CONSULTANCY TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONDUCTING BASELINE SURVEY

Who we are:

Five national women’s rights organization are going to form a feminist coalition to improve the socio-political landscape for women and girls through collaborative action, capacity building and advocacy.

The coalition comprises the following organizations:

• medica Liberia
• The Liberian Feminist Forum (LFF)
• Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL)
• Sisters for Sisters (S4S)
• Radical Young Women Movement (RAYWOM)

Position Title: National Consultant

Duty Station: Monrovia

Position Status/Duration: 3 months (August- October)

Reports to: Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Start Date: IMMEDIATE:

• Background

Five national women’s rights organization ( medica Liberia, Sisters 4 Sister, Liberian Feminist Forum, Women NGO Secretriat of Liberia, and Radical Young Women Movement Liberia) were awarded a grant to implement a 29 month project (01.05.2024 – 31.10.2026) titled ‘Stronger Together – A Gender Transformative Action Coalition.’

The overall goal is to contribute to a strong and vibrant national women’s movement that influences structural, political, and social change processes towards greater equality in Liberia. This project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through medica mondiale and builds upon the results and experiences of a previous project over the last six years.

• Activities of the Project Include:

1. Establishment of a Feminist Coalition
2. Annual movement building meetings to strengthen strategic alliances and joint advocacy actions
3. Annual intergenerational dialogues to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange in feminist movement building
4. subnational advocacy activities to strengthen local voices for national impact
5. National review and evaluation of the Liberia National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2019-2023)
6. Advocacy and political commitment to integrate the recommendations of the National Review and Assessment into Liberia’s National Development Plan through at least two dialogues and annual publications
7. Campaign work on gender-sensitive legal reforms and emerging women’s rights issues through at least 2 engagement meetings and the development of 1 documentary film.
8. Education and training in feminist leadership practice and movement building for coalition members
9. Training on feminist leadership practices for board members and directors
10. Organise quarterly seminars to share knowledge on feminist leadership practices and movement building for women human rights defenders
11. Training on security for women human rights defenders (WHRDs)

3. Key Objectives of the Baseline Assessment

The consultant team, with support from Program and M&E staff, will lead the baseline assessment process for the project in Montserrado county. The baseline assessment will: confirm the baseline values for project indicators and gather necessary information through desk studies and information from partners. If the baseline values are already confirmed, no further action is needed. These questions will be addressed by the overall questions in the TOR.

Subgoal 1

Indicator 1: Awareness Raising and Capacity Building

• Task: Confirm the baseline value and identify areas requiring awareness raising and capacity building among selected feminist actors participating in this project.
• Method: Conduct surveys or key informant interviews.

Indicator 2: Access and Support Structures

• Task: Ask members of the (10) local organizations what exactly is needed in terms of access and support structures to actively participate in national level discussions.
• Method: Conduct surveys or key informant interviews, focusing on specific needs such as contacts, memberships, resources, and knowledge.

Indicator 3: Addressing Needs in the Feminist Movement

• Task: Confirm the statement in interviews with local organizations about whether their needs are already addressed by the feminist movement or which topics they would like to raise.
• Method: Conduct interviews with local organizations.

Subgoal 2

Indicator 1: Understanding and Integration of Intersectional Feminist Principles

• Task: Assess the level of understanding on feminist issues and the ability/obstacles to integrate intersectional feminist principles in their work.
• Method: Conduct key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) with coalition members, and a short survey (e.g., Survey Monkey) to assess prior participation in feminist leadership training and its application.

Movement Building

• Analyze the project environment and capture previous and ongoing movement building activities, challenges faced, lessons learned, and mechanisms and strategies used in successful movement building and advocacy activities.
• identify existing entry points, challenges, and successes for how county and local advocacy is being filtered into the national level structures?
• Identify key women’s rights and gender issues women rights organization are currently working on? How do they plan to/or are advancing these issues through advocacy efforts at the local and national levels?
• Capture baseline data for the program as a benchmark for performance evaluation.
• Identify effective strategies and lessons learned from recent successful policy advocacy in Liberia. Draw recommendations on the mechanisms, structures, and strategies are needed for civil society to be more effective in holding the government accountable and ensuring their contributions translate to change.

4. Scope of Work and Deliverables

The consultant will:

• Conduct a desk review of key relevant documents and understand the project design and contextual framework.
• Conduct focus group discussions with participants from past and ongoing movement building activities.
• Design tools/questionnaires and methodology to collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
• Submit a draft inception report including suggested detailed methodology and procedures for feedback.
• Submit a final revised inception report.
• Implement and supervise field data collection and data entry.
• Provide anonymized raw data collected to mL.
• Analyze and synthesize data; prepare a report and Program Indicator Tracking.
• Submit a draft report including data analysis for feedback.
• Submit a comprehensive baseline assessment report in both electronic and signed hard copy, including recommendations.
• Present key findings and results during a validation workshop of the baseline assessment.

5.Specific Data Needs from the Baseline Assessment

Based on the baseline study results, specific training courses adapted to the needs, roles, and areas of action of different groups will be designed. The specific objectives of the baseline survey are to:

1. Establish baseline data for project indicators.
2. Understand the current status and effectiveness of movement building activities.
3. Identify gaps and needs within local organizations and communities.
4. Gather data to inform the project’s monitoring and evaluation plan.

6. Approach and Methodology

The consultant team will use both quantitative and qualitative methods, including:

– One-on-one survey questionnaires

– Key informant interviews

– Focus group discussions with target audiences

– Desk reviews

1. Timeline for Deliverables

The consultant team will hand in an inception report one week after the start of the assignment, and before the collection of data starts. The baseline assessment is expected to be completed within 10 weeks between July – September 2024.[I14]

Expertise and Experience

The ideal consultant or firm will have:

1. Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Statistics, Demography, Research Methodologies, Development Studies, Law, Education, or related fields.
2. At least 5 years of experience working with development organizations undertaking desk reviews, rapid assessments, or evaluations.
3. Familiarity with NGO operations, especially in feminism, women’s rights, and SGBV.
4. Experience in ethical and trauma-sensitive data collection approaches in SGBV.
5. Significant experience in collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from surveys/assessments.
6. Knowledge of medica Liberia’s work is an added advantage.
7. Knowledge of the SASA! Together approach is an added advantage

Application Process

Applicants should submit the following documents:

1. Cover Letter
2. CVs of team members, including references from previous clients
3. Sample of previous similar consultancy work (assessments, surveys, baselines)
4. Technical proposal including methodologies, work plan, and financial proposal
5. Roles and responsibilities of team members

Application deadline: August 8th 2024

How to Apply: email your application (CV, cover letter and references not Exceeding 2MB) as well as your remuneration expectations to:recruit@medicaliberia.org and fenny.diggs@medicaliberia.org Please mark your application with thereference:“Baseline Study – Feminist Coalition” as the subject of the email/application or on the envelope /top of your application. For applicants based in Greenville Sinoe County, you may submit hard copies to medica Liberia Office in the county.

**Female applicants/consultants are encouraged to apply