Voice Consultant

Terms of reference: Mapping of services available to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and development of standard operating procedures for information dissemination to Syria refugees in Jordan and Lebanon Project name: Syrian Voice and Accountability Project (Voice) -Oxfam GB Estimated duration: 9 weeks Timeline: 1st April - 31st May 2014 Deadline for expressions of interest: 16th March 2014 Project Summary: Voice is an innovative 2-year project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Norwegian Embassy, which aims to empower people affected by the Syria crisis in Jordan and Lebanon, by upholding their rights, ensuring their real concerns reach decision makers, and encouraging decision makers to be more responsive to these needs (see annex 1 for more detailed information on the project). Access to information Access to information is paramount for refugees. Many refugees are unaware of mechanisms and procedures to obtain access to basic services, such as health and education, which undermines their sense of security and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. They may also be unaware of other service providers, lack information on rights and entitlements. Currently, refugees often rely on word-of-mouth as a primary means of obtaining information from informal sources, which can lead to misinformation and rumors, compounding the already existing challenges and barriers to accessing information and services. In some communities women especially lack sufficient information on registration, access to aid and other services. Combined with their lack of mobility and authority, women have little or no say at all when it comes to quality of assistance. Improving the dissemination of information to Syrian refugees is a major focus of this project, both through programme and advocacy interventions. This project works through multiple channels to disseminate information on services, rights and entitlements to refugees, including project-run information and resource centres, legal information lines and community-friendly information materials. The project will also support advocacy to improve coordinated and comprehensive information dissemination from key service providers. For this, a comprehensive mapping of existing services will need to be conducted.   However, in addition, it is anticipated that project staff and volunteers will need to be equipped to field enquiries and requests for information about services outside the remit of this project. For this reason, the project will operate a self-referral model, aimed at providing refugees with accurate, up to date, comprehensive information about how to access available services. This will require the development of standard operating procedures to guide project staff and volunteers in supporting refugees to self-refer, as well as training for staff and volunteers in this area.   Consultancy objectives There are three broad objectives for this consultancy: To do a comprehensive mapping of all services available to Syrian refugees in Tyre, Tripoli + 5 and Bekaa regions of Lebanon and Syrian refugees in Zarqa, Mafraq and Amman in Jordan, drawing on a series of existing mappings and doing additional mapping as necessary. To develop a short set of standard operating procedures for referrals of and information dissemination to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. To provide scenario-based training to project staff and volunteers on the standard operating procedures developed, including the most common issues and how to deal with them in line with the appropriate guiding principles and ethical standards. A longer training will be required for the Lebanese stakeholders.   Key tasks Develop a comprehensive mapping of all services available to Syrian refugees in Tyre, Tripoli + 5 and Bekaa regions of Lebanon and Syrian refugees in Zarqa, Mafraq and Amman in Jordan, drawing on a series of existing mappings and doing additional mapping as necessary, working in conjunction with Oxfam’s Voice project and protection staff, partner staff, other agencies, local authorities, civil society and other service providers. Develop an appropriate approach to facilitating referrals to be incorporated into the Voice project’s work in Jordan and Lebanon, to form the basis of the project’s standard operating procedures for referrals and information dissemination. Develop an approach, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, for how the information in the mapping will be updated in order to ensure it remains relevant and reliable. This will include sharing the mapping with service providers, UN agencies, local authorities.  Relevant protection actors will also be included in a session on the SOPs.  Ensure thorough context and risk analysis informs the approach to ensure refugees and staff members are not at further risk from the intervention, and consider the security and confidentiality of refugees. Provide scenario-based training, capacity-building, and technical support to partner staff and volunteers based on the standard operating procedures developed, including the most common issues and how to deal with them in line with the appropriate guiding principles and ethical standards. Work with the Voice Project Manager to share lessons learnt and support complementarities of work.     Deliverables: A comprehensive mapping of all services available to Syrian refugees in Tyre, Tripoli + 5 and Bekaa regions of Lebanon and Syrian refugees in Zarqa, Mafraq and Amman in Jordan (using Excel template to be supplied). A short set of standard operating procedures for referrals of and information dissemination to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.  A training module Training of project staff and volunteers on the standard operating procedures developed, including the most common issues and how to deal with them in line with the appropriate guiding principles and ethical standards.  Other relevant and interested actors will be included. Final report with recommendations. Recommendations will include how the information in the mapping will continue to be updated.