Consultant / Vulnerable Communities

Terms of Reference (TOR) for Consultancy Services
Date extension
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
of Vulnerable Communities in East Jerusalem

Background

Oxfam is an international confederation of 19 organizations networked together in more than 90 countries as part of a global movement for change. We aim to empower people to create a future that is secure, just, and free from poverty. Oxfam has been present in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel (OPTI) since the 1950s, and established a country office in the 1980s. We work with the most vulnerable communities in the OPT. Through the Oxfam Country Strategy (OCS) in OPTI, Oxfam works to increase our impact on development and humanitarian work in OPTI focusing on three change goals: Gender Justice, Economic Justice and Saving Lives Now and In the Future. Together with Right to Be Heard (RTBH), Gender justice is also mainstreamed throughout the Oxfam OPTI Country Strategy, addressing the double layer of inequality and violence Palestinian women face, i.e. occupation and patriarchy. The OCS guides Oxfam’s collective work in the OPTI from 2016-2019 which will be used to focus resources, campaigns and programs over the course of four years to meet our strategic goal and change objectives.
The humanitarian situation of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem is defined as a protracted protection crisis characterized by violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), human rights, and human dignity. As East Jerusalem remains occupied, and the unstable security situation and discriminatory policies of the Government of Israel continue to threaten the presence of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Illegal Israeli settlements continue to expand, land expropriation, home demolitions, night raids, and residency revocations make it harder for Palestinians to remain in Jerusalem. This protracted crisis continues to result in thousands of Palestinians losing their homes and residency rights. The agreements made during the Oslo Accords have not been enforced which has severely limited the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s jurisdiction in East Jerusalem as the residency status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem does not allow any political rights. East Jerusalem is fragmented and geographical enclaves have been formed, surrounded by the separation wall and illegal Israeli settlements. In most Palestinian neighbourhoods, service provision is lacking requiring for Palestinians to fend for themselves and to maneuver around an Israeli judicial system that is viewed as discriminatory. The international community does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and settlement expansion remains illegal under international law.
Oxfam has been implementing interventions that aim to respond to the resilience and protection needs of vulnerable Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem. Oxfam seeks to hire an external consultant to carry out a needs assessment of Palestinian Communities in East Jerusalem to validate and identify new needs to better inform Oxfam’s future programme interventions, planning and design in line with Oxfam’s Country strategy.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a needs assessment in vulnerable communities in East Jerusalem to validate whether Oxfam’s current programming is addressing and responding to priority needs of men, women, girls and boys; and identify programming gaps, to better inform Oxfam’s future programme interventions, planning and design in line with Oxfam’s country strategy.

Specific objectives:

- Identify socio economic and protection needs of vulnerable communities, particularly those of women and youth.
- Identify similar and distinctive socio economic and protection needs of vulnerable communities residing in different neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem with a particular focus on the needs and priorities of women and youth.
- Conduct mapping of active community based organisations CBOs in the eight targeted communities, and active CSOs (to be selected jointly with Oxfam) in East Jerusalem and carry out an assessment of their protection and resilience needs. 3. Scope of Work and Deliverables
The assessment will focus on the following thematic inter-related programmatic and mainstreaming areas, target groups and geographic areas in line with Oxfam’s country
strategy:

- Protection and Resilience. - Livelihoods and economic empowerment. - Gender based violence (GBV), sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and women’s leadership and active participation. Key Target groups: - Women, men, and youth. - CSOs and CBOs active in the targeted communities. Geographical Coverage: Eight neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, Jabal al Mukabir, Al Thuri, Silwan, Ras Al Amud, Al Tur, Esawiyyeh, Sur Baher, and the Old City. 4. Methodology Taking into consideration the broader context in East Jerusalem, the methodology for the needs assessment should be a participatory, consultative and gender sensitive. It is expected that the assessment will consider both secondary and primary sources of data, utilizing a combination of tools to be proposed in detail by the consultant. The consultant is expected to carry out a broad consultation with targeted groups and stakeholders, to help collect and validate needs and gaps. The methodology will be revised upon signing the contract with the consultant based on Oxfam’s feedback. 5. Deliverables and Time Frame
The timeframe of this consultancy is scheduled for a maximum of 29 Working days commencing on February 7st, 2018 and completed no later than March 31, 2018).
It is the responsibility of the consultant to ensure that the number of days earmarked for this consultancy is adhere to. All materials produced in the course of this consultancy are the property of Oxfam. The consultant will not share any internal documents provided by Oxfam with the outside world without the explicit written permission of Oxfam.

Budget:

The contract will be awarded to the administratively and technically compliant bid that is the most economically advantageous, taking into account the quality of the services offered and the price of the offer. Oxfam reserves the right to negotiate, accept or reject any or all proposals and quotations at its sole
discretion and to pursue or act further on any responses it considers advantageous. The execution of this consultancy does not entail any cost for per-diem, travel, transportation or accommodation.

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Qualifications and Experience Required

- Advanced university degree in social sciences, humanitarian aid, gender and development, international law, human rights or other related fields.
- Expert relevant professional experience in protection, resilience, and gender analysis.
- A solid educational and professional background and experience in different research methodologies in terms of planning, design, and implementation of assessments.
- Excellent verbal and written communication and interviewing skills in both Arabic and English & strong English report writing skills.
- Strong knowledge about the Palestinian Israeli Conflict and the context in East Jerusalem.
- Ability to travel in East Jerusalem

This consultancy is open to both local and international consultants.

Submission of offers

Oxfam invites bids from individuals or firms with the experience and skills described above. Bids must include the following:

- A letter of motivation outlining how your experience, skills, qualifications, and professional background fit with the required deliverables (maximum one page) attaching at least two concrete examples of similar work demonstrating the consultancy service requirements.
- A Curriculum Vita (CV) detailing relevant skills and experience including three contactable referees (maximum two pages).
- A detailed budget in EURO covering all consultancy related costs inclusive of all taxes. If a VAT invoice cannot be provided, appropriate local income tax will be deducted at source for the installments settled.
- A proposed detailed timeline, methodology and work plan based on the key deliverables described above; (the selected consultant will be requested to adjust the work plan for resubmission- as the first deliverable, following the signing of the consultancy contract with Oxfam).
- All the above requirements should be submitted in PDF form, signed and stamped if it was a company/Organization, if Individual please submit in PDF form and signed.

The bids should be sent to the email

[email protected]

no later than midnight GMT, February 4th , 2018.