UNICEF South Sudan Information Management Consultant – Child Protection Sub-Cluster

Summary – Individual Consultancy Title Information Management Consultant – Child Protection Sub-Cluster Purpose To strengthen and maintain effective information management and communication mechanisms for the Child Protection Sub-Cluster to ensure a coherent and effective child protection response during humanitarian crisis. Expected fee P 2 Location Juba, South Sudan with extensive travel to the field Duration 6 Months ( March to August 2013) Start Date 15 March 2013 Reporting to Child Protection Sub-Cluster Coordinator Background In April 2010, the Humanitarian Country Team Juba Satellite adopted the cluster system to strengthen and improve humanitarian coordination mechanisms, ensuring that coordination structures match the challenge of addressing the complex and pressing humanitarian situation in Southern Sudan.

The cluster approach seeks to make humanitarian assistance more effective by introducing an enhanced system of sectoral coordination with predictable and accountable leadership. Building on existing sector coordination the approach aims to optimize humanitarian response mechanisms ensuring a more coherent, principled, timely, effective and predictable humanitarian assistance to people in need.

In line with the Humanitarian Reform, NGOs, international organizations and UN agencies operating in the same sector are brought under the leadership of an agreed cluster lead and co-lead, to identify gaps, plan and prioritize response, and to implement and monitor activities in a spirit of partnership. Actions are undertaken in full consultation with relevant government counterparts, where feasible.

The Child Protection Sub-Cluster was established in October 2010 and is part of the overall Protection Cluster. The Child Protection Sub-Cluster objectives for 2011 are to ensure: • Child Protection issues are highlighted in other (sub) clusters and all humanitarian agenda and response, also in emergency situations. • Mechanisms and structures are in place to ensure effective cooperation with national and local authorities and other clusters (sub cluster) for assessments, reporting and response on child protection issues and cross cutting issues. • Coherent and effective response is provided for separated and unaccompanied children in all states of Southern Sudan. • Coherent and effective support is provided for vulnerable returnee children in transit sites and new settlement sites through Child Friendly Spaces. • Coherent and effective support is provided for street children. • Mechanisms and structures are in place to ensure training and capacity building on CP issues and solutions for sub cluster members staff and humanitarian partners, including the MCGSW.

As lead and co-lead agencies of the Child Protection Sub-Cluster in South Sudan, UNICEF and Save the Children are required to ensure appropriate Information Management (IM) for an effective intra- and inter-cluster response (see, the IASC Generic Terms of Reference for Cluster/Sector Leads at the Country Level) . The IASC Guidance on Responsibilities of Cluster/Sector Leads and OCHA for Information Management details, as part of these cluster lead responsibilities, that cluster lead agencies need to establish IM focal point(s) who should have sufficient expertise and an ability to work with different partners and clusters, and allocate the necessary human and financial resources for Information Management to ensure this.

Information management (IM) is required for a coordinated emergency response as it improves the capacity of stakeholders in analysis and decision-making through strengthened collection, processing, interpretation and dissemination of information at the intra- and inter-cluster level. Information and information management is the foundation on which decision-making for a coordinated and effective response is based. Strong IM, carried out in support of coordination processes will support relevant actors to work with the same or complementary information and baseline data when making decisions. Properly collected and managed data during emergencies can furthermore support in early recovery, recovery and disaster preparedness activities. Information Management is therefore both a time critical intervention to support timely evidence based decision making in Child Protection Sub-Cluster, but is also a responsibility and accountability by its agreement to the IASC Guidance on Responsibilities of Cluster/Sector Leads and OCHA for Information Management

Key Result Areas The Information Manager is a core member of the Child Protection Sub-Cluster Coordination teams and will support the Sub-Cluster Coordinator. The Information Manager will play a vital role in collecting, analysing, and sharing information that is important for cluster partners to make informed, evidence-based, strategic decisions on:

1. the child protection needs of affected populations;
2. the prioritization of these needs;
3. the key gaps in activities to meet prioritised needs;
4. what capacity (human, material, financial) exists to be used in support of the identified prioritised response needs.

In particular, key result areas include: • Systems development: Establishment of effective mechanisms for communication, information exchange and sharing learning within the national sub-cluster and between the national and sub-national clusters on states level, including: developing and maintaining contact lists and email lists, manage web-based information including websites, 3/4Ws, sub-cluster updates and bulletins, meeting outcomes, work plans, and response and capacity mapping.

• Data Collection, Analysis and Application: Facilitation of child protection data collection and collation, storage, filtering and analysis to inform decision-making. This includes: supporting the identification of pre-crisis and in-crisis baseline data, standards and indicators as appropriate to the context; managing analysis and interpretation of needs assessment information; facilitating collection, analysis and dissemination of sub-cluster partner experience, lessons learned and good practice. Facilitation of a system to keep the data updated.

• Monitoring and Reporting: develop simple, user-friendly reporting formats in consultation key stakeholders; these reporting formats should include provision for gender and age disaggregation of data and reporting on particularly vulnerable groups. Produce child protection updates and situation reports on behalf of the Child Protection Sub-Cluster.

• Standards: Support the sub-cluster in the agreement of common standards and indicators for monitoring the progress and the effectiveness of humanitarian response within the Cluster. Standards and indicators should take into account national standards or guidelines as well as existing globally-agreed standards such as the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and agency-specific standards such as the Core Commitments for Children (CCC).

• Inter-Cluster Coordination: Proactively gather information from other clusters/organizations/military which may be of use to the Child Protection Sub-Cluster including movement of displaced population, returnees and street children and the basic services which are provided to these populations of concern. Close liaison for Child Protection with the Protection Cluster and GBV Sub-Cluster. Feed into inter-cluster reporting and OCHA-led humanitarian situation reports. Work closely with OCHA on cross-cluster IM and analysis at the strategic level through the establishment of systems and processes needed for effective information sharing with cluster partners. Represent the Sub-Cluster in any meetings of IM focal points led by OCHA and share information from that group with the Child Protection Sub-Cluster as necessary. Liaison with North Sudan Cluster IM Focal Points.

• Capacity-building: Assist Sub-Cluster partners to meet information needs, adopting simple tools, and providing timely, relevant information to meet their own coordination needs; wherever possible and/or appropriate, ensure that IM supports national information systems, standards and builds local capacities and maintain appropriate links with relevant Government, State and local authorities in order to strengthen, not replace or diminish national efforts.

• Knowledge Management: Support the Sub-Cluster in developing and monitoring performance indicators for “an effective Sub-Cluster” and generate lessons learned, e.g. through periodic feedback surveys, real-time performance reviews, or lessons learned workshops.

• Any other tasks that may be required (within reason) to achieve the objective of this assignment

Deliverables

During and at the end of this consultancy, the following outputs will be delivered:

• Data collection, analysis and application system strengthened and in place; • Data collected from the Child Protection interventions is analyzed and used for t the monthly progress reports from national and sub-regional levels; • Periodic maps produced with Child Protection interventions in South Sudan; • Sub-cluster members and CPWG members trained on reporting using data collected during project implementation; • End of consultancy report summarizing the key system and structures put in place.

Expected background and Experience 1. Advanced University degree or equivalent in relevant field such as: social work, humanitarian affairs, political science, information technology, information systems, geographic sciences, engineering or communications. 2. Minimum of five years of significant experience in emergency contexts preferably as UN or NGO at middle management level. 3. Experience in information management, knowledge management, database management or a related field. 4. Experience of humanitarian needs assessments, surveys, and monitoring and evaluation. 5. Proven statistical, analytic and technical skills, including: excellent knowledge of MS Excel and MS Access, knowledge of GIS and map-making processes, experience of data capture, storage and file management and analysis and report generation, advanced knowledge of web-based applications, particular google groups, google sites and google fusion tables, ability to present information in understandable tables, charts and graphs. 6. Demonstrable technical expertise in child protection in emergencies and transition. 7. Knowledge of the cluster approach guidelines and terms of reference and knowledge/experience in applying them. 8. Demonstrable ability to work with diverse groups of stakeholders and to develop consensus and partnerships. 9. Formal training in cluster coordination and or demonstrable experience of effective co-ordination at sector or national level would be preferable. 10. Fluency in English (verbal and writing) and another UN language preferred;

Areas to be considered This post is office-based (mainly in Juba) but there will be significant travel within South Sudan. Areas of concern: The incumbent is expected to perform the above functions under difficult working conditions, related to office accommodation, procedures, workload, mobility, and institutional and personal safety. There is limited access to health care and recreational facilities, and this is compounded by long working hours and potentially stressful conditions.

How to apply:

Human Resources Officer UNICEF South Sudan Country Office
OR PREFERABLY: Email: jubavacancies@unicef.org. Juba.