Baseline and Gender Assessment

Search Lebanon: 

Search for Common Ground (Search) is a non-governmental organization working to transform the way societies deal with conflicts. We have acquired over 30 years of experience in peacebuilding and are based in 53 local offices worldwide. We strive to build sustainable peace for generations to come by working with all sides of a conflict, providing the tools needed to work together, and finding constructive solutions. While conflict is inevitable, violence is not! Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. Instead of tearing down an existing world, we focus on constructing a new one. We do this through a type of peacebuilding called “conflict transformation.” We shift the everyday interactions between hostile groups of people, so they can work together to build up their community, choosing joint problem-solving over violent means. Search first worked in Lebanon in 1996, and we opened up our office in Beirut in 2008. Since then, our activities and capacities have grown significantly. We rely on local staff as well as local partner organizations in order to ensure our work is culturally sensitive, sustainable and well-grounded in the context.

Expected results and deliverables: 

• An inception report (draft and final) that will propose a detailed step-by-step methodology and work plan, initial analysis based on desk review and tools
• A Draft report for review by Search staff 
• A Final report (35 pages max in length, excluding appendices) that consists of -amongst other things- the following elements;

1. Executive summary
2. Table of contents 
3. Research findings and conclusions with associated data presented in line with the agreed tools and questions
4. Recommendation for decision making 
5. Appendices which include detailed research instruments, list of interviewees, evaluator biography

• A powerpoint presentation of the report 
• The data bases
• A short summary report (4-5 pages) meant to be shared with audiences outside Search
• In addition to these outputs, the consultant will provide full and oral feedback to Search’s key stakeholders via a debriefing of the field mission at the end of it at Search’s office in Beirut.

Requirements of consultant:

• Proficiency in English and Arabic
• More than 5 years of experience in project evaluation or the equivalent in DM&E expertise, including collecting data in interviews, surveys and focus groups 
• Expertise in gender analysis, gender mainstreaming and women’s participation
• Experience in working with international organizations
• Experience conducting large-scale quantitative surveys
• Evaluation methods and data collection skills
• Solid communication skills, cultural awareness and sensitivity;
• Demonstrated ability to write high quality, methodologically sound and analytical papers in English;
• Ability to work with people from various social and professional backgrounds and at all levels, (high-level officials to community leaders…);
• Knowledgeable of local governance (municipalities) context;
• Experience in social stability and peace-building in rural areas would be an asset;
• Familiarity with, and experience in Wadi Khaled is a plus.

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 the respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity. 
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