Consultancy: Development and Implementation of a Training Curriculum to Mobilize and Engage Hard-to-Reach Youth – Tunisia – Search for Common Ground عودة إلى الفرص

Search for Common Ground (Search) is an International NGO whose mission is to end violent conflict. Search strives to build sustainable peace for generations to come, working with all sides of a conflict and providing the tools needed to work together and find collaborative solutions. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, we implement projects from 55 offices in 34 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States

Search in Tunisia

Search’s mission in Tunisia is to promote the culture of dialogue and diversity through the involvement of all parts of society while building their capacities. Search works in Tunisia to help members of Tunisian society to address conflicts and differences constructively through cooperation and dialogue. Search-Tunisia works across multiple channels, mainly with youth, CSOs, media actors, security forces, and local authorities to build the capacity of individuals and institutions to address challenges including differences and acting on common points. Through this approach and partnerships, Search-Tunisia has four main strategic objectives:

• promoting peace education;
• fostering non-violent social dialogue;
• enhancing participatory and inclusive governance; and
• transforming violent extremism.

More information about our Tunisia program can be found here.

Project Summary

Search – Tunisia will implement in partnership with UNDP the project “Sustaining Peace in Tunisia through Youth Inclusion at the Local Level”. Our intervention’s overall goal is to strengthen the capacities and boost the skills of local CSOs and local elected representatives to implement resilience-based and youth-oriented strategies, particularly in response to COVID-19, and to promote sustainable youth inclusion and representation. The project will be implemented within seven target municipalities in the Southern region of Tunisia and border areas with Libya, namely Medenine, Tataouine, Remada, Gabes, Ben Guerdane, Zarzis and Djerba Ajim. The direct beneficiaries of Search-Tunisia’s project will be local CSOs and authorities from these municipalities, that in turn will reach out to and impact on Tunisian youth (ages 15-24), who will be mobilised to act as positive agents of change within their communities.

About the Consultancy

One of the objectives that will allow us to achieve the overall goal mentioned above is based on the development of (a) training curriculum(s) for both local CSOs and local authorities on how to better reach out to and engage hard-to-reach youth. This curriculum will be later tested during separate training sessions, one for local CSOs and the other for local authorities. A key component of this training curriculum will be the consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic context, which means that (1) the content of the training must be adaptable to online formats, and (2) the strategies and approaches for mobilization of hard-to-reach youth should consider the current situation, presenting scenarios in which the mobilization can be done through digital means. Ultimately, this training curriculum should allow the beneficiaries (1) to immediately put the learning into practice throughout the rest of the activities of the
project, and (2) to transfer the knowledge on youth mobilization in a series of trainings that the CSOs will implement targeting youth groups and young Tunisians.

Search-Tunisia seeks to procure the services of an external independent consultant who will work closely with the project team to lead the development of the youth mobilization training curriculum and train local CSOs and local authorities on its use and transfer.

The external consultant will lead the training curriculum development with support and input from the Project Manager based in Tunis and the Project Coordinator based in Zarzis, as well as the UNDP field coordinators in each of the seven target municipalities. The training curriculum will integrate gender and social inclusion considerations as core principles, since it aims to mobilize not only active youth but mostly hard-to-reach youth. “Hard-to-reach youth” are understood as young people who are less involved in mainstream life and activities – either out of their own will and/or as a result of exclusion by mainstream xsociety. Depending on the community, hard-to-reach youth could include young women, youth with disabilities, youth with drug addiction problems, youth in conflict with the law, NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), homeless youth, and those adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

The content of the training curriculum will be informed by a desk review of Search’s approaches and tools on the topic of youth mobilization to leverage our global experience in this area and in Youth, Peace and Security. These documents will guide the skeleton of the training curriculum, which then will be contextualized based on the needs and specificities of each community. To ensure resonance with these specific contexts, the consultant will develop a participatory methodology based on focus group discussions (FGD) within each target municipality that convene key stakeholders, such as youth, youth organizations, CSOs, authorities, and any other relevant party. These FGDs will allow the consultant and the project team to assess local gaps, needs, and opportunities regarding youth mobilization and engagement.

This consultancy will last for approximately one and a half months, from mid-August to end of September 2020.

Scope of Work

The scope of the assignment is divided into two components:

• Training Curriculum Development and
• Training Curriculum Implementation. The consultant will report directly to the Project Manager and Project Coordinator.

The two components include the following activities:

Training Curriculum Development

• Conduct a desk review of Search’s approaches and tools for youth mobilization and develop a summary report in French or English where these approaches and tools are synthesized and their relevance to the project’s context discussed. (First week of contract)
• Develop an inclusive methodology (including related data collection tools) for focus group discussions (FGDs) with key national and local stakeholders on youth engagement needs and challenges and lead their facilitation in the seven target municipalities. (First and second week of contract)
• Produce a single fieldwork analysis report in French or English on youth civic engagement mechanisms and approaches in the target communities that captures key insights and question responses from the FGDs, and identifies success factors, challenges, threats, needs, and local opportunities and gaps. (Third week of contract)
• Develop a training curriculum on hard-to-reach youth mobilization and engagement that is based on the knowledge collected in points 1-3. This training curriculum should be collected in a report in French or English and it must ensure that aspects related to gender, social inclusion, social cohesion, marginalized groups, non-violence, and conflict resolution and peace are central to the training, since it aims to ultimately impact hard-to-reach youth. Finally, the training curriculum should take into account the COVID-19 considerations mentioned in these Terms of Reference – adaptability to delivery through digital formats and inclusion of online youth engagement strategies. (Third and fourth week of contract)

Training Implementation

• Develop two agendas and module content for a two-day training in Arabic, one for local CSOs and UNDP field coordinators, and the other for local authorities, based on the developed training curriculum. (Fourth week of contract)
• Facilitate two two-day training workshops, one for local CSOs and UNDP field coordinators, and another one for local authorities, on hard-to-reach youth mobilization and engagement strategies. (Fourth and fifth week of contract)
• Produce one final report in French or English on the training sessions, capturing key insights, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for curriculum use and adaptation. (Fifth andsixth week of contract)

Deliverables & Payment Schedule

The following deliverables and payment structure are expected from this consultancy:

Remuneration

The selection of the consultant will be determined based on the financial proposal, technical proposal, previous experience and skills of the proposed consultant(s), and an interview.