Home-based: Mapping of Policies, Programmes, Services and Other Measures Contributing to the Prevention of Violence Against Children in Cameroon

1. Introduction: 

African Partnership to End Violence against Children (APEVAC) is a continental platform that brings together Governments, Regional Economic Communities(RECs), child rights organisations, African and international civil society organisations, activists, academia, the private sector, media and children to inform, inspire, influence law and policy reform and support collective action to ending violence against children (VAC) in Africa. APEVAC envisions an Africa that is free from VAC. APEVAC was established through the initiative of the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) in 2016. 

It aims to promote this by: 

• building evidence and knowledge around countries’ progress towards achieving global and continental targets to ending VAC, 
• advocating for enhanced political commitment and leadership at the highest level;
• strengthening national violence prevention and response policy and implementation capacity; 
• catalysing cross-country and cross-regional learning and sharing of practices and solutions on violence prevention by fostering home-grown African solutions; and 
• reflecting Africa’s position and perspectives within the global agenda to end violence against children.

2. Background and Rationale: 

The Government of Cameroon is taking considerable steps to put in place policies and other measures to make homes, communities and schools safer for children. One of the most significant action that is currently underway includes the development of a comprehensive Children’s Act and a Child Protection Act. 

In 2022, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family in collaboration with APEVAC and CAM-CRIN convened two national dialogue forums to mobilise diverse sectors around the prevention of violence against children in Cameroon. These forums highlighted that the government and other actors are implementing a wide range of programmes and providing services to address VAC. But they also noted that there is noticeable focus to responding to harm after it took place than priortising interventions that protect children from experiencing violence in the first place. These dialogue forums also acknowledged the Government’s commitment to make the necessary shift in approaches and investments in favour of interventions that can contribute to ending violence against children. 

To support this transition, APEVAC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family and CAM-CRIN, aims to conduct a mapping study that involves an in-depth analysis of existing laws, policies, systems, programmes, services and other contextual factors that would provide critical insights into how prevention efforts can be strengthened to effectively address the root causes of VAC in Cameroon.

3. Objectives: 

The aim of the assignment is to map existing laws, policies, systems, structures, programmes, interventions, initiatives and services geared towards preventing and responding to violence against children and related contextual factors and analyze their effectiveness in terms of addressing the root causes of physical, emotional and sexual violence against children in Cameroon.   

Specific Objectives: 

• To analyze the elements within the policy frameworks, systems, structures, programmes, interventions, initiatives and services that contribute to reducing risk factors and enhancing protective factors related to VAC; and
• To assess and analyse promising initiatives and practices that have proved to be effective and have the potential to be scaled up in preventing violence against children.

4. Scope of the Mapping: 

The mapping will assess how existing laws, policies, systems, structures, programmes, interventions, initiatives, services and other contextual factors contribute to the prevention of all forms of violence against all children in all settings, specifically: 

• in addressing the risk factors to violence.  i.e. individual, relational, community, and societal factors that heighten the risk of a child being exposed to violence. 
• in addressing the drivers of violence, i.e. institutional and structural conditions and context in which VAC is more likely to occur. 
• in building/strengthening protective factors related to strengthening the capacity of the individual child and that of parents and communities to better play their protective role, etc. 
• in supporting multi-sectoral and stakeholder coordination and action to address VAC holistically. 
• in generating and using data on incidence, perpetrators, causes and consequences of different forms of VAC as well as availability and access to services. 

The mapping has a national scope covering all 10 regions of Cameroon.

5. Methodology Scope of the Mapping 

The mapping is qualitative by design. It uses a range of data collection methods such as desk-based review, key informant interviews and case studies. Both primary and secondary data will be collected and analysed. Key activities include:

Desk Review: the review will include examining: (i) laws, policies, programmes, services, etc.  (ii) review of reports of randomised control trials, if any, conducted to evaluate impact on preventing VAC; (iii) project documents, including project evaluation reports; (iv) government reports; (iv) documentations of UN agencies and civil society organisations; (v) documentations of treaty bodies; and (vi) scholarly peer-reviewed journals.

• Key informant interviews: consultations will be held with relevant government ministries, members of national multi-sectoral child protection committee, civil society organisations, UN agencies, development partners, using appropriately tailored questions.  
• Self-assessment questionnaires: sector-specific online questionnaires will be circulated for senior experts and staff of relevant government ministries, members of national multi-sectoral committees, UN agencies, civil society organisations and bilateral organisations to capture and elaborate their sector’s contribution to the prevention of VAC. 
• Case studies: cases will be selected from existing programmes and services, including from those with a preventative focus and those with a response focus, for further analysis and distillation of good practices and lessons. The following criteria will be used to select the cases:
  • Ability to address both risk and protective factors to violence
  • Ability to address the gender dimension of VAC 
  • Ability to address the intersecting risks that heighten certain groups of children’s exposure to violence
  • Ability to capitalize on community knowledge and physical resources
  • Potential for scalability, adaptability and sustainability

6. Applicant’s Profile: 

Applicants are expected to have the following technical capacities: 

• Postgraduate degree in the area of child/human rights, law, political science, development studies or any other related discipline;
• Bilingual: Fluency in English as the report will be drafted in English language;
• At least 10 years of experience of working and/or conducting research, evaluation of child protection programmes and projects at national, regional and continental levels, with a particular focus on violence against children;
• Strong and in-depth knowledge of Cameroon’s VAC context;
• Demonstrated experience in the development of technical reports;
• Proven experience and up-to-date expertise with engaging in the child protection landscape, including government, non-government, research and civil society organizations in Cameroon;
• Demonstrated technical capacities to achieve the results outlined in this TOR. 

How to Apply:  

Interested parties are invited to submit a concise research proposal jbnyebel@gmail.com; lishan@africanchildforum.org; and enamaleon@yahoo.fr by 25th June 2023.

The submission needs to include:  

• Statement of qualifications 
• Timeline for project implementation 
• Proposed budget 
• Research team profile 
• Reference from prior clients