Consultant (Strengthening Humanitarian Delivery Multi Sector Needs Assessments) at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Strengthening Humanitarian Delivery Multi-Sector Needs Assessments Consultant

Job ID: 2000044D
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employee Status: Fixed Term

Child Safeguarding

• Level 3 - The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

Background

• Save the Children (SC) has been working in Nigeria since 2001. Today, SC is working in 20 states focusing on child survival, education and protecting children in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• The conflict in Northeast Nigeria has left 8.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance (HRP 2017), in particular the more than 1.8 million IDPs. Over half of the displaced are children (55%), half of whom are under five years old. Borno state has been the most affected and is host to nearly 1.4 M IDPs (IOM). This is partly due to insecurity and the limited presence of civilian authority in the LGAs. The state is struggling to provide education, health and protection services.
• The potential impact of COVID-19 on children will be devastating and will cut across all sectors. Given existing conditions combined with the effects of COVID-19, it will be difficult to meet our breakthroughs, in addition to challenges we expect related to travel, trade disruptions, and project pauses.
• Guided by Save the Children’s three breakthroughs (Survive, Learn, Be Protected), Save the Children’s Northeast Nigeria Humanitarian Response Strategy for 2020 and 2021 plans to reach 1.5 million individuals by 2021 with cross-sectoral support.
• SCI aims to respond safely and effectively to emerging needs, through contingency stocks of WASH kits, strengthening referral mechanisms, continued awareness-raising, ensuring that operations continue to deliver safely through gender-sensitive adaptive programming for children with strong processes and guidelines and strengthening capacity for the current context of COVID 19.
• To respond to persisting information gaps on humanitarian needs severity of the COVID 19 pandemic and to inform further the 2020 response planning, SCI will be conducting a Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) in Borno state. The aim of the assessment is to create a clearer picture of the situation in location(s)  SCI is currently implementing, to better inform proper implementation and the possibility of adaptive programming to ensure the appropriateness and relevance of interventions. This assessment will cover all accessible LGAs.

Purpose of the Assignment:

• The objective of the assignment is to conduct a needs and feasibility assessment defining and analyzing the needs of the target groups, the stakeholders involved, the activities planned, the prerequisites necessary for successful project implementation, and the potential risks to the action.
• Specifically, the assessment will look at the impact of the coronavirus across all sectors of SCI implementation locations in Borno state.

Specific Objective:
The Consultant should assess, identify, and report on the following aspects:

• Description of the current situation, knowledge, and main issues in relation to COVID 19.
• Identification of COVID-19 affected populations’ socio-economic situation, needs and capacities.
• Identify compounding gender inequality issues  especially around SGBV and consequences (due to COVID 19) on the lives of potential beneficiaries.
• Identify strategies adopted by households in response to the current COVID19 pandemic.
• Identify and propose adoption of sector interventions in the light of identified needs gaps analysis and in accordance with innovative approaches for COVID 19.

Assessment Design and Methodology:

• The consultant will be responsible for developing an assessment strategy and methodology that includes a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection. The quantitative data will be collected using questionnaires as deployed through Kobo Toolbox and qualitative methods will include KII and FGDs.
• The methodology will be presented as part of the draft work plan as outlined in the deliverables below and included in the final report. There will be reviews of internal documents such as project proposal documents, program reports.

The following guidance should be taken into account:

• There should be meaningful and safe participation of children and young people, ensuring ethical standards for research with children are followed, including informed consent and assent, ensuring the best interest of the child, confidentiality and avoiding harm, which is aligned with SC’s Child Safeguarding Policy.
• All data collection methods will be done in accordance with COVID 19 adaptations. New and innovative data collections are required and will be assessed during selection.

Deliverables:

• Methodology and tools for data collection
• Report on activities carried out
• Final report of the assessment
• Recommendations

Schedule:

• Activities: Number of Days
• Submission of the inception report: 3
• Desk review: 4
• Development and deployment of data collection tools: 3
• Data collection (this includes 3 days for training of field enumerators and pretesting of tools): 10
• Data analysis and submission of the first draft report: 5
• Presentation and submission of the final report: 5
• Total number of days = 30 days maximum

Qualifications
Profile of Consultant:

• The consultant must have experience and significant knowledge of humanitarian response mechanisms, specifically regarding the Northeast humanitarian response, and have previous experience in conducting external Assessments for conflict responses.

In addition, the following requirements are highly essential desirable:

• Significant experience (5-8 years) in coordination, implementation, monitoring and assessment of emergency response programs
• Relevant expertise in at least 3 relevant sectors (Food Security & Livelihoods, Education, Nutrition, WASH, GBV, Health and Protection).
• Demonstrated experience of needs assessments in humanitarian response projects is essential
• Knowledge and experience in child participatory approaches and child safeguarding
• Fluency in English and ability to write clear and concise reports (examples of previous work will be requested)
• Understanding of humanitarian donor requirements and specific requirements for this assessment.
• Ability to manage the available time and resources and work to tight deadlines.

Desirable Requirements include:

• Speaking and understanding the local language
• Prior work experience in conflict-affected regions

Costs related to the Assignment:

• All costs related to the analysis which are to be covered by SCI would be detailed in the contract, which will be signed by the consultant and the designated person from SCI Nigeria Humanitarian Response Program.
• The primary point of contact within the Humanitarian response will be the MEAL Team. Though the consultant will be operating independently, field movements will always be in coordination with SCI Borno’s safety and security team for access to implementation areas in the scheduling of KII and FGDs with the community. SCI will make additional staff available to support the assessment where required.

The Organization:

• We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better health care, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.
• We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
  • No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
  • All children learn from quality basic education and that,
  • Violence against children is no longer tolerated
  • We know that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. 
  • We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.
  • Save the Children is committed to ensuring that all our personnel and programmes are absolutely safe for children.
  • We undertake rigorous procedures to ensure that only people suitable to work with children are allowed to join our organization and all candidates will, therefore, be subject to this scrutiny.
  • We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Application Closing Date
6th August, 2020.