Financial And Nutrition Service Provider

Terms of Reference for nutritional education and financial management Training Providers Mercy Corps is seeking individual consultants and/or organizations to deliver up to 5 months training program to both Syrian and Lebanese community members within the financial management and nutritional education sectors. Background and Purpose Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. The agency pursues its mission through emergency relief services, sustainable community development, civil society and economic development initiatives. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps promotes economic development and increased opportunity for marginalized communities while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Until recently Mercy Corps’ focus has focused on bolstering civil society and give voice to under-represented groups through the empowerment of young leaders. Recently, the country office portfolio expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria, to address key needs like non-food items/winterization, water and sanitation, child protection, and capacity building. Mercy Corps is launching the “Improving Food and Agricultural Systems in the Bekaa (IFAS)” project. The overall objective of the project is to mitigate the medium to long term impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on Lebanese host communities. The project will be implemented in the Beqaa and it is funded by the WFP for a period of 9 months. It will focus on collaborating with market actors within value chains—inputs providers, producers, agro-businesses, and end-buyers—in the agriculture sector to protect the incomes of small and medium producers. In addition, the project will strengthen coping mechanisms of both Lebanese and Syrian households through increased household resource management skills. Lastly, IFAS will help increase the household cash flow of vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian households through cash-for-work activities and also strengthen the agriculture infrastructure in the targeted areas. Duties and Responsibilities The Consultant will complete the 3 following tasks: 1. FSNA validation The consultant will validate the Food Security and Nutritional Assessment (FSNA) in shortlisted Bekaa communities in cooperation with WFP and Mercy Corps. The scope of the validation will be informed after analyzing existing food security data from agency partners like WFP, FAO and UNHCR. Within the broader region, the sample will likely be conducted in a handful of municipal clusters. The sample will be selected to inform baseline data and targeting for all of the vulnerable households to be included in Output 1 and Output 2 of IFAS. The consultant will: • Validate the FSNA data • Perform household and field surveys • Perform data analysis • Identify and map geographic clusters • Identify potential beneficiaries • Formulate related recommendations in a detailed report 2. Training curriculum definition As vulnerable Syrian and Lebanese households increasingly need to cope with limited household resources and since they are resorting to negative coping mechanisms in reaction to current economic insecurity, education (particularly for women) is essential on the effects that calorie deprivation or essential nutrients can have on both physical and mental health. Mercy Corps, through the Project “Improving Food and Agricultural Systems in the Bekaa (IFAS)” has the opportunity to lead nutritional education and financial management training based on the FSNA validation. The nutritional education and financial management training will target both Lebanese and Syrian vulnerable women, illustrating households’ ideal consumption in terms of quantity and nutritional balance, current total production and purchased food amounts. Also, IFAS will strengthen coping mechanisms in reaction to current economic insecurity. The consultant will define the nutritional education training curriculum and contextualize the financial training curriculum previously developed by Mercy Corps. 3. Training implementation Based on the curriculum development, the training will target 18 groups comprised of 25 women per group directly reaching 450 households over the course of the project all over the Bekaa. Each group will attend 10 training sessions (5 financial training sessions, 5 nutritional education training sessions) for a total of 180 sessions. Groups will include a combination of Lebanese and Syrians (with an assumed 60/40 split) for structured engagement between the two populations. The consultant will implement the 180 training sessions and provide/share all types of reports to the IFAS Project Manager. He/She will work closely with IFAS team member. Submission guidelines: Applicants are requested to submit the related proposal and the following documents by email to reception@lb.mercycorps.org. Please mention the title “IFAS financial and nutritional training provider” in the subject of the email. 1) Consultant’s CV 2) List of consultancies conducted in the last three years. Please include: 1. Client name 2. Brief description of services performed 3. Client phone number and email 4. Number of days worked 5. Substantiated daily consulting rate 6. A scan/copy of applicant’s registration at the Ministry of Finance In case applicant cannot provide this document, and is selected for this consultancy, Mercy Corps will deduct the 7.5% services tax imposed by the Ministry from submitted invoices. Payment: In bank checks or wire transfer, after the successful delivery of the service based on monthly invoices and timesheets submitted (to include work days and hours. 8 hours = full day and 4 hours = half a day), with an approved consultant deliverable report. Incidentals, including transportation, per diems and communications costs, will not be covered separately by Mercy Corps, as they should be included in the consultant’s daily rate. Experience required: • BA/S in Natural Sciences, Food Security & Nutrition, MA/S preferred. Advanced level of understanding of the livelihoods and food security sector in Lebanon (minimum 10 years) • Communication skills required, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues • Strong written and oral communication skills in Arabic, including report development, writing and editing • Positive, respectful attitude and collaborative approach to problem solving • Demonstrated attention to detail; ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently as well as cooperatively with team members • Knowledge and understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of the Beqaa, including prior experience