Consultancy - End Term Evaluation Strengthening Child Protection Systems in the Travel and Tourism Context

Estimated at 20 days of work – 1 October – 20 December 2024

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT: 

ECPAT International is a global network of organisations working together for the elimination of the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in all its manifestations i.e., exploitation of children in prostitution, online child sexual exploitation, sale and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism and some forms of child, early and forced marriage. The ECPAT Network currently consists of 126 members working at national and local levels in 105 countries.

The ECPAT International Secretariat coordinates the global work of the organisation and is based in Bangkok, Thailand. The Secretariat designs and implements global and regional level programmes, and undertakes programming, advocacy and research and facilitates a range of network initiatives.

CONTEXT OF THE ASSIGNMENT: 

The project Strengthening Child Protection System in the Travel and Tourism Context is implemented by ECPAT International with partners in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and The Philippines from July 2023 – December 2024 (18 months).

In Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and The Philippines, the project’s key change pathway focuses on the translation of commitments and progress made by the regional bodies, governments, and businesses towards improving child protection measures in relation to regulating voluntourism into actionable and replicable models. The project builds upon progress made by ECPAT International in supporting and documenting approaches to implement all of what has been done and produced to address risks in voluntourism, to ensure that this learning is shared as a consolidated case with the entire ECPAT network. Pilot experiences from Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and The Philippines serve as models for replication by other countries at a larger scale. Experiences from Germany and The Netherlands, as sending countries are used to guide responses to protect children. The project constitutes an exit strategy to hand over the resources and engagement to the network and beyond.

The project also aims to generate sectoral momentum by equipping tourism professionals to become part of the child protection system through integrating child protection core competencies into training curricula within tourism associations and schools in Asia and other regions.

OBJECTIVES OF EVALUATION: 

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess the relevance, impact and sustainability of the project in achieving its goals of 1) improving regulation of voluntourism in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and The Philippines and 2) equipping tourism professionals to become part of the child protection system.

Specifically, the evaluation should assess strategies employed to achieve the project goals and provide learnings and recommendations for future expansion and scale up, related to:

Policy Change:

• Progress made towards adoption of new or improved policy changes at the global, regional, national and local levels.
• Changes in support for regulation of voluntourism with children, by policymakers, institutions, business and the public.
• Key learnings on what approaches and methods were most effective to achieve policy change, or changes in support, if there was any progress towards this. This may include increasing focus on the need to regulate voluntourism across public and private institutions, changing public awareness, attitudes, and opinions, shifting the discourse to define key terms and communicate the importance of the topic.

Civil Society Capacity: 

• Civil society capacity to identify the types of stakeholders that need to be involved, their roles, and to develop effective engagement and coordination mechanisms.
• Civil society capacity to lead effective advocacy approaches to achieve project goals, such as developing effective strategies and messaging.
• The effectiveness and learnings from advocacy approaches and tactics used in engaging private and public sector.

Stakeholders and Partnership: 

• Which stakeholders were engaged (or should have been engaged) in progressing the project goals, what roles they played in effecting change, how they were coordinated and worked together, and how ECPAT International can target and mobilise the most relevant and impactful stakeholders going forward.
• Partnership approaches employed by civil society organisations (ECPAT International and its members) to facilitate effective engagement across geographies and sectors.
• Coordination, collaboration, and knowledge exchange between CSOs engaged in advocacy at the national and international levels.
• Broader enhancement of CSO participation in relevant policy dialogues and relationships with public and private stakeholders related to this topic.

Advocacy and Movement Building:

• The adequacy of the strategies employed to coordinate CSO efforts to exchange knowledge and resources, coordinate advocacy, action and messaging, and their role in supporting initiatives at the national level, and collective action and coalition building across countries.

ECPAT International’s Role: 

• The role of the ECPAT International Secretariat in enabling and advancing progress towards project objectives.

The design, methodology, findings and recommendations from this evaluation will be used to:

• Understand what the expected and unexpected achievements and challenges have been.
• Understand what approaches were effective at achieving progress, and what the enabling factors and barriers to this have been in each context.
• Inform the replication and scale up of the avenues for regulating voluntourism and equipping tourism professionals with child protection competencies elsewhere.
• Inform organisational strategy on creating, implementing and evaluating advocacy and movement building efforts to increase the adoption of effective child protection legislation globally.
• Inform organisational strategy on implementing and evaluating public and private engagement and sensitisation to prevent sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES: 

• Inception Report: Outline of the evaluation design, methodology, and work plan.
• Evaluation tools.
• Final Report: Comprehensive evaluation report with findings, conclusions, recommendations, and a roadmap for future initiatives.
• Final Presentation: Summary of key findings and recommendations.

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY: 

We anticipate the evaluator(s) employing a range of tools and methods related to developmental and process evaluations that are appropriate for evaluating advocacy, policy and education initiatives. The evaluator(s) may propose the use of a range of methods such as stakeholder analysis, process evaluation, contribution analysis, outcome harvesting.

MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS: 

The evaluator(s) will report to the Head of Child Protection in Travel and Tourism but will work in close collaboration with the Global Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Lead and other ECPAT Secretariat colleagues, including the Research, Advocacy, Campaign and Communications team.

TIMELINE: 

This consultancy will take place between 1 October – 20 December 2024 with an estimate of approximately 20 working days.

CONSULTANT PROFILE: 

The consultant or groups of consultants need to have:

• Expertise in advocacy, policy analysis and child protection.
• Experience in developmental and process evaluations.
• Experience in child protection within the context of travel and tourism, particularly around the legislative context of this within Cambodia, Sri Lanka and The Philippines, is desirable.
• Fluence and experience of report writing and policy analysis in English is essential.
• Ability to work in Sinhala, Tamil, Filipino and Khmer would be highly considered.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

• This is a home-based position using their own equipment. The consultant(s) should be available for online calls including with different time zones in particular with Thailand where ECPAT International Secretariat is based.
• The Consultant is expected to act at all times in a manner consistent with the values of ECPAT International and in compliance with the organisation’s policies and procedures including Safeguarding Policies and the Code of Conduct.

OUR COMMITMENTS: 

As ECPAT’s International Secretariat we recognise that our strength lies in the diversity of the people who make up our global network, staff, volunteers and consultants. We are committed to being an inclusive workplace where people of all backgrounds and cultures can strive and be themselves. This means we will challenge ourselves to do better and to continue learning, to create and maintain a working environment steeped in respect, tolerance, safety, and where all parties are valued equally.

How to Apply: 

Interested evaluator(s) should submit a proposed evaluation design, methodology, workplan, personnel and qualifications, and budget in English to vacancy@ecpat.org mentioning your name and “UBS SECTT Evaluation” in the subject header.

The budget for this evaluation should cover all expenses related to data collection, personnel, IT, and report preparation. Detailed budget proposals in USD should be submitted with the application.

Due to the high volume, we are not able to respond to every application. If you have not heard back from us within 2 weeks of the deadline, it means that your application has not been successful.

Deadline: Friday 13th September 2024, 5 pm CET