 *For full document, please contact procurement@plan-international.org
- Background
Against the backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian environment, marked by shrinking humanitarian space, increasing violations against children, and declining funding for protection, humanitarian diplomacy has emerged as a key priority for the Alliance. In this context, programming alone is no longer sufficient to achieve sustainable child protection outcomes. There is a growing need for child protection actors to influence the broader political, legal, and operational conditions that shape risks to children, including through humanitarian diplomacy, advocacy, and policy engagement.
Plan International, on behalf of the Alliance, will implement an initiative which will examine and define how child protection actors can more intentionally and strategically engage in humanitarian diplomacy – both directly as well as through strategic partnerships – and how the role of child protection actors can be strengthened to support ongoing diplomacy efforts.
- Requirements (to be met in full):
- Conduct research & analysis on humanitarian diplomacy and child protection
The research will combine a desk review with key informant interviews with key actors engaged in humanitarian diplomacy and child protection. The desk review should include grey literature (including NGO and UN reports, evaluations, situation reports, assessments, policy briefs, and other resources as relevant) on humanitarian diplomacy for  child protection outcomes. Key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders will be conducted to capture learning relevant to humanitarian diplomacy, with a specific focus on the use of humanitarian diplomacy for child protection outcomes.
The focus of the research and analysis should be the following:
- Define conceptual foundations: review key definitions, underlying principles, concepts and frameworks relevant for humanitarian diplomacy, define their relevance to child protection in humanitarian action, define linkages between humanitarian diplomacy and child protection, explore how humanitarian diplomacy supports child protection outcomes and vice-versa – particularly in reducing violence, advancing access, protecting civilians and securing resources (i.e., CRC, humanitarian principles, Paris Principles, UNSC resolutions on CAAC).
- Map humanitarian diplomacy spaces and the different categories of actors present within them, so that child protection actors can better understand their roles, potential influence, and how to engage with them effectively and strategically when opportunities arise.
- Identify existing practices: how humanitarian diplomacy (public and private) is being used to advocate for child protection, how child protection actors leverage diplomacy to advance child protection outcomes, what specific types of humanitarian diplomacy efforts and approaches have been more successful in supporting child protection outcomes, what lessons can be drawn from these to help inform future humanitarian diplomacy efforts.
- Identify risks and ethical considerations: what risks and ethical considerations child protection actors engaging in humanitarian diplomacy need to consider (i.e. access, humanitarian principles, reputation) and how these can be managed.
- Identify competencies needed for humanitarian diplomacy on child protection and capacity-strengthening gaps within the child protection sector.
- Develop a background information paper on humanitarian diplomacy for child protection outcomes
The background information paper will include findings from the research, as well as practical recommendations for child protection actors to support humanitarian diplomacy for child protection outcomes, including competencies needed, humanitarian diplomacy positioning, opportunities to engage in humanitarian diplomacy and strategic partnerships.
The contracted party shall deliver the expected outputs mainly through remote and desk-based work.