Baseline Assessment Consultant

Baseline Assessment Establishing Dialogue and Local Conflict Response Mechanisms in Lebanon   Search for Common Ground Lebanon seeks to conduct a Baseline Assessment for its UNOCHA funded project in Lebanon. The assessment should be completed by the 10th of May 2017. SFCG Lebanon invites all interested and qualified candidates to read the full Terms of Reference and submit a resume and a letter of interest (including a tentative plan and budget), clearly explaining how their experience meets desired qualifications by the 20th of March 2016. In order to apply please request the detailed terms of reference by sending an email to zdandach@sfcg.org. Background 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: https://www.sfg.org/lebanon/  and https://www.facebook.com/sfcg.lebanon. Intervention Summary In partnership with three local non-governmental organisations, SFCG is kicking off a project titled “Establishing Dialogue and Local Conflict Response Mechanisms in Lebanon”.   The project will target Syrian refugee and host community key stakeholders in three regions: Akkar, Mount Lebanon and West Bekaa.   The overall objective of the action is to respond to the needs of the community members through implementation of activities aiming for Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities to consistently apply collaborative, conflict sensitive and non-violent response to rising communal tensions.  The outcome of the action is 1.       Local collaboration mechanisms for inclusive and participatory response to community needs are created and/or strengthened within the target communities by the end of the project The Baseline Assessment  Assessment’s Objectives The project will begin with a baseline assessment that will further evaluate the needs specific to each community. One of the primary lessons learned from the pilot projects and similar social stability projects that SFCG has implemented is that due to the dispersal of the Syrian community throughout Lebanon, each context presents very different social cohesion and stability challenges and needs. Therefore, SFCG’s comprehensive baseline will take into account varied needs and use this assessment to further refine the project design and encourage participants to implement projects that effectively address community needs. SFCG will conduct a participatory baseline assessment in each of the target communities. It will allow to effectively capture the potential dividers and connectors according to each specific context and to get key community stakeholders and potential participants’ feedback and buy­in of the project in order to ensure conflict sensitivity and tailor the activities to be context specific. The data collected will specifically allow to get a deeper understanding of the current local dynamics between refugees and host communities (i.e. level of interaction, level of tension, local authorities attitudes, specific stereotypes and prejudices, etc.), key actors and factors influencing positively or negatively social cohesion, as well as local stakeholders initial attitudes towards the project. Moreover, it will engage the communities at large to ensure all interests are taken into consideration in the design of the initiatives. Data analysis will also feed into the design of the M&E plan for the project to ensure effective and context specific monitoring during implementation. 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. · Facilitation experience · Experience in working with international organisations · Experience in conducting baseline and evaluation studies · Strong communication and writing skills ·  Understanding of and experience working with communities affected by refugees’ influx ·  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 The overall objective of the action is to respond to the needs of the community members through implementation of activities aiming for Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities to consistently apply collaborative, conflict sensitive and non-violent response to rising communal tensions.  The outcome of the action is