Consultancy For A Conflict Scan And Mid-Term Assessment

Conflict Scan and Mid-Term Assessment Dialogue and local response mechanisms to conflict    Search for Common Ground (SFCG) seeks an experienced consultant to conduct a Conflict Scan and Mid-Term Assessment for its UNHCR funded project in Lebanon. The study should be completed by the 20 of February 2015. SFCG Lebanon invites all interested and qualified candidates to submit a resume, a brief proposal (including methodology and a tentative budget) and a letter of interest, clearly explaining how their experience meets desired qualifications by December 31, 2014 to the following contact: mortmans@sfcg.org.   Organization Overview Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is a non-governmental organization working to transform the way societies deal with conflicts. We have acquired over 30 years of experience in peacebuilding and are based in 53 local offices worldwide. SFCG first worked in Lebanon in 1996, and we opened up our office in Beirut in 2008. Since then, our activities and capacities have grown significantly. We rely on local staff as well as local partner organisations in order to ensure our work is culturally sensitive, sustainable and well grounded in the Lebanese context.  Our Vision While conflict is inevitable, violence is not! Therefore we work to achieve social change through transforming the way people deal with conflicts – away from violent and adversarial approaches, towards collaborative problem solving. For more information, visit www.sfcg.org and https://www.facebook.com/sfcg.lebanon.   Intervention Summary With regards to the Syrian refugee crisis, both the Government of Lebanon and the donor community have identified the need to strengthen the capacity of Lebanese host communities as they cope with the ever-growing tensions from the daily influx of refugees in their communities. SFCG-Lebanon has built a sustainable program for conflict transformation and problem solving since actively engaging in Lebanon in 2008. This project also draws on SFCG’s experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the UNICEF model of integrating Do No Harm into humanitarian activities and contributes to SFCG-Lebanon’s goal of combating sectarian divides and bolstering inclusion. Since November 2013, SFCG intervention addresses current sources of tensions by creating a space for dialogue around conflict issues and strengthening community stakeholders’ capacities to collaborate with one another in addressing conflicts arising from the Syrian refugee crisis. This project is a pilot conducted in Tripoli (in partnership with Utopia) and in South Lebanon, in 11 communities: 5 in Tripoli (Qobbeh, Abou Samra, Zahriyeh, Al Mina and Bab El-Ramel) and 6 in the South (Jezzine, Miye w Miye, Sour, Sarafand, Bourj El-Chimaly and Ghaziyeh). The Conflict Scan and Mid-Term Assessment Study’s Goal and Objectives SFCG’s experience working with refugees globally has shown that understanding the perceptions of those affected by a refugee crisis – both the refugees and the host communities – is a necessary first step to break down stereotypes, resentments, and information gaps that leads to social cohesion and peaceful coexistence. The study will place particular emphasis on: Exploring changes in the context and dynamics at stake between host communities and refugees since the previous conflict scan in January 2014. Exploring the prevalent causes of tensions intra and inter communities and with regards to the different socioeconomic situations, their current dynamics and foreseen evolution. Exploring which type of inter-communal conflicts key actors (i.e. municipalities) are addressing and how they are addressing it. This study will serve four purposes. It will: Provide an assessment of the main sources of tensions and the particularity of each community in responding to these inter-communal tensions. Provide recommendations regarding key actors to be engaged in the project for greater results. Assess the changes experienced by project’s stakeholders since the beginning of the project and provide recommendations in order to strengthen project’s impact and sustainability. Highlight lessons learned from the first phase of the project to inform the implementation of the next phases and to document the best practices of this pilot project. Deadlines • Consultant recruitment deadline: 10th of January 2015 • Deadline for finalising the data collection: 30th of January 2015 • Deadline for the draft report: 10th of February 2015 • Deadline for the final deliverables: 20th of February 2015   Role and Responsibilities of the Consultant The consultant will be responsible for: Developing and test the data collection tools in collaboration with SFCG team Designing an inception report Collecting the data Analysing the data Reporting   Consultant’s Qualifications SFCG Lebanon seeks an experienced consultant with the following qualifications: Proficiency in Arabic and English More than 5 years of experience in project evaluation or the equivalent in DM&E expertise, including collecting and analysing data from interviews, surveys, FGDs, etc. Experience in working with international organisations Experience in conducting project’s evaluation studies Strong communication and writing skills Understanding of and experience working on the Syrian refugee crisis Research and evaluation methods and data collection skills Ability to be flexible with time and work schedule Attention to detail and ability to meet tight deadlines Available for future evaluation contracts with SFCG Conflict resolution/peace building experience   See attachement or send an email to mortmans@sfcg.org to receive the detailed Terms of Reference.