Consultancy For Developing An Action Plan For The National Youth Policy In Lebanon

Background The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), in partnership with the Youth Forum for Youth Policy, a national level organization composed of youth NGOs and youth wings of political parties, articulated between 2000 and 2010, the vision for youth through the development of the National Youth Policy (NYP), which was officially endorsed by the Council of Ministers in 2012 and launched under the auspices of the President of the Republic at the end of 2012. The youth policy is considered as the declaration by the State of its commitment to youth issues; it is a comprehensive document that includes the vision of all the actions the State intends to take in order to improve the living conditions of young people, and ensure their access to welfare and other services, and to create an enabling environment to access decision making positions in the public life. The document, which was developed in a participatory way outlines five priority sectors: 1) demographics and migration, 2) labor and economic participation, 3) education and culture, 4) health, 5) social integration and political participation.   While the NYP is considered as a good entry point to formalize and strengthen participation of Lebanese youth, its implementation has been hindered for several reasons, such as lack of financial resources, lack of a concrete action plan with pertinent implementation and monitoring mechanisms and absence of new and progressive legislations pertinent to some recommendations. UNFPA, in partnership with UNICEF, will collaborate with the MOYS in stepping up the gear with the implementation of the NYP starting with the development of the three year Action Plan (2017-2019) which will provide the policy with an actionable framework for translating policy recommendations into a set of prioritized concrete interventions and activities while suggesting the responsible and supporting institution(s), duration, relevant indicators with baseline and targets including sources and means of verification.   The process for the implementation of the NYP and its action plan would require three main stages as follows: a) the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC) for providing oversight and guidance on the monitoring of the action plan; b) the development of the operational action plan framework; and c) the development of the action plan monitoring framework. Objectives The objective of this consultancy is to develop - in a fully participatory approach - an action plan for the NYP in Lebanon. This operational action plan framework is expected to guide the work of all actors towards contextualizing, prioritizing, and realizing the recommendations enlisted in the NYP.  More so, the action plan would constitute a fundamental tool for initiating monitoring among different stakeholders, consolidating and coordinating efforts to advance the youth issues and improve their situation in Lebanon, achieving results based programming, and producing advocacy messages for intensifying lobbying efforts on one or more areas. The specific objective of this proposed consultancy is to a) review existing examples of youth (and other pertinent) operational action plans at country level as well as regionally and globally in order to be familiarized with the different action plans as well as strengths/weaknesses, b) update of the situation analysis (based on a desk review) for each of the priority sectors of the NYP and based on available evidence and data as well as through consultative process, c) identify priority recommendations/activities to be implemented during the period that the action plan shall cover (2017-2019) and based on the consultative process with the relevant stakeholders, and d) suggest tools and instruments that will guide the process of collecting information during participatory workshops as well as monitor the implementation of the action plan. The above tasks will require a period of consultation with MOYS, the Youth Task Force, UNFPA/UNICEF as lead, Youth Forum, key line ministries, selected civil society organizations including those currently contributing to the implementation of the NYP such as the British Council, key donors, among other.  In addition, the consultant will carry out a series of local and regional consultation and consensus building workshops (10-12) with line ministries, youth NGOs, municipalities, academics, etc. All this input will be consolidated and would feed into a comprehensive and operational action plan matrix. Lastly, the consultant will be expected to proactively lead related meetings and take part in validation, sensitization, and endorsement meetings as necessary.  Tasks and Methodology In order to develop the action plan, a consultant will be selected based on a competitive and transparent recruitment process by MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF.  The consultant shall be recruited by UNFPA. Guided by MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF, the consultant will be responsible for undertaking the development of the operational action plan in accordance with the objectives stipulated in these TORs as well as the detailed tasks below: Prepare an action plan for the consultancy with concrete tasks along with a timeline in consultation with MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF Review literature at the global, regional and national levels for existing action plans and monitoring frameworks for youth /gender/women/ adolescents/ etc policies and strategies Prepare a comparative matrix of the different action plans and monitoring frameworks reviewed as part of the literature review (based on b above) by highlighting adopted approaches, strengths, weaknesses, tools, etc and discuss with MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF to agree on the most adequate  framework for the action plan Initiate a consultation process with key stakeholders (MOYS, UNFPA, UNICEF, Youth Task Force, MOYS, relevant line ministries, Youth Forum, youth parliamentary committee, key civil society organizations, key donors, etc) to discuss the main components of the operational framework Update each of the five NYP priority sectors through review of relevant evidence, consultation and undertaking of workshops (1 per sector) Develop a skeleton action plan framework based on literature review (see b and c above), consultation with stakeholders (see d above), and outcome of the sector workshops (see e above). The draft action plan will consist of elaborated interventions, proposed timeline, SMART indicators with suggested baseline and targets as well as proposed means of verification Facilitate a participatory validation 1-2 days meeting for discussing and reviewing the draft action plan and monitoring framework including on the indicators Disseminate revised action plan /monitoring framework to all stakeholders for final review and input Consolidate validation and stakeholders outcomes (see g and h above) into a final operational action plan which should be fully aligned with the NYP document Finalize the operational action plan with its monitoring framework based on comments and review made by the MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF   Prepare a final consultancy report (in English) to be submitted to UNFPA Expected Deliverables and Outcome The final product to be delivered by the consultant will consist of the following: Consultancy plan and timeline Comparative matrix of selected national/regional/global youth (as well as other pertinent policy action plans (such as gender/women/adolescents/etc) Workshop related documents i.e. agendas, objectives, methodology, expected outcome, summary recommendations, etc Draft action plan with its monitoring framework   Final action plan with its monitoring framework Power point presentation summarizing key components of the action plan with its monitoring framework Final report summarizing the consultancy in terms of process, difficulties, facilitating factors, recommendations etc The consultant will be requested to produce all material relevant to the action plan in Arabic and English. Time Frame The consultancy will be carried out between November 2016 and April 2017   Support provided by MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF To facilitate the undertaking of this consultancy, MOYS, UNFPA and UNICEF will be providing the following assistance to the consultant: Provide the consultant with a list of key stakeholders Prepare/extend invitations and follow up with stakeholders for participating in the workshops, expert group meetings, and validation meetings Coordinate and provide locale/venue for the strategic/priority area workshops and other meetings Follow up with stakeholders on collecting information before, during and after workshops/meetings Provide stationary and photocopying services for workshops/ meetings Provide guidance, advise and input on various tools and documents Provide consultant with selected examples of national, regional and global youth strategies, policies, and action plans Provide guidance and input on the whole process mainly prioritization of actions, chain results and indicators related aspect Provide substantive input on the updated NYP sectors as well as draft action plan documents/matrix Qualifications  The Consultant must meet the following qualifications:   Advanced Degree in Social Sciences or related field with considerable knowledge in development, gender issues, youth issues, and human rights Minimum 8-10 years of responsible experience in development work Solid background on policy making work, strategic planning, and development of action plans/monitoring frameworks Strong experience with youth issues in general and in Lebanon in particular Strong facilitation skills Strong analytical skills, a team player, dedication to perform within a multi-disciplinary collaboration, and the capacity to communicate efficiently and coordinate within a wide spectrum of partners Fluency and good writing skills in English and Arabic Excellent computer skills in various applications especially word processing, power point.