Lebanon and Syria Gender Consultancy

Summary

Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a donor of Mennonite Central Committee, is launching a call for a Gender Consultant to provide support to partners in updating and strengthening their gender analysis, identify areas to strengthen the gender sensitivity of their programming, and look for opportunities to integrate gender transformative elements into current projects.

Background

Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a partnership of 15 Canadian member churches and church-based agencies working to achieve food security in developing countries through food assistance, nutrition, and agriculture and livelihoods programming.

The Foodgrains Bank, through its members, began responding to the Syrian conflict in 2012 by providing humanitarian food assistance to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan, as well as to internally-displaced households within Syria. Currently working through three different member organizations and several local partner networks in Syria and Lebanon, programs have used a range of implementation models including both food parcels and vouchers, designed to best suit the local context. Depending on their situation, some families receive emergency food through the Foodgrains Bank for a short period of time, while other families have been receiving food assistance since the beginning of the conflict.

In early 2019, Foodgrains Bank carried out an internal review with implementing members to review and reflect on the design and implementation processes of programming to date; document the partner, member, and CFGB network learnings; and give the Foodgrains Bank network guidance on the future direction for programming in this region.

Programming was found to be successful in responding to some of the needs and priorities of vulnerable and marginalized women, men, girls, and boys. The partners are continuing to strengthen gender sensitivity into programming by disaggregating data according to sex and age, consulting with women, hiring female staff to visit households and deliver assistance. Women are also included in local relief committees. However, further efforts are needed to build a common understanding of additional gender-sensitive and transformative programming.

The review recommended that Foodgrains Bank make resources available for members to identify additional strategic gender sensitive and transformative activities that could potentially operationalize the new Foodgrains Bank gender policy within the context of the Syria Crisis Response, including the existing frameworks of the Lebanese Crisis Response Plan and Syria Humanitarian Response Plan.

Purpose of the Consultancy

As local partner experience with gender-sensitive and transformative programming varies, this consultancy will provide support to partners in updating and strengthening their gender analyses, identify areas to strengthen the gender sensitivity of their programming, and look for opportunities to integrate gender transformative elements into current projects. The consultant will meet with partners, and member representatives to develop individualized gender action plans, provide ongoing coaching, and, if required, deliver context specific gender training for partner organizations’ staff and volunteers.

Description of services

For this consultancy, the consultant will provide services specifically described below:

• Meet with each partner organization and member representatives, as well as review recent proposals and reporting, to develop an understanding of their different approaches to providing humanitarian food assistance. (approximate level of effort 10 days)
• Identify areas to strengthen the gender sensitivity of the programming in each partner’s specific context. Identify potential opportunities and challenges/barriers to integrate gender transformative elements into the current programming in each specific context.
• Help partners understand best practices in integrating gender sensitivity and gender transformative elements in food security programs from other humanitarian and early recovery contexts.
• Support partners, as needed, to update their 2020-2021 gender analyses.
• Develop a context specific gender action plan with each partner. (approximate level of effort 10 days)
• Provide one-on-one coaching with each partner organization to support the adjustments made to programming based on the recommendations. Time and needs may vary per partner. (approximate level of effort 10 days)
• Develop and deliver context specific gender training for partner organizations’ staff and volunteers, if required. (approximate level of effort 5 days)

The total number of working days allowed is up to 40 days.

The proposed timeframe for this consultancy is February 1 to May 15, 2020.

Deliverables

• Context specific gender action plan recommendations for each partner.
• Coaching to update partner’s gender analysis, if required.
• Coaching to implement the adjustments and changes to programming planned.
• Context specific gender training, if required.

Qualifications Sought:

• The consultant will have experience and technical background in designing and delivering gender sensitive and gender transformative humanitarian food assistance programming.
• Expertise in gender equity and equality in the local context of Lebanon and Syria, with the unique needs and experience of Syrian IDPs, refugees and respective host communities.
• The consultant will have experience working with small, local NGOs
• Fluent spoken and written English and Arabic
• Preference given to a local gender consultant based in Lebanon and able to travel to Syria.