Consultant - Dialogue Platforms for Conflict Mitigation & Transformation at Mercy Corps Nigeria

Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on adolescent girls’ empowerment, economic development, and conflict mitigation. With the insurgency spilling over from the Northeast of Nigeria and causing displacement of millions of individuals, Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs. With funding from institutional donors, foundations and private corporations, Mercy Corps continues to aid meet the basic needs of vulnerable populations in the areas of food security, shelter, water and sanitation, protection, and livelihoods.

With the recognition of the protracted crisis in Northeast Nigeria, Mercy Corps’ strategy and expansion plans aim to address the root causes of the crisis and seek to build long-term resilience of communities with integrated programs focusing on the recovery of markets and livelihoods, social cohesion and social protection, and youth empowerment with emphasis on adolescent girls and boys. With multiple funding streams from large institutional donors and foundations, Mercy Corps’ programs in Northeast Nigeria continue to scale up and serve communities by transitioning them from humanitarian aid to early recovery programs.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - Dialogue Platforms for Conflict Mitigation & Transformation

Locations: Biu, Hawul, Kwaya-kusar, Jere and MMC - Borno
Employment Type: Contract

Overview

• The Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity is a Feed the Future initiative funded by USAID, implemented by Mercy Corps in partnership with Save the Children International and International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC).
• The goal of the Rural Resilience Activity is to facilitate and protect economic recovery and growth in vulnerable conflict-affected areas and sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty via expanded opportunities.
• The Activity seeks to increase incomes, improve livelihood and resilience of households through market-led growth in 4 states (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe States) in Northeast Nigeria.

Purpose / Project Description

• The Rural Resilience Activity aims to identify potential partners and innovative approaches that leverage USAID resources to develop practical and market-driven solutions to implement innovative business models targeting smallholder farmers, youth, women, and micro-enterprises who have been affected by the protracted conflicts in North-eastern Nigeria. Layered on the principles of broadened and inclusive growth through local economy and microenterprises competitiveness; the Activity objectives are
  • Inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth;
  • Strengthened resilience among people and systems; and 
  • A well-nourished population, especially women and children, thereby contributing to sustainable reductions in malnutrition and poverty.
• The Activity partners with economic actors capable of operationalizing a profitable business model that benefits youth whose ability to secure better livelihoods has been compromised by discriminatory norms and the protracted conflict in North-eastern Nigeria. RRA understands that resilience capacities of people have been weakened, constraining economic activities especially for youth.
• The Activity uses up-to-date evidence for the selection of market systems, livelihoods and employment opportunities that contribute to inclusive and resilient growth and improved nutrition for conflicted affected persons in North-eastern Nigeria, with a priority focus on women and youth.
• A conflict scan conducted by the Activity in 2020 revealed that insecurity continues to plague the region due to hydra-headed factors including resource based and value based conflicts that are complicated by ethno-religious tensions, criminal and corrupt practices by politicians and security agents which created distrust for Government. Among community members, community grievances, internal rivalry, bleak economic prospects and the added, protracted impact of the insurgency have combined to create a bleak future.
• The Activity recognizes that conflict sensitivity and conflict mitigation mechanisms mainstreamed within market system and implementation will reduce grievances that leads to people’s acceptance of conflict or participation in violence.
• The activity thus seeks to facilitate peaceful management of market related conflicts in targeted areas thereby improving confidence of market actors in doing business in insecure environments while also developing capacities for peace.

Consultant Objectives

• Determine the key issues, topics, actors and stakeholders to engage in dialogue processes across the LGAs
• Develop and implement a set of dialogue-based interventions under the RRA to promote community cohesion, inclusion and trust-building outcomes.
• Design dialogue framework and implement same to contribute to peaceful outcomes while minimizing any negative effects in the project context.

Consultant Activities
The Consultant will:

• Update RRA Conflict scan and conduct a Context analysis
• Assess the interventions across the value chain and advise on how to sustain or improve on the peace outcomes.
• Support Mercy Corps to develop and finalize a dialogue framework to sustain the gains of the RRA without unwittingly causing harm to project participants.
• Build the capacity of RRA stakeholders to sustain the dialogue structures and interventions during and beyond the project phase.
• Conduct an end-line assessment of the dialogue framework and its effectiveness and develop options for its integration in future interventions.

Proposed Methodology
A Step-By-Step Process:

• Ahead of the field implementation, the consultant will carry out a desk review to update knowledge of the peace and security situation including the context, key issues, causes (including root, proximate and trigger factors), parties (including primary, secondary and tertiary actors), the push and pull factors, etc. The consultant will then draft a list of possible dialogue participants based on the evidence from the desk review.
• Determining the topics to be discussed at the dialogue meetings through participatory approach as well as referencing the multi-stakeholder dialogue session conducted by Mercy Corps
• Roll out a Dialogue framework and interventions that can contribute toward restoration of Trust and Trust-building, Collaborative action, Joint problem solving, livelihoods sustainability and use of evidence-based measures. The
• Policy influencing: it is expected that the dialogue meetings will produce key recommendations that may require policy review or policy formulation at the community or state level, which the participants may commit to seeing through. Such opportunities to influence public policy will be valued and utilized. Mercy Corps may determine how this opportunity is applied with support from consultant.

Consultant Deliverables

The Consultant will:

The Consultant will report to:

• Youth Engagement/Conflict Advisor.

The Consultant will work closely with:

• MEL manager, YEE Officer, TSU conflict Advisor, Communications Manager.

Required Experience & Skills

• At least 7 years of professional experience in the field of peace building, conflict resolution, dialogue facilitation
• Having supported at least 3 number of Organizations on setting up dialogue processes
• Being an assessor (technical or quality) of an accreditation body is an asset.
• Experience or qualification in PVE is an additional advantage.
• Experience in research or work on some of the key conflict issues in Nigeria
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Experience working on USAID funded programs.

Application Closing Date
24th May, 2022.