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Nature of the consultancy: Needs Assessment of Displaced Populations & Host Communities in Tunisia.

Type of contract: Consultancy contract

Date of start: ASAP

Reference code: VA TN2016-004

1. Background

Recognizing the vulnerabilities and needs of displaced populations throughout North Africa as well as the considerable strain and instability such flows can place on host communities throughout the region, the Community Resilience Initiative, implemented by IOM and funded by the EU, in support of the Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP) for North Africa, aims to build the resilience and capacity of host communities to absorb and support vulnerable migrants in North Africa, ensure community stability, and protect the rights of migrants in the region. More specifically, the project will be carried out in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.

As a first component of this project, IOM will develop comprehensive needs assessments in three countries (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) and a desk review in two countries (Egypt and Libya) where relevant data and studies already exist. In Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, the assessments will identify key target communities and the needs at the community level in order to (i) enhance the protection of migrants’ rights and opportunities within their host communities and; (ii) stimulate economic and livelihood opportunities for migrants and host communities in order to improve resilience and absorption capacity for communities hosting high numbers of migrants and displaced populations.

While some data and resources exist on migration trends, host communities and socio-economic development within the North Africa region, most are either outdated or sector-specific and very few outline concrete activities and practical recommendations aimed at addressing socioeconomic concerns and promoting a culture of rights, dialogue and social cohesion among displaced and host communities. Nevertheless, due to the political interest, there has been a recent surge in research on migration trends in North Africa including important research conducted by IOM and its partners through the Mixed Migration Hub, identifying key routes, and vulnerabilities of migrants transiting through North Africa. As such, these assessments will build on current research in order to outline the needs of displaced populations and their host communities with a particular focus on an analysis of the human rights situation, identifying the root causes of socio-economic development needs, and the gaps in terms of promotion and communication of rights and facilitation of dialogue and social cohesion, while playing close attention to gender dynamics and issues of social conflict within the analysis. These assessments will be used to establish baselines and targets, inform and fine tune project activities, as well as feed into project monitoring and evaluation in order to determine impact and success of various project components.

2. General Guidelines

The research consultant is required to ensure comprehensive collection and analysis of existing data and reports, as well as conduct original research through focus groups and key informant interviews with migrants, host community populations, service providers, and local government officials. Any deviations from the proposed framework outlined here should be discussed and agreed upon with the overall Project Manager at IOM Tunis.

The research consultant is expected to propose a preliminary methodology to complete the analysis. Taking into account the difficulties in data collection, the research consultant should aim to identify and combine data from various sources to obtain a comprehensive overview of community needs.

Along with the methodology to be submitted with the application to the consultancy, the research consultant is requested to propose a work plan and submit a list of persons who will be conducting the field surveys to be reviewed and approved by IOM prior to implementation of any field research, provided the research consultant is selected.

Field research will be conducted in collaboration with the IOM Country Office in Tunisia. IOM will assist the research consultant in the production of the assessment by (i) coordinating logistics as may be necessary for meetings and focus groups; (ii) providing background information on IOM interventions and knowledge on migrant communities in the country;

The report for Tunisia will be part of a series of country reports (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia). All reports should provide source information to all data presented and references to findings of other studies used in the analysis. When relevant, brief comments should be provided in footnotes on the methodologies used to acquire the data.

The country report should also include the list of acronyms, a data annex and maps identifying major migrant routes as well as major hubs of transit and/or destination for migrant communities both at the national level and at the community level in the case of major cities with sizable migrant communities.

3. Contents of the Needs Assessments

The analysis should be focused on the identification of community-level needs and challenges relating to (i) protection of the rights of displaced populations including access to basic services; (ii) economic development and livelihood opportunities that would allow host communities to better absorb displaced populations in the socio-economic sphere; (iii) social cohesion and interaction between members of host and displaced communities; and (iv) perceptions of migrants as portrayed by local and national media (both online and print) including, where relevant, reasons for misrepresentation or counter-factual information; the studies should identify and be concentrated within urban areas and neighbourhoods where migrant communities make up a significant portion of the population.

The needs assessments will aim to address the four main research questions:

• Which are the key locations (cities and neighbourhoods) characterized by high concentrations of migrants as well as scarce resources, where competition over limited socio-economic opportunities increases the likelihood for social friction and rights violations among vulnerable populations?
• What are the critical gaps in access to protection that leave displaced communities vulnerable to exploitation and neglect, and which may be addressed by services and coordination of CSOs?
• What are the critical gaps in terms of local infrastructure or service delivery that inhibit the stimulation of economic growth and the development of viable livelihood activities for host and displaced communities?
• What social structures, institutions (including media) and practices perpetuate divisions, misunderstandings, and tensions between displaced and host communities at the local and national levels?

In order to address these research questions, the reports should comprise the following components of analysis:

a) Identification of key target communities

The needs assessment will identify the key target communities for which an evaluation of community-level needs will be conducted which will in turn inform the project’s interventions, identifying the major cities and neighbourhoods of concern as well as the social and geographical distributions of migrant and host communities within target cities.

In particular, the report should consider the following aspects:

• Which are the main cities that currently play host to vulnerable migrant communities?
• What are they key neighbourhoods within the city that host migrant communities and to what extent do certain nationalities cluster in specific neighbourhoods?
• What has been the growth rate and what is the anticipated growth rate of migrant communities in these cities/neighbourhoods?
• To what extent and in what ways has the growth of migrant communities placed a strain on local services and infrastructure?
• To what extent and in what ways have social tensions developed between migrant and host communities and/or between or within migrant communities themselves?

b) Identification of migrant community protection needs

The needs assessment should give a detailed account of the services (including regulatory and social services) required in order to ensure adequate protection of the rights of displaced populations, including required methods of delivery in order to ensure sufficient access to local protection services. The report should assess how/what service needs may be related to the specific local context.

In particular, the report should consider the following aspects:

• Given the particular vulnerabilities identified for displaced populations, what services are most critical to address the potential of structural discrimination and incidents of exploitation?
• What resources are required to deliver such adequate social, legal, consular or protection services and are such resources currently available?
• What are the specific needs/challenges displaced populations face in accessing such services (language, cultural, geographical, etc) and do relevant service providers currently have skills and facilities to respond to these specific needs?
• What technical assistance is required by CSOs and relevant service providers in order to improve service delivery to displaced communities?
• What additional collaborative mechanisms or systems for relevant CSOs may be required to improve service delivery and protection of the rights of displaced communities?

c) Identification of local level challenges to livelihood development for displaced and host communities

The report should provide an overview of the dominant economic/livelihood activities carried out by displaced and host populations within the country, the income generated through these activities and the potential for tensions between communities due to saturation of labour markets. In addition, the report should identify local level small infrastructure, service, or resource gaps that prevent/limit economic growth and livelihoods and which, if addressed, could expand livelihood opportunities for displaced and host communities.

In particular, the report should consider the following aspects:

• What are the actual and perceived economic impacts of migrant populations on 5 various segments of the host community including in particular competition for basic resources (housing, water, electricity, etc) as well as within the labour market?
• What are the key livelihood activities of migrant populations in target communities and what are the legal, social, or other influences that have determined this livelihood concentration? What other opportunities may be available for livelihoods should influences alter?
• What community-level constraints in terms of resources, skills, infrastructure, or services currently act as bottlenecks for the development and expansion of livelihood opportunities for both host and migrant communities and how might these be addressed sustainably.

d) Identification of Social Divisions and Tensions

The report should provide information on the levels of tension/divisions between displaced and host communities as well as the key drivers for such divisions including both communications channels that may (deliberately or not) perpetuate misinformation and prejudice, and social practices/habits of migrant and host communities that may limit interaction and/or breed distrust.

In particular, the report should consider the following aspects:

• Displaced and host community members’ perceptions of one another;
• The level of day-to-day interaction and in what form/circumstances interactions exist between displaced and host communities;
• Key influencing agents that impact on the opinions and beliefs of displaced and host community members in regards to their understandings of one another;
• Media’s role in influencing (positively or negatively) public perceptions on migration and migrants;
• Objectives of influencing agents and potential capacity building/intervention needs to improve factual communication between social groups.

e) Conclusions and recommendations

The assessment should summarize the main findings of the analysis, including recommendations on the key cities and neighbourhoods of intervention for the project to address its main objectives. The assessment should also identify appropriate indicators and, where relevant, provide the baseline data from which the project’s interventions may be assessed in regards to their impact on meeting project objectives.

4. Format

The country reports should be submitted in English. Tables, maps and graphs should be inserted in the text, and any additional data annex should be submitted in MS Excel with datasets, tables and graphs used in each country report. IOM rules should be respected for bibliography and quotations. Reports should include an executive summary outlining the study’s main findings and recommendations.

5. Timeline

The draft report should be submitted to IOM Tunis by 15May 2016. The final report is due by 31 May 2016 and should incorporate comments on the draft report received from IOM.