Terms of Reference for Development of National Database for Children and Young People Living in Alternative Care Settings in Somaliland

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Terms of Reference for Development of National Database for Children and Young People Living in Alternative Care Settings in Somaliland

1. Introduction

SOS Somaliland is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that is not for profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan and which has been in existence since 1999. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland shares vision with SOS Children’s Villages International and beliefs that every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. To realize this, SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland builds families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities. 1. About SOS Children’s Villages SOS Children’s Villages is the umbrella organization for the global federation of 137 national SOS Children’s Villages associations, working in more than 2500 Program locations worldwide. We work together with a single vision: every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. Uniquely, we provide long-term, family-like care for children who have lost parental care (alternative care service), and we work with vulnerable families and communities to help strengthen them and prevent child abandonment (family strengthening service, FS). SOS alternative care is usually organized in the form of a cluster of SOS families, where each SOS parent cares for small group of children. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is part of SOS Children’s Villages International, the umbrella organization to which all SOS Children’s Villages including SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland Association is affiliated. SOS Somaliland is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that is not for profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan and which has been in existence since 1999. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland shares vision with SOS Children’s Villages International and believes that every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. To realize this, SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland builds families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is committed to the welfare of children who lost parental care or at risk of losing parental care – often ensuring that children grow up in a loving family environment, and to strengthening families and communities as a preventive measure in the fight against child abandonment and social neglect, and upholds child protection policy as part of their commitment to the protection of children and youth from abuse. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland in 1999, when SOS started its first operations in Sahil region. Currently, SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland implements Projects ranging from child care, child protection, youth empowerment and participation, education and emergency relief interventions. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is operational in three regions of Somaliland: Awdal, Maroodijeh and Sahil, and has a relationship with many stakeholders, including government authorities at national, regional and district levels, NGOs, INGOs, local communities, as well as other CSOs who are in and out of the operational area. SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland is implementing the ‘Leave No Youth behind’ project. The overall objective of the project is – young people in Somaliland to be resilient and self-reliant to become independent and contributing members of society with a special focus on youth leaving care. This project is to contribute to the realization of a better society where young people are self-reliant and depend on their own powers, resources and abilities to meet their needs and manage their own affairs. The project also aspires to make young people resilient to adversities/challenges in life and capable to withstand and recover quickly from difficult conditions. The project focuses on 3 major outcomes with their relevant outputs to achieve the above stated goal and focuses on human rights-based approaches and targets duty bearers to demonstrate capacity and commitment to fulfill their responsibility to respect, promote and realize the rights of youth, and Rights Holders (youth leaving care) to have the capacity to exercise and claim their rights, hold duty bearers accountable and understand their corresponding entitlements in relation to specific duty-bearer. In summary, the project aims to achieve the following outcomes: Outcome 1: Policy Environment: Decision makers put policies/laws in place that strengthen the support for YLC and enable their participation.

Outcome 2:

Strengthening Duty Bearers: Social protection systems respond to the needs and rights of youth leaving care on their journey to independent living Outcome 3: Empowering Right Holders: Young people leaving care in stable and fragile societies claim their rights to healthy lives, care and active participation To capture information on youth leaving care and children in alternative care settings as a whole, the project will support the Ministry of Employment Social Affairs and Families (MESAF) to develop a national database. The project will address the problems of discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization of young people aged 15– 25 who grow up without parental care. Whether they have been placed in residential care facilities, in foster care or other types of care, they are at high-risk suffering from a variety of challenges including poor social networks, mental health problems, unemployment and homelessness. Cultural and gendered norms give young women and men different vulnerabilities as they grow out of care and transition to independent living. Young women are at high risk of gender-based violence, trafficking, early pregnancies and early marriage, and school drop-out while young men are at risk of ending up in hazardous work, living on the streets and in conflict with the law. Consequently, they risk exacerbating intergenerational poverty, and intensifies the risk for young care leavers to be either the drivers of conflict or the victims of conflict. The context of a complex crisis compels sensitivity to the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding nexus in order to contribute to the sustainability of programme outcomes and longer-term resilience and rehabilitation of the communities where we plan to intervene. The 2019 UN Resolution on the Rights of the Child (hereafter the Resolution) directly urges States Parties to ensure special protection and assistance to adolescents and young people leaving alternative care in preparation for their transition to independent living. This includes support in gaining access to education, training, employment, housing and psychological support, reintegration with their families when that is in their best interest and gaining access to aftercare services. In line with the recommendations from the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this partnership engagement promotes young care leavers’ right to mental health and sexual reproductive health, decent livelihood and active participation. 2. Objective of the database The aim of this assignment for the development of a database is to enable MESAF to establish a platform system to store and effectively manage information on children and young people living in alternative care settings and youth who left care.