Context
Labor migration of citizens from Eastern Europe to the European Union has steadily increased over the past decade. Economic hardship and the search for higher living standards have led numerous Moldovan and Ukrainian citizens to seek employment on a permanent or seasonal basis in the European Union. While certain families migrate as a unit, many children remain left behind by one or both of their parents/ caregivers, resulting in the growing phenomenon of transnational families. In Moldova, 21% of children (150,000) have at least one parent living abroad, while 5% of children (35,000) have both parents abroad, according to the latest available data. In Ukraine, 200,000 children are left behind by at least one parent, a phenomenon concerning up to 25% of all children in certain regions as per the latest research.
Romania faces its own domestic challenge with transnational families, as there are up to 350,000 Romanian children left behind - the largest number in Europe. By fostering labour migration schemes respectful of child protection, Romania’s use of Moldovan and Ukrainian labour force will be safer and more ethical.
Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj in partnership with five organizations (Terre des hommes Elvetia Foundation (Tdh Romania), Terre des hommes Moldova, Terre des hommes Ukraine, Ukrainian Institute for Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova) is implementing the Action Children Left Behind by Labour Migration: Supporting Moldovan and Ukrainian Transnational Families in the EU (CASTLE Action). More details can be found on: https://fspac.ubbcluj.ro/castleaction/en
The general objective of the intervention is to support the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in improving their protection frameworks and knowledge of transnational families in relation to the social and legal impacts of labor migration to the European Union.
This 30-months project seeks to achieve the following specific objectives:
- The potentially negative impact of labor migration policies and dynamics on the protection of children in Moldova and Ukraine is understood thanks to solution-oriented research structures.
- Legal and policy frameworks impacting labor migration in Moldova and Ukraine are improved based on solid empirical research evidence, including in relation to circular and temporary labor migration.
- Transnational families and national stakeholders are better informed on the realities and practical issues related to labor migration.
- Children left behind and their families from Moldova and Ukraine are empowered to contribute to legal and policy reform on labor migration, with an emphasis on circular migration schemes and the protection of children.
Tasks of this consultancy
The activity will engage professionals/ local service providers by various means (a variety of learning tools such as case-study analyses, brainstorming, teamwork, videos, experience sharing, and open discussion) with a focus on working with the professionals involved in communities of practice that reflect current research findings on effective strategies to support transnational families and systems improvements. Through the capacity-building materials project partners will disseminate best practices, research findings, and evidence-based interventions identified in the target countries and from other initiatives implemented at the EU level.
As part of this consultancy, the selected expert is expected to deliver the following tasks or services:
- Elaboration of the curriculum and the training manual for a 4-hour training course for local service providers in countries of origin (in Moldova and Ukraine) with a focus on topics such as data collection, legal advice, and service provision. The training manual must include min 15 pages and has to be developed in the Romanian language. The expert will collaborate with an e-learning developer to develop a course based on the existing text-based knowledge material. The 4-hour training course will be translated into Ukrainian and delivered by our colleagues in Tdh Moldova and Tdh Ukraine to 125 service providers in their countries.
- Elaboration of the curriculum and the training material for a 4-hour online training course for local service providers in countries of destination (among them Romania) with a view to developing their preparedness to appropriately respond to and understand the situations facing incoming labour migrants from Moldova and Ukraine. This online course will be created in Romanian and translated into English and could therefore be extended to other EU receiving countries (e.g. Italy, Spain, and Portugal). The training manual must include min 15 pages and has to be developed in the Romanian language. The expert will collaborate with an e-learning developer to develop a course based on the existing text-based knowledge material.
- The 4-hour training course for local service providers in countries of destination will be translated in English and delivered by the selected expert to 100 service providers in Romania and other destination countries in a minimum of 5 online sessions.
- Facilitation of three 3-hour online sessions with the participants in the training from Romania and Moldova, to exchange experiences and best practices and contribute to the creation of a community of practice.
The selected expert will have access to the research: "Families without borders in Ukraine and Moldova. Preliminary findings of a unique research on transnational families", drafted in the framework of the project.
Envisaged target group: National, regional and local authorities (local service providers) in Moldova, Ukraine, and Romania will benefit from this training in order to be better aligned and prepared to support transnational families.
Expected deliverables
The deliverables should be produced the latest by 15 November 2022. The expected deliverables are the following:
- 2 training curriculums
- 2 training manuals in the Romanian language (min. 15 pages each)
- 2 e-learning modules (together with the e-learning developer)
The training sessions (min. 5) and the facilitation sessions (min. 3) will be delivered until 31 March 2023. The expected deliverables are the list of participants, contacts, consent for data protection, and photos, photos, course agenda, design, training reports, evaluation questionnaires, etc.
Foreseen deadlines
Start of consultancy: the latest by 15 September 2022.
Duration of consultancy: 7 months (the latest by 15 April 2023):
Required/preferred experience and skills
- Expertise in transnational families and child protection concepts;
- Extensive experience in developing learning materials;
- Extensive experience in delivering and facilitating workshops;
- Excellent writing skills;
- Excellent facilitation skills;
- Ability to work in collaboration with others and under time constraints;
- High level of spoken English.
Budget and resources
The candidate is required to submit a financial offer, clearly indicating the total costs for this assignment, based on a daily rate. Prices should be expressed in EUR and include all expenses (VAT included). The financial offer does not need to include costs related to traveling and/or meeting with partners.
The payment will be issued in two installments:
- one installment upon signature of the agreement – 35%
- one installment upon submission and approval of the last deliverable – 65%
How to apply:
Only individuals able to issue invoices with tax registration in Europe and companies based in Europe are welcome to apply.
Qualified applicants should submit their application package to the following email address by 12 September 2022: Rodica.novac@tdh.ch.
The application package should include the following documents (in Romanian):
- A Letter of Interest highlighting the applicant’s experience in similar areas of work
- CV
- A sample of a previously developed similar work (development of training materials and curriculum, delivering and facilitating training) and on the topic of transnational families and child protection
- With the application package, the applicant should provide a clear indication of required workdays and expected fees for their work (daily rate).
All persons working with Terre des hommes will have to comply with our Child Safeguarding Policy.
Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
Applications will be analyzed by three evaluators and final scores will be given, using the following criteria and ratio: 70% for the quality of the proposal (proven experience/skills, and quality of portfolio) and 30% for the financial offer (price/daily rate).
About Terre des hommes
Terre des hommes (Tdh) is the leading Swiss organization for children’s aid. Since 1960, Tdh has helped build a better future for vulnerable children and their communities, making an impact with innovative and sustainable solutions. Active in around 40 countries, Tdh works with its own teams and/or local and international partners to develop and implement field projects which significantly improved the daily lives of over four million children and members of their communities, in the domains of health, protection, justice
