Consultant, Violence against Indigenous Girls and Adolescents

Terms of Reference for a Consultant to Prepare a Working Paper on Violence against Indigenous Girls and Adolescents as a Technical Contribution to the International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues in January 2012

Background The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was established in 2000 as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to highlight and provide direct advice on the full range of human rights issues affecting indigenous peoples.

In January of each year, the Forum hosts a meeting of experts to discuss thematic issues affecting indigenous communities. These meetings are regarded as preparatory to annual sessions of the Permanent Forum as well as those of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which are held under the auspices of the Human Rights Council.

The next Expert Meeting in January 2012 will take place under the theme “Combating violence against indigenous women and girls: article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. The Permanent Forum has requested that the results of the meeting be reported to: (a) the Permanent Forum at its eleventh session in May of the same year, (b) the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly and to (c) the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2012.

These developments are to be regarded as leaps forward, serving as potential entry points for advancing the rights of indigenous women, girls and adolescents and highlighting critical concerns affecting them. UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO and WHO (the agencies) view this as an opportunity to address the specific situation of indigenous girls and adolescents who are sometimes overlooked in gender equality discourse. The agencies have therefore agreed to join forces in support of the preparation of a Working Paper that would present a comprehensive situation analysis of violence suffered by indigenous girls and adolescents in different contexts. This paper is a joint effort of the agencies and provides a framework around which this task will be undertaken.

Context and overview The UN Study on Violence Against Children (2006) notes that violence against children exists in every country of the world, cutting across culture, class, education, income and ethnic origin. It specifically acknowledges the special vulnerability of indigenous children as well as those belonging to minorities and recommends for States to ensure that such children and their families are provided with culturally based support and care services and that social workers have adequate training to work effectively with them.

The CRC provides the most authoritative protective framework for indigenous children and adolescents, gaining greater impetus from its two Optional Protocols ; General Comment 11 of the CRC Committee on Indigenous Children and their Rights under the Convention; General Comment 13 on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence; General Comment 8 on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment and ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in particular calls on State Parties to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse and to establish social, treatment and judicial interventions and the provision of necessary support for affected children as well as those at risk.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the ILO Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Populations in Independent Countries are the two principal international frameworks governing the rights of indigenous peoples. While referencing women and children in general terms, the Declaration in particular serves as a useful entry point for addressing issues of violence against girls and adolescents. Article 22 notes that:

1. “Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities in the implementation of this Declaration.

2. States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination. This is to be coupled with Article 17 (2) and (3) which call on States to take specific measures to protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, taking into account their special vulnerability and the importance of education for their empowerment.”

Other important references include the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; the Beijing Platform for Action (critical areas of concerns 4 and 12) ; the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The tenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held in May 2011 underscored the important role that women play in the economic and social development of their respective communities and of the urgent need to address the persisting forms of violence that they continue to face. A cursory review of the literature however points to the paucity of information on indigenous girls and adolescents compared to women. The Working Paper being proposed therefore provides a unique opportunity for the agencies concerned to obtain a holistic overview of their situation and where appropriate develop a basis for further research, data collection and action.

Objectives of the working paper One of the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence Against Children was for States to improve data collection and information systems in order to identify vulnerable subgroups, inform policy and programming at all levels, and track progress towards the goal of preventing violence against children (emphasis added). The proposed Working Paper is intended to serve as one of such contributions, leading to an increase in the level of knowledge of the various forms of violence which impact on indigenous girls and adolescents.

The Working Paper will serve as a substantive technical contribution to the 2012 Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Issues and aims to contribute to the state of knowledge of the nature, prevalence, incidence and consequences of violence affecting indigenous girls and adolescents within the contexts of the African, Asian and Latin American regions.

The outcome will further set the stage for further research, data collection and programmatic interventions among and between the agencies concerned.

Conceptual framework, definitions and scope

Conceptual framework: The CRC and its Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography will serve as the framework of analysis in the design of the Working Paper. The CRC is the most authoritative reference on children’s rights. Given its near universal ratification and binding nature, it provides the most comprehensive framework for the protection of children from all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse.

Definitions: The Working Paper will be guided by a number of contextual definitions: (a) that of the child as contained in article 1 of the CRC: “[e]very human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”; (b) the definition of violence provided for by article 19 of the CRC “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”, in addition to (c) that provided for in the World Report on Violence and Health (2002): the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a child, by an individual or group, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity; (d) the worse forms of child labour as defined by ILO Convention 182 covering sexual exploitation, trafficking, hazardous work, forced labour and exploitative work (e) the definition of gender-based violence as provided for by the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and which includes harmful traditional practices such as early marriage and FGM/C (f) and (g) and the definition of Gender Based Violence as captured in the Inter Agency Standing Committee GBV guidelines: “an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between males and females.”

Scope: Given the limited time and resources available and prospects of undertaking further research, the paper will focus on the school, community and domestic settings within the global and regional contexts identified, while taking more detailed account of the situations in Cameroon, Philippines and Guatemala as case studies. It will examine the following research areas:

1. The nature, prevalence, incidence and consequences of violence as defined in each of the contextual settings above;

2. The impact of intersecting situations such as location, disability and age group (taking into account, the life cycle: 0-5, 6-10, 11-15 and 15-18 years) and the influence of discrimination; and

3. The availability and accessibility of preventive and protective services including child sensitive reporting and complaints mechanisms; knowledge and utilization of such services by indigenous girls and adolescents in addition to models that are successfully addressing violence, both as preventive and protective measures.

Methodology and sources

A consultant is being hired to undertake a comprehensive literature review, primary data analysis (e.g. DHS) and secondary data analysis (e.g. police records, records of state and non-state actors) of the incidence and prevalence of violence among indigenous girls and adolescents. This will be coupled by a more systematic review of the countries concerned: Guatemala, Philippines and Cameroon. Sources of material will include the respective data bases, reports, publications of the agencies; national, regional and international jurisprudence, including those of the CRC and CEDAW Committees and ILO supervisory mechanisms. The Consultant will be expected to work closely with relevant field staff of the agencies.

Deliverables

The consultant will produce a Technical Working Paper of not more than 75 pages on violence against indigenous girls and adolescents. It will consist of: 1. A comprehensive analysis will consist of global overview (5 pages); 2. A regional overview of Africa, Asia and Latin America (20 pages); 3. Case studies on Guatemala, Philippines and Cameroon (45 pages); and 4. Presentation of findings during the Expert Meeting in January 2012 (date to be determined) The Working Paper will be a joint product of the agencies and will be formally published and launched during the Expert Group Meeting in January 2012. It will include clear conclusions on key lessons drawn and recommendations on how to prevent violence against the indigenous girl child, and will contribute to the discussions and resulting recommendations including follow up actions by the agencies and the Permanent Forum.

Time Frame

September 15th 2011-December 31st 2011

Qualifications and competencies

• Advanced university degree in law, preferably human rights law; or degree in international relations, political science, public affairs and/or international development;
• Ten (10) years progressively responsible professional work experience in social development, human rights in general, women and children’s rights in particular, as well as advocacy activities in professional capacity; knowledge of gender relations, violence against women, girls and adolescents within the context of international human rights norms, national legislation and protection systems;
• Proven experience in undertaking qualitative and quantitative research including primary and secondary data collection;
• Prior experience working with UN agencies or other international organizations;
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English, French and Spanish will be an asset; and
• Advanced computer skills in common office programmes (MS Word, Excel PowerPoint, etc.) and good knowledge of information management.

How to Apply:

Qualified candidates are requested to email with subject line “Working Paper on violence Against Indigenous Girls”, a cover letter, CV and P11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html) to pdconsultants@unicef.org by 09 September 2011. Please indicate your availability, and daily/monthly rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.