Expert on Migration and Migration Policy in East Africa

for our project Knowledge and Policy Dialogue on Protection of Children & Youth on the Move (KAPCYM)

Project Period: Nov. 2024 – Oct. 2026

Switzerland has launched in 2020 and 2021 two strategically important regional projects in East and West & North Africa (currently Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia): “Programme Enfants et Jeunes sur les Routes Migratoires d’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Nord” (EJM) and “East African Migration Routes” (EAMR), financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Both projects have the purpose of strengthening protection mechanisms for children and youth on the move, underscored by the dire situation they faced in displacement situations. They aim to address critical gaps in protection, focusing on community-based systems, self-reliance, education, and economic empowerment, with a gender-transformative lens where feasible.

As the first phases of these projects conclude, the Knowledge and Policy Dialogue on Protection of Children & Youth on the Move (KAPCYM) Unit supporting both these projects has been designed to enhance Switzerland’s positioning on Migration and Child protection, to foster or contribute to a community of practice (CoP), regional synergies and exchanges of evidence-based lessons learnt and good practices; it will hence contribute to a more strategic approach to Swiss partners’ policy advocacy messages and approaches. Operating independently of operational responsibilities, and complementary to the activities of the two regional migration projects, the KAPCYM Unit’s objectives focus (1) on knowledge building and (2) disseminating good practices/learning, and (3) facilitating, providing support and recommendations for advocacy through selected messages to be used by Swiss representations, federal offices and project partners, in their respective external engagement efforts.

The KAPCYM Unit, led by Caritas Switzerland, is composed of a team of knowledge managers and advocacy/policy dialogue experts. To cover the project region of East Africa (Ethiopia and Sudan), Caritas Switzerland is searching for an expert on Migration and Policy Dialogue in East Africa.

Your duties

Scope of Service Provider/Consultancy

The primary objective of this position is to leverage the expert’s knowledge and networks in East Africa, with specific focus on Sudan and Ethiopia, to

• Enhance the understanding and implementation of effective migration, child protection and youth policies
• Facilitate meaningful policy dialogues between stakeholders at the national and regional levels.
• Support the development and execution of programs that address the specific needs of migrants and youth in the region.

Key Responsibilities are:

Knowledge Capitalisation and Production

• Complement a mapping of relevant stakeholders, existing platforms, networks and CoPs in the concerned countries in East Africa, including the identification of a) members for CoPs (stakeholders, allies for advocacy work, practitioners, etc.) and b) potential target actors (target audience) and existing platforms and institutions for dissemination of advocacy messages
• Develop a list of policy dialogue activities, child protection strategies and priorities in the concerned countries

Knowledge Dissemination and Exchange

• Provide inputs to a learning journey (exchange sessions between project teams with inputs from experts), with the option to co-facilitate
• Provide input to online thematic workshops and paper dissemination events

Policy Dialogue and Advocacy

• Provide input to multi-stakeholder policy dialogue workshops, with the option to co-facilitate
• Provide input to the formulation and documentation of advocacy messages

Research and Analysis

• Provide input on migration, child protection and youth empowerment trends, challenges, and opportunities in East Africa
• Contribute to the production and dissemination of research papers
• Support the development and dissemination of articles and short videos

Stakeholder Engagement

• Support the KAPCYM unit in building and maintaining strong relationships with national and regional actors, including governments, civil society organizations, and international bodies

Additionally, the Expert is expected to contribute to impact reporting and the final review process.