ILO CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: National Individual Consultant to Support the ILO in the Adaptation of the ILO Financial Education Materials to the Context of Lebanon

Background:

The forced displacement crisis has increased in scale and complexity in recent years. According to UNHCR, 79.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2019. Forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) face specific vulnerabilities, including loss of assets and psychological trauma, limited rights, lack of opportunities, a protection risk as well as a risk to be out of school, and a lack of planning horizon. In addition, the communities hosting FDPs also struggle to pursue their own development efforts.

In response to the considerable challenges facing FDPs and host communities, a new partnership initiative titled: ‘PROSPECTS' Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons, was launched by the Government of the Netherlands, that brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. Through the PROSPECTS partnership, the five partner agencies aim to leverage their comparative advantages and areas of expertise to programme complementary and interdependent interventions that address education and skills, employment and protection challenges. The partnership spans eight countries, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan, and Uganda and covers the period 2019-2023. 

Under PROSPECTS in Lebanon, the partnership focuses on reducing multidimensional vulnerabilities and increasing social stability for both Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities, under the following key areas within the three pillars: Education, Employment and Protection. ILO’s focus is on enhancing resilience of the country’s crisis- distressed labour market and creating better livelihoods for both Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees. It is doing so by promoting the development of market relevant skills, enhancing employment placement services and labour market governance, promoting strengthened and more inclusive social protection schemes, and supporting micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) as well as sectors, including the agriculture and agro-food with potential for decent job creation.

Objective of the ILO  intervention:

The objective of this assignment is to adapt the ILO training materials on Financial Education for Refugees and Host Communities to meet the specific needs of Refugees and Host Communities in Lebanon.

The training materials consist of a Trainer’s Manual and a Trainee’s Booklet. As the first one is generic and applicable to different context, it does not need local adaptation. However, the trainee’s booklet needs to be adapted to the local context so that the target group attending the course feels identified and represented by its content. In this context, the trainee’s booklet adaptation needs to focus on developing:

• Case studies and activities using fictional characters and
• Comics stories integrating the above-mentioned fictional characters.

This will involve working hand-in-hand with the international financial education trainer/expert, Mr. Gustavo Prepelitchi, in order to create 4 new fictional characters that are consistent to the structure of the trainee’s booklet and represent well the above-mentioned specific target group.

For this assignment, the consultant will be required to:

• Carry out, with the support of the international consultant, a brief desk research about supply and demand of financial services in the countries involved in this adaptation. It is particularly relevant to capture the latest developments regarding legislation and regulatory issues affecting the target group.
• Create 4 fictional characters following the adaptation guidelines provided by the international financial education trainer/expert. The creation of the fictional characters involves describing their physical aspect, their identity card, the case studies applicable to each character and the text to be included in their respective comics.
• Review and adapt as necessary the technical content included in the trainee’s booklet so that it represents the local financial landscape.

Required Qualifications:

The consultant is expected to have the following qualifications:

• 7 years of experience in financial education/literacy in Lebanon
• Knowledge of the ecosystem of financial institutions in Lebanon, specifically those providing services to vulnerable Lebanese communities and Syrian refugees
• Has worked with vulnerable Lebanese communities and Syrian refugees
• Good understanding of the current context of multiple crises in Lebanon
• Fluent in English and Arabic