SOS Childrens Villages International
Terms of Reference for Development of National Database for Children and Young People Living in Alternative Care Settings in Somaliland
- Introduction
SOS Somaliland is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that is not for profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan and which has been in existence since 1999. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland shares vision with SOS Children’s Villages International and beliefs that every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. To realize this, SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland builds families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities.
- About SOS Children’s Villages
SOS Children’s Villages is the umbrella organization for the global federation of 137 national SOS Children’s Villages associations, working in more than 2500 Program locations worldwide. We work together with a single vision: every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. Uniquely, we provide long-term, family-like care for children who have lost parental care (alternative care service), and we work with vulnerable families and communities to help strengthen them and prevent child abandonment (family strengthening service, FS). SOS alternative care is usually organized in the form of a cluster of SOS families, where each SOS parent cares for small group of children.
SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is part of SOS Children’s Villages International, the umbrella organization to which all SOS Children’s Villages including SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland Association is affiliated. SOS Somaliland is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that is not for profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan and which has been in existence since 1999.
SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland shares vision with SOS Children’s Villages International and believes that every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. To realize this, SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland builds families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities.
SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is committed to the welfare of children who lost parental care or at risk of losing parental care – often ensuring that children grow up in a loving family environment, and to strengthening families and communities as a preventive measure in the fight against child abandonment and social neglect, and upholds child protection policy as part of their commitment to the protection of children and youth from abuse.
SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland in 1999, when SOS started its first operations in Sahil region. Currently, SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland implements Projects ranging from child care, child protection, youth empowerment and participation, education and emergency relief interventions. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is operational in three regions of Somaliland: Awdal, Maroodijeh and Sahil, and has a relationship with many stakeholders, including government authorities at national, regional and district levels, NGOs, INGOs, local communities, as well as other CSOs who are in and out of the operational area.
SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is implementing the ‘Leave No Youth behind’ project. The overall objective of the project is – young people in Somaliland to be resilient and self-reliant to become independent and contributing members of society with a special focus on youth leaving care. This project is to contribute to the realization of a better society where young people are self-reliant and depend on their own powers, resources and abilities to meet their needs and manage their own affairs. The project also aspires to make young people resilient to adversities/challenges in life and capable to withstand and recover quickly from difficult conditions.
The project focuses on 3 major outcomes with their relevant outputs to achieve the above stated goal and focuses on human rights-based approaches and targets duty bearers to demonstrate capacity and commitment to fulfill their responsibility to respect, promote and realize the rights of youth, and Rights Holders (youth leaving care) to have the capacity to exercise and claim their rights, hold duty bearers accountable and understand their corresponding entitlements in relation to specific duty-bearer.
In summary, the project aims to achieve the following outcomes:
Outcome 1: Policy Environment: Decision makers put policies/laws in place that strengthen the support for YLC and enable their participation
A loving home for every child
Outcome 2: Strengthening Duty Bearers: Social protection systems respond to the needs and rights of youth leaving care on their journey to independent living
Outcome 3: Empowering Right Holders: Young people leaving care in stable and fragile societies claim their rights to healthy lives, care and active participation
To capture information on youth leaving care and children in alternative care settings as a whole, the project will support the Ministry of Employment Social Affairs and Families (MESAF) to develop a national database.
The project will address the problems of discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization of young people aged 15– 25 who grow up without parental care. Whether they have been placed in residential care facilities, in foster care or other types of care, they are at high-risk suffering from a variety of challenges including poor social networks, mental health problems, unemployment and homelessness. Cultural and gendered norms give young women and men different vulnerabilities as they grow out of care and transition to independent living. Young women are at high risk of gender-based violence, trafficking, early pregnancies and early marriage, and school drop-out while young men are at risk of ending up in hazardous work, living on the streets and in conflict with the law. Consequently, they risk exacerbating intergenerational poverty, and intensifies the risk for young care leavers to be either the drivers of conflict or the victims of conflict. The context of a complex crisis compels sensitivity to the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding nexus in order to contribute to the sustainability of programme outcomes and longer-term resilience and rehabilitation of the communities where we plan to intervene.
The 2019 UN Resolution on the Rights of the Child (hereafter the Resolution) directly urges States Parties to ensure special protection and assistance to adolescents and young people leaving alternative care in preparation for their transition to independent living. This includes support in gaining access to education, training, employment, housing and psychological support, reintegration with their families when that is in their best interest and gaining access to aftercare services. In line with the recommendations from the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this partnership engagement promotes young care leavers’ right to mental health and sexual reproductive health, decent livelihood and active participation.
- Objective of the database
The aim of this assignment for the development of a database is to enable MESAF to establish a platform system to store and effectively manage information on children and young people living in alternative care settings and youth who left care.
Skills and Qualifications
Qualifications of the consultant(s) and criteria for selection
The consultancy team should comprise of:
A lead consultant with:
- Advanced degree in Software Development, A degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field that demonstrates a strong foundation in the technical aspects of database design and development, as well as a good understanding of the underlying technologies.
- Extensive experience in database development and administration with deep understanding of database design and implementation, as well as experience in working with different database management systems.
- A degree or certification in security, privacy or compliance that demonstrates understanding of the relevant regulations and best practices in data security and compliance.
- A degree or certification in cloud computing or related field that demonstrates that experience working with cloud-based solutions and has a good understanding of how to implement and manage data management systems on a cloud platform.
- Co-lead with:
- Experience in child welfare or social services field: The consultant should have experience working in the child welfare or social services field and should understand the specific requirements for data management systems in this context.
A loving home for every child
- Experience with reporting and analytics: The consultant should have experience with advanced reporting and analytics capabilities and be able to provide examples of how they have used these capabilities to support their clients.
- Experience in working with similar organizations: The consultant should have experience working with similar organizations that have similar data management needs and be able to provide references from these organizations.
- Experience in providing support and maintenance: The consultant should have experience in providing ongoing support and maintenance for their data management systems, and should be able to demonstrate their track record of providing responsive and effective support.
How to apply
Process of Submission of Bids
To facilitate the submission of proposals, the submission can be done electronically in PDF format and sent to SOS Somaliland HR Department via hr@sos-somaliland.org on/before 01-March-2023. The subject of the email should clearly say ‘Terms of Reference for Development of National Database
for Children and Young People Living in Alternative Care Settings in Somaliland’ for further inquiries please email Yahye.muse@sos-somaliland.org before 27-Feb-2023.