Terms of Reference

FCDO Trade Facilitation and Customs Support (Tasdeer) Programme

In the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) 

Researchers to conduct and transcribe interviews for Tasdeer’s Baseline Assessment 

The Project: FCDO Trade Facilitation and Customs Support (Tasdeer)

The FCDO Trade Facilitation and Customs Support programme (Tasdeer) is a £15m programme financed by FCDO and implemented by a Cowater-led consortium and is operational from 2020 – 2023. The objective of Tasdeer is to improve the trade performance and customs capabilities in the OPTs. It will ultimately contribute to increased inclusive export-led economic growth. The programme is designed to be flexible and adaptable, and ensures the diverse groups of women and men are benefiting from the opportunities and results of Tasdeer by applying Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) tools. Tasdeer will work politically and technically to make progress across the four-key interrelated workstreams.

• Workstream 1: Support to expedite the movement of goods and reduce transaction costs.
• Workstream 2: Support to improve Palestinian trade-related institutions and business enabling environment.
• Workstream 3: Support to improve the private sector’s skills and innovation to export and create jobs.
• Workstream 4: Support to improve PA’s customs readiness to assume functions from Israel and revenues from trade-related taxes.

The Baseline Assessment

The purpose of the baseline assessment is to contextualize the starting point for Tasdeer’s Logframe indicators, while also learning more about trading system dynamics that affect the success of the four workstreams.  The Baseline Assessment will explore five areas of study (rules of cross-border trade, public-private dialogue, Palestine firms’ ability to export, inclusive value creation, and administrative control of customs infrastructure functions) with specific qualitative research questions targeted to (1) private sector export-oriented firms, (2) supporting service providers (including customs clearing, logistical, legal, and financial), and (3) trade related institutions. The target respondents have been identified using quotas per type of actor and location.

Since there is lack of information on the perceptions of women and other marginalized groups about the trade ecosystem and their experiences in trade related activities, the study will apply a GESI responsive research approach, to generate information on gender gaps as well as needs, constraints and opportunities of women and men in the programme, and enable capturing GESI specific findings and recommendations.

Description of Role: RESEARCHERS

Under the supervision of the TASDEER’s Knowledge Management, Results and Learning (KMRL) Director, and in close collaboration with the TASDEER team in Palestine, the researchers will conduct interviews to collect data from selected respondents, including translating and transcribing the details of the interviews. If interviews are conducted over the phone or video call (computer), researchers will need to attend the remote calls and take the necessary notes. Whenever possible, interviews should be recorded.

Interviewees include women, men, youth and people with disabilities (PWD), located in different governorates. The researchers will be trained and provided with an interview guide that will include the instructions to be used during the interviews and a list of all individuals to be interviewed.

After interviews, the transcripts and any additional interview notes (time, location and observations) will be submitted to the TASDEER team in English, and the researcher will be expected to address any concerns or queries from the KMRL Director. Once the data has been accepted, the researcher may be asked to participate in out brief session and assist in some initial part of the preliminary data analysis, which will be conducted by the KMRL team.

We expect that a total list of 80-90 respondents will be identified for participation in the study. However, the quantity assigned for each researcher will be scheduled and confirmed with the successful candidate(s) upon selection. The selected candidates will need to be available to undertake this task for a period two weeks of data collection across either the West Bank or Gaza starting July 11, 2021.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Review the interview guide and make any recommendations to improve it.
• Participation in training organized by TASDEER. This may includes any other personnel whom the researcher may engage to assist him/her in conducting/subscribing the interviews.
• Conduct and transcribe interviews using the identified interviewees list.
• Maintain total fidelity to what was said by the interviewee and highlight the possible inaudible parts.
• Whenever needed, translate interview questions from English to Arabic and answers from Arabic into English. The final transcript should be submitted to TASDEER in English.
• Take the needed measures and be responsive to accommodate the interviewees most convenient environment, these include but not limited to: infrastructure and location, times, safety, mobility requirements, technologies.
• Respond to queries raised by the KMRL team on the submitted data, recontacting respondents as required.
• Regularly update KMRL director on progress, and share any concerns in a timely manner.
• Submit a final reviewed copy of the raw English transcripts to the TASDEER KMRL Director.
• Attend an out brief session on nature of the interviews to keep in mind for this and future assessments.
• Assist in the preliminary analysis of the findings in collaboration with the TASDEER team.
• Where applicable, apply gender and inclusion analytical frameworks, to highlight the constraints and opportunities for the marginalized groups, disaggregated by respondents’ sex, age, disability and location), reporting any specific recommendations to address throughout the implementation of the different interventions.

جميع الحقوق محفوظة لموقع جوبس.

Required Expertise and Competencies

• A university degree in a relevant discipline (Economic Development, Trade, Commerce, and/or Private Sector Development). A focus on qualitative analysis is a plus.
• Researchers, with proven experience in conducting qualitative research, social assessments.
• Demonstrate awareness of gender and inclusion issues in economic development and trade, familiar with using GESI analytical frameworks.
• Proven experience in using methods for qualitative data collection in programme assessments, with examples provided where possible.
• Demonstrate the knowledge of the political, social and economic context in Palestine, and its impact on the private sector, including diverse groups of women and men across different locations, and their participation in economic and trade related activities.
• Strong communication skills and sensitivity to participants of the study.
• Language Skills: Very good skills in Arabic and English: Speaking, Reading and Writing.
• Tasdeer offers equal employment opportunities, qualified women and men, Youth, PWDs are encouraged to apply.

Reporting Lines and Managerial Responsibilities

This role reports to the Knowledge Management, Results, and Learning (KMRL) Director.

Duration

The successful candidate will be offered a short-term researcher contract for 15 to 20 working days, based on the number of interviews that are required. The contract will be completed before  July 31, 2021.

Positions Available and Location

Total of three researchers; two in the West Bank and one in Gaza.

Deliverables

In line with these duties and accountabilities, the researcher is expected to deliver the below outputs within the given timeframe:

• Provide comments on the interview questionnaire and interview guide developed by the TASDEER team.
• Complete attendance in the training organized by the TASDEER team.
• Translation of questionnaires from English to Arabic. 
• As an initial deliverable, submit a sample interview transcription for approval before commencing the reminder of interviews.
• A list of all conducted interviews upon completion.
• A final copy of quality assured qualitative data (transcription), with all queries from the TASDEER team addressed in English.
• Attendance at the Out brief discussion on data collection.

Documents for submission

• Maximum 3-page CV.
• 1-page cover letter describing interest and qualifications.
• 2-3 references who can describe your qualifications in conducting qualitative research similar to this assignment.
• Letter of commitment to availability for the timeframe.

To be emailed to: [email protected] no later than 4:00 pm July 2nd, 2021)