Consultant - Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) Capacity Building and Partnership

Candidates agree to disclose to IRC any situation of actual or potential conflict of interest that impacts the capacity to serve the best interest of IRC, and understand that any misstatement or misrepresentation during the recruitment process and/or after hiring may lead to disqualification or dismissal by IRC and/or sanctions by the Donor (World Bank).

Background:

Lebanon’s economic, political, and social contexts have been significantly impacted by multiple, concurrent crises since 2019. Already experiencing a financial crisis, a massive explosion in the Port of Beirut (POB) in August 2020 caused considerable loss of life and injury, displacement, physical damage to infrastructure, and further affected the country’s economic standings. The COVID-19 pandemic and political deadlock worked to further deepen this crisis. Consequently, Lebanon's overall socio-economic welfare has significantly deteriorated, impacting various segments of the population including, but not limited to, the host community, internally displaced persons, forcibly displaced individuals, and migrant workers. Within this context, the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector has been an essential lifeline for vulnerable groups, providing them with critical social services and supporting their immediate- and longer-range social recovery needs while national systems remain unable to fill these gaps. 

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home. 

Since November 2012, the IRC Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) program established its women and girls’ safe spaces (WGSS) in Lebanon and partnered with local organizations, to respond to and prevent Gender Based Violence (GBV).  The WPE Program aims at increasing access of women and girls to psychosocial and case management services and enable communities to identify and mitigate safety and security risks faced by women and girls. All programming is implemented using survivor-centered approaches that prioritize confidentiality, dignity, safety, and respect.

Project Description:

Support for Social Recovery Needs of Vulnerable Groups

The project will focus on reducing vulnerabilities of groups who are identified to be significantly impacted by Lebanon’s enduring social, economic, and political fragility: (i) survivors of Gender-Based Violence (SGBV); (ii) those suffering from deteriorated psycho-social wellbeing; (iii) and/or those facing limitations related to being a person with disabilities and older persons. The project’s scope will entail providing grant financing directly to a selected number of NGOs, to enable them to provide social services to reduce vulnerabilities in these groups while strengthening their capacity to participate in the broader social recovery and reconstruction process.

The World Bank has selected the IRC to act as the Project Implementing Agency to implement the Supporting Lebanon’s Immediate Social Recovery Services project. The IRC will take on project management, grant provision and/or procurement of services from NGOs and will be responsible for the fiduciary supervision of the selected NGO partners, in addition to improving their environmental and social safeguards capabilities.

Scope of Work:

The WPE Capacity Building and Partnership Consultant will be responsible for the development and implementation of capacity building plans to increase IRC’s local partners’ knowledge and skills to deliver quality GBV response and prevention services. They will act as the main focal point for the local partners that IRC identifies and works with and will monitor the progress of capacity building efforts to ensure they are able to deliver quality GBV programming.

Deliverables:

1. Training and Capacity Building:

• Design and facilitate trainings on technical development topics, including GBV case management, GBV core concepts,GBV Information Management System (GBVIMS), community mobilization, focused psychosocial support (PSS), and related areas.
• Prepare and provide all necessary requirements for successful training sessions in a timely manner, including material, equipment, venue and transportation.
• Revise and update training materials, modules and tools, as well as develop facilitation guides and supporting resources.
• Submit proper documentation of all trainings and capacity building sessions, including attendance sheets, training reports, trackers,  and training database.

2. Partnership Development and Management:

•  Serve as the primary liaison for assigned local partners, ensuring ongoing communication and collaboration that fosters a relationship built on mutual trust and respect.
• In collaboration with the WPE Senior Manager, develop and submit a comprehensive capacity-building plan for local partners, informed by a structured needs assessment and consultation process.
• Conduct regular meetings and coaching sessions with local partner staff to share updates, discuss implementation progress, and provide technical input and expertise.
• Use agreed-upon tools to monitor the quality of project implementation by local partners and provide recommendations to address identified gaps.
• Support the development of local partners’ workplans with clear milestones and performance benchmarks, and track progress against them.
• Maintain proper documentation of all activities related to local partners.
• Provide regular feedback to local partners’ focal points on the capacity building process and the quality of implementation.
• Provide regular progress updates to IRC focal points, including the WPE Senior Manager and Capacity Building team, ensuring alignment with broader program objectives.
• Submit a final consultancy report summarizing achievements, challenges, and recommendations for sustainability and continued capacity strengthening.

Below is a table outlining the consultant's key deliverables. The Consultant will develop a Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) work plan in coordination with the WPE Senior Manager and the Project Lead prior to the contract signature, to agree on clear milestones