UNICEF Libya is working with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) to undertake a mapping of the social service workforce in Libya focusing on the delivery of child protection services.

‘Child protection services’ refer to the services provided to protect individual children who are suffering or are at high risk of suffering serious harm caused by violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation, in the home, school or community.

For the purposes of this mapping, the social service workforce includes all paid and unpaid professionals and para-professionals delivering services to prevent or respond to cases where a child is suffering or at risk of suffering serious harm in the home, school or community. Social service workers include social workers, psycho-social support (PSS) counsellors as well as other types of social service workers delivering child protection services.

This mapping will focus on child protection services delivered by the social service workforce within State bodies and institutions.

This mapping aims to answer the following research questions:

1.       To what extent are Libya’s laws, regulations and policies in line with international standards and best practices concerning child protection?

2.       To what extent has Libya established and operationalised an effective governance structure for the delivery of child protection services?

3.       To what extent has Libya established and operationalised an effective social service workforce to deliver child protection services?

To answer these questions, the mapping will involve in-country data collection through semi-structured individual and group interviews with stakeholders in three research sites: Tripoli; Benghazi; and Sebha. Stakeholders will include participants from MOSA and other line Ministries, State organisations, civil society and international organisations as well as frontline social service workers, professionals and practitioners. Topics covered during the interviews will include:

·       The job descriptions, mandates, roles and responsibilities of the different categories of social service workers providing child protection services;

·       The organisation and structure of the social service workforce delivering child protection services in law and practice;

·       The education, qualification, training, certification, accreditation or licencing requirements for the different categories of social service workers delivering child protection services;

·       The frequency and methods of training delivered to the different categories of social service workers providing child protection services and the training curricula;

·       The minimum standards, monitoring and supervision mechanisms for social service workers delivering child protection services;

·       Any standard operating procedures, working protocols or other operational documents governing the practices and procedures of the social service workforce;

·       Practices and procedures of social service workers delivering child protective services in practice.
UNICEF Libya has contracted the international consultancy organisation, Coram International, to support the design and implementation of the mapping.

Each National Research Assistant will be responsible for:

·       Participating in an in-person training workshop in Tunis1, to prepare for undertaking the in-country research;

·       Piloting the data collection tools developed for the study and taking on board any feedback or guidance provided by Coram International to ensure consistency and quality control of the research;

·       Organising interviews (including recruitment, scheduling and logistics) with stakeholders at the regional and municipal levels in Tripoli;

·       Closely coordinating and communicating with the National Team Leader and Coram International to organize the interviews in accordance with the methodology and research plan developed for the mapping;

·       Attending and taking written/typed transcripts of interviews in Tripoliusing the piloted data collection tools;

·       Taking on board any feedback or guidance provided by the National Team Leader and Coram International to ensure consistency and quality control of the research;

·       Closely coordinating and communicating with the National Team Leader to attend interviews and write/type the transcripts in accordance with the methodology and research plan developed for the mapping;

·       Complying with the Ethical Protocol and Code of Conduct for Researchers developed for the study, including duties regarding informed consent and voluntary participation, privacy and

The researcher assistant will be working closely with the Researcher whom, will report to

·       Demonstrated experience of planning and arranging data collection interviews;

·       Demonstrated experience of carrying out data collection, including taking detailed notes or transcripts of qualitative interviews for data analysis;

·       Excellent organisation and communication skills; and

Not applicable.