Consultancy : Promoting rights in schools

1. Project Background

 

Lebanon is facing one of the most serious refugee influxes in the world. As a result of the conflict in Syria which is now in its eighth year, Lebanon currently hosts over one million registered Syrian refugees  amongst a resident population of only 4.5 million - ranking it first in the world for the number of host refugees per capita. 

This two year project funded by the Reach Out To Asia foundation will address youth disempowerment. Approximately a third of all Syrian refugees are between the ages of 12 and 18; this group struggles to access education, social activities and basic services. The main causes of youth disempowerment are:

Education barriers

A recent assessment by UNHC found that both Lebanese and Syrian children face educational barriers and overwhelmed school resources. Beqaa Valley was found to have the highest numbers of out-of-school children, with 70 per cent of the surveyed children aged 6-14 not attending school - increasing to 84 per cent for 15-17 year-olds.

A lack of socio-economic cohesion

Without access to education, social activities or other basic services, many refugee youth are struggling to imagine a future for themselves - let alone their home country. There is a pervasive feeling among them of lost adolescence and isolation, and a belief that they have little to no influence on their own lives. Nearly 30 per cent of refugees under 18 years old report leaving their homes only once - or even less - per week[2]

The Educational, Economic and Social Development for Syrian and Lebanese youth project, aims to increase the ability of 1,500 vulnerable Syrian refugee and Lebanese students and youth to stimulate community-driven change and economic empowerment in Baalbek and Jeb Janeen in the Beqaa Valley. The project will focus on two interlinked areas:

• Strengthening the knowledge and skills of young Syrian and Lebanese people to enable them to identify and address issues in their communities related to building social cohesion and improving quality and access to education services
• Improving economic opportunities for young people in refugee and host communities in Lebanon by establishing and sustaining 10 business startups, and influencing policies on youth economic empowerment - with a special focus on young Syrian and female entrepreneurs.

 

 

1. Baseline Research Purpose

 

1. Conduct a desk review on the current educational system in Lebanon both for Lebanese and Syrians. This review will be developed into a short report to assist in shaping the PRS manual tools.
2. Contextualized PRS manual using the 10 rights surveys to be used to assess 10 schools in north Bekaa and west Bekaa. Those assessments\score cards will be developed by the trained youth targeting the: school administration, teachers, students, parents councils and related stakeholders like CBOs , NGOs, MEHE etc.  
3. Develop a 5 days training curriculum that provides the youth (18-29years old) with the needed skills to conduct the assessments in the schools  and analyse the collected information, to improve the quality of public services and be able to create action plans in the schools based on the scoring cards results, in collaboration with schools students (14-18 years old) how received leadership trainings by AA.
4. Facilitation of training for 100 youth on the above mentioned curriculum (4 groups, 25 youth each\ 20 days in total)

 

1. Project details

 

Project Name

Educational, Economic and Social Development for Syrian and Lebanese youth Project

 

Project Aim

To increase the ability of vulnerable Syrian refugee and Lebanese students and youth to stimulate community-driven change and economic empowerment.

Project Objective

OUTCOME 1: Knowledge and skills of youth have been strengthened to enable them to identify and address issues in their communities related to building social cohesion and improving quality and access to education services

OUTCOME 2: Economic opportunities for youth in refugee and host communities in Lebanon are improved through establishing and sustaining 10 business startups, and influencing policies on youth economic empowerment - with a special focus on young Syrian and female entrepreneurs.

Project Location

Baalbek and Jeb Janeen – Beqaa Valley

Project Period

 1^ST March 2018– 29^th February 2020

Project Partners

• Justice Without  Frontiers
• Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering
• Fe-Male
• Makhzoumi

Target Groups

1,500 direct beneficiaries (70 per cent female) comprised of the following:

• 800 students (aged 14-18) in 10 public schools – 400 Syrian (280 young women; 400 Lebanese (280 young women)
• 700 youth (aged 18-29)  in host communities - 350 Syrians (245 young women); 350  Lebanese (245 young women)
• 12 youth-led groups, CSOs and Women Groups at Beqaa Valley Level.

8,100 indirect beneficiaries (which include an estimated 8,000 Syrians living in host communities and Lebanese nationals) comprised of the following:

 

• At least 7,000 youth and wider community members in Beqaa Valley – 3,500 Syrian (1,750 women; 3,500 Lebanese (1,750 young women)
• At least 1,000 students (aged 14-18) in 10 public schools – 500 Syrian (250 girls); 500 Lebanese (250 girls)
• At least 100 officials from Baalbak and Jeb Janeen local government departments (50% women)

 

 

Project Indicators

The following indicators are relevant to the project outputs and should be considered in the development of the project activities. 

Impact Indicators:

 

Indicator

Output 1.1:   Increased participation of 1,000 youth - especially women - in civil society to promote issues related to youth engagement in improving quality of education services.

 

• # of students 14-18 years trained on leadership curriculum

• # of community scorecards completed

 

• # of youth 18-29 years (volunteers) trained on leadership curriculum

 

 

• # of school projects led by the students and the youth.

 

 

 

Project TOC

This project theory of change is based on the assumption that by 1) enhancing schools environments and making it friendlier and inclusive for children especially from refugee communities; 2) promoting young men and women led groups and CSOs capacities to be engaged in local campaigns to improve schools environment; and 3) building capacities for young men and women from both host and refugee communities, is essential to foster community-level cohesion and therefore empowering youth and women and social development of targeted communities. Hence fostering social cohesion is a cross cutting thematic aim of the project two main components (education and livelihoods).

 

1. Skills and Qualifications of consultants

• An educational background and a good knowledge of Lebanon education system (for Lebanese and Syrians), in Bekaa in particular is highly required
• Experience in delivering training and tool development/adaptation
• Sound understanding of child protection principles and an ethical approach to working with youth
• Evidence of client responsiveness, creativity and flexibility of approaches towards clients’ needs and/or challenges in research implementation
• Evidence of producing clear, concise reports in English and of a high quality

 

 

1. Roles and Responsibilities

 

Team Member

Role

ActionAid ARI

Overall coordination and management of the training delivery.

National Consultant

Lead on the development of tools and delivery of training sessions and materials.

 

1. Tasks, Outputs and Timeline

It is expected the baseline research will involve the following tasks:

Consult

Lead

Timeline

1. Desk Review of tools – to contextualise for the Lebanon school environment

Consultant

3days

1.  Contextualised PRS manual

Consultant

7 days

1. Development of a 5 days training curriculum including a tot on the PRS manual for youth between 18 and 29

Consultant/Hadia

7 days

1. Delivery of training to youth to 100 youth over 20 days

Consultant/Hadia

20 days

1. Trainings reports and documents finalisation 

Consultant

3 days

 

All reports will be produced in English. The expected format for the final baseline reports and summaries will be agreed during inception phase. 

 

1. Timeline and Budget

The consultancy is to be carried out between mid-November and end of December 2018

ActionAid has an indicative budget of 10000$ USD for the work. This is budgeted as following:

 

 

Activity

Time & cost

Total 

Curriculum development

20 days * 250$

5000

Trainers fees 

20 days * $250

5000

 

Total USD

10000

 

1. Application Process

 

We invite interested researchers to submit the following application documents:

1. Expression of interest addressing track record and selection criteria
2. Technical proposal for the baseline study including proposed activities schedule/work plan with time frame
3. CV(s) of applicant(s)
4. Budget (separating daily rates and expenses)
5. An example of previous similar work

 

NB: to review the PRS Manual check the following link :

http://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/res...