Background
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 1600 civil society organisations committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential. Members are based throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. Stronger together, Girls Not Brides members bring child marriage to global attention, build an understanding of what it will take to end child marriage and call for the laws, policies and programmes that will make a difference in the lives of millions of girls.
Child marriage is rooted in gender inequality and compounded by poverty, and multiple overlapping forms of discrimination including racism, adultism, ableism and class. The Girls Not Brides’ Theory of Change to address child marriage recognises the importance of laws and policies within a broader holistic approach to end child marriage.
Girls Not Brides has been proud to celebrate landmark legal victories to raise the legal minimum age of marriage, which are considered a cornerstone for advocacy to prevent child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU). We have also celebrated advocacy wins by members and allies that have influenced and changed national laws and policies that ensure the right of all girls to education, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Gender-transformative laws and policies are essential to create the enabling environment for girls in all their diversity to exercise their human rights, to enjoy the protection and support that the state has a duty to provide in line with international human rights frameworks.
However, recent research and reports from members and allies speak to the shortcomings of minimum age of marriage and sexual consent laws in their application when they are not part of a holistic, rights-based approach and/or when shortcomings related to implementation, access to justice, plurality and contradiction with other laws compromise their effectiveness.
Therefore, Girls Not Brides is looking for an individual to review recent evidence and learning on child marriage laws and their application in different contexts and to develop a written Brief. The outcomes of this consultancy will enable Girls Not Brides:
- To strengthen and update our messaging and advocacy around child marriage laws, expressly criminalisation and age of consent, aligned to our commitment to rights-based, gender-transformative, girl and youth-centred action and laws and access to justice as an important pillar of the comprehensive approach to end child marriage and achieve gender equality.
- To strengthen messaging around what is needed for child marriage laws and frameworks to centre the rights and needs of girls in all their diversity.
- To work with members who are developing national collective advocacy plans around proposed changes in their countries to minimum age of marriage laws (for example in Nepal and India).
- To work with members who are developing national advocacy plans to increase government investment, public services, policies and laws that are gender-transformative: in Latin America and the Caribbean members are convening in September and will use the research to clarify the regional context, which will inform the development of a regional strategy regarding laws and criminalisation.
- To share evidence-based learning with the broader membership: including through the publication of a resource ‘Child marriage and the Law Brief’, updated messaging on the Girls Not Brides website, convening of a global learning series call.
The evidence and learning review should aim to answer the following research questions:
- What does the recent research, evidence and learning from CSOs tell us about both positive and negative consequences of child marriage laws on girls’ lives in different (regional) contexts? And what does this say about what is needed for laws to have positive outcomes?
- What is needed for child marriage laws and frameworks to centre the rights and needs of girls in all their diversity?
- What are the consequences (including on CM prevalence) of laws that criminalise sex between consenting adolescents? And what does the evidence say about the impact (positive and negative) on CM prevalence of increasing the legal minimum age of marriage?
- What does the evidence tell us about what safeguards are needed to minimise and mitigate against the risks of laws being used to punish rather than support girls and young people?
- What does the evidence tell us about the impact (positive or negative) of laws and regulatory frameworks related to legal age of marriage on prevalence of informal unions in LAC?
The consultancy
Girls Not Brides is recruiting a consultant to deliver the following:
Phase I (June-July):
- An inception report for the consultancy including proposed approach and methodology for the evidence and learning review, report outline and process for member consultation: based on the TORS and in consultation with Girls Not Brides secretariat staff.
- Review and synthesis of evidence and learning on child marriage laws and their application, this includes: a desk-based review of published research and studies as well as CSO reports of girls’ lived experience, showing the positive and negative impact of child marriage laws on child marriage prevalence, and on girls’ agency and rights in different regional contexts.
- A written report that includes synthesis of findings and recommendations from the evidence and learning review.
- Two-page succinct summary of the report’s findings and recommendations.
- A slide deck to present the findings of the review to Girls Not Brides.
Phase II (October- November):
The consultant will be brought back after Girls Not Brides has carried out a consultation with members to collect members’ voices and experiences. During this second phase the consultant will:
- Integrate findings and recommendations from member consultations with those from the initial evidence review.
- Develop a ‘Child Marriage and the Law’ Brief for publication. This includes key takeaways from the evidence. review, examples based on CSO learning and experiences, and key recommendations.
- Develop a two-pager on ‘Child Marriage and the Law’ in Latin America and the Caribbean based on the analysis and information provided by the membership.
- Present the findings, key messages and recommendations with Girls Not Brides members during a learning webinar convened by Girls Not Brides.
Support provided
The consultant will have a key contact person in the Girls Not Brides secretariat and support will include:
- Organisation of online meetings with the Project Team for initial briefing, progress review and feedback.
- Collation of evidence, member reports and case studies, Girls Not Brides published (and internal messaging and positions).
- Regular check-in calls to discuss progress of the project and any support needed.
- Collating secretariat feedback during review and finalisation of the Report and Brief.
- Facilitation of the presentation of findings during the learning series webinar.
Required experience, qualifications and expertise
- Strong knowledge and understanding of gender-transformative approaches that support the rights and agency of girls in all their diversity and address the root causes of child marriage and gender inequality.
- Previous experience in conducting literature, evidence, or systematic reviews.
- Ability to process, analyse and prioritise information in a concise, coherent and practical way.
- Excellent written communication skills and rigorous evidencing of sources.
- Collaborative work style, strong communications and project management skills and ability to keep to deadlines.
- Fluent verbal and written English with understanding of written Spanish being highly desirable.
- Highly desirable is experience of applying feminist analysis to review evidence and experience to promote gender-transformative action and investment.
How to apply
To apply for this consultancy, please send a detailed proposal, financial proposal, CV and covering letter via the online application portal.
We recommend that in the proposal candidates outline the key questions they anticipate need to be addressed by the evidence review and a suggested table of contents for the Report (Synthesis of the evidence) and the Child Marriage and the Law Brief. Examples of Girls Not Brides briefs can be found on the Learning and Resources page on the Girls Not Brides website.
We anticipate this project taking a total of 21 days maximum. Renumeration will be based on satisfactory completion of deliverables. Any overheads/indirect costs included in the financial proposal should be no more than 10%, and please note that Girls Not Brides cannot cover the cost of equipment.
Deadline for application is 6 June 2023 at 23.59 pm BST.
