“Collectives in a box”– a “how-to toolkit for establishing and supporting collective structures: Cases of Civil Society Networks, Youth Hubs, and Community Groups”

“Collectives in a box”– a “how-to toolkit for establishing and supporting collective structures: Cases of Civil Society Networks, Youth Hubs, and Community Groups”

-Terms of Reference - Consultant -

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATIONS

Oxfam has been working in Lebanon since 1970 on the provision of rapid emergency humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities, as well as long-term development support to civil society organisations and local authorities. 

Through its partnership with local organisations, Oxfam has responded to several conflicts in Lebanon, namely the July War in 2006, the clashes in Nahr el Bared camp (NBC) in 2007, and the Syria Crisis as of 2013. Oxfam’s response has focused on the delivery of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies, rehabilitation of WASH facilities, distribution of non-food items (NFIs) and cash, as well as protection activities.

Since 2014, Oxfam has been undergoing a transition, which aims to strategically shift the programmatic focus from pure humanitarian programming towards a more development-focused approach, both in host and refugee communities. The transition is guided by a 5-year vision, which aims “to protect and empower marginalized women and men (Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian populations including refugees) to enjoy their basic rights, and to enable them to live in dignity within a more equitable society.”[1] Such a vision heavily relies on rights-based and citizen-based approaches in the development of the programs and projects.

To implement this vision, Oxfam’s work focuses on three key programmatic work streams, namely humanitarian - saving lives now and in the future, economic justice, and active citizenship and good governance (ACGG), with policy and gender justice as cross cutting themes.

As one of the main work streams, the active citizenship and good governance (ACGG)’s goal is to “support marginalized women and men, particularly youth, to exercise civil and political rights to influence decision-making by engaging with government or through civil society networks in support of more accountable, effective governance particularly in relation to respect for fundamental rights, access to services, resource distribution and gender equity.”

Guided by this goal, Oxfam in Lebanon has established different types of collective structures including CSO networks, feminist initiatives, youth hubs, civic platforms, and peer groups. Few examples of such initiatives include, but are not limited to:

People affected by the Syrian Crisis (PASC) network: composed of 27 members (each member represents a local CSO in Lebanon). PASC is a voluntary, inter-organizational, non-binding and informal network facilitated by national NGO ALEF (Act for Human Rights) and supported by Oxfam. Open to all local CSOs working with persons affected by the Syrian crisis, it works to enhance the capacity and space for civil society organizations in Lebanon to influence their government and international actors to adopt policies that more effectively meet the needs of vulnerable displaced persons and host communities, and implement them effectively.

My Work My Rights Network: a network composed of 11 members. The network aims to contribute to the improved protection of individuals involved in the formal and informal labour market in Lebanon, in accordance with international human rights law, workers’ rights and labour

safeguards. In particular, the outcome is to increase the capacity of the Lebanese civil society to

monitor, provide services, and advocate for the application of minimum standards and decent

working conditions in Lebanon.

Roots Lab:  RootsLab is a collaborative pilot project by Oxfam, FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, Global Fund for Women and Young Foundation that seeks to test how best to incubate social change driven by young women and trans activists. The pilot phase was launched in Lebanon in March 2017, and it is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2019. The project is piloting an innovative approach to advancing young women's rights, leadership and collective action, by directly providing resources and support to young women and trans people to help them imagine and develop impactful social change initiatives in their communities. This includes professional skills, connections and networking opportunities, financial resources, access to mentoring and coaching support, and, most importantly, a collective structured process to develop and test their ideas.

Jezzine youth hub: a group of around 6 youth from Jezzine that manage a youth hub: http://jezzinehub.org/

2. PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY

Oxfam in Lebanon’s experience establishing these structures has been documented in-country and the next step is to disseminate these experiences to contribute to dialogue across the confederation.

Oxfam is looking for a consultant to develop a “Collectives in a box” – a “how-to toolkit for establishing and supporting collective structures: Cases of Civil Society Networks, Youth Hubs, and Community Groups”. 

It is expected that the proposed toolkit divides the approach adopted by the Country Team into four clear stages: Create - Activate - Monitor - Evaluate. Each of the four stages are in themselves comprehensive and complex. The toolkit will deconstruct this complex process into ‘bite sized chunks’, which methodically and systematically guide the user through the process.

Oxfam in Lebanon will demonstrate the importance of taking a systematic, consistent, thorough approach to collectives, walking users through the process step-by-step. Based on Oxfam in Lebanon’s experience, applying learning from past collectives can accelerate the successes and achievements of newer ones. The toolkit would provide contextual evidence of Oxfam’s return on investment by working with and empowering local actors through unique participatory approaches.

The primary target audience for this toolkit is the Oxfam confederation – mainly affiliates and country programs seeking to establish collectives, but also civil society partners requesting support to put in place these structures.

The concept is built around the notion of “knowledge sharing”. This product, will serve as the go-to reference for the entire confederation. It would act as a practical toolkit to be used and replicated by different Oxfam country programs resulting in effective knowledge sharing and supporting efficiency and simplicity - the cornerstones of Oxfam’s strategic agenda.

3. SUGGESTED METHODOLOGY

The consultant is expected to develop the tool-kit through the analyses of the available documents and the collection of additional information from the program leads. Specifically, the research consultant is expected to:

• Develop a detailed methodology for the development of the tool-kit
• Review the available documents[2]
• Carry out meetings with the program leads of each initiative to collect additional information[3]:
• Develop the outline of the tool-kit in English to include the following:

• A set of chapters, each specific to one type of collective structure;
• Each chapter will be divided into the following stages: Create, Activate, Monitor, Evaluate;
• Each stage will include a step-by-step list of the activities that the team undertook, key messages and learnings, and contextualized tips;
• Each stage will also include a list of (already used) tools, templates, checklists, and FAQs.

• Send the tool-kit to Oxfam team for revisions (the rounds of revisions will not be set ahead of time, and will depend on the quality of the product)

4. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE

The development of the tool-kit is expected to be carried out within 30 working days from the signature of the contract.

Activity                                       Expected output                            Expected number of days

Preparation and meetings with      Validated methodology

the team                                             List of primary sources to be analyzed           2

Interviews with the team leads      Additional information

                                                            collected directly from the initiative leads   3

Development of the tool-kit            Drafts of tool-kit                                                   20

Revision of the tool-kit                      Final draft of the tool-kit                                    5

Total days                                                                                                    30

5. PROCESS

Interested consultants should present their CVs and a brief proposal which includes a methodology, workplan, and a budget. The budget should also include the rate per day, as well as all the estimated costs including, communication.

The CV and the proposal have to be sent to Lebanonjobs@oxfam.org.uk

[1]Oxfam, 2015. Oxfam Country Strategy

[2] The documents will be provided by Oxfam’s team

[3] A schedule for the meetings will be coordinated by Oxfam team