Consultancy to conduct a capitalization exercise for the Iraq country program

Terre des hommes Foundation is seeking to contract a consultant to conduct a capitalization exercise for the Iraq country program

Introduction

Tdh globally created in 1960, the Foundation of Terre des hommes Lausanne (Tdh) mission is to come to the aid of children in need. It endeavours at all times to defend the rights of children, in times of war and natural disasters, or in less publicized situations of distress, regardless of their race, creed or political affiliation. Today, Terre des hommes Foundation is the largest non-governmental organization (NGO) for children’s aid in Switzerland. Besides, Tdh has development projects and emergency relief programs in more than 45 countries, including contexts of high humanitarian needs. Tdh develops and implements field projects to allow a better daily life for over three million children and their communities, particularly in the domains of health care, protection against exploitation, abuse, trafficking and violence. This engagement is financed by individual and institutional donations. Over the last fifty years, Terre des hommes has developed in two core areas: healthcare and child protection. Every year, Tdh offers sustainable solutions and a better future for over one million children and their relatives by focusing on two levels:

· providing direct aid worldwide for children in need, whereby projects are carried out under our own management or in partnership with local organizations;

· as an ambassador for children’s rights in Switzerland and throughout the world, through campaigns that promote the fundamental rights of children or that denounce violation of these rights, those contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN in 1989.

Tdh in MENA

Terre des hommes has been present in the MENA region since 1973 with its first operations in Palestine focused on child malnutrition in the West Bank. As of 2020, Tdh operates in 8 countries in MENA covering middle east, norther Africa and central Asia, with a portfolio of 26 million CHF. In 2019, Tdh reached 800,579 beneficiaries, consisting of vulnerable children, their families, communities, and authorities through its programming. Priority programs have been 1) children affected by migration, 2) access to justice for children in conflict with the law, 3) humanitarian action, and 4) Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition (MCHN), and all of which have been adopted to emergency, rehabilitation, and development context. The overall context in MENA is dynamic due to its volatile security situation, uncertainties in governance & policies, fragile international relations, unstable humanitarian space and now the unpredictability of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Tdh in Iraq

After four years of war, Iraq is now in the phase of recovery and reconstruction. In 2019, 4.1 million Iraqis were in need of assistance: internally displaced people, vulnerable host communities, returnees and those in areas only newly accessible by humanitarian partners. Tdh has been present in Iraq since 2014, starting with non-food items (NFI) distributions in one district. Now, four years later, Tdh is present in 11 districts across 4 governorates (Anbar, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah al Din) providing assistance in sectors of emergency NFI distribution, child protection, education, water, sanitation and health (WASH), and Juvenile Justice. Our goal is to provide holistic, integrated and sustainable assistance to conflict-affected populations to ensure their protection, safety and dignity.

Tdh programming in Iraq

Child protection and access to quality and inclusive education continue to be high priority needs throughout Iraq. Tdh provides an integrated Child Protection and Education response, addressing the needs of children and their families, and to build the resilience and capacity of government bodies and communities to restore quality service provision and improve awareness about child protection concerns. In 2019, Tdh responded to individual protection needs of the most vulnerable children through case management services, with a specific focus on child labour, child marriage, family separation, exposure to violence and neglect. Also, Tdh offered psychosocial support services to children and their communities to reduce the risks to children’s emotional wellbeing while promoting positive development, effective coping mechanisms, and resilience-building. A conflict-sensitive Education program complements this Child Protection response: rehabilitation and repairs of school premises; training of teachers on effective class management, positive discipline, inclusion and PSS mainstreaming; identification of psychosocial distress signs in students; and the safe identification and referral of children in need of support. Also, Tdh offers non-formal education services to promote access to quality learning opportunities for out-of school children and children in need of remedial education, in alignment with the No Lost Generation initiative. Child Protection and Education activities are implemented in all four aforementioned governorates.

Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): In many areas of return safe water is often not available, as facilities have been destroyed. Tdh’s team of experts provide lasting solutions for water supply by repairing water networks and water treatment plants to ensure whole neighborhoods have access to safe drinking water in their homes. Furthermore, Tdh builds the capacities of government service providers to ensure sustainability. Schools that have been damaged or destroyed receive a full support package, including repair of water facilities, the building of latrines, and waste management assistance. Children and their families, as well as teachers, also receive hygiene kits and participate in activities promoting good hygiene practices. The response at schools is always linked with child protection response to provide a holistic assistance package. Tdh also provides emergency assistance with the distribution of drinking water when needed. WASH activities are implemented in all four governorates.

Juvenile Justice: Iraq acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1994 and in 2008 to the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which forbids the conscription of persons under 18 years old. However, the recent conflicts have led to large scale recruitment of children by armed groups, and consequently 1’500 are still being detained by the relevant authorities. The forms of detention include pre-trial detention centres at governorate level, reformatory schools, adult detention centres with their parents, extra judicial facilities, or detention camps with their families. They usually lack appropriate services to enable them to realize their rights and become productive citizens of Iraq.

Tdh is present in reformatory schools, in pre-trial detention facilities and in detention camps. An integrated approach responds to overlapping individual, group, and environmental enrooted sources of concerns for delinquent youth and children associated with armed forces and armed groups. The approach leads to a programming that is multi-layered and able to propose a durable and comprehensive response to prevent delinquency and favor reintegration of children and youth after detention. Civil society and juvenile justice strengthening are also key components of the program, through capacity building and awareness raising among state-led bodies, services providers, and community key members.

Emergency Response and Preparedness: Over the past years, Tdh has provided safe and appropriate emergency shelter, financial assistance, and critical life-saving non-food items to newly displaced or highly vulnerable populations to respond to emergency needs. Now, even after the conflict has ended, Tdh remains ready and prepared to respond to any needs in a situation of acute emergency. Tdh will maintain preparedness NFI distribution capacity to distribute critical household items to vulnerable families rapidly following any major incident.

Tdh would like to take time to reflect on its ongoing operations in Iraq, understand what’s working and what not, identify good practices and challenges and institutionalize these learnings. Hence, the organization would like to carry out a capitalization exercise with the participation of the Iraq team and Tdh management, with inputs from partners and beneficiaries.

Objectives

The intention of the capitalization exercise is for the Iraq delegation to reflect on itself, learn and to adjust its course to better serve the most vulnerable children and communities. The exercise would be led by an independent facilitator, carried out in a participatory manner, discussions will be based on evidence, and cover all institutional functions.

Specific objectives

1) To review the overall delegations functioning and recommend immediate changes/actions to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

2) To identify good practices to use more widely and lessons learned.

Key questions to be answered

Programs

· To what extent are Tdh programs relevant to the context, and the needs of the vulnerable children and their communities? And are aligned to Tdh programming priorities?

· Delegations’ status on complying to Project Cycle Management standards?

· What are some of the key programmatic achievements?

· In light of NEXUS, what are the delegation’s programmatic strengths, weaknesses, areas to improve? Tdh’s agility to move across these stages and operate efficiently when needs arise?

· In what programming areas has Tdh had the most impact? What are some programmatic elements Tdh should stop doing?

· What are some of the external opportunities and threats the delegation foresees?

Accountability

· What is the delegation’s level of compliance with Core Humanitarian Standards?

· How is Tdh perceived by partners and beneficiaries in Iraq?

· What areas still need to be improved to better comply with institutional and donor standards?

· How can Tdh better mainstream gender, diversity and inclusion within organizational processes and programs?

Organizational efficiency

· What are the delegation’s strengths and weaknesses in the support functions?

· What structural changes might improve efficiency?

· What more needs to be done to improve staff and beneficiary security, and the ease of movement?

· How can the delegation improve coordination with government entities?

· What is the status of the human resources? What can the delegation do to improve staff motivation, engagement, and commitment?

Suggested methodologies

· Desk review of existing program documents, donor agreements/ contracts, proposals, narrative progress reports, financial reports, audit reports, monitoring reports, project final reports, evaluation reports, other support functions reports.

· Primary data collection to be done through discussions and interviews with partners & staff.

· Workshop to present and validate key findings with the participation of the delegation staff and MENA zone management, also to agree on action points to address critical issues identified through the process.

Key deliverables

· Capitalization report (responding to the key questions outlined above)

· Action plan (with clearly articulated action points, expected deliverables, responsibilities, and timelines)

Timeline

Ideally the exercise would need to be done within 20 working days.

Profile of consultant

The facilitator is required to travel to Iraq for the assignment. She/he should be able to meet with staff and partners in person or virtually in compliance to COVID 19 safety protocols. Outlined below are the criteria that Tdh is looking for in the person to facilitate this exercise.

· Academic Background: Social sciences, political science, Middle eastern policies & studies, research, Child protection, Humanitarian affairs.

· Knowledge: Iraq context, culture, governance, & the actors; Child protection, education, WASH, Juvenile Justice, emergency programming; SWOT analysis, Situational analysis, INGO management, Core Humanitarian Standards.

· Skills: Excellent writing skills; Good desk research and analytical skills; Excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills, ability to communicate in Arabic (advantage).

· Experience: working experience in Iraq /MENA (Required); Child protection experience (Required); Previous experience in conducting capitalization exercises / learning events (required), Previous working experience with Tdh and familiarity with Tdh operations and structures (advantage).