national level youth-led partnerships. By joining together at a global level, we will aim to learn from each other’s successes, to be stronger and more effective.

We will be working to develop a comprehensive national advocacy strategy to help end CEFM and FGM in our countries. We are looking for consultant with good knowledge of the UK CEFM and FMG sector who will be able to provide us with the information we need to develop and lead a truly strategic campaign.

We are looking for someone that is comfortable working with young people and will be happy to not only provide a report for us but also present it to us in an interactive meeting so we fully understand the process used to collect the information and the information being presented.

Scoping work - objectives

1. To enable the UK YouthforChange youth activists to create policy change on CEFM and FGM in the UK.
2. To map government policy; opportunities for influencing; develop a thorough understanding of existing FGM and CEFM influencing landscape in the UK including themes, gaps, current targets, methods of influencing, spaces, exiting stakeholders
3. Provide recommendations for where young people can add value and ideas for specific policy asks for e.g. Home Office, local authorities etc
4. The #YouthForChange feel empowered through gaining knowledge of the process used to do the scoping and fully understanding the results.

Deliverables

1) A report consisting of the following:

· Thorough outline of:

o Current government policy and implementation

o Government and other resources for CEFM and FGM

o Existing actors, allies, champions

o themes

o Sensitivities

o Gaps

o Current targets

o Methods of influencing

o Spaces where youth voice could add value

o Moments

· Recommendations for areas in which policy progression or implementation could be the focus of a campaign for #youthforchange.

· Recommendations on key opportunities to engage with government on the above areas.

2) A interactive session with panel members to present the findings and the process (we can support the facilitation of this session)

Methodology:

· Desk based research

· Interviews with home office, education, local government officials

· Interviews with key civil society orgs (e.g. Integrate Bristol, Daughters of Eve, Educate to Eradicate, FORWARD, etc…)

· Given the short turnaround time, we would like to discuss the possibility of some of the youth panel members conducting 1-2 interviews in support of this process.

Timeline and details

Ø Expression of interest – deadline 10^th July

Ø Start research – deadline 20^th July

Ø Report to be delivered by – deadline 16^th Aug

Ø Meeting with Youth Panel – deadline 23^rd Aug

We will pay for approximately 9 days’ work. Daily rate / fee to be confirmed on appointment

Consultant Profile / Criteria

· A commitment to promoting and supporting children and/or girls' rights

· Good knowledge of FGM/ CEFM in UK – policy, legislation, stakeholders, activists

· Commitments to sharing the process with the Youth Activist to ensure this process is an empowering one for them

· Experience of desk based research and analysing government policy

· Ability to deliver on tight time frames and meet deadlines

Please send a CV and expression of interest covering letter to Magdalene.Thomas@plan-uk.orgby 10am 13^th July.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or enquiries at all regarding the work.