Social Work Curriculum development in Somalia - Consultant

Social Work Curriculum development in Somalia - Consultant

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Work type: Consultancy
Location: Somalia
Categories: Child Protection

Terms of Reference
Title: Social Work Curriculum development in Somalia
Summary

Purpose/objectives	Drafting of curriculum for social work education in Somalia including certificate, diploma and degree programmes.
Section	Child Protection
Expected fee/level	L4/NOD
Location	Hargeisa / home based with travel to Nairobi, Mogadishu and Garowe
Duration	70 days
Start Date	1 Feb 2018
Reporting to	Chief of Child Protection
Budget Code/PBA No	TBC
Project and activity codes

Background and context
Conflict and political instability over recent decades have diminished governmental authority and weakened rule of law institutions in Somalia. Mechanisms for child protection are extremely limited and stretched across a wide geographic area with multiple political actors, civil society organisations, informal and traditional governance structures. With recurrent disasters undermining the coping mechanisms of families and communities, the needs are also great. Currently, with ongoing conflict and high levels of poverty, the absence of a strong framework for law and order increases the vulnerability of children to neglect, exploitation and abuse.
Within this context, the Somali government is yet to define an effective child protection system to ensure regulation of child protection actors and services for the most vulnerable children. Key bottlenecks hampering the effective protection of children include (i) weak capacities of social welfare and justice sector ministries to deliver child protection services; (ii) limited numbers of social workers in the country; (iii) limited financial resources allocated to child protection issues.
UNICEF's new strategic plan aims to address current gaps in government capacity to implement an effective Child Protection system through various means. One key activity to be implemented in 2018 is to establish a network of social work schools throughout Somalia that can sustainably produce highly qualified social workers on an annual basis to fill critical life-saving functions within relevant government ministries as well as civil society partners.
Justification/purpose of assignment
Currently, there is only one school of social work in Somalia producing 40 students per year. However, UNICEF alone is supporting, through its current partnerships, more than 1000 workers to undertake social work functions throughout Somalia. The qualifications and training of most of these workers ranges from having qualified in alternative diplomas and degrees (such as nursing, admin, business, arts or education) or comprises short course trainings delivered by UNICEF or partners. Fundamentally, there is a huge gap between the expectations of the roles in delivering professional social work services and the minimum qualifications available. Without a rapid increase in the number of academic places available for social workers, there is no way UNICEF’s partners will be able to professionally fill their current staffing needs, nor will UNICEF be able to deliver on its ambitions to support the Somali government to develop and implement an effective Child Protection system.
Specific Tasks/objectives

1. Review Ministry and Civil Society needs and Position Descriptions / ToRs for the current social workforce. Identify the key training needs and develop an inception report on the necessary qualifications and core components of the curricular required.
2. Review the existing degree programme at the Hargeisa University School of Social Work and provide recommendations on improvement, produce new course content where required.
3. Building on the academic practice of social work in other Islamic and post-conflict settings whilst allowing for the particular needs and context of Somalia, provide a framework of courses to address the skills shortage and support the development of a network of schools of social work in Somalia.
4. Present the framework to participating Universities in Somalia and seek endorsement for curriculum development for a Professional Diploma and Certificate course.
5. Develop and write curricular material for core courses including providing teaching materials, workshop plans, lecture notes, multi-media materials, case studies, assessment guides, field placement materials and guides, and other necessary materials to effectively deliver social work training at the diploma and certificate level.
6. Liaise with the International Association of Schools of Social Work https://www.iassw-aiets.org  to seek support and guidance on the development of curriculum materials and support participating universities on pathway to entry into the association.
7. Present the final curricular for the professional diploma and certificate courses to participating universities, government counterparts and the Universities
8. Advise participating universities on recruitment of qualified staff to run the schools and support capacity building efforts of the schools.
9. Review participating schools readiness to deliver the social work curriculum and advise govt and UNICEF on necessary steps to ensure effective course delivery.

Methodology and technical approach

1. Key informant interviews: The consultant will conduct key informant interviews with key stakeholders from civil society, the UN, universities and government in Somalia to ascertain the existing gaps in terms of social work qualifications in Somalia and determine requirements for the proposed qualifications.
2. Desk review: The consultant will conduct a desk review on the current state of the art of social work practice and education in Islamic and post conflict settings. Consultant will reach out to practitioners and academics to obtain published and unpublished data on key lessons, core curricular and modes of education for social work education in Islamic and post conflict settings.
3. Review and improvement of degree curriculum: Consultant will review the existing bachelor degree programme of social work currently being offered at Hargeisa University and provide key recommendations for enhancement of the programme and provide new course content where applicable.
4. Drafting of curriculum for cert and diploma course: Consultant will draft the core curricular including key lessons, materials, teaching aids and required reading lists for a professional diploma in social work and a certificate in social work. Consultant will provide guidance on modes of delivery including the implementation and management of field placements and assessment requirements.
5. Consultation & Validation: Consultant will present the draft circular to participating universities during at least a three-day workshop. Finalize the draft based on inputs and comments from participating universities.

Expected Deliverables and Time line

Tasks	End product/deliverables	Time frame	Payment instalment
Inception and workplan paper	Facilitate inception meeting and develop report outlining roadmap and workplan to achieve key deliverables (Nairobi or Hargeisa). Include key networks and literature review on Islamic social work education. To be presented to participating universities, UNICEF, govt and CSO stakeholders at inception meeting in February.	10 days	10% of fee, airfares and DSA (if applicable)
Mid-term report. Core subject and framework  guide.	Following completion of desk review, key informant interviews and the inception meeting with key stakeholders, a mid-term report is to be completed outlining the core subjects, modalities of education and reading lists for both the certificate and the professional diploma course. Report to include a literature review and rationale for inclusion of each core subject. This report is to be presented (can be done via multimedia) to and endorsed by key stakeholders prior to completion of final course materials (note individuals completing the certificate should be able to proceed to diploma level qualifications with continuing education – therefore, core subjects must be consistent across the two qualifications)	6 days for key informant interviews (2 in Hargeisa, 2 in Garowe, 2 in Mogadishu). 10 days for development of inception report	40% of fee
Review and refinement of curriculum for Bachelor Degree in Social Work	Curriculum review report including recommendations and course refinements. Detailed review of the existing course curriculum for the Bachelor Degree in Social Work at Hargeisa University. Review should compare the curriculum relative to other social work degree courses being offered at comparable campuses and define key recommendations and course content requirements to ensure the course is on a par with comparable courses in the field and appropriate to the context in Somalia. Consultant should make feasible refinments of the curriculum and key practical recommendations for improving the curriculum.	10 days
Development of Certificate and Diploma course materials	Development of core curricular for the Diploma and the Certificate programmes including key lessons, materials, teaching aids and required reading lists. Consultant will provide guidance on modes of delivery including the implementation and management of field placements and assessment requirements including advising institutions on recruitment needs and partnerships, infrastructure, staffing and core requirements for delivery of the programme.	30 days to develop curriculum
Consultation and validation of curricular	Curricular will be presented in person to the core stakeholders for review and feedback. Any necessary revisions or additional inputs will be provided based on feedback from the core institutions.Â	4 days to present curriculum in Somalia & 5 days for final review and edit	50% of fee, airfares and DSA (if applicable)

Supervisor/overall responsibility
Chief of Child Protection has primary supervisory responsibility for the effective management of the consultancy.
Supervisory support will be provided from the Child Protection Specialist (Systems)
Expected background, Experience and competencies, qualifications and specialized knowledge

• PhD in Social Work
• 10-15 years experience in social work practice and/or lecturing research into social work delivery
• Experience in developing and delivering tertiary level courses or adult learning materials
• Experience in delivery of social work in African and Islamic contexts (desirable)
  Previous experience in Somalia (desirable)

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics
Guidance: (This part should be filled by the Section Head before submitting to HR)

• SSA will include airfare and DSA whilst consultant is in Somalia;
• Consultant is able to stay in UNICEF property whilst in Somalia and may utilize UNICEF office facilities whilst in Somalia;
• Consultant will provide his/her own laptop and other necessary equipment (ie. Regorders for interviews if required, etc);
• Consultant will be able to access UNICEF transport whilst in Somalia;
• Under the consultancy agreements, consultant will be paid on a daily basis for 60 days.  Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays.
• Consultant will receive Daily Subsistence Allowance for the period of time in country but not while the consultant is working from home or an alternate location. Flight costs (economy fare) will be covered from the home of the consultant to Somalia and will be reimbursed upon submission of boarding passes;
• Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime.  All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or Contractor
• For international consultants outside the duty station, signed contracts must be sent by fax or e-mail.  Signed contract copy or written agreement must be received by the office before Travel Authorization is issued.
• No consultant may travel without a signed travel authorization prior to the commencement of the journey to the duty station.
• Unless authorized, UNICEF will buy the tickets of the consultant.  In exceptional cases, the consultant may be authorized to buy their travel tickets and shall be reimbursed at the most economical and direct route, but this must be agreed to beforehand.
• Notes: Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.
• The 70 day consultancy must be completed by 30 June 2018.

Exit and penalty provision
The organization and UNICEF may agree to reschedule deadlines if unforeseen circumstances arise. In the event that such rescheduling has not been agreed in advance by exchange of letters, and submission of scheduled drafts should not occur within the deadlines indicated within these ToR and the implementation framework, a fine of two percent of the total value of the contract may be deducted. In the event UNICEF are unhappy with the work produced by the organization, they may opt to terminate the contract or mutually agreeable terms. Likewise, if the organization is unhappy with new conditions given by its client it may opt to withdraw on mutually agreeable terms.

Advertised: 30 Jan 2018 E. Africa Standard Time
Applications close: 12 Feb 2018 11:55 PM E. Africa Standard Time
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