Duty of Care Framework Development At Invisible Children

1. Background

Invisible Children is an international non-governmental organization working to prevent violent conflict and build safer lives. It is based in Washington, D.C. with offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Central African Republic and South Sudan and works with civil society, international organizations, and especially with central African communities directly affected by armed group violence to develop locally led violence prevention strategies, reunite families affected by conflict, and provide world-class conflict analysis.

In our country programs we work in partnership with local organizations to support vulnerable population (women, youth and community groups) in their efforts to build peace and respond to the impact of the war, by identifying and addressing safety and peace-building needs that are specific to different communities. Invisible Children is particularly focused on understanding and addressing the relationships between gender, peace and security across a range of contexts to inform peacebuilding policy and programming.

Invisible Children and our partners often work with highly vulnerable individuals and therefore it is essential that staff and partner capacity is backed up by a strong duty of care framework) that could be caused through the delivery of programs or interventions.

In order to ensure we are meeting our due diligence toward Invisible Children and partner staff, as well as project participants in the communities in which we work, Invisible Children is seeking to develop a duty of care framework to enable us to integrate safety and security consistently in our approach and ways of working.

2. Objectives of the assignment

· To produce a Duty of Care framework which enables Invisible Children to address safety and security coupled with early assessment of risks associated with different environments allows for the development of appropriate safety and security measures.

· Produce a package that integrates security awareness and preparedness into global operations and project implementation. The pack should include a manual that can be used both internally and externally by staff and partners with minimal adaptation for context.

· To produce a ToT training pack and facilitator’s manual to be used by Security focal points in country offices.

· To provide to the staff with an overview of safety and security, the framework used for assessing risk, guidance for planning appropriate security and managing risks, and specific resources available to assist in the process.

· include information about situations staff might encounter and guidelines and best practices for managing risk on topics ranging from site selection to natural disasters to travel security (most likely DRC, CAR, Sudan and South Sudan).

3. Tasks

Based on the consultants’ experience, knowledge of best practices, and the sector’s new guidance and requirements, the consultant(s) will:

· Conduct a desk review of current safety and security and related policies, mechanisms and training materials and advise Invisible Children on areas for improvement to its current policies and guidelines.

· Gather information (via documents or interviews with country and HQ staff and partners) to understand our model of working, contexts and type of work we support.

· Develop a duty of care framework and training pack manual that can be used for staff and partners with minimal adaptation for context (including a facilitator’s guide, power point slides, case studies for discussion, etc.)

· Produce a ToT training pack and manual for security focal points in country offices (including how to conduct training for adult learners, areas where contextual adaptation is key and tips on adaptation).

· Lead in the development of recommended plans and guidelines for handling safety and security matters.

· Develop a final report with recommendations on staff and partner training frequency, refresher training, and further capacity development that may be needed based on observations and field visits.

4. Timeframe

The deliverables should be completed by September 10, 2021. Below is a tentative timeline highlighting the ideal time requirements, excluding travel time, however alternative time requirements can be proposed with justification.

Approximate time requirement

Activity

0.5 day

Initial briefing meeting with Invisible Children

1 day

Reading Invisible Children’s policies and the sector’s existing guidance, documentation and resources, as well as interviews with key staff and reading of key documents to understand our working models, type of programming we support and contexts in which we work.

1 day

Interviewing staff and partners in country 1

1 day

Interviewing staff and partners in country 2

10 days

Developing Duty of care framework, policies and training package

0.5 day

Feedback meeting with Invisible Children.

5. Confidentiality and authorship

Invisible Children will have exclusive ownership of all information generated by this consultancy. The consultant(s) may pass the information on to other parties in specific instances if Invisible Children agrees to this in advance. The consultant(s) will treat as confidential all information provided by Invisible Children about its work as part of this consultancy.

6. Management of consultant

The consultant(s) will work under the supervision of the Global Director of Operations and Compliance.

7. Person Specification Essential

· Availability for an estimated 15 days in August – September 2021.

· Experience working on situational Awareness, Safety and Security Guidance, In-country Security Management Plan, In-country Emergency Action Plan, In-country Monitoring and Briefings; Extreme-risk Country Pre-deployment Consultation in development and conflict-affected settings.

· Experience of supporting the strengthening of staff/partners’ capacities on security and safety and developing training packages.

· Excellent grasp of current best practices in terms of solutions for the humanitarian aid and development community.

· Experience in both home office and field-based leaders, as well as staff and support staff to build the knowledge and skills needed to meet duty of care, capacity building, and organizational resiliency and crisis management needs.

· Ability to write succinct, high-quality training manuals in excellent English to a tight deadline.