Context Analysis Consultant at Search for Common Ground (SFCG)

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and a European office in Brussels, Belgium, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With a total of approximately 600 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects from 55 offices in 34 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

The organization is an exciting and rewarding place to work, with a dedicated and enthusiastic staff that is committed to its mission and values. You will be joining a highly motivated staff with a good team spirit and there will be opportunities to grow in the role.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Context Analysis Consultant

Location: Abuja

Purpose of Context analysis

To further inform the project which has already been in implementation for six months, Search needs to undertake a comprehensive and cost-effective external context analysis. Key principles that will drive the design of the context analysis are the Common Ground Approach, Conflict Sensitivity, and Do No Harm principles.

The objectives of the context analysis are to:

Identify what human rights protection laws and frameworks exist in the formal justice system, and to what extent these have been able to protect people accused of blasphemy and challenge violations to religious freedom;
Identify what levels of collaboration exists among religious stakeholders, policy makers, civil society, and citizens in promoting religious freedom and interfaith tolerance at the community, as well at legislative level;
Identify community, state, and national-level platforms, and media platforms available for conversations that challenge violent narratives and promote tolerance and positive perception of other faiths;
Identify opportunities for program implementation, aimed at achieving the project outcomes and goals;
Document lessons learnt from implementation so far that should be factored into future project implementation.

Findings from this analysis will be used to inform future programme planning and implementation. As such, clear and actionable recommendations are expected, in light of data collected on site. The report will also be shared widely with project participants and partners, and presented during Search Nigeria programs.

The report – with sensitive details redacted – will eventually be published on Search’s website and shared with other learning networks in order to enhance contributions to religious tolerance programming the broader field of peace-building in Nigeria, regionally, and in the world.

About the Project
ART. 38 is a 24-month project with the overall goal of advancing the protection of religious freedom and tolerance among religious communities that reduces vigilante justice tied to blasphemy and apostasy laws in Nigeria. The overall goal is supported by two specific objectives and three expected results, which will guide the ART. 38’s actions:

Objective 1: To enable lawyers and advocates to effectively use human rights protection laws and frameworks in the formal justice system to protect people accused of blasphemy and challenge violations to religious freedom, as well as educate others on their rights;
Result 1: Lawyers and advocates have an increased knowledge of international human rights norms and mechanisms and they effectively use them to address human rights violation in Nigeria.
Objective 2: To mobilize religious leaders and policymakers to jointly counter violent rhetoric through positive public messages of religious pluralism and respect of human rights:
- Result 2.1: Improved and positive collaboration among religious stakeholders, policy makers, civil society, and citizens in promoting religious freedom and interfaith tolerance at the community, as well at legislative level.
- Result 2.2: Increased community, state, and national-level platforms, as well as media platforms are available for conversations that challenge violent narratives and promote tolerance and positive perception of other faiths.

The project beneficiaries are religious leaders, religious organizations such as CAN, JNI, and their women wings, leaders of youth associations, academics, policy makers, civil society, and legal practitioners across the 14 Northern states in Nigeria. While the project is implemented in these 14 states, engagements with these stakeholders are at three levels – national, zonal and state.

These engagements include High Level Technical Meetings to provide guidance on religious engagements on a Zonal level and Zonal meetings with the purpose of guiding the development of Action Plans for Religious tolerance engagement activities within each state. The meetings have held in Abuja, Bauchi and Plateau and Kano states.

Methodology

The proposed methodology is to be clearly stated in the technical offer, detailing why the methodology is preferred and its relevance to the locations, beneficiaries and purpose of the analysis. In addition, the technical offer should include details on logistics and roll-out of the study: who the target respondents will be and why, how will they be identified or recruited, how data collection and data quality assurance will be carried out, as well as how data analysis will be done.
The assessment will target select stakeholders across the three levels – national, zonal and state as listed above and as logistically feasible. A minimum of one state per zone will be selected by the consultants, with clear justification as to why these states are selected for the study. Tools for the assessment will be developed by the consultant and/ or team in collaboration with Search’s DME staff. The inception and final reports will also be developed by the consultant and/or team, and reviewed and approved by Search. The tools will be administered in the identified communities and the data analyzed by the consultant and/or team chosen to perform this research.

Deliverable
The context analysis assessment deliverables are:

An inception report detailing the proposed method, study matrix, and work plan. It is to be approved by Search’s DME staff before starting data collection.
Research tools (developed by the candidate and/or team with the input of Search’s DME staff)
Draft report for review by Search staff and other stakeholders
Final Report (maximum 30 pages, excluding appendices), consisting of but not exclusive to: Executive Summary, Methodology, Findings and Analysis, Conclusions, Lessons Learned and Recommendations. The report should be structured according to the analysis objectives. A template for research within Search will be provided.
All data collected for this research including audios and transcripts for all interviews, and quantitative data entered in a template, based on the methodology used.
Appendices, including data collection tools and list of interviewees
A powerpoint presentation summarizing the report’s findings

Required Profile
Education:

Graduate degree in Conflict Studies, Social Work or other relevant degree is an added advantage;

Experience:

5 years or more of experience in evaluations and qualitative and quantitative studies with international organizations;
Demonstrated experience in leading research in the specific context of Northern and Central Nigeria, including ability to recruit a research team locally as needed;
Experience in evaluating programs relating to religious freedoms, legal systems, community development, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution;

Other Relevant Requirements:

Strong analytical skills;
Excellent written communication and report writing skills in English;
Knowledge of languages indigenous to Northern and Central Nigeria such as Hausa will be an added advantage;
Ability to be flexible with time and work schedule.

Logistical Support:
SFCG will provide the following logistical support to the consultant;

Transmission of background materials (project proposal, meeting notes, etc.);
Access to activity reports from Search engagements, and engagements from the primary project partner
Access to participants and key stakeholders
Availability of meeting rooms in Abuja, as required

All logistic costs, including of transportation and lodging will NOT be borne by Search and should be included in the proposed budget.

Timeframe:

The assessment will take place between April and May, 2019, with the final deliverables due May 31st, 2019.

Budget and Terms of Engagement:

All production costs incurred will be covered from the consultancy fee.
5% withholding tax will be deducted at source from the total cost of the consultancy fee for a firm.
40% of the consultancy fee will be paid when initial the contract is signed, 30% will be paid upon submission of initial findings and the remaining balance of 30% will be paid on final completion and submission of satisfactorily deliverables.

The consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:

Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
Respect for people: Consultant respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.

Application Closing Date
5th April, 2019.

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