Writing Effective Reports Training (Empowering Vulnerable Families in Lebanon) - Islamic Relief Lebanon

 

Empowering Vulnerable Families in Lebanon

 

Terms of Reference for Consultancy Services

“Writing Effective Reports Training”

 

 

 

Funded by

Islamic Relief Emerging Markets

 

 

 

Implemented by

Islamic Relief – Lebanon

 

2019

 

 

 

 

 

1-Introduction

      As an independent humanitarian and development organization, Islamic Relief has been serving humanity for 35 years. With an active presence in over 40 countries across the globe, we strive to make the world a better and fairer place for the three billion people still living in poverty.

     Islamic Relief helps poor communities to improve their lives. With a focus on sustainable development, our Programmes give poor people better access to essential services, and the opportunity to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves out of poverty, permanently.

     Many of the vulnerable communities in Lebanon are concentrated in specific areas in the country, in which the vulnerable Lebanese consists of 67% and the vulnerable Syrian are 87% who are living in 251 most vulnerable areas. The conflict protracted to enter in the 8th year and Lebanon has hosted a high number of refugees and has been suffering from its impact on all levels. The Lebanese people declared a high decrease in the income and in the resources to generate the income. On the other hand, the refugees are facing the same problem leaving them unable to meet their basic needs including food, healthcare… And sinking deeper into debt with inability to cope an adaptive mechanism to meet their family needs. Nevertheless, the Palestine refugees are facing multi-generational poverty and a lack of access to decent work opportunities. 

   In addition, livelihoods support is therefore becoming crucial to help these households access income in order to lift half a million Lebanese out of poverty. Until this happens, the major consequence will be that job shortages are consistently and clearly mentioned not only as the primary need of all groups, but also as the main source of tension between communities, regardless of gender or age group.

   IRL intends to implement a project aligned with LCRP to provide a critical contribution goal to Lebanon’s stability by expanding economic opportunities benefiting local economies and the most vulnerable communities and individuals in line with government rules and regulations. The project activities will be aimed to create an employment and income generating opportunities thus enhancing their job skills that mainly fit the market needs on one hand and to be able to run a small business on the other hand.

      IRL seeks to contract local consultant (individual/firm) to train 20 staff who will be able to improve their capacity to access self-employment

 

2-Background

   Eight years into the Syrian conflict, Lebanon remains at the forefront of one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time with high influx of refugees spreading across the country. The last update from UNHCR and the Lebanese government, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is around 1.5 million however, not all of them are registered with the UNHCR where 1,001,051 are registered, in addition to 34,000 Palestine Refugees from Syria (PRS), 35,000 Lebanese returnees, and a pre-existing population of more than 277,985 Palestine Refugees in Lebanon (PRL). The vulnerabilities of each of these groups have different root causes, requiring the overall response strategy to include a multifaceted range of interventions from emergency aid to development assistance. Nearly half of those affected by the crisis are children and adolescents: at least 1.4 million children under 18, including Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian, are currently growing up at risk of not accessing their rights to survival, development, protection and participation. The situation in Lebanon is becoming precarious in which the services are overstretched and demand is exceeding the capability of the Government, NGOs, and the infrastructure to meet these dire needs. Moreover, even the sectors are also overburdened and are not able to cover the needs of all the vulnerable refugees and host community such as health bills.

   All of these lead has impacted the social and economic growth in Lebanon leading in deepening the poverty and needs of the population thus exacerbate the pre-existing development constraints in the country. The World Bank estimates that Lebanon has incurred losses of US$ 13.1 billion since 2012, of which US$ 5.6 billion pertains to 2015 alone.

 

3-Objectives of the training:

    Under the context of Sustainable Livelihood, IRL within “Empowering Vulnerable families in Lebanon” intends to deliver full training package as part of capacity building targeting 20 staff.

In order to ensure that a strong training package is delivered to 20 staff to gain knowledge regarding writing effective reports which outline the facts, explain the meaning within a specific context and relay the specific actions that need to be taken, participants should acquire skills to help them improve written communication skills for all needs.

 

3.1. Consultant main objective:

• Train and coach 20 staff members on the following points:
   A - How to draft, structure and edit an effective report that gets your message across quickly and clearly.
  B – Will be able to write well-researched, well-organized and well-written reports
  C- How to write formal, structured documents

1. will understand the importance of using easily understood language and how to order your information

• Delivering any required pedagogical support material (i.e.: training manuals, lesson plans, training material, etc.).

• Developing training methodologies/techniques, this may include creative tools such as games, audio-visuals, group discussions, demonstrations, and practice sessions with feedback and role play, pending the target audience.
• Ensuring that all young people are trained adequately, and have a solid understanding of the training material.
• Developing pre-post tests, collecting pre-post data and submitting a final report.
   
  Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
  •             Differentiate between the process and reporting functions of case managers
  •             Conduct an effective needs assessment using established frameworks
  •             Collaborate with clients to prioritize needs and develop action plans
  •             Identify appropriate internal and external resources to move clients forward
  •             Coordinate interventions to maximize client success
  •             Close the active file while effectively managing follow-up.
   
   

3.2 What is the main outcome of Report Writing Training?

A - Understanding writing reports: Understanding the importance and need of short, simple, human business writing.

B - Pre-writing & Drafting: Explaining Triple A: Knowing your Aim, Audience and Approach. Practical techniques for dealing with writer’s block. (What is the Reporting Process?)

C - Report Structure: Executive Summary, Introduction, Method, Findings & Conclusions, Recommendations and Appendices.

D - Editing & Revising: Plain-language technique: headings, paragraphs, sentences, active, concise & concrete writing with a human tone.

E – Proofreading: Reviewing grammar, spelling, punctuation and word use.

F – Types of reports

 

 

3.2 Responsibilities:

   The Consultant will advise on writing effective reports. He/she will provide advice and tips related to the topic on the strategic direction of the program, develop a pre and post evaluation test for the young people, design a viable training program and provide capacity building to 20 staff after assessing their skills and verify their needs. The Consultant will also conduct coaching sessions to emphasize the practical implementation of all topics that has been taken in training.

 

 

3.2.1 Capacity building

The consultant will provide professional training to young people and based on identified training needs through pre-test questionnaire.

 

3.2.2 Report and Formulation of Recommendations

The consultant will prepare final report in English. The report should contain an analysis of the findings and the consequences based on pre and post -test has been done for the trainees and the training activities.

In addition to the recommendation for any future intervention.

 

 

1. Training outlines titles:

The trainer(s) will be committed to deliver the following training and the related materials (in Arabic & English).

 A -Training manual for participants - 1 master copy (before the training)

B - Training presentation slides (before the training)

C - Training program (before the training)

D - Evaluation report (After the training)

 

 

5- Requirements:

Qualified candidates (individuals and firms) are invited to apply for this task. The candidate (individuals and firms) can apply for one or more of the mentioned training topics.

 

 

1. Academic Qualifications:

 

Advanced University Degree in Business Development or any related domains.

 

b. Years of Experience:

At least 3-5 years of documented professional experience in developing, facilitating/delivering interactive/participatory training sessions in Business Development, capacity building skills.  

 

c. Competencies:

- Excellent Facilitation skills

- Excellent training skills

- Excellent reporting skills

- Proven impartiality and cultural and human rights sensitivity. Ability to build strong relationships with local actors using inter-personal skills to network effectively

- Excellent analytical, negotiating, and communication skills

- Ability to meet deadlines and show flexibility

- Excellent command of Arabic language and good command of English.

 

6-Proposal Submission and Evaluation

• The Technical Proposal shall clearly include, but not necessarily be limited to the following items:

 

• Introduction (including the consultant’s understanding of the required assignment).
• Qualifications and relevant experience of the consultant (attach CVs of proposed person/ team).
• Proposed approach and methodology for conducting the assignment with preliminary time schedule submission and Evaluation of Technical Proposal.
   

• The evaluation of Technical Proposals will be according to following criteria.
   

 

No.

Criteria

Points

1.  

Introduction (including the consultant’s understanding of the required assignment)

15

2.  

Qualifications and relevant experience of the consultant and proposed team.

20

3.  

Proposed approach and methodology for conducting the assignment with preliminary time schedule.

20

4.  

Completeness and clarity of the proposal

5

5.  

Providing certification to the trainees

5

6.  

Check reference

5

 

Total

70

 

6-1 Submission and Evaluation of Financial Proposal

• Only the applicants, who receive 45 points or more in the technical score, will be considered in the evaluation of the financial proposals.
• The financial proposal shall show all the direct costs related to the implementation of the assignment, while other operational costs such as transportation, communications, etc. can be implicitly included

6-2 Proposals evaluation

• The evaluation of proposals and selection of the consultant will be made using the Quality and Cost Based Selection, with a total score calculated out of 100%, of which 70% is the weight of the Technical Proposal and 30% is the weight of Financial Proposal.
• Only Technical Proposals will be opened on the submission date. Financial Proposals remain sealed until the technical evaluation is completed.
• The consultant with the highest total score (sum of technical and financial scores) will be considered as the winner of the consultancy assignment and will be invited for contract negotiations and ultimately to sign the Contract in month of September.
• The Technical and Financial Proposals of the successful bidder and negotiation minutes will become part of the Contract.