Consultant

Background on ACTED ACTED is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1993, which supports vulnerable populations, affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. ACTED provides continued support to vulnerable communities by ensuring the sustainability of post-crisis interventions and engaging long-term challenges facing our target populations, in order to break the poverty cycle, foster development and reduce vulnerability to disasters. Our interventions seek to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and development crises through a multidisciplinary approach which is both global and local, and adapted to each context. Our 3,300 staff is committed in to responding to emergencies worldwide, to supporting recovery and rehabilitation, towards sustainable development. Our teams in the field implement some 340 projects in 34 countries covering the following sectors emergency relief, food security, access to health, education and training, economic development, microfinance, advocacy, institutional support, and regional dialogue, cultural promotion. Based on considerable experience addressing the needs and situations of vulnerable communities, ACTED contribute to the international agenda towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals, through a wide range of partnerships, innovative initiatives, and campaigns. Country profile ACTED Capital Office: Beirut Sub-Area: Akkar ACTED has been present and registered in Lebanon since 2006, where initial interventions focused on mitigating the impact of the recent crisis in South Lebanon (Nabatiyeh), as well as supporting Palestinian refugees displaced out of Nahr el Barad. In response to the influx of refugees from neighbouring Syria, after initial support to the VASyR (Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees) through the REACH initiative, ACTED initiated WASH, Shelter and Cash/NFI interventions to support crisis-affected populations in Mount Lebanon (Baabda, Metn, Keserwane and Jbeil districts) and Beirut in September 2013.   ACTED is also present in Akkar, Lebanon’s northernmost and poorest district. In addition to being the poorest district in Lebanon prior to the crisis, Akkar has also experienced a 44% rise in population since Syrian refugees began entering into Lebanon in 2012. In response to the increased pressure on community infrastructure and basic services caused by the refugee influx, ACTED’s interventions in Akkar have focused primarily on supporting local communities and improving social cohesion in hosting areas. Working with local authorities as well as civil society actors, ACTED has implemented a number of projects aimed at enhancing community resilience to increasing and protracted refugee influx, through improved infrastructure and service provision. Project Background Naher Al Istwan Union in Akkar District is a highly socioeconomically vulnerable area, with civil society and local authority stakeholders who have limited capacity to support their constituents in terms of access to basic services and economic empowerment. This situation has become exacerbated by a significant influx of refugees into the Union, which has strained basic service delivery and adversely impacted income generating opportunities. This Europe Aid-funded project focuses on empowering local civil society organizations and local authorities to improve the socio-economic condition of their community through strengthening their capacity and increasing participation in and collaboration on strategic development plans. Naher Al Istwan Union has an active civil society, with the willingness and determination to support their local communities, although lacks the capacity required to effectively provide the necessary levels of support. This lack of capacity relates to both internal operational weaknesses, such as a lack of management skills and financial resources, and problems effectively engaging with relevant authorities to appropriately communicate local development needs. As local authorities are also limited in their capacity to effectively solicit resources from both state and non-state actors, such as government ministries and NGOs, their capacity to effectively respond to community development needs is also limited. The objective of this project, beginning February 2015, is to reduce the socioeconomic vulnerability of communities in Naher Al Istwan by enhancing civil society participation in governance and decision-making. This project consists of a four work package activities: -          Inception Phase -          Institutional capacity building of state and non-state actors -          Strategic rural development planning -          Launch of socio-economic development strategy and initiatives Consultancy objectives The consultancy is aimed to support in building capacity of civic organization (CSO) and local authorities (union and municipalities) staff to effectively provide the necessary levels of support. It includes the provision of capacity building in relation both to internal operational weaknesses, such as a lack of management skills and financial resources, and to issues related to effective engagement with relevant authorities and other stakeholders towards appropriately identifying and communicating local development needs. Therefore, ACTED invites individual consultants or consultancy firms to submit applications for the consultancy aimed at: CSOs trainings: Strategic Planning training (background: definition, purpose, steps in a strategic planning, role of management in the process, strategic planning process ;strategic planning approach; Implementation; Action Plan management tools) for 15 attendees - 6 Days of training Organizational management  training (Organizational Structure; Management Capabilities; Internal Communication; Participatory Decision Making; Operational Planning; Succession Planning) for 15 attendees - 6 days of training Financial Management training (Cash Management; Accounting; Internal Control; Budgeting; financial reporting; Audit) for 10 attendees-6 days of training Proposal Writing training (Logical chain and proposal format; defining project goals and objectives; Designing project strategy; Monitoring and evaluation; project sustainability; Budget) for 15 attendees-8 days of training Project Cycle Management training for CSOs (Needs Assessment; Project Conceptualization and Design; Program Implementation; Technical Expertise; Monitoring and Evaluation) for 15 attendees-7 days of training External Relations-Donors/Resource mobilization training for CSOs (Introduction; Organisational Situation Analysis; Resource Mobilisation Environmental Research and Donor Mapping; Constructing your Statement of Funding Needs; Prospecting and Communicating with Potential Donors/Contributors; Monitoring and Evaluating your resource mobilisation efforts) for 15 attendees-6 days of training Technical/other-Conflict mitigation training for CSOs (Understanding Conflict; Creative Response; Appropriate Assertiveness; Co-operative Power; Managing Emotions; Willingness to Resolve; Mapping the Conflict; Designing Options; Negotiation ;Mediation; Broadening perspectives) for 15 attendees-5 days of training Technical/other-Women empowerment for CSOs (Self-reflection and self-care; Gender Awareness and Gender-Based Violence; Basic Helping Skills: Offering initial support to a survivor of gender-based violence; Facilitating change in communities) for 15 attendees-4 days of training. LA (local authorities) trainings: Advocacy, Marketing, and Fundraising expertise training for Local authorities (General overview, basic) - 2 days for 12 attendees Financial resource management for local authority staff (definition, revenue generation, budgeting, financial control)- 3 Days for 12 attendees Tasks/Work assignment: Develop/adapt a Training curriculum of each subject of the mentioned trainings. In consultation with participants, confirm and finalise the preliminary schedule below. Conduct as specified aforementioned trainings for CSOs and LA attendees, in an interactive manner. Trainings will be conducted on the basis of 3 training days per week, with two topics being run in parallel. Participants may or may not be the same between different sessions. From June W3 until July W3, due to Ramadan, trainings will be conducted on a half-day basis, with three half-days per week.  It is envisaged, given the specific nature of trainings, that a company will be selected with a variety of specialised trainings. ACTED reserves the right to divide the training courses and topics between different trainers or companies, should no company be identified with sufficiently qualified trainers for all topics. Deliverables Comprehensive training of CSOs and LA trainees on specified mentioned subjects and for aforementioned estimated number of sessions. Attendance sheets and course contentdetails, as well as teaching materials should be provided per session for each topic. Final consultancy report: a five to ten-page report using a standardised template, outlining: participant learning outcomes; lessons learnt; and final observations and comments (completed at the end of the training) . Duration The consultancy will last for an estimated five months, up to the end of October. Qualifications Advanced university degree of selected trainers in program management, financial and organisational management, international development or other relevant field; Significant training experience of selected trainers, and of the bidding company, in the related fields and targeting civil society organisations and/or local authorities (training qualification highly regarded); Experience in implementing civil society development and local governance programmes; Experience working with vulnerable groups, including marginalised communities; Excellent communication skills; Fluency of trainers in English (written and spoken) and Arabic will be an asset; Good understanding of the Syria and Lebanon humanitarian and resilience responses and/or middle east context; Ability to work within the international and multicultural environments.