Artisan Consultant

Terms of Reference Artisan Consultant Mount Lebanon     Background   Makhzoumi Foundation is a private Lebanese non-profit organization, established in 1997. Our ultimate mission is to empower Lebanese citizens - through improving their socioeconomic status, healthcare provisions, and environmental awareness, and by encouraging their quest for education - thereby enabling them to independently develop and progress their local communities, and to subsequently enhance the country’s civil society on a national scale. In Mount Lebanon, Makhzoumi Foundation is a key actor in the vocational training sector. As the implementing partner for UNHCR in Beirut and parts of Mount Lebanon, Makhzoumi Foundation has been implementing vocational training opportunities for refugees, along with other implementing partners in the wider Mount Lebanon area. Many of the activities in the community centres are centred around artisanal activities. Upon completion of the community center training, refugees have formed into groups; they regularly meet together to carry out artisanal activities.  While these groups are utilizing the skill sets learnt through the community centers, initial research has revealed that due to the lack of product design, production organization and market connections, refugee artisans are extremely limited in utilizing their developed skills to generate an income.  Makhzoumi Foundation and UNHCR Lebanon seek to assist Syrian refugees, in particular women, to build and enhance their skills within the artisan sector, with the aim of utilizing developed skill sets to promote socio-economic development. Makhzoumi Foundation and UNHCR recognize, promote and protect the cultural identity and traditional skills of artisans, as reflected through their crafts and designs. UNHCR’s engagement in this sector will also preserve century-old artisan traditions (handicrafts) in the region. At the same time, UNHCR Livelihoods Geneva is implementing a new artisan sector strategy in order to connect refugee artisans with market opportunities.  The artisanal sector is one of the three safe value chains that UNHCR now promotes and supports for refugees. The artisanal sector holds promise as a means for refugees to develop an income and as a path towards self-reliance.  It allows refugees to continue their traditions of artistry and express their culture while in their host countries.  There is also market demand for authentic, artisanal products; between 2002 and 2012, the artisan economy doubled to more than $32 billion a year with 65 per cent coming from developing countries. In response, UNHCR developed a new global artisanal strategy in 2016.   UNHCR Lebanon has been promoting artisanal sector activities for refugees since 2013. In 2013, UNHCR identified an artisan skilled in block-printing, a heritage technique that was on the verge of extinction in Syria. Through training, the artisan passed on this skill to over 100 Lebanese and Syrian women.  The trained women have developed the block-printed fabric into bags, cushion covers, table clothes and scarves, which are being sold at select mid-range retailers in Lebanon.   In 2014, UNHCR, UNIDO and the Syndicate of Artisans, under the patronage of the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA), organized an end-of-year event to promote the training and development of 17 artisans. Participants included the Syndicate of Craftsmen in Lebanon, local NGOs and a number of independent Lebanese artisans.   In 2015, UNHCR partnered with Al Majmoua and Artisans du Liban to train 50 Lebanese and Syrian women living in Tikrit, Akkar in Aghabani embroidery. Aghabani embroidery is very popular in Lebanon and for many years, the country imported its supply from Syria. With the intensification of the Syrian conflict in recent years, factories around Damascus were forced to close down, causing the supply of Aghabani fabric to Lebanon to drop sharply.  As a result of the Aghabani training workshop in Akkar, Artisans du Liban is now able to stock Aghabani products that are produced in Lebanon and continue this important cultural tradition. Objectives The aim of the consultancy is to gather baseline data and develop a plan for how UNHCR vocational training opportunities and skills-based artisanal projects can utilize a market-based approach so that refugees are able to earn an income from their skills development and their vocational training opportunities.    The consultant will:   Working through Makhzoumi Foundation, liaise with UNHCR and other Implementing Partners staff to tangibly map the current refugee groups that are involved in artisanal activities and add new groups to the map as they are uncovered; Working through Makhzoumi Foundation, liaise with UNHCR and Implementing Partners staff to tangibly map the current community centres that are involved in skills and vocational training involving artisanal skills and add new groups to the map as they are uncovered; Pilot UNHCR’s artisan mapping tool to gather basic artisanal information and product photos; data is to be uploaded to the mapping tool In cooperation with UNHCR Geneva Livelihoods, develop a baseline assessment tool to be used with artisanal groups in order to gather information on the benefits of participation, the challenges that participants face (family responsibilities, gender issues) and other issues that may affect their ability to increase their participation in artisanal projects Conduct market review of current designs and appraise skill sets of refugee artisans, in coordination with Artisan Value Chain Expert. Assess the current markets for refugee artisanal products and gain an understanding of the scope of the current customer base and the types of customers currently ordering through refugee artisans. Develop a baseline report that indicates the current state of refugees involved in crafts-based training or group-based artisanal activities Develop a plan of action for 2017, so that refugee artisans are able to create market-oriented products through effective group structures that can utilize their vocational training skills and can earn them an income.  Develop the plan based on a quick market entry strategy that aligns vocational training activities with market opportunities.  Discuss this plan with Makhzoumi Foundation, UNHCR staff Lebanon, UNHCR Livelihoods Geneva, artisan sector, implementing partners and key refugee participants.  Receive feedback on plan, revise and submit final plan.  Assist Makhzoumi Foundation and UNHCR staff to prepare for implementation of plan in 2017.  Develop initial background research on patterns, motives and techniques relevant to refugees’ culture.   Deliverables: Issue a baseline assessment report as well as a plan for 2017 for creating market-based vocational training and income generation opportunities for refugee artisans.    Hold a de-briefing meeting with Makhzoumi Foundation, UNHCR Lebanon, other involved Implementing Partners and Livelihoods Unit of UNHCR Geneva to review the consultancy, action and recommendations.   Qualifications: Graduate degree or in design, fine arts, business or other related fields, or equivalent years of experience. Minimum 8 years working in community services and livelihoods. Experience in working in the artisan sector/crafts development.  Experience with refugees or internally displaced persons, small business development and cooperatives; Sensitive to social / gender equity issues. Excellent English and Arabic language skills needed.