1. About Oxfam in Uganda
Oxfam is a global movement for change that empowers people to create a secure future, just and free from poverty. We believe that everyone has a right to safety, security, a livelihood, and a say in decisions that affect them. In Uganda, our Vision is to see Uganda free of inequality and Injustice: A society where people, particularly women and young people, claim and exercise their rights and responsibilities and influence decisions that affect their lives. Our work is guided by the Country Strategic Framework (CSF) (2021-2030), organized around four themes: Governance and Accountability, Resilient Livelihoods, Humanitarian preparedness and response and Gender Justice and Women's Rights. All the themes work towards influencing policy and practice, youth and women empowerment, inclusive participation in decision-making at various levels, and capacity strengthening of national and local actors.
2. Background of the project
According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics - National Household survey report (2019-2020), 28% of the children in Uganda are involved in child labour. It is estimated that about 51 per cent of these children work under hazardous conditions that are considered illegal, and extremely exploitative to their health and well-being. The district education officers reported that most children dropped out of school due to poverty and parents and guardians are unable to provide the necessary school requirements. It is estimated that over 10,000 children are involved in mining in Karamoja Sub region and 58% are girls. Lower-level administrators and grass-root CSO’s are unable to prevent child labour because they are unaware of the laws and policies that prohibit child labour.
Despite lower-level administrators and grass-root CSO’s having the advantage of understanding local issues, they are unable to adequately respond to the child labour problem. This is because they lack the necessary skills to identify child protection issues, plan, and budget and manage child protection violations. They also operate on a very limited budget, which does not allow them to respond to the child rights violations in their communities.
Oxfam in Uganda in partnership with Resource Rights Africa and the Education Advocacy Network are implementing a 3-year initiative in a bid to reduce child labour among mining communities in the Karamoja sub-region.
The European Union-funded project will adopt a human rights approach to promote gender mainstreaming through puppet theatres and the innovative GALS Methodology with the aim to address gender inequalities, social norms, traditions, and cultures that promote children, especially girls, working in the mines to provide for their families.
Impact: To reduce and prevent the worst forms of child labour in the mining communities of the disadvantaged districts of Moroto, Nakapiripirit and Amudat in the Karamoja sub-region.
Outcome 1: Strengthened capacity of key stakeholders to respond to the prevention and reduction of the worst forms of child labour in the mining communities of Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit districts.
Outcome 2: Improved institutional, legal and policy environment to address child labour in the targeted mining districts.
Outcome 3: Enhanced access to alternative means of livelihoods of vulnerable parents, guardians and children working in the mining communities of Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit districts.
3. Rationale and objectives of the assessment
a) Rationale of the assessment
To effectively measure the impact of this action over time and strengthen the response against child labour in the mines, Oxfam will assess the vulnerabilities of children involved in child labour and capacity of key stakeholders on prevention and reduction of child labour in the mining communities of Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit in the Karamoja region. The vulnerability assessment seeks to understand the nature and scope of child labour in the target communities through the profiling or identification of children involved in labour in the mining sites, the most affected victims of child labour, establish and document root causes driving children into working in the mines. This assessment’s findings will be used to design appropriate actions to prevent and respond to child labour.
Conversely, the assessment of key stakeholders’ capacity seeks to identify possible gaps in project management, advocacy, coordination, and needs assessment for selected local government departments like District Education Office, local CSOs, Local councils, Community Child Labour Committees (CCLCs), and Child Protection Committees. This exercise will inform the capacity-building sessions for the lower-level administrators and grass-root CSOs with the aim of strengthening the response against child labour in the mines.
b) Objective(s) of the assessment
Overall Objective
The overall objective is to assess the vulnerabilities of children involved in child labour and the capacity of key stakeholders on the prevention and reduction of child labour in the mining communities of Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit..
Specific Objectives
- To profile the children involved in labour, including hazardous child labour in the mining sites of Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit districts.
- To ascertain the most affected victims of child labour, establish and document the root causes driving children into working in the mines.
- To identify possible gaps in project management, advocacy, coordination, and needs assessment for selected local government departments like District Education Office, local CSOs, Local councils, CCLCs, Child Protection Committees.
4. Scope of Work
Technical Scope:
The successful consultant will be expected to carry out the following tasks:
• Identify the number of children involved in labour in the mining sites
• Ascertain the most affected victims of child labour
• Establish and document the root causes driving children into working in the mines.
• Provide baseline values for key indicators which are key for measuring the impact of this action over time.
• Understand the nature and scope of child labour in the target communities
• Propose appropriate actions to prevent and respond to child labour in the mining sites located in Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit districts.
• Identify possible gaps in project management, advocacy, coordination, and needs assessment for target groups particularly selected local government departments like District Education Office, local CSOs, Local councils, CCLCs, Child Protection Committees
• Propose capacity-building sessions for lower-level administrators and grassroots CSOs, which will aim at strengthening the response against child labour in the mines.
Geographical Scope:
The assessment will be conducted in Uganda, with a focus in the mining districts of Moroto, Amudat and Nakapiripirit in the Karamoja region. It will also target selected local government departments like the District Education Office, District Community Based Services department, local CSOs, Local councils, CCLCs and Child Protection Committees.
Time Scope:
This consultancy is expected to be completed within 3 weeks from the contract signing date in March 2025.
5. Methodology
This assessment will employ participatory, systemic and innovative approaches to ensure inclusive stakeholder engagement, rigorous data collection and analysis. A mixed approach of both quantitative and qualitative methods including but not limited to surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and document reviews will be adopted.
The sampling approach of this assessment will be purposive to ensure representation from key stakeholders and guided by the principles of inclusivity, diversity, and representation, where voices from marginalized and vulnerable groups are adequately captured.
Ethical Considerations (Ethics and Consent) will include:
• Uphold ethical and humanitarian standards throughout this process, guided by the principle of "Do No Harm."
• Ensure informed consent, confidentiality, and privacy of participants, especially when collecting sensitive or personal information
6. Expected Outputs/Deliverables.
• Inception report including proposed data collection tools. The assessment will continue only upon approval of the inception report
• Draft assessment report and a power point presentation with findings to be reviewed by stakeholders (Oxfam, EAN & RRA staff).
• Final assessment report after consolidating feedback from the review of the draft assessment report. Report specifications include Standard cover sheet; Executive summary; Description of objectives, Methods and limitations; Study findings, Conclusions and recommendations,
• Presentation with practical actions to prevent and respond to child labour in the mining sites and capacity building sessions for the lower-level administrators and grass-root CSOs.
Note: All clean dataset(s), transcriptions, PITT and other materials MUST be handed over to Oxfam in Uganda.
7. Timeframe and estimated working days.
This assessment will be conducted for a period of 20 days from the date of signing the contract.
8. Qualification and experience of the consultant/team
Oxfam in Uganda seeks to engage the services of qualified and experienced consultants with the following qualifications and experience to deliver this assessment:
- Fully qualified and experienced with a background in Education, Energy and Extractives, Social Sciences, Statistics, Development Studies and Capacity Assessments or any related fields. A Masters’ degree in these or any related fields is preferred.
- Previous experience working in the above-mentioned locations: Preference may be given to consultants or teams with previous experience working in the Karamoja sub region.
- Knowledge & impact measurement: An expert in organizing, synthesizing, and disseminating information generated throughout this assessment process, designing, development and implementation of M&E frameworks.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in assessments/evaluations/research in both humanitarian and development contexts and international NGOs.
- Proven skills and experience in quantitative and qualitative methodology with participatory approaches.
Excellent communication skills with experience in conducting and facilitating stakeholder consultations particularly, with local government officials, local leaders and CSOs.
9. Supervision/management of the assignment
This consultancy will be supervised and coordinated by the MEAL Officer. The consultancy team will report to the Education Project Coordinator who directs this action in terms of information requirements, backstopping and corrective actions. The consultant will be responsible for planning the activities in a timely manner.10. Payment
The consultant/team will be paid in accordance with Oxfam consulting policy which stipulates 30% upon submission and approval of the inception report and 70% upon successful completion and acceptance of the final deliverables. The professional fee shall be subject to a 6 % withholding Tax deduction for local consultancies.11. Mode of Submission
Firms or consultants who meet or exceed the requirements should submit their technical and financial proposals as follows.- A technical proposal explaining, their comprehension of the ToR, and how they would approach this.
- A financial proposal outlining their expected fees, costs of transport, and meals.
- Experience in similar assignments.
Their availability
12. Submission of Technical and Financial Proposal:
For interested applicants, please submit your technical and financial proposal clearly breaking down the budget. Also include other supporting documents including the CVs of the team that will be engaged on the assignment (please ensure that the CVs and names of the team included will be the ones conducting the assignment), samples of past work preferably links and recommendations to ugandalogistics@oxfam.org with email subject: Consultancy to assess the vulnerabilities of children involved in child labour and capacity of key stakeholders on prevention and reduction of child labour in the mining communities, Karamoja sub-region, not later than 3:00 PM (EAT) on 31st March 2025.Note.
o Oxfam reserves the right to accept any proposals that meet or exceed expectations or reject all proposals that will not meet the expected requirements.
o All forms of canvassing will lead to the automatic cancellation of the proposal in question.
o Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.