AVE Copiii is looking for an International Individual consultancy

Terms of Reference

International Individual consultancy for the delivery of the National workshop for sport professionals on child protection and violence prevention in sport

Location: Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

Duration and timeline: 3 working days (between 01 and 12 September 2021)

1. Background

The Association for Child and Family Empowerment “AVE Copiii”^[1] is an independent, democratic, apolitical, non-religious NGO from the Republic of Moldova, founded in 1992 with the aim to protect children rights and to improve the life of the most disadvantaged children and families (abandoned, unaccompanied, living in the street, victims of violence, including trafficking, children on the move, including refugees and asylum seekers, teens leaving care etc.). The involvement of these children and young people in sports has an important impact on their physical fitness, mental well-being and social interaction capacities. For this to happen, a critical condition is the security of sports activities from the perspective of violence, including child sexual abuse prevention and combating.

The most recent and the only research, conducted by the Moldovan football federation, indicates the lack of internal policies to protect children from violence, as well as the lack of knowledge and skills of coaches regarding the identification of signs of violence and the management of cases of violence including sexual violence against children in sports.

Although sport is development, the lack of a secure environment in terms of violence diminishes its impact on children and young people.

In this regard, AVE Copiii has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Olympic and Sport Committee in order to proactively promote the rights of children in the Republic of Moldova to practice sports in safe conditions and free from violence of any kind (physical, psychological, sexual or neglect). This initiative received the support of the Council of Europe through the Prevention of child sexual exploitation and abuse in the area of sport Project.

The Project aims to support sport professionals from Moldova to prevent child sexual abuse and violence and to protect children against violence in sport. In these sense AVE Copiii will develop a set of activities having as objective the following:

            To raise awareness of sports professionals and children practicing sport activities on the risks of violence against children, especially of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and measures of addressing those risks;

            To develop capacities of sport professionals to protect children from violence, especially child sexual exploitation and abuse in the area of sport.

Within this Project, AVE Copiii is looking for an international consultant to deliver a two-day workshop in order to improve the child protection skills of sports managers and coaches.

2. Purpose of the assignment

This consultancy is aimed at developing child protection skills of at least 20 sport managers and coaches and raise their awareness on the issue of violence against children in sport, specially the child sexual exploitation and abuse in sport, through a two-days offline workshop.

3. Objectives of the consultancy

The objectives of this consultancy are 1) to conduct the two-days workshop and 2) to identify a group of 5-6 potential opinion leaders among sport managers and coaches to be involved in future awareness raising activities through the project.

4. Details of how the work should be delivered

It is estimated that the work will be conducted over a period of three working days, during September 1-10, 2021.

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the consultant will:

(1) Work closely with AO AVE Copiii and the NOSC;

(2) Timely coordinate deliverables and deadlines;

5. Deliverables and delivery dates

6. Reporting requirements

The consultant will report to the AO AVE Copiii CEO, who will regularly communicate with the consultant and provide feedback and guidance on his/her performance and will provide necessary support to achieve objectives of the consultancy, as well as will be kept abreast of any potential risks or challenges related to consultant’s performance and quality of work.

All activities and deliverables undertaken by the consultant shall be discussed and planned in consultation with AO AVE Copiii and NOSC. The consultant is expected to deliver each writing component of the workplan electronically (Word format) in English or Romanian. At each stage, the deliverable shall be sent to the CEO by email, with AO AVE Copiii official e-mail in copy.

7. Performance indicators for evaluation of results

The performance of work will be evaluated based on the following indicators:

• Completion of tasks specified in ToR;
• Compliance with the established deadlines for submission of deliverables;
• Quality of work;
• Demonstration of high standards in cooperation and communication with AO AVE Copiii and counterparts.

8. Qualifications and experience

- Advanced University Degree in Law, Social Sciences or Human Rights;

- At least 5 years of proven work experience in the group and workshop facilitation, which will include at least two years of experience in child protection in sport, prevention and addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse in sport;

- Excellent inter-personal communication skills including experience of facilitation of trainings/ workshops and presentation;

- Proven experience in facilitating workshops/ trainings for sport managers and coaches is a strong asset;

- Excellent communication, presentation, teamwork and cooperation skills;

- Excellent command of Romanian language, both oral and written;

- Ability to conduct trainings/ workshops in Romanian or Russian;

- Ability to motivate and moderate;

- Country experience: Experience in facilitating workshops in Eastern Europe/ CIS or with participants of Eastern Europe/ CIS is a strong asset;

9. Content of technical proposal

- Curriculum Vitae and a brief concept/ methodology of the workshop (maximum 1,5 pag).

10. Content of financial proposal

The applicant should specify in the brief concept/ methodology the consultancy fee in EURO, per day of work, requested to complete the tasks described in the Terms of Reference.

11. Payment schedule

AO AVE Copiii reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/ outputs are incomplete, not delivered for failure to meet deadlines.

12. Definition of supervisory arrangements

The consultant will work under the oversight of AO AVE Copiii CEO. Payments will be rendered upon successful completion of each task, as per the schedule outlined above.

13. Work location and official travel involved

Due to the pandemic situation and movement restrictions, all written deliverables are expected to be performed remotely. If pandemic conditions allow, the Consultant is expected to deliver the workshop offline - in Chisinau. All travel and accommodation expenses in Chisinau will be covered by AO AVE Copiii.

If the pandemic conditions change and the organization of an offline event will not be possible, the Consultant is expected to deliver the workshop online.

14. Support provided by AO AVE Copiii

AO AVE Copiii will regularly communicate with the consultant and provide feedback and guidance and necessary support so to achieve objectives of the work, as intervene in identifying solutions to challenges, including pertaining to performance and quality of work. AO AVE Copiii will organize an online meeting with NOSC and the Consultant to discuss the Methodology and other requirements for workshop organization.

15. Ethical considerations

The Consultant should be sensitive to beliefs, manners and customs and act with integrity and honesty while interacting with participants to the workshop.

16. Other conditions

AO AVE Copiii is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our team.

AO AVE Copiii has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. AO AVE Copiii is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Special notes

Technical proposal will be sent by e-mail to the following address office@avecopiii.md indicating at the subject of the message “National Workshop for sport professionals”. The deadline for applications is 8 August 2021.

The transmission of the application is considered as the consent of the applicant for the processing of personal data in the process of selecting consultants. Applications that do not accumulate the required score will not be retained.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy are not considered “staff members”. Their conditions of service will be governed by their Services Contract.

^[1] https://avecopiii.md/