Deadline: 21-May-2024
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is inviting eligible Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to submit proposals for enabling child centered and tailored support for Children at Risk.
The purpose of the Call for Expression of Interest is to identify eligible Civil Society Organisations (or consortium of CSOs) for prospective partnership with UNICEF North Macedonia.
Program Details
- With the process of deinstitutionalization, the care for children deprived of parental care transitioned from large-scale institutions to family-based and small type of residential care (so called small group homes). The institutions “25th of May” and “Ranka Milanovikj”, caring for children with complex emotional needs, were transformed into small group homes where children at risk and children in conflict with law are placed with a decision from the Centers for Social Work (CSW), or a court measure. There are approximately 25 children in these small group homes. Children at risk or in conflict with the law placed in these small group homes need to be provided with opportunities to learn constructive patterns of behavior to replace potentially offending and risky behaviour. An individual plan is also needed to ensure that the child is prepared to form a valuable part of society after completing the placement period. The measure should be tailored to the needs of each child and motivate him/her to participate in enjoyable and interesting activities, allowing him/her to take control of their life and reintegrate them into the community, for example programs that focus on the child’s family functioning, psychosocial counseling, education/vocational training/work, social skills, life skills, anger management, drug/alcohol abuse treatment, mental health, victim-empathy and/or constructive leisure time. This aspect is also included in the Strategy for prevention and Justice for children 2022-2026 of the country.
- The Strategy has a Strategic priority area 2: Improving and implementing early intervention programs by the child social welfare system that provides children below the minimum age of criminal responsibility who are involved in offending behaviour and their parents/families with assistance and services according to their particular characteristics and needs; and Strategic priority area 5: Prioritizing community-based measures, i.e. diversion, alternatives to pre-trial detention, non-custodial sentences and restorative justice approaches, based on an individual assessment of the child and encouraging children to take responsibility for the consequences of their offending behaviour.
Sector(s) and Area(s) of Specialization
- Protection
- Child protection
Expected Results
- To support the reintegration and resocialization of the children at risk/in conflict with the law placed in the small group homes under the institution “25th of May” and “Ranka Milanovikj”, UNICEF seeks to establish a partnership with a CSO through three areas of intervention:
- Provide support to develop/revise tailored individual plans of children in small group homes under “25th May” in communication with the child and his/her CSW guardian, employing a child-centered approach. The individual plans should also be developed in partnership with the children’s family, persons of trust, professionals and other people of importance for the rehabilitation, resocialization and reintegration of the child. The individual plans should include but not be limited to: programs that focus on the child’s family functioning, psychosocial counseling, education/vocational training/work, social skills, life skills, anger management, drug/alcohol abuse, mental health, victim-empathy and/or constructive leisure time.
- Provide training and support for the implementation of the individual plans, in coordination and partnership with the Centres for Social Work, the professionals working in “25th of May” and “Ranka Milanovikj”, the family of the child, service providers, schools’ staff and other stakeholders of importance for the rehabilitation, resocialization and reintegration of the child. The implementation of the individual plans may include the organization of sport activities, vocational trainings, psychosocial support, organization of peer mentoring, recreational workshops, cultural activities, joint activities with the community/family of the children, preparation activities for independent life, workshops regarding gender-based violence, gender roles, etc.
- Explore and propose models of cross-sectoral cooperation, inter-agency cooperation and collaboration with the private sector and CSOs for the provision of preventive and protection services to children at risk, aimed at ensuring sustainability of the interventions. This could include the establishment of formal or informal networks of collaboration, memorandums of cooperation with providers of services, protocols for collaboration and exchange of information.
- Specific results to be achieved, might include, but not limited to:
- All children in the small group homes under the responsibility of the “25th of May” and “Ranka Milanovikj” institution benefit from structured and guided individual support for their rehabilitation, resocialization and reintegration;
- All professionals working in small group homes under the responsibility of the “25th of May” and “Ranka Milanovikj” institutions have acquired the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to provide structured and guided individual support for all children in their care and ensure appropriate collaboration and coordination with other relevant stakeholders;
- CSW guardians, family relatives, school staff and other people of importance of the children in small group homes under the responsibility of the “25th of May” and “Ranka Milanovikj” institution have established a support network for the rehabilitation, resocialization and reintegration of the children. Throughout the whole process it is essential for the CSO to employ a child-centered and participatory approach, as a fundamental concept to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child that implies keeping the child in focus and fully engaged in decisions about their lives and working in partnership with their families.
Eligibility Criteria
- CSO must:
- be registered in North Macedonia.
- not be an entity named on any of the UN Security Council targeted sanction lists.
Ineligible
- CSO submission which:
- are sent in any other way then through the UNPP;
- are not sent within the specified deadline;
- do not include all required documents duly completed and signed or do not comply with specifications set in this Call for Expression of Interest;
- are not submitted in English;
- will be excluded from the selection process.
For more information, visit UNICEF.