About this role
• Organisational context
ChildFund Australia is an international development organisation that works to reduce poverty for children in developing communities. We partner to create community, and systems change which enables vulnerable children and young people, in all their diversity, to assert and realise their rights. Our vision is a world without poverty where all children and young people can say: "I am safe. I am educated. I contribute. I have a future."
ChildFund Australia is a registered charity, a member of the Australian Council for International Development, and fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which manages the Australian Government's overseas aid program.
ChildFund Australia is a member of the ChildFund Alliance – a global network of 10 organisations which assists almost 36 million children and their families in 66 countries. ChildFund Australia directly manages and implements programs with a range of local partners in Cambodia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and other Pacific nations, and manages projects delivered by partner organisations throughout Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
2. Background
ChildFund Timor-Leste is commissioning a Child Rights Situation Analysis (CRSA) in Ainaro, Dili, Ermera, Same, Likisa , Lautem, Manatuto to build an accurate, evidenced picture of children's rights. A situation analysis produced through secondary data review is intended to inform project design, advocacy priorities, partnership decisions and resource allocation, grounding these decisions in a clear, current, well-evidenced understanding of the situation of children.
This assignment is primarily a desk-based review of secondary and grey literature. It is not a primary data collection exercise, and does not require consultation with children, focus group discussions or key informant interviews as its main evidence base (see Section 5 for permitted exceptions).
While this assignment is primarily focused on a desk-based review of secondary data and literature, there may be opportunities in the future to complement the Child Rights Situation Analysis (CRSA) with primary data collection. This could include consultations with children and young people in ChildFund's geographical areas of operation to capture their perspectives, experiences, and priorities. Such consultations are not included within the scope of the current ToR but may be considered as a subsequent phase to further enrich and validate the findings of the CRSA.
3. Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to produce a credible evidence base for understanding the situation of children in the target areas. It will identify the most significant child rights issues and inequalities; who is most affected and being left behind; the immediate, underlying and structural causes; how the situation is changing; and the extent to which relevant laws, policies, systems, services and duty bearers are protecting and advancing children’s rights.
The CRSA will provide an evidence base to:
• Inform country strategy and strategic priorities.
• Inform programme priorities and design.
• Identify priority populations and geographic areas.
• Shape advocacy and influencing priorities.
• Inform engagement with government, partners and other actors.
• Strengthen funding and business development.
• Monitor changes in children’s rights over time.
The Child Rights Situation Analysis will:
• Consolidate and synthesise existing data about children's rights in the target geographic areas, and at regional/national level where relevant.
• Assess the current state of child protection, health, education, and inclusion of marginalised children, alongside other rights domains (survival, development, participation, non-discrimination) to the extent secondary data allows.
• Identify strengths, gaps, weaknesses and opportunities (what is working, what is missing, what is underperforming, and where the entry points are).
This is a strategic synthesis of existing evidence, not new primary research. The analysis should prioritise identifying credible, well-sourced findings relevant to programming and advocacy decisions, rather than undertaking exhaustive data collection.
4. Scope of work
• Geographic scope
Primary focus: Ainaro, Dili, Ermera, Same, Likisa , Lautem, Manatuto
Regional and national/federal-level data should be reviewed where necessary to interpret, benchmark or contextualise local findings (e.g. national prevalence rates, national legal/policy framework, national budget allocations) — but the analysis should not simply reproduce national-level reporting without connecting it back to the specific areas of operation.
• Thematic scope
The analysis must cover the following domains, with attention to marginalised groups and climate resilience incorporated across each of these domains:
• Enabling environment for child rights - Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; legal and policy frameworks; governance, accountability and coordination mechanisms; public expenditure and budget allocations for children; child rights data, monitoring and evidence systems; child rights institutions and complaints mechanisms; family environment and standard of living (including poverty); non-discrimination and equity; national preparedness and resilience to economic shocks, crises and conflict, disasters and climate-related risks.
• Health and nutrition — maternal, newborn and child health/mortality; nutrition; immunisation and access to primary healthcare; adolescent sexual and reproductive health; climate-sensitive health risks (e.g. heat stress, climate-related food insecurity).
• Education and learning— access, enrolment, attendance and completion; learning outcomes; barriers to access; early childhood education; education in emergencies; school access or continuity disrupted by climate hazards.
• Child protection — violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation (incl. online/digital risks); child labour, child marriage, trafficking; care arrangements; child protection systems and referral pathways; child protection risks linked to climate shocks and disasters (e.g. displacement, family separation).
• Child participation and agency — children's right to express views and be heard in matters affecting them; participation in households, schools, communities and public decision-making; access to information; civic engagement and leadership; child and youth-led initiatives; digital participation and online engagement; barriers to participation facing marginalised children; children's engagement in climate action, disaster risk reduction and environmental decision-making.
• Inclusion of marginalised children — children with disabilities; girls, LGBTQI+ and gender-diverse children; children belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority groups; children affected by displacement, migration or statelessness; children living in extreme poverty or remote areas; how climate vulnerability compounds existing exclusion.
Treatment of each domain should include status of child rights issue, mitigating factors, overview of stakeholders and an overview of the drivers of change – what is changing of improving, deteriorating or emerging and what is driving those changes. These might include poverty, climate change, migration trends and others.
5. Methodology
Frameworks
The analysis will apply a child rights-based analytical framework grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and relevant national, regional and international standards. It will examine patterns of rights realisation and deprivation; inequalities and exclusion; immediate, underlying and structural causes; relevant legal, policy, institutional and service systems; and the roles, obligations, capacity and accountability of relevant duty bearers.
Desk review and evidence synthesis
This is a desk-based secondary data review. The consultant will systematically identify, extract, appraise and synthesise existing information rather than generate new primary data. The methodology is designed so that findings reflect the weight and quality of available evidence, not the consultant's personal judgement alone. Every finding in the final report must be traceable to specific, cited, dated sources.
Sources may include:
• Government and official statistics: population data, plans and strategies, budget documents, law and policy texts.
• UN and multilateral: UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, UNFPA, ILO situation reports and country data; CRC Committee Concluding Observations; UPR reports; Humanitarian Needs Overviews; UNICEF Children's Climate Risk Index, where relevant.
• INGO/NGO/civil society (grey literature): sector assessments, evaluations, baseline/endline reports, coalition or network reports, alternative child rights reporting, local CSO position papers.
• Academic/research: peer-reviewed journal articles, university research centres.
• The organisation's own data: prior project evaluations, monitoring data, needs assessments, partner due diligence and capacity assessments.
• Media/other: reputable national/local media, used only to corroborate or flag emerging issues, never as a sole source for a finding.
6. Selection Criteria for Consultancy Team
ChildFund Australia is seeking a consultant with the following expertise. The successful applicant should demonstrate:
• Relevant post-graduate qualification in social sciences, development studies, public health, education, law or a related field, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• Demonstrated experience conducting desk-based situation analyses, rights-based assessments, or similar secondary-data research assignments.
• Strong knowledge of child rights frameworks (CRC and relevant national legal/policy frameworks) and of the local child protection, health, education and social inclusion landscape.
• Demonstrated ability to critically appraise and triangulate evidence from multiple source types, and to write clearly for a non-specialist audience.
• Fluency in Tetum and English (written and spoken).
• A satisfactory police/background check and agreement to sign ChildFund Australia's Child Safeguarding Code of Conduct.
• Desirable: prior experience working with international NGOs on similar assignments; familiarity with GEDSI analysis; familiarity with how climate and environmental risk affects children's rights in the local context; experience engaging with government data sources and national statistical systems in-country.
Interested consultants should submit an expression of interest including: a technical proposal (max. 3 pages) outlining understanding of the assignment, proposed search strategy and sources, and workplan; a financial proposal/fee schedule in USD; a curriculum vitae including at least two references from similar assignments; and a sample of previous, similar written work.
Please submit you application via
https://teamchildfund.bamboohr.com/careers/695?source=aWQ9MzM%3D
not later than 23 October 2026
For questions or clarifications, please contact Nelita Ximenes at [email protected] or WA +670 7732 6600.
ChildFund Australia believes in a global community where children are safe and can reach their full potential. We take extensive steps to safeguard children in any work done by our people, i.e., our staff, volunteers and interns, supporters, partners, board members, ambassadors and suppliers. We strive to keep children safe through child safe practices, and rigorously ensure we prevent, oppose, and combat all exploitation and abuse of children and vulnerable people. As part of this commitment, all people working with us will undergo relevant background checks before joining ChildFund Australia.
At ChildFund Australia, all staff must remain alert and responsive to any child safeguarding or sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment (SEAH) risks. Staff will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to understand our Child Safeguarding and PSEAH policies & procedures, promote strong safeguarding practices, and conduct themselves consistent with these policies.
In line with our values, diversity of people and ideas is critical to our work and our success at ChildFund Australia. We strive for a team culture that is welcoming, inclusive, and supportive. ChildFund is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and strongly encourages people from all backgrounds, abilities, and identities to apply.