Consultancy: Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (Protection, Education, MHPSS) At Educo

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1. Background and rationale

Educo is a Spanish child rights organisation working in education and child protection. It has been present in Lebanon since 2025, most recently with a remedial education and psychosocial support project in Bar Elias (West Bekaa), implemented with a local partner and moved online during the 2026 escalation.

Educo intends to apply to DG ECHO under the forthcoming Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP) for Lebanon. ECHO requires applicants to justify every action with a recent, evidence-based needs assessment, a clear response analysis and a credible targeting strategy. Existing sources (MSNA, sector dashboards, response plan documents) are national in scope and do not capture the situation of Educo’s specific target areas and groups. These sources serve as the baseline (secondary review); this assessment adds education in emergencies and child protection depth, local granularity and response analysis. Educo therefore seeks a consultant to generate and analyse this evidence in time for the submission deadline.

2. Objectives

General objective: to provide an evidence base on humanitarian needs in the target areas that underpins the problem analysis, targeting and logical framework of Educo’s ECHO HIP application.

Specific objectives:

  1. Identify and prioritise the needs of children, adolescents and youth (up to 24) and caregivers in education in emergencies, child protection (including gender-based violence risks affecting children and adolescents, particularly adolescent girls) and MHPSS, as well as basic needs, WASH and other multi-sectoral needs insofar as they affect children’s access to education and protection, disaggregated by gender, age, disability and population group.
  2. Analyse barriers to access, quality of existing services and the capacity of schools, local partners and authorities.
  3. Map who is doing what, where, based mainly on sector 5W data and coordination fora, to identify gaps, avoid duplication and position Educo’s added value.
  4. Assess risks (protection, conflict, access, security) and the conflict sensitivity of possible interventions.
  5. Recommend a response strategy, indicative target numbers and priority locations, explicitly justified by the primary and secondary evidence collected, aligned with the HIP priorities and the ECHO Technical Annex.

3. Scope and key questions

  • Geography: Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel (including West Bekaa), Beirut, Mount Lebanon and Saida. within these areas, priority goes to localities hosting displaced people; final selection to be agreed at inception.
  • Population groups: Lebanese (host communities, internally displaced and returnees), displaced Syrian, Palestine refugee and migrant children and families, with attention to out-of-school children, children with disabilities, adolescent girls and households with specific vulnerabilities.
  • Sectors: education in emergencies, child protection (including GBV risks for children and adolescents) and MHPSS; basic needs, WASH, shelter and other sectors analysed as they affect children’s access to education and protection, mainly through secondary data. Basic needs and WASH are treated as a lens, not an additional sector: MSNA microdata is cross-tabulated with education and child protection indicators, with a few primary questions on the links (cost of schooling, WASH in learning spaces including menstrual hygiene management, schools used as collective shelters, child labour to cover basic needs). GBV is covered through a child and adolescent lens (risks, barriers and access to services), not incident or prevalence data, which would require GBV specialists.

The assessment will answer the questions below.

Needs and severity: What are the most severe unmet needs of children and caregivers? Who is most affected, and where? How have needs changed since the 2026 escalation?

Access and barriers: How many children are out of school or at risk of dropping out, and why (cost, safety, documentation, displacement, disability, gender norms)?

Quality and capacity: What is the state of schools, teachers and learning outcomes (from secondary data), of protection and PSS services, and of local partner capacity?

Coping and risks: How do families cope? Which negative coping mechanisms (such as child labour and early marriage) are present? What are the main protection, conflict and security risks?

Response gaps: Who is responding, and with what coverage and funding? What gaps and overlaps exist?

Feasibility: Which interventions are most relevant and feasible? What efficiency considerations apply? Which modalities and partners are best placed to deliver them?

4. Methodology

The consultant proposes the detailed design at inception. A mixed-methods, participatory approach is expected, with the following minimum components:

  1. Secondary data review: HIP and Technical Annex, Lebanon Response Plan, MSNA, CPIMS, sector working group data, 5W mapping, and Educo and partner project data from Bar Elias.
  2. Primary qualitative data: key informant interviews (school directors, teachers, municipalities, local NGOs, sector coordinators, UN focal points) and separate focus group discussions with caregivers, adolescents and children, by gender and age group.
  3. Primary quantitative data: a quantitative component is required, scaled to the timeline, e.g. a short household or school-level survey in priority locations, with a sampling approach, sample size and limitations stated in the proposal, complemented by re-analysis of existing datasets (e.g. MSNA microdata). The quantitative component is mandatory, but a fully representative household survey is not expected within the available field days. Data collection costs are included in the consultant’s fee (see section 7).
  4. Triangulation and analysis: cross-checking of sources, severity and priority analysis, and disaggregation by sex, age, disability and population group.
  5. Validation: a workshop with Educo and partners to test findings and recommendations before the report is final.

Standards the consultant must apply:

  • Child safeguarding and ethical participation of children, with informed consent and referral pathways for disclosures.
  • Do no harm, conflict sensitivity and humanitarian principles.
  • ECHO Gender-Age Marker, protection mainstreaming, disability inclusion and the ECHO education in emergencies policy.
  • Data protection, anonymisation and secure storage; data handed over to Educo at the end.
  • Contingency: if access or security deteriorates, data collection switches to remote or phone methods, agreed in advance with Educo, without changing the deliverables or deadlines.

5. Tasks, deliverables and timeline

Estimated level of effort is 25 working days for the lead consultant, plus the days of the data collection team (enumerators and facilitators), included in the fee, between 1 November 2026 and 15 December 2026.

Phase 1 – Inception (3 days, Week 1)
Tasks: kick-off meeting with Educo, desk review, mapping of actors, and definition of methodology and sampling.
Deliverable: Inception note (max. 8 pages) including data collection tools, work plan and ethics protocol.

Phase 2 – Preparation (2 days, Week 2)
Tasks: tool design, piloting, enumerator briefing, and arrangements for access and consent.
Deliverable: Final data collection tools.

Phase 3 – Fieldwork (10 days, Weeks 2 to 4)
Tasks: key informant interviews, focus group discussions and household survey in the target areas.
Deliverables: a proposal-ready data pack (key figures, priority locations, indicative caseload) by the end of Week 3, so that Single Form drafting can start in parallel; and a debrief to Educo on preliminary findings.

Phase 4 – Analysis and drafting (6 days, Week 5)
Deliverable: Draft report.

Phase 5 – Validation (2 days, Week 5)
Tasks: validation workshop and incorporation of Educo feedback.
Deliverables: Workshop presentation and consolidated feedback matrix.

Phase 6 – Finalisation (2 days, Week 6)
Deliverables: Final report, executive brief, summary in Arabic, and cleaned, anonymised datasets with codebooks.

Total level of effort: 25 working days over 6 weeks.

The final report (max 25 pages plus annexes, in English) must include:

  • Context and needs analysis, with disaggregated data and maps of priority locations.
  • Barriers to access, risks and conflict sensitivity analysis.
  • Response analysis: gaps, actors, Educo’s added value and feasibility of options.
  • Recommendations on targeting, indicative caseload, modalities and partners, structured so that Educo can transfer them directly into the ECHO Single Form and logical framework.
  • Limitations, annexes (tools, sample, list of sources and interviewees).

An executive brief of 4 pages is also required. A short summary of findings in Arabic (max 2 pages) is also required, to share back with partners and communities. Draft products are reviewed by Educo within 3 working days.

6. Consultant profile

Required

  • Advanced degree in social sciences, education, development or a related field.
  • At least 7 years of experience designing and leading humanitarian needs assessments, ideally in Lebanon.
  • Demonstrated expertise in [education in emergencies and/or child protection].
  • Strong qualitative and quantitative skills, including sampling and analysis software.
  • Experience working ethically with children, and in gender, age and disability analysis.
  • Fluency in English and Arabic.
  • Applications from individual consultants, firms or teams are welcome; teams must include Arabic-speaking members, including female facilitators for work with women, girls and adolescents.
  • Experience with GBV-sensitive and child-friendly data collection, including referral pathways.
  • Three references for similar assignments, preferably with INGOs.

Desirable: experience with DG ECHO proposals and the Single Form; knowledge of the Lebanon coordination system and sector working groups; French or Spanish.

7. Management and conditions

  • The consultant reports to the Country Representative, Educo Lebanon, with weekly check-ins during fieldwork.
  • Educo provides existing documents, introductions to partners and logistical support for access; data collection costs are included in the fee.
  • The consultant and all team members, including enumerators, sign Educo’s child safeguarding and PSEAH commitments before fieldwork starts.
  • Educo owns all data and products; use by the consultant requires written approval.
  • Payment: 30% on approval of the inception note, 40% on the draft report, 30% on the final report.
  • The consultant manages their own insurance, security and travel, and complies with Educo’s security guidelines.

How to apply

8. How to apply

Submit by 23/10/2026 to liliane.nasrallah@ext.educo.org, with the subject line “Needs assessment consultancy, Educo Lebanon”:

  1. Technical proposal (max 5 pages): understanding of the ToR, methodology, sampling, ethics, work plan and team.
  2. Financial offer in [USD], all inclusive, with a breakdown of fees and fieldwork costs.
  3. CV(s) and two work samples from comparable assessments.
  4. Three references.

Selection criteria: technical proposal 40%, relevant experience including Lebanon and ECHO 40%, price 20%. Shortlisted candidates may be interviewed.