Consultant(s) for capacity building on budget and financial management

1. ABOUT ACTED

ACTED in an international NGO that has been registered in Leba­non since 2006. It has an established country office in Beirut as well as a field office in Akkar. More recently, it has been carrying out activities in the South and in Tripoli.

ACTED works closely with local authorities and civil society stakeholders at the com­munity level to implement priori­ty humanitarian interventions such as emergency multi-purpose cash assis­tance, WASH projects (including disease monitoring and infrastructural and be­havioral response), and Shelter interven­tions incorporating multiple modalities. ACTED is also implementing long-term development projects to rehabilitate infrastructure, improv­e agricultural production, increase livelihood opportunities and support state and non-state ac­tors to improve service deliv­ery and social stability through col­lective development planning.

ACTED responds to emergency and develop­ment needs through a community driven approach which focuses on engagement and capacity building of local civil soci­ety and local authorities, with the aim of promoting accountable governance and civic engagement. Moreover, ACTED in Lebanon seeks to support private sector actors to become the key driv­ers in Lebanon’s economic development with the goal of raising the living standards of Lebanese and refugee households, and improving the coping capacity of local communities.

2. PROJECT BACKGROUND

ACTED is implementing a project in the North, Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the South designed to strengthen local institutions’ and civil society organizations’ ability to provide effective basic health and psycho-social services to marginalised and vulnerable populations in communities most affected by the Syrian crisis. Ten Social Development Centers and Civil Society Organizations are currently undergoing administrative, managerial and technical trainings. Part of these trainings are designed to support the SDCs and CSOs to manage their institutions strategically by planning, implementing, and controlling organizational directions and strategies to address the evolving challenges and opportunities more proactively for organizational growth and for better service delivery; mobilize effectively people and resources to plan and implement their services and programs; design effective systems, processes and methods for managing resources, services, and programs for improving organizational performance; ensure competent and committed workforce for enhanced human resource performance in the organization.

To this effect, ACTED is seeking a consultant(s) to adapt its international training manual on budget and financial management training to the Lebanese context and conduct the training for ten local partner institutions. This training will include the following modules:

• Financial management
• Cash management and book keeping
• Internal control
• Budgeting
• Financial reporting
• Auditing

3. OBJECTIVE & EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The Consultant(s), supported by ACTED, will have to:

• Adapt the content of the training from ACTED’s internal manual on financial management and translate it to Arabic. The training will be facilitated in Arabic. The content should be submitted to ACTED at the latest, one week before the beginning of the training, for review.
• Conduct 13.5 hours of theoretical and practical training for the ten institutions.
• Develop pre and post tests for each training module.

• Mentor seven Civil Society Organizations during the training to assess their financial strategies. The consultant is expected to conduct these meetings in the office of each organization, located across Sour, Beirut, Zgharta and Tripoli. The consultant is expected to submit an assessment report following the mentoring activity, including an action plan, recommendations and future long term goals for each visited CSO.

The training will take place in April/May 2019, in Beirut, spread across three weeks at the rate of one training day per week (on Tuesdays). An average of 30 participants will participate in the training. In addition, the individual mentoring and assessments will be scheduled throughout these three weeks based on both the availability of each Civil Society Organization and the consultant.

It is expected that this consultancy will consist of 15 days

4. REQUIRED EXPERTISE

The consultant(s) or consulting firm is expected to have the following skills:

• University degree or equivalent in finance or business management studies with proven experience with non-governmental organizations.
• Proven experience in designing, leading and implementing similar work. Must be able to design the methodology for the assessment, develop training modules and complete the deliverables with minimal guidance and be able to collaborate with program staff to ensure that the program’s needs are met.
• Knowledge of the development/humanitarian sector in Lebanon.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to produce professional, well-written reports in English and Arabic.
• Previous experience conducting trainings preferred.
• Willingness to innovate to conduct interactive and impacting training sessions.
• Fluency in Arabic and English required.

5. APPLICATION PROCESS

All candidates are required to submit:

• Up-to-date CV(s)
• List of consultancies conducted in the past including:
  • Client name
  • Brief description of services performed
  • Client phone number and email
• A sample of similar trainings conducted if any
• A draft template for the CSO financial assessment
• A detailed budget, including daily rate, and any expected associated costs