Request for proposal and TOR for needs assessment

   Through our Family Strengthening Programmes, SOS Children’s Villages Lebanon works to strengthen disadvantaged families by supporting caregivers in acquiring specific skills that will help enhance their current situation. In 1986, in the midst of the 15 years Lebanese civil war, SOS Children's Villages Lebanon was the first to introduce SOS Family Strengthening Program (FSP) in Lebanon. Later on, this pioneer program was adopted and duplicated worldwide. FSP was a response to the civil war when many children faced the risk of abandonment after they lost their fathers and the mothers did not have the financial means or capacity to support their families on their own.

The SOS Family Strengthening Program has been active for the last 31 years and is implemented through two SOS social centres, in Beirut and Bekaa (Ksarnaba), and currently assists over 900 children and their caregivers in various regions of the country. By providing short-term emergency assistance and a long-term empowering package, this program enables families at risk of child abandonment to ensure their children’s right to have a family and stable environment by enabling them to achieve social reintegration and self-reliance. This is achieved by putting the following steps in place:

• Providing immediate financial and material support (e.g. monetary relief, food, clothes and shelters) for families in need.
• Providing  mental and health support to children and young people and their families
• Providing support to caregivers so they can provide quality care to their children and support their development.

1. 1. Rationale and overall objective of the needs assessment

Internal results based management regulations require that every 3-5 years external assessment should be carried out in the location where a programme operates. The assessment report informs planning and decision taking about the future of all programme interventions, i.e. continuation, adaptation, expansion, or closure, and provides information for funding applications. SOS Children's Villages Lebanon is seeking a consultant to conduct a thorough assessment for its FSP programmes in Beirut and Bekaa (Ksarnaba). The objectives of the needs assessment are to provide:

1. Information of the characteristics and situation and of target group (both current and potential beneficiaries) in Beirut and Ksarnaba, i.e. age, gender, disability status, number of children and families from target group, child rights violation experienced by children at risk of losing parental care and their families.   
2. An assessment of type of family strengthening interventions and services needed in the locations (Beirut and Ksarnaba) by children and families of target group in the coming 3-5 years and gaps in the current response.
3. An analysis of stakeholders providing family strengthening services/programmes, including the current response of governmental, non-governmental, community actors to the needs of the target group
4. An analysis of relevance of family strengthening services and interventions implemented by SOS CV Lebanon in Beirut & Ksarnaba, i.e. to what extent they respond to the needs of the target group now and potentially in the future
5. Recommendations about the future development of SOS Children’s Villages family strengthening interventions in Beirut and Ksarnaba in order to best respond to the needs of the target group, including potential adaptations of current programme interventions, introduction of new interventions and/or potential closure.