External Consultancy – Market Study In Saida Area

Palestinian Women’s Forum Term of Reference for External Consultancy Empowerment  of Women at risk in Lebanon Project # 511-787 funded by DRC and run by PWF and Sidon Platform Reference to the project: Empowerment of Women at Risk in Lebanon Context: The Palestinian Women's forum – PWF- in Lebanon was established in 2008 to create space for women associations and female activists who committed to full equality and Women's Rights. It aims at empowerment women to alleviate the triple discrimination challenging Palestinian Refugee Women in Lebanon: discrimination based on their gender, on their refugee status and on their statelessness. PWF coordinate with local and international NGOs to achieve its goal in eliminating violence against women. Within this context it cooperates with DRC who funded this study which is part of project entitled ”Empowerment of Women at Risk in Lebanon”. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental and non profit organization, founded in 1956, that works in more than 30 countries around the world. DRC has been operating in Lebanon since 2004, working with Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, as well as Lebanese communities affected by the war in 2006.  DRC is committed to basic humanitarian principles; including impartiality and neutrality, and offers the highest standards of accountability to the people it serves. Since the beginning of its operations, DRC has mostly (except during emergency crisis like in 2006) intervened through local partners, building as such their capacities to respond to needs of displaced people. DRC has for instance established strong partnership in the past years with Palestinian refugee-oriented NGOS (PWF), a platform of Saida-based LNGOs (Tajamoh). Project Context:Discrimination against women in general and sexual gender based violence in particular are widespread phenomenon in the Middle-East. Lebanon is not spared by the tendency, even though promotion of women rights looks more active than in the other regional countries. Lebanon is a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was ratified in September of 2002 with a number of reservations (article 16). However, the law enforcement remains very challenging among many conservative areas. Violence against women is even a more acute problem among displaced communities mainly due to legal vacuum (Lebanon did not sign the 1951 refugee convention) and socio-economical vulnerability. Refugee women (Palestinians, Iraqis, and other nationalities) and Migrant Domestic Workers are facing particular risks of protection. Access to the market also is one of the most important challenges facing vulnerable women, particularly refugee women. They are either denied access to the market or they may face different constraints than their male counterparts to enter markets and engage in production. The purpose of this 15 months project is to empower women at risk and/or victims of SGBV by prevention and a protection-oriented response based on livelihood support. It will help promoting economic and social self-reliance of 300 vulnerable women and raise awareness of duty-bearers about SGBV and human trafficking. Project output 1: Advocacy on violence against women towards survivors’ communities.Relevant activities will include:1.1 Assessment of current advocacy work and gaps’ identification;1.2 Workshop launching the campaign; 1.3 Prevention campaign raising awareness among victims and their  communities; Project output 2: Assistance to 200 women at risk through a holistic package of support services delivered in a newly established centre in Saida. Relevant activities will include:2.1 Kick-off event with main partners (PWF, UNRWA and Tajamoh); 2.2  Selection and capacity building of 9 partners empowering vulnerable women in Saida (equipping and training); 2.3 Selection, renovation and equipping of a Women At Risk Centre in Saida;2.4  Organisation of women-oriented activities, including awareness raising sessions (on rights and services);2.5 Referral and selection of women at risk;2.6 Organization of a 6-months Vocational training courses; 2.7 Provision of legal and psycho-social counselling; 2.8 Organization of life-skills training and business coaching; 2.9 Organization of extra-activities (awareness sessions, kinder-garden, direct assistance and social activities);2.10 Identification and delivery of tool kits Project output 3: Coordination and capacity building of local NGOs delivering services to domestic migrant workers.Relevant activities will include:3.1 Stakeholder analysis jointly conducted;3.2 Establishment of a Consortium of active LNGOs;3.3 Creation of a shared data management system enabling an effective referral system; 3.4 Delivery of Sub-grants to LNGOs aimed at improving services’ quality/effectiveness and coordination (with focus on awareness raising activities for SGBV survivors on rights and services); 3.5 Capacity of local partners built via training and mentoring activities. Objectives of the study:The beneficiaries of this project have special protection concerns related to their refugee status or as survivors of discrimination and violence. Special concerns include the fact that most refugees do not have the right to work (or have limited access to their rights), the women suffer refugee or GBV “stigma,” and they are recovering from trauma as GBV survivors. As such, the women face significant challenges to entering the labour market competitively.Within this project, PWF views strengthening economic self-reliance as:Improving employability – women’s ability to connect to job placementsBusiness/entrepreneurial development – improved understanding of the market within a given sector The objectives of this market study are to: Identifying the opportunities to strengthen women's participation in Saida area labor market by focusing on “creative entry points into the market” with a protection focus on women at risk. This means identifying sectors that meet both market demands (where there are labour shortages or a large absorption capacity, avoiding labour market surplus and/or saturation) and beneficiaries’ protection needs. Providing recommendations on vocational training sectors specifically designed for women at risk. Service mapping of existing vocational training providers in the Saida area, including providers' capacity to work with` women at risk.   Methodology of the study: The study should use:- Qualitative and quantitative approaches, - In dept interviews, - Focus group discussions, - Review of existing data and studies on Sidon Labor market or any relevant literatures, etc. Target Groups1. major stakeholders:i. Labour market businesses and companies in greater Saida area ii. Labour market institutions (ex, Chamber of Commerce)iii. NGOs working/offering services to vulnerable women in Saida area, especially VT courses and economic services (loans and MC) iv. UNRWA in relation to Palestinian women labour market opportunities.v. Employment agencies in Saida area 2. direct beneficiaries:i. households or groups:  vulnerable women (to capture social and economic self-reliance vision of vulnerable women)i. Providers’ capacity to work with women at risk. Specific responsibilities:Under the supervision of the PWF in cooperation with DRC, the external consultant (project outputs 1/3) will design and implement a market study to obtain the following information relating to the greater Saida area market: Collect and revise any previously implemented studies on Saida area labour market. Female employment: where and how women work (youth and adult female) Employment by sector Employment by type (workers, employees, self-employed, etc.) The trends in utilisation female labour in greater Saida area. With focus on women refugee labour work Opportunities and challenges to female labour utilisation GBD and GBV in the market, job opportunities, wages, working hours, etc Data analysis, report write-up and presentation Deliverables Market study report that outline the following: Labour market trend to female employment in Saida area. Identifying opportunities to strengthen women’s participation in Saida area labor market by focusing on “creative entry points into the market”. Recommendations for follow-up action that will enable the project to offer vocational training courses appropriate to the labor market demand in Saida area. Presentation of findings to DRC, and partner NGOs in the project. Qualification and skills: Master’s degree/certification in economics, business administration, or statistical analysis and /or 5 years and above of experience in economic and business administration field of work. Excellent research and writing skills Experience conducting market surveys in urban settings Knowledge of women at risk, GBV and GBD. Knowledge of refugee employment and livelihood challenges in Lebanon