ThaiNGO

Save the Children International is looking for a Consultant for the Research for Promoting Rural Opportunities for Children’s Empowerment, Education and Development (PROCEED)

1. Background

Poverty, marginalization, a lack of quality education opportunities and internal migration leave many of the most vulnerable children in Thailand, including ethnic minority, hill tribe and stateless children, open to violence, exploitation and trafficking. Poverty is largely a rural phenomenon in Thailand, with 88% of the country’s 5.4 million poor living in rural areas. The northeast region (also referred to as Isan) is the poorest region in Thailand and is home to Thailand’s largest ethnic minority group (Thai Lao). Poverty in the northeast is compounded by large numbers of out of school children (OOSC), with 4.9% or 86,622 OOSC at the primary level, the highest percentage of primary OOSC in any region in the country. There are also significant issues with education quality in poor rural ethnic minority areas of Thailand, with ethnic minority children in the northeast preforming an average of 7.8% worse than their central Thailand counterparts in the national Grade 9 test[1].

Increased urbanization has led to high level of internal migration, with almost 22% of the population not residing in their original hometown. As parents move to urban centres in search of work, children are often left behind in the care of grandparents or other caregivers and sometimes abandoned. The impact of parental migration on children ‘left behind’ can be profound. Furthermore, the children in Thailand are also on the move on their own due to the economic opportunities as the biggest pull factors in order to seek opportunities and increase income to help support their families. Thai children, as well as children from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, are among the victims of sex trafficking into brothels, massage parlours, and bars and karaoke lounges and some parents or brokers force children to sell flowers, beg or work in domestic service in urban areas. According to local NGOs, social media is used to recruit children into sex trafficking.[2]

This project aims to prevent children from the worst forms of child labour, exploitation, trafficking and other abuses by strengthening and expanding child protection and education opportunities in their home environments and supporting coordinated national action. 

[1] Draper. (2012). Revisiting English in Thailand, The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, December 2012, pp. 9-23.

[1] U.S. Department of State. (2016). Trafficking in Persons Report.

2. Purpose of the research

Conducting research both primary and secondary research on:

1. Mapping analysis of the target areas where most ethnic minority children migrate from their hometown and are at risks to be trafficked or forced into the worst forms of child labour, exploitation and abuses in the eight provinces in the North and nine provinces in the
2. Mapping analysis of stakeholders, existing organisations, CSOs, CBOs, duty bearers working in the North and Northeast of Thailand on ethnic minority children who are at risk to be trafficked or forced into the worst form of child labour, exploitation and abuses in the North and Northeast of Thailand.
3. Gather and analyse information that will assist program staff in designing project interventions and suitable activities by considering suggested research questions below:
   1. What are the prevalence/trend of migration issues among the children and the reasons/driving factor behind their migration from their hometown?
   2. What is the nature of migration and supply chain behind trafficking issues among children in the mentioned provinces?
   3. What are the risks/harm they face when they migrate and what is the awareness/perception level among the target population about that risks/harms and about their rights?
   4. To what extent the children have access to education and what are the barriers to enrollment and retention among the children?
   5. What are the existing child protection system and to what extent the children have access to such services?
   6. What type of supports children do they already have access to or would require additionally before and during they leave their hometown?
4. Undertake analysis of social inclusion issue (gender, age, ethnicity, religion and disabilities by including the voice and opinions of children and people of different needs and abilities (where applicable) by considering the following question:
   1. What are the differences among hill tribes/ethnic groups and boy/girls or men/women in terms of their vulnerability to migration risks and the driving factors behind their migration issue?
   2. What are the difference among hill tribes/ethnic groups and boy/girls or men/women in terms of their access to education and child protection services and their level of awareness and perception about migration risks and their rights?

3. Scope of this consultancy:

Methodology
A consultant will be hired to conduct the research and analysis. The following is the outline of a suggested process; however, it would be expected that this would be further refined by the consultant. The research shall be undertaken based on the Save the Children International requirements and must be in line with Save the Children’s ethical guideline (Annex II).

Preparatory work:

• Literature review of secondary data which can be used to set baseline indicator values (as applicable)
• Development of survey tools to be used for collection of data.
• Development of sampling methodology for administering surveys (as applicable)
• Pre-testing of survey tools

Field Work:

• Meeting with stakeholders to collect data
• Conducting focus group discussion with children, government, local authorities, relevant CSOs and CBOs working on the issue

Data Processing, Analysis and Reporting:

• Discussion on preliminary findings of research result
• Draft Report and Final Reports
• Presentation on key findings

4. Deliverables

5. 
   Consultancy timeframe & Management

The consultancy service period for this assignment is two months between February to March and the final report shall be delivered on 31 March 2017.

Consultant qualifications and profile

• At least master’s degree in education, research, social sciences or other related field
• Expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Strong qualitative and qualitative data analysis skills
• Expertise in issues related to child protection, child trafficking
• Thai and English language proficiency
• Ability to work within strict deadlines

Management of consultancy

The consultant will report to EAPHP/PROCEED Project Coordinator

Technical advice: PROCEED Project Coordinator and Child Protection Specialist

Save the Children should approve all plans and documents developed by the consultant 

Consultancy Budget

The consultant is requested to submit the proposal and detailed budget with their application letter. The financial competitiveness of the fee will be considered in the selection process. Costs involved in the assessment such as materials and travel should be included in the proposal.

Submissions for the consultancy

The submission must address the terms of reference and include:

1.Name and contact details of applicant

2.Resume of the lead consultant

3.A cover letter outlining the relevant experienced and expertise of the consultant and initial ideas on the approach to be taken the achieve consultancy objectives

4.A draft summary proposal of the research scope, design, methods, and field implementation approach (maximum 5 pages)

5.A detailed quote in THB (including travel and other costs)

Annex I: Logical Framework and Concept Paper:
Promoting Rural Opportunities for Children’s Empowerment, Education and Development:

Annex II: Ethical Guideline:

Before undertaking any research and activities with children or adults an ethical assessment should be undertaken by the Country Office. Where appropriate, approval for an activities should be obtained from all relevant ethical or institutional review boards in-country prior to the commencement of the activity.

As per the minimum standards, at each of these stages the responsible individual or office must:

Make sure the information gathering activity is necessary and justified:
Make sure that purpose of the activity is clearly defined
Use the minimum sample size required to get statistically significant or valid results
Consider carefully the ethics of using a comparison or control group
Adopt informed consent and voluntary participation procedures:
Participants must give their informed consent (either written or verbal) to participate. When children are involved consent must also be granted from an appropriate adult. Consent forms should be field tested before use. Save the Children’s Practice Standards for child participation can give more guidance.
Ensure that participants are well informed on the purpose of the activity and how the results will be disseminated.
Make sure that individuals are informed that their participation is voluntary and that they have a choice to opt out.
Confirm that participants understand the limits of the activity in terms of benefits and the next steps
Consider very carefully the use of incentives for participation and try not to use incentives where possible
Adopt appropriate confidentiality procedures, sensitive to children’s needs
Ensure that all persons involved in the activity, including data gathers, data input staff, translators etc. have received training on the confidentiality procedures and signed an appropriate confidentiality agreement
Confidentiality may need to be breached to provide immediate protection to a child. Children and adults must be made aware of the confidentiality procedures before being asked to provide any information.

Ensure that the costs to children of participating in activity do not outweigh the benefits, and ensure their safety at all times:
Adhere to Save the Children’s Child Safeguarding Policy
Ensure that participation is in the children’s best interests and does them no harm
Ensure that information gathering with children is appropriate to their age and stage of development
Anticipate adverse consequences and develop appropriate responses
Be cautious and protective and undertake ethical checks as you proceed with any activity
Be sensitive and flexible; if situations change you must be prepared to stop or change an activity if ethical issues cannot be resolved
Be consultative
Determine whether local permission from community stakeholders or authorities is needed to proceed and adhere to any locally established institutional policies or guidelines for conducting research.
Information about the activity must be provided to all stakeholders
Prepare local communities and explain the purpose and aims of the activity
Be sensible and prepared
Researchers have a responsibility to be mindful of cultural, religious, gender, and other significant differences within the research population in the planning, conduct, and reporting of the study findings
Ensure that those gathering information form children and/ or vulnerable communities are adequately trained and ready to follow up or refer children who might need special attention as a result of research/investigation in sensitive themes.
Respect the dignity and autonomy of those participating in the activity
Ensure children and/or vulnerable communities are not simply used as a means to achieve research objectives
Know that study participants have a right to remain anonymous
Be accountable
Adhere to the International Accountability Charter
Make sure that a complaints and feedback mechanism is in place for children and adults participating in the activity
Ensure accuracy of information during analysis, interpretation and reporting. And remain open to the findings of any study and do not allow vested interests to interfere
Make sure that proper acknowledgement is given at all stages, as appropriate

Ethical issues
Every data gathering exercise involving children and vulnerable communities is theme or context specific therefore you must review all ethical considerations before undertaking a new activity.
Whenever we conduct research on people, the well-being of research participants must be our top priority. The research question is always of secondary importance. This means that if a choice must be made between doing harm to a participant and doing harm to the research, it is the research that is sacrificed.
In some cases you may decide that you cannot proceed with the research activity because of ethical issues. In this case you may need to re-design the activity or cancel it altogether if an ethical solution cannot be found.

Deadline for submission of application is on 13th February 2017

To apply, please send your application and CV to HR & Admin Manager at email address: hr.thailand@savethechildren.org

Please indicate in the subject as “Apply for a Consultant_PROCEED Reseacher_(Name of consultant)”

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

“We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.”