Project Context and Scope
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aims to strengthen economic integration across its Member States and one of its key strategies to achieve this goal is through effective implementation of ECOWAS Free Movement Protocols and the ECOWAS Common Approach to Migration. The Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Phase 2 (FMM II) programme aims to maximize the development potential of free movement and migration in West Africa by supporting the effective implementation of ECOWAS Free Movement Protocols and the ECOWAS Common Approach to Migration through three key components: enhancing the ECOWAS Commission’s capacity for policy development, harmonization, and monitoring; strengthening national institutions’ abilities in migration data management, policy development, and border management; and improving the capacity of Non-State Actors and Local Authorities to provide information and protection for migrants and cross-border populations. As part of efforts to support the ECOWAS Commission in addressing child protection challenges in West Africa, the project's first phase facilitated and supported consultations with key regional stakeholders to strengthen child protection in the region. Through the consistent support of the FMM 1 programme, several important tools and mechanisms were developed, reviewed, endorsed, and implemented to enhance regional cooperation in child protection across the ECOWAS region. One key achievement was the ECOWAS Child Policy Review, where child protection experts validated the policy, which was later adopted by the Council of Ministers on 25 January 2019. In June 2019, The ECOWAS authority also adopted the new ECOWAS Child Policy and its Strategic plan of Action (2019-2030). Another major milestone in the programme's first phase was the validation and adoption of the ECOWAS Strategic Framework for Strengthening Child Protection Systems (CPS) to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, and exploitation of children. This framework, along with its implementation guidelines, received significant pledges from the First Ladies of member states, committing to ensuring child protection within the region. To track the progress of the implementation of the ECOWAS Child Policy and the Strategic Framework for Strengthening Child Protection Systems in a sustainable manner while also providing relevant support to the member states, the phase II of the programme will be supporting the operationalisation of the ECOWAS Child Rights Management System (ECRIMS). ECRIMS will serve as a technical and operational Monitoring Observatory focusing on information and data management, advocacy, mobilization, and capacity building on child rights. It will operate at political, policy, strategic, and technical levels.
ECRIMS aims to monitor and measure Member States’ efforts in promoting child rights and track progress in strengthening National and Regional Child Protection Systems, using selected benchmark indicators contained in the ECOWAS Child Policy Strategic Action Plan and Child Protection Strategic Framework. Progress has been made so far:
Additionally, in order to promote child rights and child protection, ECOWAS through the Directorate Humanitarian and Social Affairs have been working since 2014 focus on the implementation of activities in the Joint Action Plan: ECOWAS - GRPE Joint Action Plan.
The GRPE is a Regional Working Group on child protection in West Africa (Groupe Regional de Protection de l’Enfance) that brings together key regional actors including UN agencies, international NGOs, civil society organizations, and governmental institutions working on protection issues across West and Central Africa.
In addition, in order to ensure the mainstreaming of Child Rights into ECOWAS Programming within ECOWAS Departments, Agencies Institutions, the Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs developed an ECOWAS Child Rights Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan. The zero draft has was elaborated in 2023 but needs to be finalised for consistency on the methodology and guidelines.
The selected consultant will build on the work done so far and will support ECOWAS in operationalization of the ECRIMS, especially on data collection, maintaining and updating the database through the online tool developed, and will support in the draft report with key findings. The consultant will also support ECOWAS on the follow up of the ECOWAS-GTPE joint workplan and the ECOWAS Child Policy and Plan of Action (2019-2030).The consultant is contributing to the ECOWAS regional project “Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa Phase II,” which is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by a consortium including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The consultant will work closely with the Program Officer for Child Rights, Child Protection, and Child Labour, in the Humanitarian and Social Affairs Directorate.
Tasks to be performed under this contractThe tasks listed below will be subject to ongoing review and, where necessary, adjusted in consultations between the incumbent, IOM and ECOWA
TANGIBLE AND MEASURABLE OUTPUT OF THE WORK ASSIGNMENT: Time Required Activities & Deliverables 1st Deliverable: 15 days after start date of consultancy
Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy services fees upon submission of consultancy work plan.
2nd Deliverable: 3 months after the start date of consultancy
Support the finalization of the ECOWAS Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan on Child Rights and its effective implementation Support ECOWAS to review the draft ECOWAS Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan on Child Rights and submit a report on identified gaps with recommendations on its implementation and alignment with regional and international child rights frameworks Support ECOWAS to conduct a validation session with relevant stakeholders and submit a detailed report documenting stakeholder feedback and how they will be incorporated into the final document Submit a draft of the finalized ECOWAS Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan on Child Rights Support the finalization and launch of the Draft Report on Child Protection in West Africa Support the process of translation of the report in the 3 languages Support for the submission of the Draft Report to MS for their inputs, while ensuring data protection principles Support the follow of on the finalization of the Report
Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy services fees upon submission of reports on the validation session for the Joint ECOWAS Regional Working Group on Child Protection Operational Plan 2023 – 2027 and the ECOWAS Inter-Sectoral Strategic Plan on Child Rights as well as drafts of the finalized documents.
3rd Deliverable: 6 months after start date of consultancy Prepare a Draft Synthesis Regional report on the implementation of the ECOWAS Child Policy 2024 submitted by Member States. Develop a structured compilation of individual Member State submissions detailing progress, challenges, and good practices in implementing the ECOWAS Child Policy. Review of existing documentation, legal frameworks, and monitoring reports to supplement Member State inputs. Draft an analytical document summarizing progress across Member States, identifying common trends, gaps, and areas requiring further action. Validate the draft analytical document with stakeholders A finalized version incorporating all comments, with clear recommendations for ECOWAS and its partners Support the submission of the draft 2024 Synthesis report to MS for their inputs after official translation before the 2025 Annual Review on the Implementation of ECOWAS Child Policy
Payment of 25% amount of total consultancy services fees upon submission of a structured compilation of individual Member State submissions detailing progress, challenges, and good practices in implementing the ECOWAS Child Policy, Review of existing documentation, legal frameworks, and monitoring reports to supplement Member State inputs, validation of the draft analytical document with stakeholders and a finalized report incorporating all comments, with clear recommendations for ECOWAS and its partners.
4th Deliverable: 9 months after start date of consultancySupport the 2025 Review Meeting on the Implementation of the ECOWAS Child Policy: and ECOWAS Strategic Framework for Strengthening National Child Protection Systems to prevent and respond to Violence, Abuse and Exploitation against Children in West Africa
Concept note and Meeting preparation (draft invitation letter, follow up on nominations etc) Technical support during for the meetingPayment of 25% amount of total consultancy service fees upon submission of a reporting template for the State of the Rights of the Child Report, a framework or matrix guiding data collection from member states including indicators, source and tools, and the final version of the report.
Performance indicators for the evaluation of results• Satisfactory completion of tasks indicated in the ToR.
• Quality of work: Ability to accurately coordinate with the ECOWAS Commission and relevant stakeholders.
• Timeliness: Ability to meet the project timeline and deliver on time.
• Clarity: Ability to communicate free movement and child protection contents clearly and concisely.
• Understanding: Ability to understand and interpret the complexities of child protection policies and free movement-related programme.
• Collaboration: Ability to work collaboratively with other stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Ability to adjust to changes in scope or objectives.
• Knowledge: Understanding migrant protection, free movement and the Child Rights trends globally and most especially in the West African region.
• Responsiveness: Ability to provide timely responses to inquiries.