Cash And Livelihood Focus Group Discussion Training

International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Lebanon Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) Program provides assistance to Syrian and Lebanese households in Lebanon’s Northern governorate, including unconditional cash assistance, financial management training, cash for work, skills training and job matching. The program objectives are to: Support vulnerable households in meeting basic needs, e.g. rent, food, medications, utilities, fuel for heating, food, winter clothes; Protect vulnerable households from negative coping strategies, exploitation, abuses and gender-based violence. Scope of Work The scope of this consultancy is to provide training on designing, running, and recording focus group discussions (FGD) with up to 21 participants. It is expected that the majority of this portion of the training is held in Arabic. An additional module on FGD analysis will be with up to 8 participants. The majority of this portion of the training is expected to be held in English.  The training timeframe will be three consecutive days in a classroom setting in Kobayat and in the field with field locations provided by IRC. Lecture, role play, and actual administration are the expected methodologies. Tool templates will be developed in this process and distributed to the participants at the end of the training along with a written manual with additional guidelines and suggestions. Profiles of participants will be provided prior to the start of the training. Purpose We intend to use focus groups discussions to learn more about the success of our program and additional needs of beneficiaries, and to complement quantitative findings of our monitoring with qualitative information. Two to four times a month we will arrange groups with specifically selected beneficiaries to discuss topics including ATM card usage, financial management, social cohesion, economic vulnerability, and livelihoods. Examples of subjects we would like to explore are: If beneficiaries had additional money, where would they spend it; Are beneficiaries currently experiencing trouble purchasing/renting anything in their village due to conflicts with the local communities; What have been the difficulties in learning how to use an ATM card; Was this the person’s first time making decisions for the household expenses and what have been the challenges. Objective Train select group of staff within IRC’s ERD team in: Designing FGD’s Structure of discussion Defining the topic and formulating questions Goal and objective Sampling Number and gender of participants Number of questions Length of time Frequency Facilitating FGD’s Role of facilitator Probing/guiding Keeping discussion on track/realigning discussion Protection issue sensitivity Identifying additional FGD needs Documentation Structure of notes Data protection Analysis Analysis planning Methods for analysis Presentation of analysis Deliverables A pre and post test for participants Tools, template, and guidelines for FGD design and development Job description of FGD facilitator Template and guideline for note taker Template for analysis planning Guidelines on methods and presentation of analysis                 Required Skills and Experience Minimum of 5 years experience in leading FGD’s and qualitative research methodologies Minimum of 2 years experience in leading FGD trainings Experience in NGO sector highly preferred Experience with refugees highly preferred Knowledge of cash/livelihood programming desirable Excellent written and spoken Arabic and English Supervision and Reporting The person/agency selected for this consultancy will report to the ERD Monitoring and Evaluation Manager. Payment arrangements The consultancy will be remunerated with one-off payment upon satisfactory submission of all deliverables.